I played Gears of War on the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally X. Steam was on there, too. What Microsoft's portable Xbox is all about... the challenges it faces.
Sounds great. I hope this is what they do for their next console, basically a Windows PC that's a native Xbox but also runs Steam and whatever else. Just like I think Nintendo should make a "Switch 2 box" cheaper with no screen, I think they should make this into a console as well (but maybe with higher specs if it's going to be their next console, if they even make a next console).
Yep. As I allude to in the piece, this strategy certainly hints that they could take this approach with their console, too. No inside scoop if they will, but it could be weird if they normalize this kind of compatibility on one type of Xbox device but then sell another that doesn't do it.
The counter-argument to Nintendo selling a cheaper TV-only Switch would be that they seem to have no difficulty selling the more expensive one, no? (As much as I would appreciate that option too!)
It's a very different situation from Microsoft, who are being challenged on multiple fronts that can pretty much all be traced back to the disaster that was the pre-Spencer leadership. Their failure to invest in system-selling exclusive games for the Xbox One and the terrible PR at launch was the catalyst for a whole generation of console gamers building digital libraries and friend networks on PlayStation.
Under Spencer, the Xbox Series were the most consumer-friendly home consoles we've ever seen! They had backward compatibility not just with old software but old controllers! Game Pass! Free cloud saves! Free upgrades / Smart Delivery! Play Anywhere! A cheaper cut-down version of the console! And the reaction from gamers was a collective shrug.
In the end, it all came down to the games, and now that Xbox is going multi-plat their biggest selling point going forward is the value proposition of Game Pass. (Which, for the record, is excellent! I've been a subscriber for years.) But it's very different from Nintendo, whose proposition is "You will pay what we tell you or you can't play our vast selection of exclusives that your children love".
Counter point to counterpoint, Nintendo made a cheaper switch lite that didn’t connect to a tv! I always wondered why they didn’t also go the opposite route. I found even the switch 1 way too unwieldy. I’d probably have liked a lite, but I just stuck to tv play. Switch 2 is a massive honker, bigger than OG switch 1, with even less battery life. I like the backward compatibility, but I just don’t think I’d play it except on the TV, and there are no games I want that I can’t play elsewhere.
I kind of went the opposite. My PS5 gathers dust (haven’t been interested in a Sony exclusive for a long time) while I enjoy the consumer friendly Xbox X—will ride that train as long as it lasts with Game Pass and Microsoft rewards program! 😂 The only other Microsoft console I had was a 360 before getting a PS3.
To tie the two points together, as you said, consumer friendly value proposition of the Xbox Series, vs the consumer unfriendly approach of Nintendo lately… (and my disinterest in Sonys western-focused exclusives)
I had forgotten about the Switch Lite! I guess that tells you everything you need to know about what Ninty themselves see as the Switch's primary function.
Precision timing from Game File. The first new handheld to hold my interest, so I picked up the phone for more info and there was this newsletter. I suspect Xbox is betting on Option C.
Great article, Stephen. Watched a few videos today on this handheld as well, enjoyed your article the most of the lot.
I preface what I’m about to say with Microsoft obviously has way more knowledge of what they can and can’t do with their next generation of consoles than I do. That said, I can’t wrap my head around how their next generation console is going to be a hybrid console that plays Xbox and PC games.
It’s in Microsoft’s best interest to leave “console” gaming behind and make a box that plays PC games. But this PC would have to play people’s digitally purchased console Xbox games from previous generations as well, both first party and third party. I don’t see a scenario where this could be done, whether it’d be the extremely high cost of the product or third party publishers very much not being ok with just giving customers the PC version of a game they own on Xbox. The Play Anywhere initiative is great but it only covers 1300 games of a considerably larger library.
So is Microsoft thinking their next “console” will just be a PC, and only play PC games from that point? I don’t see how Microsoft can release a traditional console that would make sense financially. Who’s going to buy that box at any scale when they are already struggling to sell Series S and X consoles the last two years? Does an install base of 5-10 million hardcore Xbox gamers warrant third party publishers to make an Xbox version of their games? That’s my best guess for how many current Xbox console owners would buy another Xbox console instead of a PS6 or PC in 2027 or 2028.
This handheld might be an early glimpse into what a future Xbox generation looks like. I don’t think Microsoft will ever actually release their own handheld, instead opting to use partners to make partner Xbox handhelds.
I'm aware that I'm a niche within a niche, but I find it difficult to be interested in a PC handheld without touchpads. They make playing certain types of games and especially the considerable back catalogue/history of PC gaming much easier. To not include them sort of ignores a huge swathe of PC gaming history.
Great to see Microsoft finally taking this stuff seriously, though. As well as the Switch 2, Valve have some proper competition and it'll be interesting to see what they do next.
Good point. Might not be very good for PC indie stuff without touchpads. Or maybe most indie stuff is controller certified now because of the steam deck?
Controllers are definitely supported far more commonly than not. So I can understand why a manufacturer wouldn't include touchpads - they increase the size of a device quite a bit.
For me, it's more about the older stuff. One of the unique benefits of playing on a PC is that you can often play any game released since PCs were a thing, and that's where you don't get controller support. Plus, some games may have good controller support (I'm thinking point and click games, or RTS games) while still being a lot easier to control with a mouse/touchpad.
Vaguely related observation: it's interesting to see Microsoft releasing a handheld without any touchpad/mouse provision, at the same time as Nintendo are releasing a console with explicit mouse/pointer features. (though you presumably could just use a mouse with the Ally thing)
Microsoft also released that retro games collection that streams and has kind of wonky mouse support with the controller for older games. Of course it can be used on pc which has an actual mouse, but it doesn’t include mouse support for console. They did improve the controller mouse controls tho. And it’s just nice to see it! I was wondering if they’d ever do anything with the Sierra catalog!
anyway, Microsoft making a handheld without GoG support is a bummer. Might be worth touchpads just for that.
I think it does support GoG? Stephen mentioned it'll pull games in from multiple stores (which is something the Steam Deck could do more elegantly).
I'm sceptical that Windows 11 can be tamed sufficiently to not get in the way, though. And performance/battery optimisations are going to take more than turning off the taskbar. :D
What I want to know is can you play MMO games like Neverwinter, Sea Of Thieves etc that are XBOX multiplater games on the handheld? Not talking about playing the PC version. Many of those games and people playing have long runs on them and characters/toons etc...
And none of those companies allow you to migrate accounts from one platform to another...
Hi Stephen, great read (as always). One question, maybe a stupid one: who is going to sell the ROG Ally Xbox / X? Will it be Asus or Microsoft? Or maybe both?
Sounds great. I hope this is what they do for their next console, basically a Windows PC that's a native Xbox but also runs Steam and whatever else. Just like I think Nintendo should make a "Switch 2 box" cheaper with no screen, I think they should make this into a console as well (but maybe with higher specs if it's going to be their next console, if they even make a next console).
Yep. As I allude to in the piece, this strategy certainly hints that they could take this approach with their console, too. No inside scoop if they will, but it could be weird if they normalize this kind of compatibility on one type of Xbox device but then sell another that doesn't do it.
Good point!
The counter-argument to Nintendo selling a cheaper TV-only Switch would be that they seem to have no difficulty selling the more expensive one, no? (As much as I would appreciate that option too!)
It's a very different situation from Microsoft, who are being challenged on multiple fronts that can pretty much all be traced back to the disaster that was the pre-Spencer leadership. Their failure to invest in system-selling exclusive games for the Xbox One and the terrible PR at launch was the catalyst for a whole generation of console gamers building digital libraries and friend networks on PlayStation.
Under Spencer, the Xbox Series were the most consumer-friendly home consoles we've ever seen! They had backward compatibility not just with old software but old controllers! Game Pass! Free cloud saves! Free upgrades / Smart Delivery! Play Anywhere! A cheaper cut-down version of the console! And the reaction from gamers was a collective shrug.
In the end, it all came down to the games, and now that Xbox is going multi-plat their biggest selling point going forward is the value proposition of Game Pass. (Which, for the record, is excellent! I've been a subscriber for years.) But it's very different from Nintendo, whose proposition is "You will pay what we tell you or you can't play our vast selection of exclusives that your children love".
Counter point to counterpoint, Nintendo made a cheaper switch lite that didn’t connect to a tv! I always wondered why they didn’t also go the opposite route. I found even the switch 1 way too unwieldy. I’d probably have liked a lite, but I just stuck to tv play. Switch 2 is a massive honker, bigger than OG switch 1, with even less battery life. I like the backward compatibility, but I just don’t think I’d play it except on the TV, and there are no games I want that I can’t play elsewhere.
I kind of went the opposite. My PS5 gathers dust (haven’t been interested in a Sony exclusive for a long time) while I enjoy the consumer friendly Xbox X—will ride that train as long as it lasts with Game Pass and Microsoft rewards program! 😂 The only other Microsoft console I had was a 360 before getting a PS3.
To tie the two points together, as you said, consumer friendly value proposition of the Xbox Series, vs the consumer unfriendly approach of Nintendo lately… (and my disinterest in Sonys western-focused exclusives)
I had forgotten about the Switch Lite! I guess that tells you everything you need to know about what Ninty themselves see as the Switch's primary function.
I'm not sure! I think they sold a lot to kids! I'd have forgotten about the OLED model, but it seems like everyone on the internet has one.
Precision timing from Game File. The first new handheld to hold my interest, so I picked up the phone for more info and there was this newsletter. I suspect Xbox is betting on Option C.
Happy to be there when you needed me.
Great article, Stephen. Watched a few videos today on this handheld as well, enjoyed your article the most of the lot.
I preface what I’m about to say with Microsoft obviously has way more knowledge of what they can and can’t do with their next generation of consoles than I do. That said, I can’t wrap my head around how their next generation console is going to be a hybrid console that plays Xbox and PC games.
It’s in Microsoft’s best interest to leave “console” gaming behind and make a box that plays PC games. But this PC would have to play people’s digitally purchased console Xbox games from previous generations as well, both first party and third party. I don’t see a scenario where this could be done, whether it’d be the extremely high cost of the product or third party publishers very much not being ok with just giving customers the PC version of a game they own on Xbox. The Play Anywhere initiative is great but it only covers 1300 games of a considerably larger library.
So is Microsoft thinking their next “console” will just be a PC, and only play PC games from that point? I don’t see how Microsoft can release a traditional console that would make sense financially. Who’s going to buy that box at any scale when they are already struggling to sell Series S and X consoles the last two years? Does an install base of 5-10 million hardcore Xbox gamers warrant third party publishers to make an Xbox version of their games? That’s my best guess for how many current Xbox console owners would buy another Xbox console instead of a PS6 or PC in 2027 or 2028.
This handheld might be an early glimpse into what a future Xbox generation looks like. I don’t think Microsoft will ever actually release their own handheld, instead opting to use partners to make partner Xbox handhelds.
I'm aware that I'm a niche within a niche, but I find it difficult to be interested in a PC handheld without touchpads. They make playing certain types of games and especially the considerable back catalogue/history of PC gaming much easier. To not include them sort of ignores a huge swathe of PC gaming history.
Great to see Microsoft finally taking this stuff seriously, though. As well as the Switch 2, Valve have some proper competition and it'll be interesting to see what they do next.
Good point. Might not be very good for PC indie stuff without touchpads. Or maybe most indie stuff is controller certified now because of the steam deck?
Controllers are definitely supported far more commonly than not. So I can understand why a manufacturer wouldn't include touchpads - they increase the size of a device quite a bit.
For me, it's more about the older stuff. One of the unique benefits of playing on a PC is that you can often play any game released since PCs were a thing, and that's where you don't get controller support. Plus, some games may have good controller support (I'm thinking point and click games, or RTS games) while still being a lot easier to control with a mouse/touchpad.
Vaguely related observation: it's interesting to see Microsoft releasing a handheld without any touchpad/mouse provision, at the same time as Nintendo are releasing a console with explicit mouse/pointer features. (though you presumably could just use a mouse with the Ally thing)
Microsoft also released that retro games collection that streams and has kind of wonky mouse support with the controller for older games. Of course it can be used on pc which has an actual mouse, but it doesn’t include mouse support for console. They did improve the controller mouse controls tho. And it’s just nice to see it! I was wondering if they’d ever do anything with the Sierra catalog!
anyway, Microsoft making a handheld without GoG support is a bummer. Might be worth touchpads just for that.
I think it does support GoG? Stephen mentioned it'll pull games in from multiple stores (which is something the Steam Deck could do more elegantly).
I'm sceptical that Windows 11 can be tamed sufficiently to not get in the way, though. And performance/battery optimisations are going to take more than turning off the taskbar. :D
I’m curious to see how they do all this without touchpads!
Switch 2 sets an extremely low bar for battery life.
What I want to know is can you play MMO games like Neverwinter, Sea Of Thieves etc that are XBOX multiplater games on the handheld? Not talking about playing the PC version. Many of those games and people playing have long runs on them and characters/toons etc...
And none of those companies allow you to migrate accounts from one platform to another...
Hi Stephen, great read (as always). One question, maybe a stupid one: who is going to sell the ROG Ally Xbox / X? Will it be Asus or Microsoft? Or maybe both?