Funny thing is, one cannot even buy a Steam Deck without an account, unless buying used or asks a friend.

My biggest problem with GOG, is the lack of support from Steam....pffft! How dare they not support a competitor!?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'd like to correct this to say...

I can play my Nintendo switch perfectly without ever having to connect to the internet or having to sign into it with a set up account right from the get go.

I can also play any game I buy (except for 2K games which require downloads) on a cartridge without ever having to connect to an account or go online.

If I want to get games from them from their online store I have to sign in, but after I download the game, most of them I can play offline without ever having to go online again.

As for the Steamdeck, I am unsure why it is popular. Asus Rog Ally stomps all over it as a gaming handheld, but Steam with it's DRM doesn't play as nice with it as steam probably plays with it's native handheld. This is where Heroic games launcher and GoG can shine. Don't have to be online or connect to the internet to run GoG games on the handheld then.

(of course, the top of the line Rog Ally is probably more expensive then Steam Deck, but you get the specs you pay for I suppose).

The ROG AllyX indeed stomps on the Deck performance wise, but has a bad interface and runs on Windows, which while far more widely compatible is difficult to navigate on a handheld. The ROG Ally is a bit more powerful than the deck, but has enough caveats where as the far more powerful AllyX is just a better choice. The Steam Deck's biggest attractor to me is the dual trackpads. The Lenovo Legion Go has one, and for that, it is far superior to the Ally, and would be my handheld of choice if not for the surprisingly affordable Steam Deck.

The Lenovo Legion Go is going on sale for $100 off ($649) which makes it a great time to get it. I personally LOVE the Steam Deck, but I understand why others wouldn't, and why someone might prefer another device. The Legion Go is probably the best alternative out there as far as features, power and price.

I don't own a Legion Go, I am not affiliated with Lenovo in any way. Nor am I affiliated with VALVe in any way.

Ok, i'm getting really mixed info about Nintendo switch. Some say they are getting connection errors and verification requests... So you're saying, that if i, say buy switch and then a bunch of retail switch games, i just have to insert the cartridge/micro disc and the games will run? just like in the good old days, no day one patches needed, no internet required. Like i said, i was getting really mixed info about it...

Heroic Games Launcher is really easy to install and use on the Steam Deck, I've had great luck with 90% of my games on there. Heroic supports GOG, Epic and Amazon and for free.

There's another option, via the Decky Loader which is called Junk Store, which is perhaps even a little better (Heroic defaults to Wine, whereas Junk defaults to Proton). Junk Store supports GOG, but it's a one-off fee they chage (but Epic is free)

I've played a ton on each, to me maybe Junk Store is a little nicer to use.

Reason nº 1 is by far the price. The Deck base model have been several times at around 300€uroDollar and a couple of weeks ago, the 512GB LCD model was like 320/330 until was out of stock.
It launched a few years ago and even now, you cannot get a laptop with similar performance for roughly the same price (even without discount).
As Paladin181 mentioned, the trackpads are also quite a big deal in the Deck.

While the Asus is nice, the performance increase comes at a cost and battery life can be ridiculous small if playing at full power/high FPS, infortunately no free launch here. Playing a "low resource" game like Hollow Knight at 144FPS and one could get perhaps 1 hour of battery. I would love to get one though.

I have about 80 games for the switch. For my personal switch I have never connected it to the internet. The only game that gave me problems was NBA2K which did not have the game in the cartridge and only an exhibition game between two teams that could be played without connecting it online. Every other game works. I put the cartridge in the slot and it runs.

So, I would not get 2K games if you are staying completely offline, but almost any Nintendo game (unless it specifically states it requires being online like that starlink game) runs completely offline without any need to get your switch online or register it. Most third party games are the same.

If you have multiple switches (like I do) the cartridges work on any switch you put it into regardless of if you've used it on another switch previously.

I haven't had any problems with the switch in that regards.

I WILL NOTE that as far as online downloadable games go, Nintendo DOES have restrictive DRM, so if you wish to avoid the DRM don't buy things on an account via nintendo or download it. No matter how much you may want it, don't buy it on a Nintendo account to download. Their DRM on their downloadable stuff is worse than steam on how restrictive they are on what you can use it on.

It works when you aren't connected to the internet, but ONLY on one switch...period. You can't put it on another or use it on another switch, it can only be activated on one switch at a time regardless of whethrer it is online or not.