The Xbox Handheld

Xbox in your pocket—not really though

I’ve always preferred playing games on consoles over PCs; even though there were some games that always brought me back to the computer, consoles were and still are my natural habitat. But life is funny, and as consoles have slowly moved closer to a PC experience, PC gaming has moved closer to a console one. That balance has proved a hit with the Steam Deck and since then a slew of challengers to Valve’s handheld PC hybrid have popped into the party looking for attention. Asus’ ROG Ally has probably seen the most success after Valve, and Microsoft has certainly taken notice. Now Asus and the Xbox builder have officially teamed up cross germinate the ROG and the Gamepass to bring us the ROG Xbox Ally.

The collaborated effort is likely the final signs of life for Xbox as a console from Microsoft. The Xbox platform has long been seen as more a vehicle to sell Gamepass than a quality games console to shift software, and for Asus, the Xbox brand is estimated as valuable enough to boost sells of the ROG Ally. The ROG Xbox will come in two versions: the ROG Xbox Ally at £499 ($599), and the pricer ROG Xbox Ally X at £799 ($999, also, both are terrible names), and the machine is already available for pre-order.

Playing videogames, writing about videogames, considering videogames—that about sums it up. Videogames are the one hobby that I’ve kept since I was only little, zapping ducks on the NES or knocking out MR. X. And when I’m not enjoying classics from the bit generation of games or checking out those earliest of polygons, I’m probably playing something from today’s age of modern gaming: if I’m not complaining about it. Something I’m doing at the moment? Playing though Lost Eidolons and Unicorn Overlord.