Microsoft’s new ROG Xbox Ally has a lot to prove in the market of handheld consoles. The Switch 2 was only days old when the company officially unveiled its competitor during the Xbox showcase. With PlayStation’s Portal mostly being a streaming device that offers a very specific, incredibly niche player benefit (despite it feeling very good in your hands), the Switch 2 and the Steam Deck still largely have the handheld market cornered. The Ally, meanwhile, is the endgame to the “Play Anywhere” tagline Xbox has been touting for years.
Microsoft putting a console-quality Xbox device in our hands would seem to literalize an idea that, until now, never felt like much more than a clever way to spin their bowing out of the console wars. Their tucking that white flag back into their pocket and pulling out a handheld competitor is an exciting prospect. I just wonder if it’s too little, too late.
I got to play with the device for a little bit, and yeah, if Microsoft can deliver, it will be one of the best handheld consoles on the market. But my mind did drift elsewhere when I held its heavy ass in my hands. Maybe it’s nostalgia playing tricks on me, but I can’t help but mourn how handheld gaming has morphed into an extension of the games and systems we play on our TVs and desktops.
None of this is inherently the Ally’s fault. Microsoft has benefited from watching the handheld console business thrive over the past decade. The Ally is hefty in your hands, rather than feeling like a toy as the original Switch did.
Admittedly, as a small man, it didn’t seem built for people of my size. My tiny hands had to reach to hit some of the buttons, and I could never quite figure out how best to hold the device to get the most leverage out of the whole controller. The weight of the thing didn’t help, as my wrists started to ache after just a few minutes of play. It’s a sturdy device, but it doesn’t feel like it’s built for everyone. I’m simply a little guy, but I imagine those problems might be even worse for folks with motor issues. I talked with some other people who have bigger hands, and they all said the Ally felt really good. So, while the console might have some really cool functionality and streamlining that makes it more appealing than the average handheld PC, it might not be the most inclusive machine, as it’s particularly uncomfortable for those of us who have trouble holding larger devices.
While your mileage may vary on holding it, one thing the Ally has over most other handheld gaming PCs is that Microsoft has streamlined its user experience to circumvent some of the hassles found with other devices. By linking your accounts across different launchers, the Ally lets you easily access your games across multiple services, such as pre-installed games, streaming through Game Pass, and others. Having everything in an easy-to-navigate HUD built for buttons and analog sticks makes the Ally one of the best choices to play PC and Xbox games on the go. Even if I can’t hold the device for extended periods, I can’t deny that Microsoft has built something that’s solved a lot of the problems people have with its competitors.
Shortly after my appointment, I held my Switch 2 and played a little bit of Cyberpunk 2077, and I think that device is probably better suited for people who have trouble holding bulkier handhelds like the Ally. I would love to see a model down the line that lets you disconnect the heavy controllers from the big screen, similar to the Switch’s tabletop mode. I think until Microsoft puts out something like that, I’ll have to stick with other devices.
Beyond form factor, most of these handheld consoles do the same things, it’s just a matter of which one feels better in your hands. I think that was one of my bigger takeaways playing the Ally: It’s nice that all of the Big Three are sticking their toes in the handheld market, but now that Nintendo has merged its console and handheld divisions into one device with the Switch, it does feel like we lost the charm and design philosophies of old handhelds.
Now that the components that house console-level power are small enough to fit into a handheld, we’ve lost any real need for a divide between games made for those devices and games made for consoles. Even mobile devices are offering console-comparable experiences, and the days of developers creating games for less-powerful hardware, specifically meant to be played on a device that fits in your pocket, feel like a long-gone memory.
A lot of indie developers are still carrying the torch, and you’ll find games evocative of the Game Boy and DS eras called “retro throwbacks.” Some of the more niche games that you would have found on a Vita in 2014, like The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, end up on Steam and Switch, but the era of a dedicated handheld doing things that feel built for those devices is over. I always dreamt of being able to play console games in the back of my parents’ car as a kid. But I don’t think I realized what we might lose in achieving that dream.
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