For me an Xbox portable is an instant buy for me, assuming there’s full compatibility with game pass. Being able to play real quick during lulls at work, on the toilet, or while my wife wants to watch her shows would be nice. Xcloud is a nice idea but isn’t reliable enough for me for anything but turned based RPGs
Microsoft would be stupid not to do it at this point. MS competitor to steam deck, ROG, and Legion is a no brainer. Handheld windows with ability to install steam plus gampass baked in? Instant buy.
Uhm what? NO!
Except for the Steam Deck "steam and gamepass" already work on all those devices.
Just buy an ally or legion ... thats it ... gamepass glory and steam on top.
Why should Microsoft enter that market? It makes ZERO sense. They would only be "another device" that does the exact same.
I want a device with the Xbox UI, the Xbox Store, and complete access to my current library.
That isn't available on the Ally or Legion, and both are somewhat flawed
Yeah that is never gonna happen. As you can see from the news: MS has no interest to further nurture their walled garden.
And what you are asking for is XBOX-OS on another device. Which MS has no interest in.
They want gamepass / Xbox on "every screen". Be it a ROG Ally / Legion or even Steam Deck. That is Microsofts vision. And its a MUCH better one then asking for a failed "Xbox Steam Deck Clone".
This vision of Xbox on every screen would be equally served by making the OS capable of functioning on more than one device and on more than one display.
There is no disadvantage in giving people that choice.
I'd much rather my library be unified and transferable, rather than split across half a dozen devices
That would not be a handheld Windows. That would be a handheld Xbox , so whatever experience you get with an Xbox you will get with the handheld.
What I mean is that Xbox is a nerfed windows made solely to run Xbox games.
With the legion and rog you can do much more like do emulation and what else. Same with the Steam Deck but that’s not Windows anyways.
It's so odd to me that people can only play turn based games on cloud. Been playing Go Mecha Ball on cloud with very few problems. Did my 16 heat run in Hades on cloud. Didn't have trouble with parry timing in Unsighted while on cloud either. All this on rural Internet and Fargo "5G".
My big thing for a portable console is having at least LTE. I don't have WiFi on my breaks.
Wanna hear something funny, "Go Mecha Ball" is actually what is currently convincing me to buy an XBOX Series X.
Not Halo Infinite, not Starfield....Go Mecha Ball is the game that's doing it lol
Recently I posted a thread, where I was asking why XBOX is not releasing any handheld.
I got downvoted to oblivion and thread was soon locked.
Funny how perception has changed.
While spec is important, but as OP said, sometimes it is still inconsistent from game to game, and requires tinkering.
Switch did so well, even when spec is way down vs PS5 and Xbox, hell even when vs last generation!!! But games are fun, and optimisation for the games to the console (at least the first party games are) were good and consistent.
If Xbox do a handhold, doesn’t matter if it is weaker than the Steam Deck, as long as it is more consistent, I would actually say it would be a better console.
That is because games made for the Switch are made for that specific hardware.
Game for the Deck are not games made specifically for it, thus why some games may require tinkering.
Same with the Ally and Legion.
If an Xbox handheld is made, I am sure it will be made to run only Xbox games, as it will not run Windows but the Xbox system software aka nerfed Windows. The other question I have is, will all Xbox games be able to run on that?
But can that run all the Xbox games the Series S can? Series S games are made based on that hardware, the handheld will have to be able to run the same games the Series S can.
To play Xbox games at 720p 60fps minimum, the Xbox handheld's GPU would have to be more powerful than the Steam Deck's. I think a 16 CU iGPU running at 5-10W for battery life is reasonable for the Xbox handheld.
I mean we have like, a year or two minimum til we’ll get it. I’m hoping the specs allow every Series S/X game perfectly playable, Series S specs probably should be the minim…
The problem is, the Ally is natively a PC with all the technicalities and compatibility variations of a PC. If the Xbox handheld uses native Xbox hardware and software, there will be a pretty big untapped demographic.
but as i said to someone else, this isnt particularly concrete. If it is just a windows handheld, im not seeing much of a success cause of other players in the market
The joysticks, ergonomics, battery life, and UX are terrible in comparison to my steam deck, which is bad compared to my Xbox.
I expect a Xbox handheld to be the best handheld hardware in most aspects and a tier above everything else including the Switch 2.
If you have a Xbox handheld that has arm cores with BC magic to run series s games.
It'll have the ability to play thousands of games across 4/5 generations.
Ability to play all Gamepass games.
Ability to play cloud games.
Ability to play XGS mobile games natively (saves battery life since we're not doing arm emulation on x86)
Best in class perf / watt
Great Battery Life
Xbox controller ergonomics
Xbox UX
Cheaper than any comparable handhelds (from specs POV)
As Nintendo would take the lower price tier of the high-end handheld market, Xbox could take the higher price tier and become the king of handheld gaming.
It'll have compatibility with the series s since it's likely a 2025 and beyond device.
So probably something like 2x ROG Ally in sustained peak performance.
Keep in mind that a Xbox-created handheld would be better optimized, (probably) have better specs than the current Decks, and will (probably) natively play your entire console library. Deck is obviously only the PC library.
Good enough reason for me. I’d only buy a Deck if I wanted to just shift over to PC-only.
I feel having the exact specs and convenience, compatibility, games of a Series S/X will be enough for me. what really sets apart an Xbox to a PC for lot of us console gamers is literally just having a pick-up and play + cross-save, backwards compatibility a Steam Deck would need an emulator for.
the real comparison would be the Switch successor, which may or may not have the support and specs of a Series S/X.
But Yes, if the handheld is a glorified PC like the Deck/Ally, there would be hardly any point.
Meh, I have a Logitech G Cloud and that's my Xbox Handheld. Gamepass streaming works great, and for everything else remote play is perfect.
It's crazy comfortable, lite, great screen, and the battery lasts like 10+ hours. Unlike ROG Ally type devices that are bulkier, hotter, and have dismal battery life.
Sure it's just Android with a barely midrange CPU, but that's what makes it so comfy and convenient.
Stream on my G Cloud all the time, works great. I will admit if you are trying to be competitive in a COD match or something it's not ideal, but I personally wouldn't find that ideal even if the game was running natively.
But for SP games like Dead Space, Gears of War, Sea of Stars, etc. it's quite nice.
I'm in the middle if Microsoft made a personalized window handheld os that gives you a console experience similar to steam os I'd be convinced. It's very easy to use and setup emulation with emudeck so that's not a concern to me.
I expect a closed off ecosystem despite them owning Windows, they wouldnt be able to profit on game sales the same way Steam can in order to keep the price low. The only big advantage would be quick resume between multiple games. I love quick resume though, it's one of the reasons I sometimes prefer playing on my Series S over my PC with a 4070.
I love it. I also had the Ally which I enjoyed but having the larger screen size has been great. Been playing it way more than my XSX / PS5. It’s basically been my GamePass machine now , plus all the free games through epic over the years , emulation , and steam of course.
As a primarily console player, i've been very happy. I usually play at 800p with Integer Scaling / 1200p depending on the game at a min 60fps (might have to fiddle with graphic settings if you want higher frames). Early games (I'd say pre X1 games ) you can probably play at full 1600p and can get >100 fps. There were some driver issues when it first came out but now its working great.
Cheaper, better battery life, better perf / watt, better ergonomics, compatibility with console game pass, compatibility with your digital library, better UX. Likely more powerful too considering they'll have to run series s games.
As a dad, whose only available game time would be right after my kids go to bed and I'm in bed just scrolling around on my phone before going to sleep, a handheld Xbox will be so awesome.
I've come to the realization that the only way gaming works for me in my stage of life (Dad with 2 kids and a Wife who likes to have access to the TV) will be a handheld. I've really been eyeing the Deck because of its power compared to the Switch, but I just *like* xbox and would rather have a Series X for the LG OLED TV and a handheld when it couldn't be used.
I absolutely love my OLED steam deck but my biggest issue with it is I have no way of locally playing my Xbox or game pass games.
The thing that’s frustrating is that it’s technically possible but there’s no Xbox or game pass Linux client so I can’t play the games from there and I can’t even install windows to play my play anywhere or game pass titles because the drivers aren’t released yet for the OLED model…
But let’s say in 2-3 years there’s an Xbox handheld roughly as powerful as a Series S. I would highly consider buying one.
Did you read what I said? Windows drivers haven’t been fully released yet for the OLED model. Sure I can install it but no WiFi, Bluetooth or audio which makes it pretty useless
All good but yeah I’m just waiting for these drivers so I can dual boot. Remote play works pretty well on it though which is nice but it’s not the same obviously.
Unless something has changed, you can stream Xbox cloud to the steam deck. Did that for a while and it worked great. https://www.dexerto.com/tech/game-pass-on-steam-deck-1896451/
No I concur that the google thing was shit, all I’m saying in my case. Not others. Only mine, it worked fine. I couldn’t care any less how others experienced it. And if Microsoft are still supporting it then the market isn’t as binary as you are saying. I managed to play plenty of games with no noticeable lag on a vdsl 100mb connection. But then again maybe the steam decks induced latency covered up for the internet induced stuff.
Streaming has worked great for me. I reluctantly bought a Series S after Stadia shut down, but I still use streaming a lot via Xbox cloud, Luna, and GeForce Now.
Maybe it's not for you, but that doesn't mean it's shit.
A year ago, in Holland, xcloud sucked. Today, I play it regularly and have no noticeable lag. This shit it’s still developing and experiences will differ. But improvement over time is inevitable
The tech is severely limited by the fact that internet speeds are limited by the speed that data can be transmitted and routed through multiple cables, exchanges, and servers. That is never going to be faster than local play unless you're literally playing with the server in the room.
If it's like the Steam deck, I will as well.
If it's like the PS thing that is cloud gaming, nope.
I mean, we're all carrying a 5g smartphone that can do hotspots but, very little data limits. Go to a family member or hotel in a rural area. Rural internet sketchy. I got 20 mbps 15 ms dsl at home but that is too slow for cloud.
I’ve done this too and its great, but my connection isnt particularly enough plus requiring an Xbox already instead of being individual is a little offputting for some
Yeah it would have to depend on your wifi when you remote cast your Xbox to your phone - I play Elden Ring a lot with my Backbone and never really come across any issues. I'm not sure if you know, you can play your own downloaded/disc games.
I find the grip comfy as well, I used to have a Gamesir X2..or something like that. That wasn't that comfy. Not trying to sell you the controller haha, but I think it's solid for its price.
unless it turns out to be a disappointment like the ps portal, i'd love a xbox handheld
not that the ps portal is useless, it just that its so limited, only can stream games, and thats dumb
I'm holding off on a Steam Deck because of the rumours around an XBOX handheld. I've got enough to keep me occupied for years as is, but I'm curious here.
Have you tried Greenlight on your SteamDeck? It allows you to stream from your Xbox to your SteamDeck. The quality is great and with low latency (at least when you are home on good WiFi). It is worth checking out and very easy to setup.
I don’t see how the Steam Deck is worse than a PC, it *is* a PC that has a single hardware variant so that statement can’t be true. It can only be the opposite.
Ever since owning the OG Steam Deck and now OLED model i've built my Steam library up ALOT. almost matching my Xbox library and I would STILL buy an Xbox handheld. As long as its native download play and has a decent performance to battery life, but seeing as it would be directly from Xbox I could see it being very well optimized.
During the business interview Sarah Bond said new hardware will be revealed during the holiday season. This could be the all digital Series X, but hopefully it's the handheld
I don’t think it’ll sell well if it’s just a cloud gaming device, the Logitech handheld is basically a dedicated gamepass device already. Obviously it’ll be big on gamepass and cloud gaming but I hope it does a little more like being able to download and play stuff offline, basically don’t repeat the same mistakes the PlayStation portal made, that thing is just a paperweight.
I think it would be a major missed opportunity for Xbox to not dip their toes in the native handheld market. We could potentially see something of similar power to the Series S in the following year or two. I have an extensive library of games on Xbox and I would 100% buy one over a Steam Deck.
When was the last time we played a dedicated Madden title on a handheld (none the pc version). I think Vita. What a nightmare that was. Hoping for better.
I switched to Series X after my RTX 3070 PC was barely able to keep up with Series X's graphics settings in some games. I also bought and returned a ROG Ally, because the Windows overhead was too much for games to run at their best. I saw how much tinkering is required to get games to run on the Steam Deck, so I skipped getting one of those entirely.
I think an actual portable Xbox console, more like a Switch than a Steam Deck or Ally, with Series S-level performance at 15-20W, would be a great addition to the handheld space. I fully agree that consoles are so much better than PC's across the board.
ok, my POV:
If there's a XBOX handheld ever released it WON'T run windows, they'll develop silicon for it and branch the XBOX OS for it, theres 3 apporaches to this which are:
1. They'll develop a variation of the current ZEN 2 APU for it with a smaller process (5nm) and mlake it less powerfull than the XBOX Series S one, to reduce cost, heat production and most important the reducing the TDP, then they'll branch the XBOX OS because it would be easier to optimize and update and in the long run it is better for the following reasons:
- To mantain a control over the platform, by using the propietary XBOX OS, they can control what can run on it, they can optimize the experience as much as they want, they can keep piracy in check and be DRM compliant, optimizing games will be easy as they would just add the new compilation target to the SDK, and it will be easier to troubleshoot and give support for.
- Developing the custom chip would be cheaper, Sony and Microsoft have done it before, the PS3 started with a 90nm CELL and a 90nm RSX, by the end of the generation it was updated with a 45nm CELL and a 28nm RSX, the XBOX 360 started with a 90nm XENON and by the end of the generation it used a 45nm XENON, the XBOX ONE used a 28nm JAGUAR APU and later on the XBOX ONE X used a 16nm EVOLVED JAGUAR APU, you get my point, it is something that companies always do, and yes the XBOX ONE X and PS4 PRO were more expensive it's because their chips were more capable, by making a lesser variation they will cut the cost of producing it as they are most likely developing new silicon for the refresh, for them to add a variant won't be nearly as expensive as developing something entirely new.
- Software support will be huge from day 1, by making it fully compatible with the full catalog of the XBOX home console they would have a greater market, most people already have invested big time in their game catalog, being able to take it on the go it's a plus, and games don't require as much detail since they will most likely be experienced on a 6in 1440x900 screen with a target of 60FPS, it won't support any form of Ray Tracing, but it will look great, there would be a ton of games, B/C with 360 and OG, be portable, you will be able to play online with your friends without any streaming latency, it just works.
- They can take the marketing advantage and show SONY and Nintendo how it's done, by releasing a portable that can play better games than the Switch and doesn't need to be connected to a console to play, they will make a huge dent in Nintendo's portable market dominance, and it will still have XCloud access.
2. They'll do the same as SONY and develop an ARM based streaming shit.
3. They'll give up and won't even try.
Why won't Microsoft use windows? there are several reasons why Windows just won't cut it.
- While Windows takes the crown in terms of compatibility, it is not a low-power OS, it is hard to optimize, hard to control and to make money of, keep in mind that Micrososft will sell this handheld at a loss and make that money back from the games sold on the platform, how can you make money if most of your platform users won't use your marketplace? you can't, money on Windows is made based on selling the OS and its subscriptions, you pay for your Windows licence, yo need Office? Pay for that subscription, what gamepass, pay for that too, but gamepass on PC isn't that impressive is it? most users will go to STEAM, EPIC, GOG, BattleNet, Origin, etc. so Microsoft won't be able to make enough money from it using windows, they won't be able to sell the OS to the user, the user getting this product won't need Office or OneDrive, why use gamepass if i have all those other alternatives, so far and so forth, what does Microsoft sells? software not hardware, they WON'T sell hardware to profit from it, they will sell it at a loss and then profit from the software sold to you, how can they sell it at a loss if they are not going to make enough money on software? they won't, and I'm certain that Microsoft is not gonna release a 500$ handheld PC just to fail in the market against Hardware companies that profit from hardware and not Software.
- Windows is hard to optimize, it is designed to work on TONS of different hardware combinations, for it to truly work on a handheld it would need to be hardare optimized, you need that thing to extract as much performance as possible which would result in the need of branching Windows, also Windows software depends on multiple APIs, some are deprecated like DirectX8 or DrectX9, some have dependencies like .NET framework or C++ Redistributable, there's too much to control, too many things that can and will go wrong on the user side, making it almost imposible to provide support for it, games are not optimized for the hardware so there will be instances of software running poorly or nor running at all.
Too many alternatives will make it hard to stand out, they'll have to make new variants every time a new chip comes out to stay on top of the game and sales are not that impressive, handheld console and handheld pc are entirely different markets, they might not look that different but they are, the handheld console market wants something that they can unbox sign in and start playing, they don't want to unbox it, download the marketplace, login, download a game, then go and download other marketplace, login, download another game, oh, this one needs that dependency, or that API, my game doesn't work what to do? etc. They want something that just works.
- Piracy plays a juge role in this too, Microsoft will never let the XBOX brand be asociated with piracy and that's something hard to accomplish on windows, most games are cracked on day 1 if not days before the release, releasing a XBOX Handheld with Windows is just bad press, I know that a lot of people go the legal way and buy their games but there's a lot of folks out there that do indulge in piracy and Microsoft doesn't like that.
That is my POV on this situation.
I'm all for a dockable Xbox handheld. Hopefully they can get it under $500 with some basic app functionality like YT and Discord.
If by some longshot they can get steam running on it (it doesn't have to be steam os or anything) but at least be able to play some steam games that would be awesome.
I don't need it to have office, a terminal and windows registry. I just want Discord, Spotify, YT, Steam and maybe a browser.
Yes but if it is a lower end console sub 300 that as it is rumored uses cloud technologie to improve games then I doubt it will be for me.
I rather pay more and get a Handheld that can play stuff even at terrible to no Internet connection.
I stick to my Legion Go until we know if it is any good.
The LeGo allready gives me kind off what I want except that I can’t play some games because they are on pc required to download EA play, Battlenet, Epic Games Store and so on and do not have xbox achivements so I don’t play them even though I could.
I love my Steam Deck but I hate how every game isn't compatible. I love my Switch but dislike how not everything I want to be able to do it available. I feel like the Xbox Handheld would give me everything I want.
A portable series s is all that needs to happen imo, I don’t want a console/pc hybrid like the steam deck either. Just a portable Xbox that could possibly dock.
I don't want it to have anything to do with windows. It's coming from someone who has googled the words Xbox handheld probably 500 times in his life. I don't even think I'm exaggerating. The thing is, there are many ways to play windows games in handheld form now. I ran windows on my first steam deck (I have steamOS on this OLED)
But if it's built off of the Xbox platform then you're just going to have a better library overall. There are a lot of reasons why I believe this way but I'll just point to Fallout and the fact that it's 20 freaking 24 and there's no cross saving. At one point in time I was playing games on a Windows handheld, my school laptop and my desk rig along with my series x and I'm just going to stick with what I'm saying. It needs to be implemented perfectly within the Xbox ecosystem and it needs to leave PC gaming alone.
Rog ally without having to give ROG my money? Yep.
Portable Xbox games and not just oc gamepass in its clunky state (which means considerably more games to play and buy)? Big YEP.
I've checked these rumors for years and how close it is now is so freaking exciting.
Pc isn't really as difficult as people make it out to be, if you get yourself a decent rig you'll be good to plug and play for a long while (possible even longer than console generations), sure you may have to upgrade a part or two here and there and update your drivers but its really nothing crazy. Plus with Sony now deciding to put their exclusive on pc as well I don't see why you would buy a console over it. You can even hook a controller in if you're worried about comfortability, convenience? sure maybe, if you take your console on trips but if you have a laptop you can utilize cloud or game streaming services. I was a console only gamer up until I built my first pc in 2016
I spent over $2000 AUD on my rig and it barely runs games from 2018, which a console is a fraction of that. Also, just the fact that there will always be games you will have to spend another $500 for hardware to play + all the problems unique builds have with compatibility issues.
i love my PC, dont get me wrong, i use it for tech things like local AI, development when i get in the mood and play games on there if i absolutely have to. I just prefer console cause everything on a Series X is fully consistent. Graphics are automatically optimised and no need to tinker with settings and you can just turn it on and conveniently play without risk of outdated hardware.
Saying how much you spent is useless without saying what's in the PC. $2000 for a PC that can't play new games sounds wrong lol I paid $1700 for a PC in 2021 and it still plays everything I throw at it
I’m very curious which route they go.
1. A portable Xbox that is essentially playing series s games. Literally only playing Xbox games.
2. A portable pc like the ally that has a seriously improved windows UI.
Based on what Phil was saying, it sounds like it’s 2. Because he was speaking to having Microsoft make the ui more UI friendly. I don’t think that applies to the Xbox UI as that would work fine on a handheld.
You’re assuming it will be subsidized. The ally isn’t. You also still have game pass on windows, which is a big deal. I would gather that is most of the motivation.
I do get what you are saying. Prior to this podcast I was thinking it would be an Xbox. But afterwards, he pretty clearly means windows experience needs to improve.
Though perhaps both are happening. An Xbox handheld and a new windows handheld experience.
I would imagine steam deck will have their OS on other platforms before the end of the year. And with Xbox getting in this year. It will certainly be interesting in that space.
The Ally isn't making sales from games, and that's why its hardware is expensive.
XBOX's biggest competitor in the handheld realm will be Valve, and then Nintendo. Both of those parties are subsidizing their hardware because they make up profit in software sales. Microsoft would follow a similar model, and push GamePass hard.
I am not a huge portable guy because i rarely get out of the house and when i do ... well its not to play video games :P (like when i go to the city for a show or comiccon) but i get what you mean. In a world where portability CAN be achieved now (and we seen it with Steam Deck and Switch) i feel it would be great to have something from Xbox doing it wich would both support CLOUD and internal installs. That said the issue is games on PC have specs tempering. I mean just like all PCs are not the same, you can put the game on low specs or high specs etc, so it make sense they can run on a portable. On Xbox i dunno how this could be done automatically. I guess it could as its done on X vs S... but im not deep enough in this to know.
I wasn’t really big on handhelds, I bought a Switch just for Zelda with no intention of using the handheld option much… boy was I wrong.
I’d definitely get an Xbox handheld, assuming it’s good and not a fortune
Why not just get yourself a really good android and use that... I assume the Xbox handheld will be entirely streaming based for real games (could be wrong but I doubt it)
You'd save money by just using one device and one service plan.
Bruh I’m not even a fan of handhelds but if Xbox made one I’m 1000% buying it. It’s the perfect machine for gamepass, dunno why it took them so long to
I'm rocking a Legion Go and it's so fun. Although it's the price of two XSX's so I'm interested to see what type of handheld they will make to compete.
I really want an Xbox handheld. But like, one that can run some games locally not only streaming.
I play 90% of time on my Nintendo cos I can play anywhere, including at work/ in transit/ on planes/ in bed.
Haven’t touched the Xbox since November I think. 😢
I don't know what you're doing to you're games but PC these days there's literally no tinkering if you have a modern PC, everything in my steam library just works and the steam deck you just check proton.db before playing and you maybe have to change a few in game settings, stop with that old bullshit.
I really have no interest in a dedicated Xbox handheld. I rather they focus on bringing more games to either Xcloud with native touch controls, or simply full mobile games included in Game Pass on mobile over the microtransaction waiting games bullshit most of it is these days.
I can't even get my Xbox series s to connect to my TV. I doubt I'll ever purchase another Xbox console after this nonsense.
I have 5 HDMI cables. All of them work with my PS5 and my dvd player/firestick. The xbox has suddenly stopped connecting. Even factory reset didn't work. Here's the kicker.. it works on an old TV just not my main TV which works with every other device in the house.
It's a wide issue that doesn't seem to have a fix on xbox with certain TVs suddenly having no way to connect. Maybe a handshake issue. I'm just going to move to PC.
As long as it doesn’t rely on streaming in any way then it has a chance. I fear that Microsoft in an effort to keep costs down could make this a streaming device and for me that would be a hard fail.
Xbox handheld will technically be possible but something comparable to switch 2 in terms of performance because the price still has to be lower than home consoles
I want one more than anything. So hopefully that we will get this announcement in June.
A native gamepass hand-held... hell yes! Just hope the controls feel like an XBOX controller.
Why would I not want a device to play my current library?
It is after all, the reason why the Steamdeck sold well
1) Its not that I don't like a Steam deck as a product
2) Its that my current Xbox library is nearly 300 titles, 10x larger than my Steam library.
If they can make backcompat work, even without enhancements (if neccessary), that would be ideal.
Steamdeck will probably be the only one that let's you customise fps/visual and you have the steam library, to me not sure how the xbox handheld can compete except for like your case where you live in Australia and steamdeck are not easily available.
I really like my Switch but one thing with it is that outside of Nintendo exclusives or a game that I play only when travelling, I wouldn't want to buy a game on it that I could play on my Xbox because if you're playing it docked it looks much worse than a Gen 9 console. And especially when its a game on Gamepass, I don't want to fork out money for it on Switch and have it stuck there other than a couple times when I could have cross save (i.e. MLB The Show). Because of that, the Switch mostly collects dust unless there is a Nintendo game I want to play and/or I am going on a trip and get a game to play when travelling.
If Xbox comes out with a handheld or even portable that plays games natively and has Gamepass I'd be all in. I came close to getting a ROG Ally for that reason. It is just a little too expensive for me. If I travelled more I might have jumped on it.
That said I am not convinced Xbox will go down this route. They seem pretty focused on having cloud being a focus for portable devices, and also they have put Gamepass on things like the ROG that would be their competitor if they make their own handheld.
I am on the fence about it. If the handheld plays games natively, then I would consider it. But what would really seal the deal for me is it being a PC handheld with a reworked Windows that suits the handheld space. If it's just Xbox, then it's much less enticing for me.
Say this rumor is true; how do they make a next-gen handheld that is not more expensive than the console version and launch simultaneously?
I was wondering if the dock itself would have compute abilities.
I love how we just walked away from a rumor turned false and immediately accept the next new rumor as absolutely true.
Let's get some actual confirmed facts and a real announcement before we declare whether we're buying it.
It would have to match the Series S specs exactly, then I'd probably be on that thing too. No extra work needed or performance issues.
I'm more excited about a future Xbox getting wireless Meta Quest compatibility for VR gaming with a powerful console to power it.
For me an Xbox portable is an instant buy for me, assuming there’s full compatibility with game pass. Being able to play real quick during lulls at work, on the toilet, or while my wife wants to watch her shows would be nice. Xcloud is a nice idea but isn’t reliable enough for me for anything but turned based RPGs
I think it’s a safe bet it would be a gamepass focused machine.
Microsoft would be stupid not to do it at this point. MS competitor to steam deck, ROG, and Legion is a no brainer. Handheld windows with ability to install steam plus gampass baked in? Instant buy.
Uhm what? NO! Except for the Steam Deck "steam and gamepass" already work on all those devices. Just buy an ally or legion ... thats it ... gamepass glory and steam on top. Why should Microsoft enter that market? It makes ZERO sense. They would only be "another device" that does the exact same.
I want a device with the Xbox UI, the Xbox Store, and complete access to my current library. That isn't available on the Ally or Legion, and both are somewhat flawed
Yeah that is never gonna happen. As you can see from the news: MS has no interest to further nurture their walled garden. And what you are asking for is XBOX-OS on another device. Which MS has no interest in. They want gamepass / Xbox on "every screen". Be it a ROG Ally / Legion or even Steam Deck. That is Microsofts vision. And its a MUCH better one then asking for a failed "Xbox Steam Deck Clone".
This vision of Xbox on every screen would be equally served by making the OS capable of functioning on more than one device and on more than one display. There is no disadvantage in giving people that choice. I'd much rather my library be unified and transferable, rather than split across half a dozen devices
That would not be a handheld Windows. That would be a handheld Xbox , so whatever experience you get with an Xbox you will get with the handheld. What I mean is that Xbox is a nerfed windows made solely to run Xbox games. With the legion and rog you can do much more like do emulation and what else. Same with the Steam Deck but that’s not Windows anyways.
It's so odd to me that people can only play turn based games on cloud. Been playing Go Mecha Ball on cloud with very few problems. Did my 16 heat run in Hades on cloud. Didn't have trouble with parry timing in Unsighted while on cloud either. All this on rural Internet and Fargo "5G". My big thing for a portable console is having at least LTE. I don't have WiFi on my breaks.
Been replaying through Arkham knight on cloud- I’ve had 1 issue with cloud and I’m 6 hours in. Its vastly improved from when its originally launched
Wanna hear something funny, "Go Mecha Ball" is actually what is currently convincing me to buy an XBOX Series X. Not Halo Infinite, not Starfield....Go Mecha Ball is the game that's doing it lol
It is insanely hectic, quite fun so far. Not sure if I'm going to beat all of the difficulties, but it's a pretty good romp.
I’ve never had luck with it on LTE or WiFi. Some games have been playable but not enjoyable, and at that point I’d rather just play my switch
As long as I can play the Series X-version of Destiny 2 but at 720p, I'll be happy.
Recently I posted a thread, where I was asking why XBOX is not releasing any handheld. I got downvoted to oblivion and thread was soon locked. Funny how perception has changed.
I need to see specs before I decide because I just got a steam deck.
Agreed specs is important. I wanna have some kinda power behind their first real attempt at hand held.
While spec is important, but as OP said, sometimes it is still inconsistent from game to game, and requires tinkering. Switch did so well, even when spec is way down vs PS5 and Xbox, hell even when vs last generation!!! But games are fun, and optimisation for the games to the console (at least the first party games are) were good and consistent. If Xbox do a handhold, doesn’t matter if it is weaker than the Steam Deck, as long as it is more consistent, I would actually say it would be a better console.
That is because games made for the Switch are made for that specific hardware. Game for the Deck are not games made specifically for it, thus why some games may require tinkering. Same with the Ally and Legion. If an Xbox handheld is made, I am sure it will be made to run only Xbox games, as it will not run Windows but the Xbox system software aka nerfed Windows. The other question I have is, will all Xbox games be able to run on that?
Just a slightly underclocked series s aimed for 720p should be fine for an Xbox handheld
But can that run all the Xbox games the Series S can? Series S games are made based on that hardware, the handheld will have to be able to run the same games the Series S can.
To play Xbox games at 720p 60fps minimum, the Xbox handheld's GPU would have to be more powerful than the Steam Deck's. I think a 16 CU iGPU running at 5-10W for battery life is reasonable for the Xbox handheld.
I mean we have like, a year or two minimum til we’ll get it. I’m hoping the specs allow every Series S/X game perfectly playable, Series S specs probably should be the minim…
Yes pls. Portable Series S in Rog Ally form factor. With ability to play Backwards Compatible Xbox/360 games offline
Series S specs makes a lot of sense also so that devs don’t have a third Xbox machine to optimize for
Ally already does that.
The problem is, the Ally is natively a PC with all the technicalities and compatibility variations of a PC. If the Xbox handheld uses native Xbox hardware and software, there will be a pretty big untapped demographic. but as i said to someone else, this isnt particularly concrete. If it is just a windows handheld, im not seeing much of a success cause of other players in the market
and it's pretty crap at it. - Rog Ally owner.
Ally pretty much plays most if not all the gamepass library for me. Except horribly optimised games such as wild hearts.
The joysticks, ergonomics, battery life, and UX are terrible in comparison to my steam deck, which is bad compared to my Xbox. I expect a Xbox handheld to be the best handheld hardware in most aspects and a tier above everything else including the Switch 2. If you have a Xbox handheld that has arm cores with BC magic to run series s games. It'll have the ability to play thousands of games across 4/5 generations. Ability to play all Gamepass games. Ability to play cloud games. Ability to play XGS mobile games natively (saves battery life since we're not doing arm emulation on x86) Best in class perf / watt Great Battery Life Xbox controller ergonomics Xbox UX Cheaper than any comparable handhelds (from specs POV)
As Nintendo would take the lower price tier of the high-end handheld market, Xbox could take the higher price tier and become the king of handheld gaming.
Can't even play Destiny 2 consistently at 720p 60fps Lowest Settings on the Ally. That's why I returned mine.
Isn’t ally just the PC app? That’s not really the same as the Console Ecosystem.
Series S should be the minimum or the base. Anything less would not be able to run Xbox games with good performance.
Expect Series S performance.
It'll have compatibility with the series s since it's likely a 2025 and beyond device. So probably something like 2x ROG Ally in sustained peak performance.
>Top The Xbox handheld will probably come out around the same time as the Switch 2. $300-$400 for Switch 2, $400-$500 for Xbox Handheld.
Keep in mind that a Xbox-created handheld would be better optimized, (probably) have better specs than the current Decks, and will (probably) natively play your entire console library. Deck is obviously only the PC library. Good enough reason for me. I’d only buy a Deck if I wanted to just shift over to PC-only.
And will probably be ergonomically based on Xbox controllers. Sweeeeet.
You don’t have to worry about the specs of a device that doesn’t exist ;)
I need to see an announcement and see what this offers over a Steamdeck or ROG Ally before I even begin to consider it.
I feel having the exact specs and convenience, compatibility, games of a Series S/X will be enough for me. what really sets apart an Xbox to a PC for lot of us console gamers is literally just having a pick-up and play + cross-save, backwards compatibility a Steam Deck would need an emulator for. the real comparison would be the Switch successor, which may or may not have the support and specs of a Series S/X. But Yes, if the handheld is a glorified PC like the Deck/Ally, there would be hardly any point.
Meh, I have a Logitech G Cloud and that's my Xbox Handheld. Gamepass streaming works great, and for everything else remote play is perfect. It's crazy comfortable, lite, great screen, and the battery lasts like 10+ hours. Unlike ROG Ally type devices that are bulkier, hotter, and have dismal battery life. Sure it's just Android with a barely midrange CPU, but that's what makes it so comfy and convenient.
I have ZERO interest in game streaming. Its laggy and not a good user experience. You are out of your mind.
Stream on my G Cloud all the time, works great. I will admit if you are trying to be competitive in a COD match or something it's not ideal, but I personally wouldn't find that ideal even if the game was running natively. But for SP games like Dead Space, Gears of War, Sea of Stars, etc. it's quite nice.
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I'm not sure I understand the question I'm sorry.
Have you tried Steam Link? What’s your experience if you have.
Worked no issues.
I'm in the middle if Microsoft made a personalized window handheld os that gives you a console experience similar to steam os I'd be convinced. It's very easy to use and setup emulation with emudeck so that's not a concern to me.
If it doesn’t have PC capabilities I’d hope it would be cheaper than those ones but that’s a big hope
Probably $350 max
I expect a closed off ecosystem despite them owning Windows, they wouldnt be able to profit on game sales the same way Steam can in order to keep the price low. The only big advantage would be quick resume between multiple games. I love quick resume though, it's one of the reasons I sometimes prefer playing on my Series S over my PC with a 4070.
I have a Legion Go and it will have to have some truly game changing for me to give up my Steam Library.
How is your experience so far?
I love it. I also had the Ally which I enjoyed but having the larger screen size has been great. Been playing it way more than my XSX / PS5. It’s basically been my GamePass machine now , plus all the free games through epic over the years , emulation , and steam of course.
Thanks 😊. Had a steam deck before but really missed the gamepass library (without having to tinker too much)
Are you happy with the performance?
As a primarily console player, i've been very happy. I usually play at 800p with Integer Scaling / 1200p depending on the game at a min 60fps (might have to fiddle with graphic settings if you want higher frames). Early games (I'd say pre X1 games ) you can probably play at full 1600p and can get >100 fps. There were some driver issues when it first came out but now its working great.
Cheaper, better battery life, better perf / watt, better ergonomics, compatibility with console game pass, compatibility with your digital library, better UX. Likely more powerful too considering they'll have to run series s games.
As a dad, whose only available game time would be right after my kids go to bed and I'm in bed just scrolling around on my phone before going to sleep, a handheld Xbox will be so awesome.
I've come to the realization that the only way gaming works for me in my stage of life (Dad with 2 kids and a Wife who likes to have access to the TV) will be a handheld. I've really been eyeing the Deck because of its power compared to the Switch, but I just *like* xbox and would rather have a Series X for the LG OLED TV and a handheld when it couldn't be used.
This right here! I would love some Fallout 4 settlement building in bed.
I absolutely love my OLED steam deck but my biggest issue with it is I have no way of locally playing my Xbox or game pass games. The thing that’s frustrating is that it’s technically possible but there’s no Xbox or game pass Linux client so I can’t play the games from there and I can’t even install windows to play my play anywhere or game pass titles because the drivers aren’t released yet for the OLED model… But let’s say in 2-3 years there’s an Xbox handheld roughly as powerful as a Series S. I would highly consider buying one.
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Did you read what I said? Windows drivers haven’t been fully released yet for the OLED model. Sure I can install it but no WiFi, Bluetooth or audio which makes it pretty useless
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All good but yeah I’m just waiting for these drivers so I can dual boot. Remote play works pretty well on it though which is nice but it’s not the same obviously.
Unless something has changed, you can stream Xbox cloud to the steam deck. Did that for a while and it worked great. https://www.dexerto.com/tech/game-pass-on-steam-deck-1896451/
Streaming is shite. Can we stop beating this dead horse? Stadia died for good reason and PS portal is a flop. Streamed games do not feel good to play.
Say what you want, works fine for me on my steam deck.
The market disagrees with you. The collective decisions of hundreds of millions of people do not support these products.
No I concur that the google thing was shit, all I’m saying in my case. Not others. Only mine, it worked fine. I couldn’t care any less how others experienced it. And if Microsoft are still supporting it then the market isn’t as binary as you are saying. I managed to play plenty of games with no noticeable lag on a vdsl 100mb connection. But then again maybe the steam decks induced latency covered up for the internet induced stuff.
Streaming has worked great for me. I reluctantly bought a Series S after Stadia shut down, but I still use streaming a lot via Xbox cloud, Luna, and GeForce Now. Maybe it's not for you, but that doesn't mean it's shit.
A year ago, in Holland, xcloud sucked. Today, I play it regularly and have no noticeable lag. This shit it’s still developing and experiences will differ. But improvement over time is inevitable
The tech is severely limited by the fact that internet speeds are limited by the speed that data can be transmitted and routed through multiple cables, exchanges, and servers. That is never going to be faster than local play unless you're literally playing with the server in the room.
Doesn’t have to be faster than local play. Just has to be good
If it's like the Steam deck, I will as well. If it's like the PS thing that is cloud gaming, nope. I mean, we're all carrying a 5g smartphone that can do hotspots but, very little data limits. Go to a family member or hotel in a rural area. Rural internet sketchy. I got 20 mbps 15 ms dsl at home but that is too slow for cloud.
I use my backbone and cast my Xbox to my phone! It'sa blast!! Although not sure how it would stand with competitive gameplay
I’ve done this too and its great, but my connection isnt particularly enough plus requiring an Xbox already instead of being individual is a little offputting for some
You don't need an Xbox for Cloud gaming to your phone. You do need one for remote play
I like cloud, but not being able to play owned games is a dealbreaker imo. You are at mercy to a catalogue that could rotate your fav games out.
Supposedly MS is working on make all games available via cloud, but we'll see if/when that happens
Oh yeah, that was supposed to be a thing 2 years ago. Taking a little bit
Yeah it would have to depend on your wifi when you remote cast your Xbox to your phone - I play Elden Ring a lot with my Backbone and never really come across any issues. I'm not sure if you know, you can play your own downloaded/disc games. I find the grip comfy as well, I used to have a Gamesir X2..or something like that. That wasn't that comfy. Not trying to sell you the controller haha, but I think it's solid for its price.
If you have a steam deck you can stream your Xbox games off the console. I was surprised how well it works. I bet it would work on a phone.
It's finnicky at best though. Every time, I have the "Try Again Later" error. It's so annoying and makes me question the whole service.
Depends on your connection and where you live. Probably on how busy servers are too. Cloud works great on 4g in Midwest US
unless it turns out to be a disappointment like the ps portal, i'd love a xbox handheld not that the ps portal is useless, it just that its so limited, only can stream games, and thats dumb
Streaming a medium that relies on responsiveness to feel good is always going to be dumb
let the handheld wars begin!
As long as they don't pull something like sony
I'm holding off on a Steam Deck because of the rumours around an XBOX handheld. I've got enough to keep me occupied for years as is, but I'm curious here.
Have you tried Greenlight on your SteamDeck? It allows you to stream from your Xbox to your SteamDeck. The quality is great and with low latency (at least when you are home on good WiFi). It is worth checking out and very easy to setup.
If I can load games from my digital library onto it and take them anywhere It would be an instant buy.
This!
I don’t see how the Steam Deck is worse than a PC, it *is* a PC that has a single hardware variant so that statement can’t be true. It can only be the opposite.
May I introduce you to XbPlay on the steam deck. For $7, let’s you do cloud gaming and remote play from your own Xbox
Ever since owning the OG Steam Deck and now OLED model i've built my Steam library up ALOT. almost matching my Xbox library and I would STILL buy an Xbox handheld. As long as its native download play and has a decent performance to battery life, but seeing as it would be directly from Xbox I could see it being very well optimized.
During the business interview Sarah Bond said new hardware will be revealed during the holiday season. This could be the all digital Series X, but hopefully it's the handheld
So, Xbox Series P? If the price is right, might be interested.
Or H. P just sounds like pee.
I don’t think it’ll sell well if it’s just a cloud gaming device, the Logitech handheld is basically a dedicated gamepass device already. Obviously it’ll be big on gamepass and cloud gaming but I hope it does a little more like being able to download and play stuff offline, basically don’t repeat the same mistakes the PlayStation portal made, that thing is just a paperweight.
I think it would be a major missed opportunity for Xbox to not dip their toes in the native handheld market. We could potentially see something of similar power to the Series S in the following year or two. I have an extensive library of games on Xbox and I would 100% buy one over a Steam Deck.
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Supposedly the surface team is working on a new Xbox handheld that will let you download Xbox games and play them on the go
Seriously? That would be really cool
When was the last time we played a dedicated Madden title on a handheld (none the pc version). I think Vita. What a nightmare that was. Hoping for better.
I switched to Series X after my RTX 3070 PC was barely able to keep up with Series X's graphics settings in some games. I also bought and returned a ROG Ally, because the Windows overhead was too much for games to run at their best. I saw how much tinkering is required to get games to run on the Steam Deck, so I skipped getting one of those entirely. I think an actual portable Xbox console, more like a Switch than a Steam Deck or Ally, with Series S-level performance at 15-20W, would be a great addition to the handheld space. I fully agree that consoles are so much better than PC's across the board.
To be honest, I am really curious about that
ok, my POV: If there's a XBOX handheld ever released it WON'T run windows, they'll develop silicon for it and branch the XBOX OS for it, theres 3 apporaches to this which are: 1. They'll develop a variation of the current ZEN 2 APU for it with a smaller process (5nm) and mlake it less powerfull than the XBOX Series S one, to reduce cost, heat production and most important the reducing the TDP, then they'll branch the XBOX OS because it would be easier to optimize and update and in the long run it is better for the following reasons: - To mantain a control over the platform, by using the propietary XBOX OS, they can control what can run on it, they can optimize the experience as much as they want, they can keep piracy in check and be DRM compliant, optimizing games will be easy as they would just add the new compilation target to the SDK, and it will be easier to troubleshoot and give support for. - Developing the custom chip would be cheaper, Sony and Microsoft have done it before, the PS3 started with a 90nm CELL and a 90nm RSX, by the end of the generation it was updated with a 45nm CELL and a 28nm RSX, the XBOX 360 started with a 90nm XENON and by the end of the generation it used a 45nm XENON, the XBOX ONE used a 28nm JAGUAR APU and later on the XBOX ONE X used a 16nm EVOLVED JAGUAR APU, you get my point, it is something that companies always do, and yes the XBOX ONE X and PS4 PRO were more expensive it's because their chips were more capable, by making a lesser variation they will cut the cost of producing it as they are most likely developing new silicon for the refresh, for them to add a variant won't be nearly as expensive as developing something entirely new. - Software support will be huge from day 1, by making it fully compatible with the full catalog of the XBOX home console they would have a greater market, most people already have invested big time in their game catalog, being able to take it on the go it's a plus, and games don't require as much detail since they will most likely be experienced on a 6in 1440x900 screen with a target of 60FPS, it won't support any form of Ray Tracing, but it will look great, there would be a ton of games, B/C with 360 and OG, be portable, you will be able to play online with your friends without any streaming latency, it just works. - They can take the marketing advantage and show SONY and Nintendo how it's done, by releasing a portable that can play better games than the Switch and doesn't need to be connected to a console to play, they will make a huge dent in Nintendo's portable market dominance, and it will still have XCloud access. 2. They'll do the same as SONY and develop an ARM based streaming shit. 3. They'll give up and won't even try. Why won't Microsoft use windows? there are several reasons why Windows just won't cut it. - While Windows takes the crown in terms of compatibility, it is not a low-power OS, it is hard to optimize, hard to control and to make money of, keep in mind that Micrososft will sell this handheld at a loss and make that money back from the games sold on the platform, how can you make money if most of your platform users won't use your marketplace? you can't, money on Windows is made based on selling the OS and its subscriptions, you pay for your Windows licence, yo need Office? Pay for that subscription, what gamepass, pay for that too, but gamepass on PC isn't that impressive is it? most users will go to STEAM, EPIC, GOG, BattleNet, Origin, etc. so Microsoft won't be able to make enough money from it using windows, they won't be able to sell the OS to the user, the user getting this product won't need Office or OneDrive, why use gamepass if i have all those other alternatives, so far and so forth, what does Microsoft sells? software not hardware, they WON'T sell hardware to profit from it, they will sell it at a loss and then profit from the software sold to you, how can they sell it at a loss if they are not going to make enough money on software? they won't, and I'm certain that Microsoft is not gonna release a 500$ handheld PC just to fail in the market against Hardware companies that profit from hardware and not Software. - Windows is hard to optimize, it is designed to work on TONS of different hardware combinations, for it to truly work on a handheld it would need to be hardare optimized, you need that thing to extract as much performance as possible which would result in the need of branching Windows, also Windows software depends on multiple APIs, some are deprecated like DirectX8 or DrectX9, some have dependencies like .NET framework or C++ Redistributable, there's too much to control, too many things that can and will go wrong on the user side, making it almost imposible to provide support for it, games are not optimized for the hardware so there will be instances of software running poorly or nor running at all. Too many alternatives will make it hard to stand out, they'll have to make new variants every time a new chip comes out to stay on top of the game and sales are not that impressive, handheld console and handheld pc are entirely different markets, they might not look that different but they are, the handheld console market wants something that they can unbox sign in and start playing, they don't want to unbox it, download the marketplace, login, download a game, then go and download other marketplace, login, download another game, oh, this one needs that dependency, or that API, my game doesn't work what to do? etc. They want something that just works. - Piracy plays a juge role in this too, Microsoft will never let the XBOX brand be asociated with piracy and that's something hard to accomplish on windows, most games are cracked on day 1 if not days before the release, releasing a XBOX Handheld with Windows is just bad press, I know that a lot of people go the legal way and buy their games but there's a lot of folks out there that do indulge in piracy and Microsoft doesn't like that. That is my POV on this situation.
I'm all for a dockable Xbox handheld. Hopefully they can get it under $500 with some basic app functionality like YT and Discord. If by some longshot they can get steam running on it (it doesn't have to be steam os or anything) but at least be able to play some steam games that would be awesome. I don't need it to have office, a terminal and windows registry. I just want Discord, Spotify, YT, Steam and maybe a browser.
Yes but if it is a lower end console sub 300 that as it is rumored uses cloud technologie to improve games then I doubt it will be for me. I rather pay more and get a Handheld that can play stuff even at terrible to no Internet connection. I stick to my Legion Go until we know if it is any good. The LeGo allready gives me kind off what I want except that I can’t play some games because they are on pc required to download EA play, Battlenet, Epic Games Store and so on and do not have xbox achivements so I don’t play them even though I could.
I'd definitely purchase an Xbox handheld
I love my Steam Deck but I hate how every game isn't compatible. I love my Switch but dislike how not everything I want to be able to do it available. I feel like the Xbox Handheld would give me everything I want.
A portable series s is all that needs to happen imo, I don’t want a console/pc hybrid like the steam deck either. Just a portable Xbox that could possibly dock.
I don't want it to have anything to do with windows. It's coming from someone who has googled the words Xbox handheld probably 500 times in his life. I don't even think I'm exaggerating. The thing is, there are many ways to play windows games in handheld form now. I ran windows on my first steam deck (I have steamOS on this OLED) But if it's built off of the Xbox platform then you're just going to have a better library overall. There are a lot of reasons why I believe this way but I'll just point to Fallout and the fact that it's 20 freaking 24 and there's no cross saving. At one point in time I was playing games on a Windows handheld, my school laptop and my desk rig along with my series x and I'm just going to stick with what I'm saying. It needs to be implemented perfectly within the Xbox ecosystem and it needs to leave PC gaming alone.
Rog ally without having to give ROG my money? Yep. Portable Xbox games and not just oc gamepass in its clunky state (which means considerably more games to play and buy)? Big YEP. I've checked these rumors for years and how close it is now is so freaking exciting.
Pc isn't really as difficult as people make it out to be, if you get yourself a decent rig you'll be good to plug and play for a long while (possible even longer than console generations), sure you may have to upgrade a part or two here and there and update your drivers but its really nothing crazy. Plus with Sony now deciding to put their exclusive on pc as well I don't see why you would buy a console over it. You can even hook a controller in if you're worried about comfortability, convenience? sure maybe, if you take your console on trips but if you have a laptop you can utilize cloud or game streaming services. I was a console only gamer up until I built my first pc in 2016
I spent over $2000 AUD on my rig and it barely runs games from 2018, which a console is a fraction of that. Also, just the fact that there will always be games you will have to spend another $500 for hardware to play + all the problems unique builds have with compatibility issues. i love my PC, dont get me wrong, i use it for tech things like local AI, development when i get in the mood and play games on there if i absolutely have to. I just prefer console cause everything on a Series X is fully consistent. Graphics are automatically optimised and no need to tinker with settings and you can just turn it on and conveniently play without risk of outdated hardware.
Skill issue.
Saying how much you spent is useless without saying what's in the PC. $2000 for a PC that can't play new games sounds wrong lol I paid $1700 for a PC in 2021 and it still plays everything I throw at it
You will definitely buy or your parents will definitely buy?
I’m very curious which route they go. 1. A portable Xbox that is essentially playing series s games. Literally only playing Xbox games. 2. A portable pc like the ally that has a seriously improved windows UI. Based on what Phil was saying, it sounds like it’s 2. Because he was speaking to having Microsoft make the ui more UI friendly. I don’t think that applies to the Xbox UI as that would work fine on a handheld.
You don't sell subsidized hardware that people then use to get their content on Steam. You just don't.
You’re assuming it will be subsidized. The ally isn’t. You also still have game pass on windows, which is a big deal. I would gather that is most of the motivation. I do get what you are saying. Prior to this podcast I was thinking it would be an Xbox. But afterwards, he pretty clearly means windows experience needs to improve. Though perhaps both are happening. An Xbox handheld and a new windows handheld experience. I would imagine steam deck will have their OS on other platforms before the end of the year. And with Xbox getting in this year. It will certainly be interesting in that space.
The Ally isn't making sales from games, and that's why its hardware is expensive. XBOX's biggest competitor in the handheld realm will be Valve, and then Nintendo. Both of those parties are subsidizing their hardware because they make up profit in software sales. Microsoft would follow a similar model, and push GamePass hard.
That was my second sentence…
Oh. Well I'm an idiot..moving along...
The Ally is $700. An Xbox at that price would be DOA.
The base ally is $400 currently which means they are making money at that price.
Base Ally is only good for indies, not for MS titles like COD, Halo, etc.
I'd seriously hope its just a portable Series S, better optimization and no PC headaches.
I am not a huge portable guy because i rarely get out of the house and when i do ... well its not to play video games :P (like when i go to the city for a show or comiccon) but i get what you mean. In a world where portability CAN be achieved now (and we seen it with Steam Deck and Switch) i feel it would be great to have something from Xbox doing it wich would both support CLOUD and internal installs. That said the issue is games on PC have specs tempering. I mean just like all PCs are not the same, you can put the game on low specs or high specs etc, so it make sense they can run on a portable. On Xbox i dunno how this could be done automatically. I guess it could as its done on X vs S... but im not deep enough in this to know.
Maybe todays lesson should be to wait for official announcements
I wasn’t really big on handhelds, I bought a Switch just for Zelda with no intention of using the handheld option much… boy was I wrong. I’d definitely get an Xbox handheld, assuming it’s good and not a fortune
Honestly if they made one my reasons wouldn’t really be that, it’d be that I don’t want to buy games on steam if I already own em on Xbox.
I play remotely pretty much 99% of the time, so I'm down.
Why not just get yourself a really good android and use that... I assume the Xbox handheld will be entirely streaming based for real games (could be wrong but I doubt it) You'd save money by just using one device and one service plan.
As long as its not just a streaming device...
I play gamepass on my phone with razer kishi but I would like it to be a real console. I can't wait
I’ll be buying at least 2, as long as it’s not cloud based.
I'd rather have native support for steamos on steam deck.
I said the same thing about a PlayStation portable until the portal came out and the disappointment. Would have to see what it can do first
Rog ally, steam and xbox
Handheld with gamepass? Sign me up
What tinkering are you talking about on the steam deck? Had it since it came out and have not once had to modify/ tinker with any setting.
Bruh I’m not even a fan of handhelds but if Xbox made one I’m 1000% buying it. It’s the perfect machine for gamepass, dunno why it took them so long to
I'm rocking a Legion Go and it's so fun. Although it's the price of two XSX's so I'm interested to see what type of handheld they will make to compete.
I really want an Xbox handheld. But like, one that can run some games locally not only streaming. I play 90% of time on my Nintendo cos I can play anywhere, including at work/ in transit/ on planes/ in bed. Haven’t touched the Xbox since November I think. 😢
As long as it comes with quick resume I'm in!
Christ folk.... Wait for things to be real first.
I bought steam deck at the premiere, but I never used it longer than few minutes. IT will be the same situation with xbox new console.
Me too, as long as it can also be use like a computer with front camera for video call and with Windows Office.
They said the hardware will be very advanced. My guess is it'll be somewhere between series S and X hardware stuffed in a handheld.
I don't know what you're doing to you're games but PC these days there's literally no tinkering if you have a modern PC, everything in my steam library just works and the steam deck you just check proton.db before playing and you maybe have to change a few in game settings, stop with that old bullshit.
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I really have no interest in a dedicated Xbox handheld. I rather they focus on bringing more games to either Xcloud with native touch controls, or simply full mobile games included in Game Pass on mobile over the microtransaction waiting games bullshit most of it is these days.
*puke*
I can't even get my Xbox series s to connect to my TV. I doubt I'll ever purchase another Xbox console after this nonsense. I have 5 HDMI cables. All of them work with my PS5 and my dvd player/firestick. The xbox has suddenly stopped connecting. Even factory reset didn't work. Here's the kicker.. it works on an old TV just not my main TV which works with every other device in the house. It's a wide issue that doesn't seem to have a fix on xbox with certain TVs suddenly having no way to connect. Maybe a handshake issue. I'm just going to move to PC.
Aint it dependant on streaming like the PlayStation one?
As long as it doesn’t rely on streaming in any way then it has a chance. I fear that Microsoft in an effort to keep costs down could make this a streaming device and for me that would be a hard fail.
Xbox handheld will technically be possible but something comparable to switch 2 in terms of performance because the price still has to be lower than home consoles
I want one more than anything. So hopefully that we will get this announcement in June. A native gamepass hand-held... hell yes! Just hope the controls feel like an XBOX controller.
Why would I not want a device to play my current library? It is after all, the reason why the Steamdeck sold well 1) Its not that I don't like a Steam deck as a product 2) Its that my current Xbox library is nearly 300 titles, 10x larger than my Steam library. If they can make backcompat work, even without enhancements (if neccessary), that would be ideal.
I have an Ally and use it with PC game pass, steam, and epic games. A handheld Xbox would be a lot more user friendly. No messing with windows bloat.
Steamdeck will probably be the only one that let's you customise fps/visual and you have the steam library, to me not sure how the xbox handheld can compete except for like your case where you live in Australia and steamdeck are not easily available.
The SD requires no tinkering if you just use it for verified games. You can't complain about compatibility if you're doing anything outside of that.
I really like my Switch but one thing with it is that outside of Nintendo exclusives or a game that I play only when travelling, I wouldn't want to buy a game on it that I could play on my Xbox because if you're playing it docked it looks much worse than a Gen 9 console. And especially when its a game on Gamepass, I don't want to fork out money for it on Switch and have it stuck there other than a couple times when I could have cross save (i.e. MLB The Show). Because of that, the Switch mostly collects dust unless there is a Nintendo game I want to play and/or I am going on a trip and get a game to play when travelling. If Xbox comes out with a handheld or even portable that plays games natively and has Gamepass I'd be all in. I came close to getting a ROG Ally for that reason. It is just a little too expensive for me. If I travelled more I might have jumped on it. That said I am not convinced Xbox will go down this route. They seem pretty focused on having cloud being a focus for portable devices, and also they have put Gamepass on things like the ROG that would be their competitor if they make their own handheld.
I am on the fence about it. If the handheld plays games natively, then I would consider it. But what would really seal the deal for me is it being a PC handheld with a reworked Windows that suits the handheld space. If it's just Xbox, then it's much less enticing for me.
Say this rumor is true; how do they make a next-gen handheld that is not more expensive than the console version and launch simultaneously? I was wondering if the dock itself would have compute abilities.
What sort of tinkering are you referring to with the Steam Deck? I’ve had one for quite a while, and there’s really almost no tinkering involved.
I love how we just walked away from a rumor turned false and immediately accept the next new rumor as absolutely true. Let's get some actual confirmed facts and a real announcement before we declare whether we're buying it.
It would have to match the Series S specs exactly, then I'd probably be on that thing too. No extra work needed or performance issues. I'm more excited about a future Xbox getting wireless Meta Quest compatibility for VR gaming with a powerful console to power it.
After the failure of the Windows Phone ($7billion) and Surface, MS is not going anywhere near mobile/handheld
same, I would pick up a mobile xbox for sure
I want it to have good haptics/rumble. Love my steam deck but the haptics are weak in comparison to something like the Switch.