Microsoft and Asus announce two Xbox Ally handhelds with new Xbox full-screen experience
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:::It fucking does matter. I'm tired of this stupid rat race.
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It fucking does matter. I'm tired of this stupid rat race.
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Sounds like yet another great handheld device [to install SteamOS on]!
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:::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.
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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.
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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 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.
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I suspect handhelds are going to be the future for awhile now. It's not just out of a growing demand or simply because portable graphics processing and battery power have improved (although those factors do help) but it's another chance to:
- Push locked hardware
- Funnel to controlled storefronts
- Bring down and moderate the increasingly unsustainable AAA development costs
Those first two aren't particularly surprising, they're the key elements that Nintendo has honed in on while Sony and particularly Microsoft continue to struggle. Microsoft feels like they've just left XBox to languish while they focus on Game Pass as a means to ensnare you into their economy which is why they're first down this path, but I think Sony will follow shortly. In an ideal world, I'd love to see Sony get back to hardware manufacturing with a Vita like device you could load Linux/SteamOS onto. Vita was a great little product, done so dirty. EDIT: I know the Portal exists, but that's mostly just a dumb receiver as far as I understand it. Still, they're already not too far off ... come on guys, just a little further.
But moreover it's that last point, really. It's hard to continue to push out these extraordinarily big budget, bordering on AAAA (lol) territory games that continue to flop. I know the Switch 2 is already doing stuff like Cyberpunk 2077, but that stuff can still be hell on battery life as well as requiring lower resolution and lowered visuals in portable mode.
I feel like Nintendo is making a big mistake pushing that 4K60 envelope with the Switch 2, although I see why they made that maneuver. The Switch was perpetually underpowered and they felt the need to close that gap, but they already struggle to push out big budget tentpole franchises as is illustrated by Mario Kart World being the only big release title. Also, I just want to generally point this out, Nintendo suffers from needing to up the stakes. It's what lead to Mario Galaxy being such a grand adventure, then Odyssey going even bigger than that. Now we have Kart World because ... gotta get bigger than 8 Deluxe somehow I guess.
I don't know what any of this means or where it's going, I just wanted to try and call out some of these observations. Turbulent times ahead, I don't know that anyone really knows what the next 2-3 years will look like.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]I know the Switch 2 is already doing stuff like Cyberpunk 2077
It's 4 1/2 years old and already runs on other handhelds. Not really an impressive feat.
they already struggle to push out big budget tentpole franchises as is illustrated by Mario Kart World being the only big release title.
Yeah, I read that they only released something like 22 original titles in the 8 years the Switch has been around. That's not counting any ports, remasters, and the like, which make up a hefty chunk of their Switch releases. They got away with it before because so few people had a Wii U, but they need to up their game to make the Switch 2 appealing to the masses, especially with the high price tag. It's not a promising start, with announced titles being Donkey Kong Bananza (which looks great) and a whole bunch of Switch 1 upsells, including Metroid Prime 4, which will be released for both consoles. Feels like they're trying to cannibalize their Switch 1 releases the way they did their Wii U ones, but 150 million Switches were sold. People already played these games if they were interested in them.
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Steam Deck appreciator myself and this does seem like a good starting point for Xbox. I’m interested to see how it progresses over the years.
Not saying I'd get one, but I am a Xbox gamer. It's where the majority of my purchases are. I hardly play PC because I just don't like sitting at a desk, when I'm in a desk chair most of the day. I maybe have 3-4 games on steam, but my PC is getting old just found out even though my graphics card can do ray tracing, my processor is only 2.9ghx and recommended min is 3.2 and can't run the new doom game.
So if you were to get one would you stay with the steam deck or wait for the Asus?
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But what for? Nothing makes it better, even if you would get this equivalent feature.
Why not?
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safsafsfsafs
:::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.
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But what for? Nothing makes it better, even if you would get this equivalent feature.
I have an Xbox Series S for my little one and Direct Resume is such a nice QoL feature. Having 8 games always ready and only takes 3 seconds to resume even after you turned off and unplug the console is very useful. There’s some games on my handheld PC I didn’t bother playing since launching it can take a long time.
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I have an Xbox Series S for my little one and Direct Resume is such a nice QoL feature. Having 8 games always ready and only takes 3 seconds to resume even after you turned off and unplug the console is very useful. There’s some games on my handheld PC I didn’t bother playing since launching it can take a long time.
Right. But I meant if SteamOS or Bazzite had that feature already for the ROG Ally, why reinstall an objectively worse OS when it also gains that feature?
I may be misunderstanding something.
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Not saying I'd get one, but I am a Xbox gamer. It's where the majority of my purchases are. I hardly play PC because I just don't like sitting at a desk, when I'm in a desk chair most of the day. I maybe have 3-4 games on steam, but my PC is getting old just found out even though my graphics card can do ray tracing, my processor is only 2.9ghx and recommended min is 3.2 and can't run the new doom game.
So if you were to get one would you stay with the steam deck or wait for the Asus?
Looking at your use case, I would go with Asus. You would already have a decent library because of some Xbox Play Anywhere titles, plus there is also gamepass.
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Looking at your use case, I would go with Asus. You would already have a decent library because of some Xbox Play Anywhere titles, plus there is also gamepass.
I’d agree with this to be honest. As much as I love my Steam Deck I’m not sure it’s the choice they’re looking for. But, I also haven’t used any other Asus offerings with handhelds, to make a full run down of advice and comparison.
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This post did not contain any content.wrote on last edited by [email protected]
And yet, they still think they're too good to put track pads on it.
I don't think these companies are aware that what made the deck popular was it knew what it was and that it had a lot to prove, and so it featured a very focused design that differentiated it from PCs as a worthwhile form factor, but also provided methods for adding compatibility to just about any game, and thus allowed it to compensate for being in a form factor that is just sometimes inherently inconvenient for PC gaming. It wasn't just a gaming pc with an Xbox controller taped to it, which this is.
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Right. But I meant if SteamOS or Bazzite had that feature already for the ROG Ally, why reinstall an objectively worse OS when it also gains that feature?
I may be misunderstanding something.
Nope, Bazzite or SteamOS doesn’t have that functionality.
Here’s a video showing how it works. If they managed to put this on Windows I’d be very tempted.
Mind that this is different from pausing the game. The OS is suspending the game state into the disk, so it’s more similar to emulator snapshots functionality.
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But what for? Nothing makes it better, even if you would get this equivalent feature.
Compatibility for one. Also unpopular opinion here, but I actually like Windows and use it on my main desktop. So having everything run the same thing does add some conveniences. The only thing I really like about SteamOS right now is really just the battery life and the quick resume from sleep. If Windows gets those through this initiative, then I don't really have any reason to stick with SteamOS.
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Not saying I'd get one, but I am a Xbox gamer. It's where the majority of my purchases are. I hardly play PC because I just don't like sitting at a desk, when I'm in a desk chair most of the day. I maybe have 3-4 games on steam, but my PC is getting old just found out even though my graphics card can do ray tracing, my processor is only 2.9ghx and recommended min is 3.2 and can't run the new doom game.
So if you were to get one would you stay with the steam deck or wait for the Asus?
I get your point but the speed of the CPU means nothing without mentioning the specific model. My old i7-4790k came stock at 4.4GHz and would massively struggle to run modern games, but if I underclocked my current 7600x to 3.2GHz it would easily handle the latest games at 60 FPS.
