kmtrain83

@SalaciousCrumb
I got a Series S on sale for a Xmas gift. It’s almost exclusively for Game Pass. I appreciate having a budget model, as it allows me to expand from Nintendo and Sony without spending a lot. From what I understand S outsold X by a wide margin.

I look at the retail price of a Switch 2 plus this game Gold Edition is $510 versus full price of an Xbox Series S with the game is $490, (although currently on sale.) It seems like Switch is the better choice if you are a Star Wars fan and this is your first game.

Now my car can run Skyrim

I don’t bounce around between games so for me a slow external 2 TB on my Series S is enough. There is of course a significant waiting period to transfer games but if I’m going to be playing them for 50 to 100 hours then what’s a few minutes? Right now I have Indiana Jones playable with Starfield and Claire Obscur on the back up.

@BAMozzy
This is an intriguing device to be sure. I feel it is aimed at a thin slice of the market that are willing to compromise on performance to get a couch friendlier version compared to a gaming laptop with a Bluetooth controller. The price is well above what I payed for my kid's laptop, although the spec are better (Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 6 17.3-in Gaming Laptop AMD Ryzen 5 5600H 3.30 GHz 6-Core NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB 16GB RAM 1TB SSD) was on sale $857.49 in 2022. If I was to spring for this Lenovo or the ROG then it would likely also have to be docked at times as a laptop / desktop system. I don't know if I would buy this as well as a regular laptop which would double the costs into the 2-3 K range. By that point, the fact that I'm saving a few bucks as month by not paying for online/social features does not resonate. I also would compare to Xbox Series S that I got on sale at Target for $240 a couple years ago.

@Ricky-Spanish
I remain interested in this product, but I want to wait for pricing and reviews. My concern is as this march toward hybrid console – PC continues what we may end up with is high-end PC hardware up front cost combined with expensive software cost inherited from the console market. The worst of both worlds. I doubt most people will use a handheld Xbox as their primary gaming device, so it is an additional cost on top of things they most likely will still want or need including a traditional console and a PC for work and school.

I'm at an age that I literally worry about my coronaries during a jump-scare

Can't win them all

The main sticking point for me as I also am in the market for a laptop PC next year and for the $900, I think the laptop would have more functionality.
I tried streaming Dungeons of Hinterburg to my 2019 MacBook Pro bootcamp load to Windows 10, Xbox app and it ran horribly. I didn’t bother trying anything else.
On the other hand, we got an Amazon Fire Stick HD Max on our upstairs TV and I played a game of FIFA at a pretty good estimated 30 FPS.
I’ll wait till this ROG device is out in the real world and see how it does

@WildConcept6
I'm liking what I see so far. I wonder how much of the credit (and revenue sharing) goes to ASUS vs Xbox.
Will we see a Lenovo PS Portal S?
This market is getting interesting.

I will keep an eye out of this. I might get it as a secondary device in 2026. I wonder how much of the credit goes to ASUS vs Xbox. I haven't previously considered getting a PC handheld, and my only point of reference for the UI is the other consoles.

@BAMozzy
Ok TBH, I did not do a "deep dive" as it seems you have done. I mostly reacted to the article from PureXbox "the cheaper one is meant for 720p gaming at lower graphical settings, while the more expensive one targets a 1080p resolution." With all this AI upscaling it seems that we can't just compare apples to apples like you could with Gamecube vs Xbox vs PS2. I am interested in this product, but I will wait for reviews and official pricing. I am not trying to dampen anyone's interest either.

@WildConcept6
Hi yes I have an OLED Switch. My son has a Switch 2 with a 1080p screen. In order to get the 1080p on the ROG Xbox Ally X it will cost $899.99 USD, which is twice the Switch price. I appreciate there are other factors involved, not just screen resolution. That being said, since when have gamers who "care," not cared about screen resolution? It's one of the foundational criteria of computer graphics for half a century.

@BAMozzy
I was mostly referring to the 720p since Switch 2 screen is 1080p. I appreciate your insight into the other aspects involved.

When I play Switch in handheld mode, it is mostly when I'm feeling tired. I often play in bed at night, where I don't have the time and energy to tweak settings versus plug and play for 30-60 minutes before beddy bye. I hope this "mostly compatible" stuff does not require extra work on the user end to get the game running.

I need to get back to the Lost Crown. As with many of these kind of titles, I got stuck somewhere and dropped off.

I already played it on Switch, but I am glad this is getting wide release. I'd actually look forward to a sequel, since the ending I got (limited spoiler?), seemed to leave room for a new adventure?

They could probably set the base price down, and try to nickel and dime with accessories.
$30 plastic stand, anyone?

Tempted... and yet....

I don't know. I'm also looking the get a new notebook computer next spring, and I think that $899 would be more useful if spent on that. As I said before, I'll wait and see how these review and perform on the games that I like. The 720p version could be okay if on sale, but it is already $100 more than Swtich 2 will lesser graphics?

@Coletrain
Did they announce a price? This might be my first Steam Deck type device.

I started Marvel Midnight Suns

Life is fleeting, especially if you are a digital game.

I thought it was heavily insinuated that this handheld would run Steam games? Is this just to improve the interface?

I wonder if by then there will be any hype left for this game among PlayStation players. I would actually consider getting a Starfield DualSense controller

Still getting it on Switch and not Xbox

@WildConcept6
In the end, we don't know what the Microsoft Corporation will decide to do with this piece of hardware, but I imagine it will come down to spreadsheets, as opposed to the sentiment of gamers.
On a positive note, I got an Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max for my son's TV, along with the ethernet dongle. It works fairly well, so for $50 [total price] we have a device upstairs that upgrades that TV in a major way. Given that both the Series S and PS5 are in the basement, I could see this as an incentive to get a multiplatform title on Xbox instead of Playstation, because it would be playable in more rooms. Too bad he is mostly playing Roblox, Minecraft, Valorant with his friends on PC (a lot this summer.)

@WildConcept6
Why I cannot answer for the original poster from my standpoint I lived through the end of Atari and Sega, and although they remain alive to some degree as game publishers, it’s just not the same as being a hardware manufacturer. There are people who want Xbox to keep producing Xboxes.

I wonder how far away we are from having an AI script that does the ports to other consoles for you

I got John Wick: Hex for $1.99 on Xbox right before it was delisted. Xbox was the only platform that dropped down from the $19.99 list price, otherwise I likely would have got it for Switch. Now it is safely dowloaded and on the backlog...

@GameOverScreen
My son just installed an Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max on his old Sony plasma 1080p TV. It was $35 on sale and we also got a $15 ethernet adapter to get 1 Gig hardwire. I played a match of EA Sports FC 26 on the built-in Xbox app using a third-party controller. Overall, I’d say it was not too bad. He’s happy with being able to play Xbox in his bedroom TV and not having to track down two floors to the basement TV. For me the price was pretty good compared to having two consoles.
I guess I’m a little more open to the “ all streaming”, no dedicated hardware” future then was two days ago, although I guess it just depends on how it all evolves.

@Kaloudz
After the Sony-Concord fiasco, even being ready to ship is not enough to avoid the guillotine.

@CallMeDuraSouka
I’m also in the health field and except for Dr. McCoy on Star Trek most futuristic healthcare is either robot android hologram or combination. It’s what science fiction has always held as the future for healthcare professionals.

@Millionski

I am mildly interested in this hand held device since I do own Nintendo but so far nothing in the PC or Steam Deck space. I will wait for reviews.

I also look at the console as still the best option for people who invest heavily in a large TV and surround sound system. The typical Windows PC is not optimized for that set up.

PC console and mobile remain multi billion dollar markets, so hopefully they will remain viable, and not go the way of arcades.

Yeah, it’s interesting. They keep saying they’re making a console with AMD but people still doubt.
If we’re in speculation mode, then I wonder what will be the price, power, and release date relative to PS5 Pro which could presumably still be Sony‘s flagship at the time.
The current Series X is not competitive in terms of power vs price, and the latter seems to be a choice that was made recently.

It must be a slow news day to ask about this after “almost “two years maybe just wait for the exact two year anniversary.

I haven’t tried it yet. The Series S has a limited hard drive capacity so I have to be choosy.

@BAMozzy
Hello. You brought up a couple of technical points that are quite interesting. I don't quite understand the concept you stated " games on Steam that require MS Windows and MS Direct X API's to work, which really impacts them negatively on Steamdeck and can make them unplayable (don't work well with the Proton Layer)," but it kind of reminds me how Microsoft used it's position in the 1980's to dominate over Apple/McIntosh. Might they pull this over on PC against the other platforms by making them wonky in Windows?

The other mention is since it is Prime Day in the US, I forked over $35 for a Fire Stick 4K Max, and I'm eager to try out Gamepass this weekend on my bedroom TV, since we keep the Series S in the basement TV room.

@SeaDaVie
Yes, I get it. Corporate double-speak can be grating. They say how great you are while handing you a pink slip. I don't think this is limited to the gaming industry.

It's interesting they mention "sources... tell me.... microtransactions." I wonder how much of it is microtransactions, since that seems to be the bulk of what my kids ask for, when I reach into my wallet.

@Millionski

Maybe that is what the industry needs right now is to reconnect to creativity and gameplay, rather than the technology arms race.

When I was growing up, we all wanted better graphics, but my kids today like everything to look pixelated. They have been conditioned by Minecraft and Roblox.

I’m won’t be rushing out to buy a 16K TV anytime soon.

@PushButtons
Compared to the Xbox, PS2, GameCube generation, I’m rather enjoying the slightly different lanes they have taken. I am extremely fortunate to have all the consoles. We use the PS5 as our AAA device on the big TV. There’s also a Series S for Gamepass offerings. I played Indiana Jones over the holidays, and I thought it was great. The Switch 2 is in my kids room on an older TV (not 4K). However, we brought it on the airplane / hotel for two player tabletop MK World last week, and it was real fun that I couldn’t have had with the others. I can understand the frustration then when each console seems a compromise, if you can only pick one.

@BaldB3lper78
Well said. I do wonder if we’ll ever get true photorealism, and break out of the uncanny valley in my lifetime. And even if we do, when we get there, will we feel like it was worth it? I look at stuff like Balatro, which was one of my top games last year, and think that it does not have to be cinema to be fun.

It will likely remain 3 markets, with some overlap
1- mobile: mostly quick and ubiquitous experiences
2- console mostly TV/sofa with some handheld
3- PC desk and chair, mouse / keyboard

Judging by my kids tastes, they play Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite mostly on PC, and sometimes on mobile when they can’t access the PC. Where the console version exists, they have only dabbled in it as a novelty.

Console is the most superfluous of the three, and may be eventually replaced when gaming on the TV via cloud is technologically close enough to having a dedicated box.

Of the big three console manufacturers, Microsoft is the best suited to build in the direction that makes the most financial sense, except perhaps mobile, where Apple/Google are dominant.

@Ricky-Spanish
Ah yes, the early days of online, when we thought it was utopia with no bad actors

I bet since then if you ever did a face to face transaction ever again, you would insist that it take place in a police station

@Kraven
Yes, they have nobody to blame but themselves.

@EVIL-C
At least Canada Day was nice

@RZ-Atom
When you say we won’t need hardware anymore do you mean that the smart TV and mobile phone gaming apps will be sufficient for AAA experience?

@Gabrie
Ya it’s too much of the “ everything you want anytime you want wherever you want just whatever you want, OK?

@VoidPunk
I was with you until that last bit. I have not played Avowed, but what’s the harm in keeping it on Gamepass?

@Questionable_Duck
When you put it that way, the outlook does not seem very good. By the time the Call of Duty multi platform deal ends, and Elder Scrolls 6 comes out as Xbox exclusive, there may not be an Xbox.