WildConcept6

@Ricky-Spanish My only hangup is that normally Sony would advertise the crap out of that.

@Medic_alert This generation was the first I skipped PS and Nintendo (Switch 2). I don't see myself changing that because I'm having more fun than ever. And this is after I always owned every single console out out by all three growing up (from N64 hand me downs to the ps4pro). But I started to dislike what those platforms were doing, how framengted my own gaming was, and in general found myself having less fun. What I've seen from all three platforms this generation has only affirmed me in my decision.

All gaming is is entertainment (fun). If Xbox is causing you to feel negative then drop it lack a sack of dusty potatoes. And the sooner the better if you want to build up your library on another platform or if you have the other platforms and just want to make sure you don't buy anymore games on Xbox. And if PC gaming isn't fun for you then don't go to PC. I'm optimistic for Xbox's future and increasingly pleased with their present. The Xbox 360 was the first console that was MINE (in my room) and not the family's, and I have nostalgia for it, but honestly if you turned back the clock I'd be incredibly disappointed in the value it offered me compared to my current Series S and X. That's me. I can explain why I feel optimistic for Xbox's future and why I'm having more fun, and I'll always push back on the doom & gloom. But in reality the wider conversation doesn't matter. It's all a personal experience. If Xbox is giving you bad mojo jojo or otherwise impeding your ability to feel like you're having fun while gaming then don't give a **** about what me or anyone else has to say. Smash it with a baseball bat if that's cathartic for you.

@kmtrain83 No comparison to the Switch 2 really works for this device. It's the difference between a PC and Console. It quickly becomes rather moot. Also, if all you're looking for is a 1080p resolution for games then there's cheaper options than this device that deliver that for PC handhelds. I have a Lenovo Legion Go which sports a beautiful screen. There's also a OLED Steam Deck. Z1E devices in general will remain very capable and already outclass the switch 2. I'm not sure it's coming across well, but the literal only similarity between this device and the switch 2 is that the they can both be played in your hand. The difference in game support are "Nintendo games + ports" vs "literally every game that launches" (I'm not exaggerating; I have a legion go, things are only off limit if I'm lazy and not willing to mess with settings). There's multiple storefronts, universal free cloud saves, no paid multiplayer at all (for free or paid games), and tons of free games.

I do think you should wait for reviews and breakdowns, because if you're only viewing this from a perspective of a Switch, then you're missing a lot with it. I'll let the other technical savy commentors talk about screen resolution and I'll also say that if this device interests you at all and the one worry is screen resolution than you have a whole host of other options from other PC manufacturers. And I'll also say that judging purely by the comments I see on both sides whenever screen resolution gets brought up, yeah I think there's tons of people who don't care. I mean heck, speaking of the original switch was a 1280x720 LCD screen in 2017 and it sold tons.

@Medic_alert I get that. Capitalism sucks. In part I blame consoles for how they chose to compete personally. The walled gardens didn't make a environment that was friendly to new consumers. Walled gardens persisted even within the same ecosystem.. Literally just last gen it was "mormal" that your entire library got nuked and made incompatible. Console gaming never supported each other which limited the entire market and limited the consoles appeal.

And speaking of how terrible capitalism is, we're already seeing consoles encroach on gaming PC prices all while lacking any of the benefits PC offers. The Nintendo Switch 2 costs more than the baseline steam deck. The PS5 Pro launched at $700 without a stand or disc drive.

I'm not too worried about console sales because despite covid, despite cross-gen support holding on this long, despite "no Xbox console required" cloud gaming, despite same day PC since last gen, despite multiplatform releases, despite barely any marketing and poor regional support, and despite the terrible pricing the series consoles have actually sold pretty good. The estimates are between 25 million & 40 million in 5 years. That's not terrible. It's better than most consoles historically. It's better than most Nintendo home consoles. Like for comparison the game cube sold 20 million in five years and the WiiU like 13 million in that same time. Xbox hasn't had a MASSIVE decline. They just haven't had any significant growth. Again, no crystal ball, but to me I expect the audience of Xbox console buyers to remain just not grow. And that's where the PC and cloud push comes in and where all of Xbox could benefit from it.

Again, no crystal ball. On the one hand we could get an Xbox that feels like a traditional console while having more benefits (like free paid games multiplayer) and overall value through the more unified ecosystem. On the other hand we could get a PC that barely feels like an Xbox. I lean towards the former personally. I see Xbox consoles as a mature product. That's part of the problem, but that also means it's a cash cow that Microsoft would be incentivized not to disrupt too much. I think where Microsoft needs to do the most work is in bringing Xbox PC and Xbox Cloud in line with Xbox consoles (making the former feel as good playing as the latter and all of them feel familiar). I think the console audience will mostly remain the same with steady upgrades and until we start to see them age out of gaming entirely.

God I just want that software on my Lenovo Legion Go. Microsoft gave a vague "2026" to roll it out for more devices. Hopefully it won't be too long. Also, I hope Microsoft takes notes for their other products. A similar experience for a "tablet" mode would be greatly appreciated.

@Fiendish-Beaver We have leaked prices, but I feel like they're watching the market, economy, and US tarrifs very very closely. They're probably afraid to jump the gun and then have to raise prices (that'd bring on so much had press).

So super resolution is something Microsoft has been leveraging in copilot+ PCs, but with those being largely ARM based we haven't been able to se much of them. Digital foundry has an interesting vid there though. Not sure how stuff like the automatic game captures will be taken (though I guess that already existed but it was just tied to achievements). Curious what else they'll "test" though.

@Medic_alert I can understand the concern, but I really don't think it's quite that bleak or quite that black and white.

Xbox in its last podcast announced double digit growth for first party transactions AND third party transactions citing greater game support than ever and more engagement on console platforms (which is what they keep saying in legally binding contracts; less new users but greater engagement from existing console users). Xbox is growing as a publisher while also growing as a console platform holder. They wouldn't be emphasizing the latter if they didn't intend to keep supporting that space. Just in general I think Xbox users are too valuable for Microsoft to completely abandon them or abandon the ways they can make money off of them, especially when they consistently report higher spending from Xbox console users.

But I also don't have a crystal ball. I'm not concerned for Xbox, but who really knows? The Xbox One had all the right ideas and all the worst execution after all. So it wouldn't be the first time Xbox strikes out when they could've hit a grand slam. Though to the general worry of Xbox going away, I will say that I don't think consoles were ever incredibly sustainable. I mean they're so different from anything else right? It's not just dedicated hardware, but dedicated software. I can pop a movie dvd into any dvd player, but I can't play my Xbox discs on my PS5. Consoles are a big reason why game preservation is such an ongoing topic. And we're currently not seeing a positive trend of growth in the console market for brand new gamers. Eventually all platforms will die off, but Xbox is the only one with a clear endgame. But regardless of what the future of Xbox is, we don't have to rush to follow them. Last gen held on, really is still holding on, and the Xbox series consoles have reason to hold on even longer.

If it's getting ported to the Switch 2 then I want to see it on the Xbox One consoles 😛 /s

@Ricky-Spanish I swear this is going to be the gaming conspiracy theory for the next decade or so.

I'm really curious to see the final verdict on Series S and the game overall. Does it finally have stable performance? I've only ever hear about issues on the highest end PCs and PS5Pro.

@darylb24 I think by this point it's been sufficiently proven that the Series S isn't an impossibility that kills game development for this gen. It's a matter of time and optimization. And often that additional time and optimization can benefit everyone (like with Baldur's Gate 3 (and to that note Larian did even pull off split screen with the Series S which was the initial issue)). Now, I'll give Game Science the benefit of the doubt. They did out themselves and say it was their fault for not being good at optimization. But my stance is still that it should've been delayed for all platforms. What we ultimately got was that they brute forced the game on the more powerful machines that could be brute forced. Jokes were made, but I'd honestly say Playstation and PC gamers suffered more being delivered a product that could've greatly benefited from more time in the oven. But I guess why should game science care looking at their sales figures? Likewise consumers didn't show their care. Maybe Game Science took a deal to push it on PS5 and "took their time" with Xbox or maybe it was genuine development issues, but either way I see a game that was released prematurely and rewarded for it (be it by a western audience or Chinese one; it doesn't matter, the outcome remains the same and I really have no faith in their next game as a result).

@NeoRatt Yup. It's pretty disheartening how some people genuinely treat exclusives going multiplatform like they "lost" that game or who treat exclusives like a bragging right. We're talking about a business model that was literally predicated on you buying particular hardware for the PRIVELEGE to then buy a particular game. It doesn't get more predatory than that. People saying it's bad business FOR Microsoft or Sony are one thing. But grow adults (mostly grown men) acting like they got their soul ripped out over multiplatform ports is really sad.

What sucks is that this was the intent. A lot of companies these days use psychology to turn consumers against each other, thus making them easier to exploit, and have them bully others into conformity, thus turning consumers into soldiers that convert friends and family. There's whole studies on it with Apple and their Blue vs Green text book. It's all psychological warfare to instill an Us vs Them mentality. Unfortunately this is can be said about a lot these days. Everything is so polarizing. And the worst part is that people are often not even arguing to their benefit, but the benefit of the rich getting richer.

@kmtrain83 Graphics are a bit misleading. This is a far more powerful machine than the Switch 2 and would have access to far more games. It's a PC. You have infinite possibilities but less of a catered experience. If you're comparing to a Switch 2, I'd look at what you WANT to play on a handheld.

Though in general a notebook PC, I'm assuming that's for productivity, just sounds more useful. I mean you're on this website and forum. I feel like I can assume you have "a" current gen console. It's not like you wouldn't be able to game at all without this device, right?

I'm going to be honest, I won't believe any price, even one officially announced by ASUS and Xbox, because prices have been changing so much these past several months, really these past several years. How many regional price increases did the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles get this generation? This year alone saw the Xbox Series consoles have a crazy price increase due to the tarrifs. Even Nintendo raised prices on their LAST GENERATION Switch consoles. ASUS and AMD specifically would be heavily impacted by tarrifs, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say they aren't manufacturing the device in the states. Price has become really fickle these days.

@Medic_alert On the flipside one could argue that Microsoft is finally doing what they should have eons ago and working to make gaming on Windows not the Absolute worst using Xbox. Xbox has been natively a PC storefront and PC brand since like 2016 and Microsoft's gaming endeavors predate the Xbox console. Windows is by far a bigger gaming platform than any console. That it's taken Microsoft this long to leverage their gaming experiences across platforms to benefit Windows Gaming is the only issue I have here. Valve somehow did it first despite Xbox always having being built on a fork of windows. I don't see this as them devaluing the console brand. I see it as Microsoft finally leveraging their strengths to make provide more value both platforms. This push into Xbox on PC has already led to a greater push for Xbox play anywhere and Xbox finally delivering on owned cloud games. Let Xbox PC OEMs grow in the markerts Xbox consoles struggle in, which are a lot because Microsoft is is trash at marketing (you speak of devaluing the brand when the reality is many people in countries outside the USA barely know Xbox exists outside of jokes made at Xbox's expense). And it all adds value to the console as Microsoft moves forward with a unified ecosystem. I'd get your concern if we weren't seeing more developers support Xbox consoles than ever and I'll join you with pitchforks if the next Xbox console doesn't have backwards compatibility as promised. But what I see is Xbox finally waking up and realizing they ARE NOT Playstation or Nintendo. Xbox's strength has always been being built on Windows and Microsoft has always been a software company. I don't think the traditional console will cease, it still makes a lot of money and has a dedicated user base that's consistently showing more play hours and increased spending. But I also think Xbox is making the right move in evolving beyond consoles. They're finally taking advantage of what they can leverage that no competitor can. And really what risk of devaluing the brand? It's already unfairly shat on or completely ignored outside of Xbox oriented sites and forums like this. Xbox as a brand won't exist at all if they don't make forward thinking moves like this. The console market has stalled and Xbox is in third place. They're the first to face the brunt of the fire. The fact that even Sony has moved to releasing on PC with increased frequency (and now Xbox) should tell you how dire things are.

@InterceptorAlpha Mobile?

I don't expect why we'd ever expect the creators behind a game to want to gatekeep it from potential gamers. That'd be like an artists actively wanting it to be more difficult for people to enjoy their art. Exclusivity benefits the suits. Not the content creators or the people who consumer said content. And at this point it's looking like it benefits no one in both the short term and long term.

Pleas let this be the first good DC game in a while 🥺. Like, not just dumb fun, but genuinely good.

Boo! Get that 2 out of here. I know nothing about this game except that the internet tells me it should titled "Lords of the Fallen" (2026) 😂.

I feel like it was what it supposed to be. It passed the test. Gamescom isn't a mountain of reveals, but about deeper dives and showfloor experiences.

Never played Bubsby and that comment section under the vid is killing me 😂. He-Man is my big one from here. A beat em up from the universe is amazing. Everything looks great for the rest of the year, but at the same time why is October so congested? Especially for Xbox Game Studios. I get not being able to make September due to polish and what-not, but I wouldn't mind one of those games hitting early November at least. Regardless that's a first world complaint. A well tempered opening night.

Lmao are they really moving on to the next game before fixing this one? If so as developers I can't say they have my faith. Also, yeah, the last game was supposed to launch on Xbox until the last minute due to "reasons". These things happen. Stellar Blade was originally annocued for Xbox and last gen (in its project form) until it wasn't. My problem with Game science is how they weren't even transparent about it (they didn't even clearly state the Series S was the problem until long past its launch). As a consumer what relationship have they built with me to make me remotely interested in their next title?

@Sol76 Same. I think we'll get an XCloud Game Pass (or whatever) beta tier by the end of this year (like Xbox Game Pass PC was in beta) and then a full launch sometime next year. This along with all those major tech upgrades for stream quality we need.

The "Next Gen Xbox" feels more like an Xbox Gaming Empire than a single system, and I'm all here for that. If they can pull it off that'll be great. Xbox engineers are best in class and Xbox is uniquely positioned to really build out a ubiquitous ecosystem across PC, Console, and Cloud. I just hope they execute it well.

What a whirlwind of news. Imagine a console warrior just woke up after being in a coma for five years and they see a Playstation logo slapped on a game with a Halo collab coming. It'd be like being told Santa is real at your aunt's wedding where Santa becomes your new uncle.

I feel like nothing any of us says or thinks matters anymore. To the majority of the console audience this is Playstation and Xbox shaking hands. We don't just have another PS exclusive going to Xbox this time published by Playstation themselves, we have said PS wholly owned IP doing a collab with Xbox's OG Flagship IP. And as far as the public is concerned this is all Sony's idea (whether if that's true or not doesn't matter; what matters is that's how Arrowhead presented it and that's what perception becomes). And whatever Sony intends doesn't matter as much as how this will be perceived. Maybe it's "just Helldivers 2" or "just live service" but for how long? Regardless, I don't think this is how you "lean" into multiplatform. This is ripping a bandaid off lickity split knowing the scream that follows will be piercing.

@dimi I mean Xbox Game Studios (so not ABK or Bethesda) has released more games in the past 5 years than the former Microsoft Studios did during the Xbox One era. Plus the Xbox One only lasted 7 years. I think it's just how long cross gen has (and still is) remained and just all the global events sucking this year away from us all. Like you said those first 2 years of this generation are basically a black void. This gen really only "started" (by traditional standards) in 2023 and it's not until 2025-2026 that we're seeing last gen get dropped by the biggest games. Yet matching the Xbox One seven years would be in 2027. Regardless of how you dice it this gen should be in it's "twilight years" 😅. Though I'm not sure Xbox or PS owners would wholly agree that they are... it's just the way things have gone.

How old GTA V and Skyrim are is another issue entirely. The entire landscape has just changed.

@Banjo- Going from an Xbox One to a Series consoles was SEAMLESS. It's crazy how understated that is. Everything just worked and it worked better. The FPS boosts program for backwards compatible games was crazy. But if you ask a lot of people that was part of the problem. The Xbox Series consoles never "felt" like a huge change. You weren't forced to pay to upgrade your games and even the console UI used a familiar language. You could still use your Xbox controller from last gen. Xbox Cloud Gaming was even touted as a way for forward compatibility on Xbox One.

Consumer business is a psychological monster. There's this old story of a jewelry store that was trying to sell jewelry but couldn't. The owner then told the store attendant to massively mark down the price, but there was a mixup and the attendant accidentally marked the price of the jewelry way up. Only THEN were people interested. I'm not at all saying it was the same for Xbox this gen, but that overall a lot more goes into a consumer business than just delivering the best product or even the most value, because it's all about communicating perceived value to potential consumers.

Gaming as a whole has just struggled to move people forward this generation. And consoles have struggled to change the landscape. People are set. And worse new gamers aren't choosing consoles at all. Xbox needed a big change in consumer habits. But they delivered their best products at a time when most people weren't looking and they delivered their worst product (the Xbox One) at a time when more people had been. 2026 is truly the best chance Xbox, Playstation, and gaming as a whole is going to get this generation. And for Xbox if they're truly eyeing 2027 for next gen then we'll just get a repeat of this one. I hope they have a plan ready to take advantage of 2026. Moving forward though gaming as a whole will have to find more ways to reach new gamers. Console gaming will especially have to answer this question or be okay existing in their niche (like Nintendo (but even that will dictate rising prices)). For Xbox the start is with marketing. Again, all that matters to consumers is perceived value and Xbox HAS to communicate their value better. It doesn't matter what the competition is doing when the competition's consumer base barely knows you exist. Last gen Sony did commercials directly attacking Xbox's confusing and disliked Xbox One changes like with game sharing. That's a simple and effective manner of telling people what value the PS4 has and that it offers more value than the Xbox One. What did Xbox really do? YouTube clips and Xbox Wire posts? Where's the billboards explaining Xbox Play Anywhere or the TV ads talking about free cloud saves and game pass and smart delivery and backwards compatibility and FPS boosts? Xbox does so much to give value to its consumers that the other consoles don't even entertain or are actively gatekeeping behind pay walls. But you wouldn't really know it unless you're already an Xbox user (and not even all Xbox users understand what they're Xbox is fully capable of)

@Questionable_Duck Sheesh. These games are getting older than my nieces and nephews. I'm at least glad we're mostly out of the era of Games being announced half a decade or more before they release

@GuyinPA75 except it wasn't the Series S this gen, for the past 5 years and counting the lowest common denominator has been the Xbox One and PS4. And occasionally the Nintendo Switch. I'll be more understanding of Series S hate when we're on the Next Box and developers are still using the S for a baseline.

Look, I'm not a big tech guy. But I am a realist and luckily reality has given us the grass on the other side of the fence without the Series S, PS5 and PC only games. And they've been a complete ***** show in terms of game development. That's not as much of an exaggeration as it should be. People have been up in arms over Black Myth Wukong skipping due to the Series S, but looking at how poorly the game performs on all platforms I'm glad the Series S made them deliver a better product in Xbox. Optimization has gone out the window and people this gen have said good riddance for some reason. The games exclusively not on Xbox haven't been technological masterpieces and some didn't get properly optimized for all platforms until they came to Xbox. Baldur's Gate 3 for example got big performance boosts on all platforms due to working with the S in mind.

I don't think anyone can deny that one of the biggest problems this generation have been developers brute forcing games delivering unoptimized messes. We were promised up to 120fps and many, MANY games this gen haven't even been able to achieve a stable 60fps at launch. The games I've seen use the S as a scapegoat are ones that KNOW they effed up the development process and I never understood people defending them. I don't have a crystal ball and can't tell you the what if future, so feel free to disagree; but I truly believe gaming this generation on the whole (not just on Xbox) would be significantly worse without the Series S forcing optimization and forcing developers to scale up on Series X instead of brute forcing everything.

@Questionable_Duck Wait, how old is Final Fantasy Remake? Was it always meant to be a trilogy? I swear I remember that trailer and it felt like they positioned it as a one and done. Not a whole trilogy. 10 years is a LONG time for the full remake to not technically be done yet.

I hope Xbox PC adopts a better standard than JUST ROG ALLY "certified". That just leaves a lot of unnecessary gaps. Because ultimately ASUS is an OEM. Well I guess it's fine as long as it doesn't appear in the Xbox App on all PC devices with that blasted on every game. Really they should be using their beloved "AI" to improve automatic detection of game performance or whatever hardware.

Whatever. Doesn't really matter. And ultimately it's a good thing is going into purchasing this product there exists an official life of what games are optimized.

I already own Borderlands 3, but yeah this pretty much confirms it was just to whet people ahead of 4. Not that I'm complaining.

Sea of Stars is the standout. I'll probably buy that one. Not terribly expensive especially with the discount. I'll also probably pick up Ben 10 on sale later. As a hardcore hater of the reboot (well I guess I'm more apathetic towards it than anything now), I really enjoyed that game. It was simple, but reminded me a lot of playing Ben 10 games as a kid.

The reviews I've heard about Shenmue 3 from big fans of the franchise have umm... not been good. But great to see that Xbox is getting a version even if it's been ages.

Pretty even distribution on the poll so far!

I think Xbox Wire does the same thing. Still somewhat odd to me because I wonder what Xbox only gamers (as Helldivers is already on PC and PS) are looking up how to buy the game on Xbox on the PS website. I guess it's just standard practice. Also, I guess I'll eventually eat my socks. Because I myself am experiencing a change where I didn't pay attention to Sony showcases at the start of this generation (didn't own a PS5) but gradually more and more PS is showing off first party games going to PC and there's even less third party exclusives with many landing on Xbox day one. We also know the same applies to Xbox showcases and recently even Nintendo. These used to be very exclusive heavy events for fans of that platform only, but that's changed a lot over just the past 5 years and now any gamer would be amiss to not at least checkout what was revealed at each show regardless of what their main or only platform is. Maybe one day I'll be checking the PS blog weekly for games coming to Xbox 😳😳

1) I will never get over how badly the internet rejected the Series S. It was made a scapegoat for problems when reality constantly showed that optimizing for it made games better for everyone in this awful gen where developers brute forced games far too often. For me the Series S was my favorite console this gen and probably ever. The size and weight for it's power is insane. I've been able to get so much use out of it due to its design. It saddens me that Microsoft probably won't pursue a series S successor due to the unfair push back the console recieved. Really, it baffles me how gamers would defend AAA publishers cutting corners just to attack the series S.

2) It's genuinely disheartening how this generation went. Hardware wise Xbox really went hard. The engineers at Xbox are freaking magicians. The Xbox Series X is a beast that is STILL under utilized, has a great simple design, and is whisper quiet. This is a big reason why I hate that Xbox getting out of hardware is even tossed around as rumor. It'd be such a big blow.

But yeah, this generation was a lameduck. I don't think any of us expected how powerful of a shift in gaming habits the forever games would cause or how long last gen consoles would hold on. Not to mention all the real world issues. First COVID delayed everything and then there were just constant price increases due to "global economic conditions". Xbox itself also just had so many growing pains. They went from like less than 5 studios in 2017 to being one of the biggest publishers 8 years later all in the midst of the entire tech industry constantly downsizing with the gaming industry hit really (all while they all report higher profits and stock valuation than never... totally not concerning at all). The ABK case took up way too much of Xbox's focus.

3) I really choose to take this literally and hope they are wrapping up the Series X|S in 2025 and moving forward with new hardware and their next generation strategy in 2026. I wouldn't see any other reason to do this "send off" to the series consoles now of all times. And 2026 really is the best year for new gaming hardware. A lot of games will finally cut support for Xbox One/PS4 and there's GTA VI. Plus Xbox will have its big 25th anniversary + in theory Fable, Halo, Forza, and Gears (and even half of those would make for a huge Xbox launch year).

@CJD87 backlash for the Switch 2 also comes from what we're used to in the console market. Hardware is "supposed" to be cheaper and until recently subsidized. That's been changing. For the power and price of the Switch 2 the price is an insane leap over the OG model.

Gaming PCs have never had that so this ROG Ally has two things going against it price wise 😅 (between the tarrifs and PC hardware costs). So far the handheld PC market for the most part has skewed between $400 and $800. My fingers are crossed for $800 for the Xbox Ally X.

@CJD87 Glad to hear! Yeah it sounds like you won't have any issues. The only other thing I'd recommend is making sure those games you want to play are Xbox Play Anywhere or have some cross save feature (if you care about having your progress). Every new first party game is and most new games that join game pass these days are, but the vast majority of the total library still isn't. That said the New Doom, Expedition 33, and Blue Prince all are XPA. But if you wanted to go back and play Doom Eternal for example that's on PC Game Pass but it's a separate version from console version so progress isn't linked.

Yeah it will be expensive. This is a windows gaming OEM at its core, an ASUS device, with Xbox software optimization. The only hope people have is that Microsoft subsidizes it, but I'd be surprised. The current ROG Ally X goes for $800 and I'd expect that as a minimum. But unfortunately it wouldn't be surprising to see it reach $1000 or more (for the premium version) in the US due to the tarrifs and current market problems.

@CJD87
1) If the subscription is on YOUR account and you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate then yes. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gives you PC game pass in addition to the console titles. PC Game Pass is similar to what you can expect on console but there are some differences in the library (some games only available on PC and some only on console). The ROG Xbox Ally is a PC, so you'll have access to PC Game Pass, EA Play, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. However, you WILL NOT be able to play on both your Xbox and your PC handheld at the same time if it's on the same account. This should be the same as if you bought two Xboxes, put them both under the same account, and tried playing a game in your library on both devices simultaneously. I think any work around would require a different profile. Just a quick disclaimer that if you're looking to play the same time as your son, you might have to make a different profile or use a different PC launcher like steam.

2) Yes. Exactly as you said. I wouldn't worry too much about power too. That is if you're looking at the premium X device. I have a lenovo Legion go which is a Z1Extreme (the Xbox ROG ALLY X will be Z2E) and I can play pretty much anything as long as I tweak the settings. If you're curious about how games might play on this handheld I'd check out any of the currently available Z1Extreme PC Handhelds. This Xbox handheld for the X version will be that + a bump (the current Asus ROG Ally X would probably be best to look at). The base Z2A version we know less about until it's out and people are testing it in the wild. Otherwise say you can download and play offline. Same rules as Xbox though where you'll need to set it as your home PC on the Xbox App to use game pass offline.

3) Yes. This is literally just a gaming PC in handheld form with an Xbox logo slapped on and an Xbox App full screen mode update preloaded. It's even by ASUS an OEM hardware manufacture. You can do anything you can do on a PC. You can find posts online of people who buy a dock and turn their handheld PC into a desktop PC and then do work on it. You can download Steam, Epic, Amazon's weird one, GOG, and whatever your heart desires. The Xbox full screen mode is even meant to combine your entire PC gaming library and make it a seamless experience to use across launchers (though we're waiting for it release to see how that is in practice).

I feel like the fact that this is "controversial" shows the bias Xbox faces. There's no good reason to be against the Xbox controller having the option of AA batteries. With my Xbox controller I can buy a rechargeable battery pack (official or unofficial), buy $1 store AAs, buy rechargeable batteries themselves, or use a cord pluged into the wall or console and use no battery. These are all options and lets the consumer decide how they want to handle controller battery issues. The idea that anyone would want Xbox to follow suit with Playstation and take it those options away is insane to me.

@AlwaysPlaying Because Xbox is Microsoft. Be thankful they're doing and attending shows far more consistently and with more presence now than in years past. The dev direct and partner preview are really nice. And also that IGN indie showcase. In the past it was just suckling off of hopium from specifically the summer showcase the entire year. They didn't even consistently attend events.

Now if I were Microsoft I'd go way harder. I'd start my own Xbox convention. Xbox first party is now beyond big enough and it'd go a long way to not just build brand loyalty and recognition, but tie gaming to Xbox. I'd also do like Sega is with the sonic symphony and host rotating fan favorite music shows of Xbox franchises (which again, massive chose to choose from) and throw in some announcements there. I'd even look into leveraging AR tech to build an e-sports stadium that you can actually attend and experience and revitalize that market. That could save e-sports and jolo-lens. Heck, they could do the same with movie theaters and make gaming movie theaters or something. A lot of thinking would have to go into it but it's not impossible (none of this are impossible but the latter half of what I said would be an undertaking to say the least but it doesn't even matter what they do, it matters that they do something).

The problem is that Microsoft isn't a consumer oriented business in the slightest and they do not understand the importance of building brand loyalty and the value in good creative marketing that builds long lasting relationships. I mean look at windows. Not a single person likes windows. Anyone that says they do (like me) just likes what is available on it and probably just hate Apple and think Linux is intimidating (and also know Linux has less software support). There's a number of reasons why, and burning fans is one, but the big one is just that they don't really have any fans. Like where's the windowscon where you dress up as a blue screen of death? Where's even the Apple like cult? Microsoft doesn't understand how powerful building a cult is. Apple fans will defend anything Apple does to death and they'll praise whatever they do as genius innovation. Microsoft can't even keep it's in person stores open. They're a cutting edge software company that flops like a fish when it comes to marketing and thus they flail and fail at building an identity and through that identity long lasting VALUABLE relationships with consumers.

Check Xbox Wire a day later! One day I might go to Germany, but I don't think I'm winning that fan fest. I also WOULD watch the fan fest live stream or some live stream, but timezones really don't match up at all where I am, and I have a job + general life responsibilities, so that's a no-go-pogo 🤗.

Will this play work? That's a question for a time traveler. But being a time traveler myself (we all are) we can look at the past 20 years and see that trying to play by Sony's rules (by Nintendo's rules, by Sega's rules, and by Atari's rules) hasn't really worked for Xbox much at all. The closest they got was when the PS3 nuked itself with an Xbox One level launch, and even then the PS3 came back and squeezed out the 360 in the tail end. Xbox IS still reeling from their disastrous Xbox One launch, but the entire console market has also just matured. Nintendo combined it's home console & handheld audience and now rests in it's niche. Sony similarly has settled on its market size and is even following Xbox in expanding as a publisher that supports more platforms. No one is at their peak in terms of raw sales anymore (even Nintendo; the Switch was their best selling single console but it's also just about the usual combination of handheld + home console buyers; it's actually a lot less than the Wii + DSi combo by pure sales). Playtime is also being sucked up by forever games. And even upgrades have slowed down a lot.

I'm going to out on a limb and say that I honestly feel more secure as an Xbox gamer than I do as a PS or Nintendo gamer (I've been a gamer of all platforms since literally before I can remember with my family starting me on the N64). As gamers we're used to losing out libraries when generations change, but it's different now isn't it? Because everything is evolving. We no longer expect to lose our games because we understand that between the internet and digital purchases (especially the crap these companies put us through). The console wars truly died when cross-play became the norm because it no longer mattered where our friends play. Consoles are stagnating because while no one was looking the Fortnites took over. And kids are flocking to their tablets (mobile games) and PC gaming. In the face of everything, the console market looks bleak. I mean just the prices they're pushing to try and keep margins steady. I see Xbox as the only console really preparing for the future and trying to evolve to stay ahead of everything. And I think in doing so they'll keep the entire ecosystem alive (including homegrown consoles).

I'm not asking anyone to agree with me. I will ask everyone to read over this comment section and their own comments. Because I'm kinda baffled over here. I think there are certainly valid concerns over the future of Xbox. But I'm just saying I see people up in arms about Xbox's future over what we all agree is a third party controller announcement. Guys those have existed for eons. They've even let third parties handle their anniversary controllers for eons. Yet Microsoft hasn't axed their own controller or killed the design lab (it's even back up after changing payment systems which is a big undertaking and not something you do for a service you don't want to support). Is there, I don't know, the slightest possible chance Microsoft isn't going to nuke the vast majority of its userbase and a massive chunk of its 20 billion+ gaming business? Even before multiplatform and ABK that was 16 billion+. Xbox console consumers are some of the most valuable consumers Microsoft has period. I'd genuinely be shocked if Microsoft threw them in a bin and settled on a future where they make less money overall. I just think that Microsoft wants to expand and is properly recognizing their own strengths and weaknesses. They thrive with third party partners. There's a future where Xbox can become the defacto name in gaming if Microsoft just pushes out its adoption. Much like how Android dominates mobile phones and Windows PCs. Microsoft has never been strictly a consumer hardware business and acting like it for the past 24 years hasn't worked for them. I think Xbox is starting to go hard playing the game by the rules Microsoft has always thrived under.

I mean it deserves to be said how much more standard Xbox controllers are than any other console just because of how many third party options exist and how Microsoft made them the standard for PC gaming. Those are all called Xbox controllers too or at least have the official sticker. And Xbox in comparison hasn't left their own controller on the wayside. People joke that Xbox makes more controller variants than they do games and then there's the whole design lab. We see the same with headsets. Xbox has their standard self manufactured headset that's great value for a reasonable price and there's also plenty of more expensive higher end headsets and cheaper lower quality ones.

I only bring this up because a lot of the chatter has turned to Xbox expanding OEMs for more hardware in the future. Asus is clearly just teasing a controller here (a really special one I guess, maybe for $200) but it's the future we are naturally questioning. I just don't see the extremist idea that it's one or the other where console OEMs or PC OEMs come in and replace first party Xbox consoles. Microsoft still makes surface windows laptops, and those make less money than Xbox. Windows is only as big as it is due to OEMs. We all know how bad Microsoft is with consumer businesses. They suck at marketing and regional support and everything in between. I'll be cautiously optimistic. I think that the idea of Xbox OEMs will just expand support for Xbox overall. Both on PC and bringing in more XPA games and native Xbox launcher games and on traditional Xbox consoles with this building out the longevity of the Xbox overall. I don't think we'll lose console support or that Microsoft will stop making traditional consoles as those still make them a LOT of money. Just like they haven't stopped making their own controller or windows hardware. The OEMs just allow them to focus while letting their overall ecosystem reach grow. Xbox PCs might become all the rage in South Korea for example and that could bring us all a ton of support from more Eastern games through XPA. There's also still the cloud which runs off the same console infrastructure. They can't easily change that especially now that they support hundreds of games. Any chance of them abandoning consoles entirely to me only exists if they're able to bring the vast majority of Xbox users forward with them. And if they have the capability to do that then that's also not a terribly bad thing. All I'm saying is that Microsoft loves money, so I think the goal here is expansion through OEMs not replacement or detraction.

My first was the Steam Deck and then I purchased the Lenovo Legion Go, and it's become my secondary gaming device after my Xbox. Really they were also my first real trist with PC gaming. The Steam Deck is where I bought and played Baldur's Gate 3 like before it even came to PS. And I've put so many hours into Hades 2. Really I love my Legion Go and PC gaming. The amount of free games I've gotten through the different storefronts + my family's Amazon prime is bonkers. And I love having access to everything from Xbox to Steam games.

The Xbox Ally is a solid product in the handheld PC market, but Microsoft is underestimating people's understanding of this market. I don't think they're unaware of how niche it is, but I do think they're unaware of how unaware casual audiences are of the fact that it exists at all. The Xbox Asus Ally is basically the ROG Ally 2, but the Xbox branding is setting entirely different expectations for what this device is. I'd buy one but it's just not necessary for me to upgrade. The Z2E isn't more powerful enough to justify it. I am eagerly awaiting that Xbox experience mode. I hope Microsoft realizes that Xbox PC could be the one ring to unite them all and help kick off the PC handheld market proper. It is a great way to get into PC gaming. I don't expect rumor minimum $600 to Rog Ally and updwarss of 1k for the X, to suddenly sell like hotcakes. Or much at all. But Xbox just needs to nail the software and UX & UK for gaming on Windows overall.

@GeeEssEff only 30%. It'd be more valuable to MS who'd be reaching a far larger audience and making 70%. The switch audiences are probably even more likely to buy Microtransactions. Nintendo might actually be discussing things and wanting to avoid Sony's current issue where a handful of third party games control the platform's revenue and suck up most of the users' playtime. Thats just speculation. Anyway, I'm not saying Nintendo is uninterested, but I don't think its a top priority for them either.

@Fiendish-Beaver Next one definitely. You'd have to go way before your time not to. The one after that umm, eh they probably they gaming rigs in whatever afterlife you believe in (and if you reincarnate you're golden). Unless there's nothing post death. That's delving into a different subject. Though hey, I'll say that as a young man my concern is living long enough to live fallout. The doomsday clock gets closer to midnight everyday...

@cragis0001 garlic and crosses is a good one. I'll start using that instead of torches and pitchforks

@fatpunkslim For me its really if Xbox can pull consistent third party support for both features. Streaming is looking reslly good and XPA is looking better than it has before. I really just want 20% of all new games XPA ready and let's say 60% cloud gaming ready. At least.

@Kaloudz @AgnosticGamer @RZ-Atom
I just wanted to say that the internet has trained me to skip down to the list and skim as much of an article as possible. Take that as you will. I don't think there's anything destructive about opinion in a quick news post, but in terms of building community I'm not sure there's anything constructive about it either. This isn't a news site and the authors never proclaim to be professional journalists. Nothing to take seriously. But again I will say that I've specifically learned to skip any sign of opinion or skim these types of articles because it's often fluff and padding. Not exactly saying thats whats here (because I didn't read it), but I think words always carry a weight. Me personally for this type of post in terms of community I like it when commentary is saved at the end and the author says what they'll be streaming or something and asks what game everyone is most excited about. I wouldn't even call suggesting that Mafia is more exciting than the rest opinionated. Speaking bluntly its the exact type of filler sentence my brain would auto delete. In that case a bit about how Xbox is including new releases in the fold and there's a chance GTA VI or all new games could launch cloud gaming ready would be more interesting and spark discussion. This is a needlessly long comment to say that I don't think any of it matters. Most people have problem also been trained by the internet to skip to the list when there's a list. As long as there's not three 8 sentence paragraph before the list...

If we're really dropping Xbox One/PS4 after this year then Black Ops 7 is probably the best chance for a native COD on Nintendo Switch 2. Maybe a port down the line. Heck, maybe they're working to bring BO6 and the Modern Warfare reboots to Switch 2.