Yeah imagine spending all this time getting it all set up to one day have an update that breaks literally everything. That would suck...

And android seems to not get any better, just more locked down.

100%. An android device will recieve updates for 7 years in the best case scenario (on average more like 4 years), while a steamdeck is fully supported with mainline Linux, so it'll continue to recieve support for 20 years at a minimum (support for 486 CPU's from the early 90's are only just now being dropped).

Who wants to use an increasingly locked down operating system?

What’s the alternative? Keep in mind: we’re talking about a primary phone used for calls, texts, navigation, banking, payments, photography, and social media.

It's not about who wants it. People are already in posesssion of this device. And a lot more are buying them - the number of windows pc users has been plummeting lately, and it's not in favour of linux but mobile os'es. So if you already posses the device ( walled garden or not ) why not use it as a handheld.

Problem is this whole article reads like an ad:

In a surprisingly short amount of time, this project has gone from a curiosity commented on in social media to the bleeding edge of the entire conversation. They move fast. They don't workshop; they ship. The attitude is less "what if" and more "here."

Gimme a break with all this glazing.

Considering that this is partially thanks to Valve’s support of the FEX translation layer (x86 to ARM) I think it’s inevitably the next step after testing the waters with the Steam Frame.

The Steam Frame is ARM powered. They already released a beta of Proton 11 which can run on ARM. People already have tested it on ARM handhelds like the Odin2 with Rocknix and can launch the Steam store.

True, the only gaming focused custom rom I'm aware of is Gamma OS, and while it's a great effort, the lone developer is not keeping up with the plethora of devices coming out.

Right now the Linux distros for these devices are weak JELOS-style barebones types. I'm looking forward to the days when I can run full fledged Debian-based distros on these.

I feel the same. Seems like you can easily install something like RockNIX on one of those handhelds running Android, but having a big name like Valve releasing an ARM-powered Switch Lite looking handheld would really push things.

Cannot remember when the last time was that I was that excited for the future of gaming :)

GameNative is open-source, free, and 100% spyware free.

What on earth?! I'm confused, are you saying GameNative is locked down, bloated and filled with spyware? Or that users who are running Android shouldn't have something that is open-source and spyware free? Just checking for some clarification here, since your rant seems a bit...off-topic.

What's the alternative? Keep in mind: we're talking about a primary phone used for calls, texts, navigation, banking, payments, photography, and social media.

I'd recommend seeing what the community has shared, others may have uploaded their games/settings for that phone on EmuReady. The sites is maintained purely to share exactly that.

https://www.emuready.com/listings?deviceIds=%5B%22b600b2d5-3631-4f50-b235-a9d0d2559445%22%5D

(here is the results filtered just by your handset, but these include all kinds of emulation, not just GameNative)

But by the same token, 99% of games which do (and don't) run won't have been shared there either. So it is a game-by-game basis.

A good one to start with would be a 'light' title like DREDGE, if you own it?

I'll do a little checking and see what I can find on your phone though, will come back and edit with what I find soon!

Edit: Here is a post on Reddit where the OP asks the community how the Pixel 8 is for emulation in general. The top comment says that they're using Winlator and have 60FPS/720p performance for BioShock, New Vegas, Wow with dx9/10 games. So these should translate to being the same performance/playability on GameNative (I'd hazard, anyway)

There's also results in the GameNative Discord, but too many to share here. I do hope this helps, though!

I'd prefer Linux over Android in this context 100% of the time

and in the medium-long term make expensive, bulky gaming PCs an anachronism.

This claim is a ridiculous overreach. There's only so much computing power you can fit in a small space due to heat dissipation. You can't beat thermodynamics. You can get a lot of games to run on lower end systems, but only if you're willing to make a ton of compromises.

In no way are you going to be running something like Cyberpunk at 4k 60fps on a phone within the next 10 years. Thats what the "expensive, bulky gaming PCs" are for.

And I don't get why they're painting a target on the back of high end gaming hardware or even the Steam Deck. There's another target that would be more beneficial to society to take out: consoles, particularly their locked-in ecosystems. Democratize gaming.

It is literally a quote from the interviewee

I don't understand how a quote from the article can be click-bait? Because it is a sensational statement? Sure, but he said that. He made that statement. He believes it. FFS.