Tag: Handheld gaming

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Mobile Syrup

Asus ROG Ally rumoured to cost $699.99, feature AMD Z1 Extreme chip

It’s been rumoured that the upcoming Asus ROG Ally will cost $699.99 USD (approximately $952 CAD) and feature an AMD Z1 Extreme chip, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD.

That would put the model at around $51 more than the 512GB Steam Deck, making the handheld gaming PC a serious contender when it releases in May.

The news comes from reliable gadget leaker Roland Quandt, courtesy of SnoopyTech, as well as an early Best Buy screenshot from Wickedkhumz. That’s a lot of sources for a potential leak. Even the product number associated with the ROG Ally connects to the Z1 Extreme model with 512GB of storage.

 

So, if the Z1 Extreme could cost $699.99, what about an Ally with a vanilla AMD Z1? We don’t know for sure, but to really pen itself a Steam Deck killer, it would have to rival its $399 starting price point.

Specs-wise, the ROG Ally is 11.02 inches wide, 4.37 inches tall and only weighs 1.34 pounds. Features may include a Gorilla Glass DXC-protected screen and could complete half of a full charge in just half an hour.

Although the Steam Deck is currently a popular choice in the gaming community, especially in the world of handhelds, Valve must be keeping an eye on these rumours.

The Asus ROG Ally is set to release on May 11th, when its official price will be revealed.

Image credit: Asus

Source: @_snoopytech_ Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Panic has sold over 50,000 Playdate handhelds to date

Panic’s handheld video game console, the Playdate, was released in April 2022, and the company revealed that it sold 53,142 units in just a year’s time. That’s over two and a half times more than Panic initially planned on producing.

The company began taking pre-orders for the adorable indie handheld console at the end of July 2021, and was unsure if it would be able to move the 20,000 units. Customers blew that number out of the water within 20 minutes.

The Playdate’s demand is undeniable, but sometimes that can complicate things more than originally anticipated. Panic was met with a critical battery issue during the first batch’s manufacturing process, which led to the company switching suppliers and delaying the release of the console-with-a-crank to 2022.

Manufacturing costs were another wrench thrown into the gears of the Playdate’s production and sale, causing the console’s price to be drastically raised from $20 to $199 in April of 2023.

The company has shipped around 27,000 units and is confident that it can fulfill all preorders by the end of 2023. After that, Panic will look to start shipping the Playdate Stereo Dock, an accompanying charger/speaker combo for the console.

Those fortunate enough to get their hands on one of the quirky consoles will get access to a library consisting of 24 games, with over 400 titles available on Itch.io. Panic says that almost 40 percent of users have sideloaded games or apps onto the console. They have also released ‘Catalog,’ a built-in store for users to install games and apps.

For a company that’s faced its fair share of hiccups along the way, 50,000+ Playdate consoles sold in one year is an even bigger accomplishment than it sounds.

Image credit: Panic 

Source: Panic Via: Engadget

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft testing Windows gaming handheld mode for Steam Deck and other portables

Microsoft could be looking into exploring the possibility of a Windows handheld mode for devices such Valve’s Steam Deck, after a leaked Twitter video showed what looks to be a prototype from the company.

The Twitter video posted by the user by @h0x0d, appears to show an early concept of Windows 11 UI for handheld devices. It also features a launcher and Windows gaming shell designed for touchscreens and controllers.

The video stems from a hackathon project inside Microsoft in September. The event usually sees ideas and projects presented by employees that sometimes end up getting support from Microsoft executives.

As echoed by the narrator in the video, the current option to run Windows on handheld gaming devices has been chock-full of issues. Valve offers drivers to run Windows on its Steam Deck, but with no dedicated launcher (like SteamOS has) and a hard-to-navigate UI, maybe it is time for an upgrade.

Further, some handheld gaming devices, such as the Ayaneo 2, already rely on Windows without optimization from Windows. This requires the companies to build their own interfaces and launchers to smooth out the process.

The video goes on to reference prototype handheld work done by a senior UX designer at Microsoft, Dorthy Feng. Most notably, it includes a launcher capable of opening games from Steam, Epic Games Store, PC Game Pass, EA Play and more. It also features a Steam Deck-optimized keyboard and a floating taskbar.

The prototype wasn’t the only thing to come out of the hackathon project, with another developer creating a way to use Steam Deck controls across Windows and Hayden McAfee, a senior software engineer for Microsoft designing a gaming shell for Windows.

The project resulted in drivers and services being installed, controllers beginning to work and a functional launcher. Although early, things are looking promising for an updated gaming experience with Windows.

If the work done on the project wasn’t enough incentive, the video ends with a call to action directed at fellow Microsoft employees to “get serious about handheld gaming on Windows.”

Although the demo is all we have for right now, don’t be surprised if you see Microsoft inch closer to its own handheld mode for gaming devices in the future.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: @h0x0d Via: The Verge