PS3 emulation is hit-or-miss in general, on all platforms. But I’ve had good luck on Steam Deck with games that even the RPCS3 compatibility list says have issues. For example I was successful at getting Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time to work without issue on Steam Deck. It took some tinkering but it was fully playable.
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Did you aim for 60fps or lock it at 30?
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At the moment I can’t remember how it behaves at 60fps. I usually chose 60fps if the game runs at a locked 60fps on Deck. 45fps if the game is graphically intensive. Some emulated games don’t place nicely with 60fps so I’ll default those down to 30.
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So this is a tangent off of this a little bit, but what is your setup for keeping all of those things hooked up at once? Are they all hooked up to the same TV?
The reason I’m asking is that in my new house, I don’t have a surround setup with a big old receiver like I had at my old house. I have a Polk soundbar, and I just run all of my devices into the TV and use ARC to get the sound to the soundbar. The problem is that I have 6 devices, and only 3 available HDMI to plug into. Right now I’m running the Xbox and PS5 directly into the TV, and then I just have an HDMI switcher (Amazon.com: Kinivo HDMI Switch 4K HDR 550BN (5 in 1 Out, 4K 60Hz HDR, HDMI 2.0, High Speed 18Gbps, IR Remote, HDCP) - Compatible with Roku, PS5, Xbox, Apple TV, Nintendo Switch, Cable Box : Electronics) for the other devices. I kind of hate the whole setup and want something better, but I don’t know what it would be.
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I have the following devices connected via HDMI:
- PC
- PS5
- Switch
- Xbox Series X
- PS3
- Apple TV
I only have three ports on my TV, so I use an automatic switcher that supports ARC and CEC. The Apple TV and Switch get their own HDMI imports (because my partner uses those most and I don’t want her to have to fiddle with the switcher if something goes wrong) and the other consoles run through the switcher. Save for the fact that CEC occasionally fails, it’s pretty seamless and invisible.
P.S., my audio runs to the TV through HDMI and out to the soundbar via optical. This could also be done with ARC but I prefer not giving up an HDMI port for the soundbar.
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It’s nothing super fancy.
- I have a Samsung sound bar plugged into the HDMI-ARC port.
- The PS5 and Switch are plugged in directly since they’re the “modern” consoles.
- The Wii U, PS3, Dreamcast and Mega SG are all plugged into a switch. The switch has a remote, but I’ve never used it because it auto-switches to whatever is sending a video signal. This is the one I use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08LVF2S1M
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Kind of sounds like you, @BMO, and I have a pretty identical setup.
I’ve never had a whole lot of luck with CEC. My HDMI switcher also works automatically pretty well. I use a Harmony Remote right now to get everything to the right inputs and such, but it’s been finicky.
Anyway, I was just curious what other people did who have 400 devices to hook up to the 3 or 4 inputs you get on TVs. I really wish soundbars would act like receivers and could have multiple inputs that could be switched. I have an old Sony one where the subwoofer was also the receiver that switched a few different inputs. I suppose that would eliminate the simplicity of them, and the people that want that probably just end up getting a full blown receiver anyway.
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We also used a Harmony remote in my previous setup. Unfortunately after 12 years of use, its battery started to die, and the aftermarket replacements didn’t really help. And by then, Logitech was winding down that business.
When we upgraded TVs (I have an LG C-something from a few years ago), I found that the only things we needed to control with the remote were the TV itself (thanks to its apps) and the PS5 (which works pretty well with CEC). It isn’t perfect: We often use the DualSense controller while playing a movie on disc, since the built-in remote doesn’t have a lot of disc playback functions. But my wife and I preferred having a single remote.
We also had a Sony soundbar with a subwoofer where the receiver was the thing that received the inputs. But eventually, it started acting kind of funny… so I ended up routing all the cables through our TV, and using the optical out from the TV to the subwoofer.
(Recently, a relative started having similar issues with a Yamaha receiver and newer devices. The solution was the same: Route it all through the TV, then go from the TV’s optical out to the receiver.)
We replaced the Sony soundbar with a refurbished Samsung model for kind of a silly reason: The Sony soundbar was too tall! On our shelf, it would cover the bottom inch of the new TV, including the IR receiver (particularly maddening since the remote only needs a line of sight for on/off… otherwise, it works via Bluetooth). We considered a stand for just the TV, but the height difference was great enough that it seemed prone to wobble. So we bought the newer, lower-profile bar when it went for a steep discount. (We still needed a stand for the TV because it just barely covered that receiver, but the height difference was small enough that we were able to do something simple without any wobble. 
)
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I need to fiddle with this more. I also have an LG C-something and it would be nice to just turn on a device and everything just flips on correctly.
Getting back to the Steam Deck point of this thread, has anyone successfully used the official Steam Deck Dock through an HDMI switch? I’ve tried, but the stupid thing flickers and drops signal constantly. It seems like I need to go directly into the TV with it, but that is a pain with my current setup.
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Time to build that PC 
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Oh my goodness, this last week I’ve spent more time downloading ROMS and researching what games to download for EmuDeck, than actually playing games on my Steam Deck! 
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Nah, you don’t wanna be one of those people. 
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Lol, my comment was a joke because @peter was considering a specific PC build last year, not a general “PC master race” comment.
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I’ve only asked @BMO about his PC build about 45 times at this point 
I’m still waiting for the dream setup where I can have a handheld PC that is just barely powerful enough to hook up to my TV and play the games I like at a decent resolution. I just have so much trouble trying to hook up the Steam Deck to the TV, even with the official dock, that it would maybe make sense to build a small form factor PC and hook it up to the TV.
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For what it’s worth, I never had trouble with my Thunderbolt dock. I know the Steam Deck isn’t utilizing the Thunderbolt protocol, but Thunderbolt has quite a lot of bandwidth. At the same time I’ve actually had some issues with USB-C PD hubs when connecting my Steam Deck on occasion. A Thunderbolt dock is an expensive solution, but it’s largely been much better at handling the Steam Deck connection to my TV in my experience.
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I just wish the official one didn’t have so much trouble. I know it’s probably mostly my setup’s fault. I was reading the JSAUX FAQ for their Steam Deck dock, and they claim that if you’re going through and HDMI switch, you need to use a short HDMI cable going in and out because the signal is too weak. I probably just need to go straight into the TV, but that just seems like a waste of an HDMI port really.
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I have had many issues with the doc and hdmi switches. With a lot of cursing removing and replugging cable’s tuning on and offs it always works perfectly eventually after the irl Konami tango code is entered
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My dock is the offical one
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What’s the cause of the weak signal in that scenario, the dock or the Steam Deck?
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Kind of a funny (but stupid) Steam Deck moment. I was playing Katana Zero on PC, and had to go use the washroom. Knowing I’m in there for a while, I closed the game, and through Cloud Sync, continued playing in the washroom
My girlfriend said it was a new low for me
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