Tony BarkMicrosoft and Asus announce two Xbox Ally handhelds with new Xbox full-screen experience
OlapI am whelmed. Never been the biggest mobile gamer, will skip
LandedGentryIt’s not “mobile gaming” it’s more “handheld pc gaming.” I get it sounds pedantic but “mobile games” and “mobile gaming” for 99% of people means games released for smartphones.
Competition…lol
I mean conservative estimates have over 20 million people using game pass and the steam deck is getting long in the tooth technology wise. Also, Ilove my steam deck so much, but it is not the most user-friendly for newbies sometimes. You have to be comfortable troubleshooting occasionally, especially if you ever plan on using desktop mode. Which is not required of course, but you are leaving a lot of the appeal of the device in the first place on the table if you don’t use that ever.
I fucking hate Microsoft, I am over the Xbox ecosystem, but ultimately this will be a very pick up and play device. It will likely sell at least half decently (likely underperform their estimates as always). I think anybody saying it’s doomed to fail is honestly ignorant of the current state of gaming.
ampersandrewThis machine will be the same desktop-mode-not-required-but-allows-for-more-functionality thing that the Steam Deck is, but it will chew through battery faster in exchange for more compatibility.
Sounds about right
malwiederWell, at least the base model Xbox Ally has essentially the same SoC as the Steam Deck. The Z2 A has 4 Zen 2 cores and 8 RDNA 2 CUs. It will be configurable up to 20 watts TDP instead of 15 on the Deck, but that’s it. So much for “long in the tooth technology wise”.
Sure, the Z2 Extreme variant will be more powerful, but it’ll also be in a different price category (800-900,-€).
And in terms of user-friendliness: the Xbox Ally will run Windows. It won’t launch into the regular desktop shell (by default), and it won’t have as many services running in the background which might help with performance and battery life, and you’ll probably be able to update drivers and Windows through it. Maybe it will have some preconfigured scripts/shortcuts to install Steam, Battle.net etc. But that’s it. Expect to fall back to the desktop mode (or open a browser, terminal and Explorer window in the new gaming mode) for anything more advanced like installing emulators.
In terms of pick up and play this won’t be much different to the Steam Deck, with the one exception being Game Pass - but even then don’t expect any of the more demanding titles to run well.
There is no way they are charging 800+ for this. That’s absurd. If you’re right I’ll come back and praise you lol
There is no way they are charging €900 for this. That’s absurd. If you’re right I’ll come back and praise you lol
The ROG Ally X’s MSRP is 899,-€ and that’s what it currently costs here in Germany at least. It was as low as 799,-€ though recently, but now it’s back up. Considering this “Xbox Ally X” is the successor to it, I don’t think it’s unrealistic.
Alright I’ll admit when I’ve got it wrong, I’m looking at the price and I remember the base ally at £600-700, forgot the extreme and all that stuff at 900.
Alright I’ll admit when I’ve got it wrong, I’m looking at the price and I remember the base ally at £600-700, forgot the extreme and all that stuff at 900.
You’re good, no worries. We’re all just speculating anyway, there isn’t really a right or wrong.
I’d just be surprised if it’d come down in price one model to the next considering prices for tech in general. Maybe Microsoft made a special deal with ASUS, but I think the base model with the Z2 A is what they’ll use to rectify the price of the Z2 Extreme model.
the steam deck is getting long in the tooth technology wise
lolwut? The Deck was released only three years ago.
And how long do you think a $300-$400 handheld PC is supposed to stay on the cutting edge?
You can already see its ability to play AAA games slipping. It’s an incredibly impressive machine but the days of BG3/cyberpunk/etc. dropping on it and being solid experiences are wrapping up. I’m sure it has several years of viability in store but come on.
And how long do you think a $300-$400 handheld PC is supposed to stay on the cutting edge?
You can already see its ability to play AAA games slipping. It’s an incredibly impressive machine but the days of BG3/cyberpunk/etc. dropping on it and being solid experiences are wrapping up. I’m sure it has several years of viability in store but come on.
Nintendo wiped the floor in the mobile gaming market for decades despite their competitors having beefier specs. The DS lasted for years before we ever got the Switch. Let the Steam Deck mature.
The steamdeck has matured and because of its architecture there is no meaningful upgrade or change you can do to it yourself besides storage.
Valve has made it very clear they have no plans to release another one, the OLED was their final refresh of the design. Their focus in that arena is on bringing steamOS to different platforms, perhaps another round of Steam machines, but they have explicitly said they are not taking another crack at mobile hardware right now.
Even if you’re correct, it’s still too early, anyway. That’s my point.
The DS had a seven-year lifespan and the original Switch had eight. Even living room console have an average near decade long lifespan. So, of course Valve isn’t going to throw their money into a second generation.
The DS had countless iterations and refreshes. The Switch was Nintendo’s flagship product. I also never said the steamdeck was useless or done. You know I didn’t, yet you pretend like I’m treating it as if its practically e-waste. I was very specific/nuanced in how I talked about it. I don’t know why this is such an important hill for you to die on but I think I’m being more than fair to the deck.
But like the Xbox Series S it is starting to show some age on more demanding titles.
Sounds like this is more of the fault of the AAA publishers than the console makers.
It doesn’t matter whose fault it is.
It fucking does matter. I’m tired of this stupid rat race.
Dude come on why are you making me be so prescriptive?
Yes it matters in the grand sense of things. I care about the state of the industry and gaming.
It does not matter re: the subject I am talking about, i.e. whether or not the steamdeck is getting older/its AAA capabilities. I am talking about realties, you are trying to make this a discussion about values.
samus12345The difference is that nobody’s releasing games specifically made for the Deck. Some are including optimizations to make their games run decently well on it, but it’s not a AAA machine. I bought one knowing this full well and am satisfied playing less demanding games on it, but it’s not going to be playing new demanding games, unlike with dedicated consoles.