Digital Foundry : In an ideal world, Nvidia's RTX 3050 should be equivalent to an RTX 2060 - but with two gigs of much needed extra memory. We get the 8GB of VRAM with the new card, but performance isn't quite as good as we think it should be.
Meet the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X. Coming this holiday 2025.
Introducing the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X – two new premium handhelds that combine the power of Xbox with the freedom of Windows 11. This holiday, players can discover another way to play as we combine the power of Xbox with the freedom you expect from Windows 11, created together with ASUS. And this is only the beginning.
•ROG Xbox Ally: powered by the AMD Ryzen™ Z2 A Processor - balancing performance and power consumption to maximize battery life without sacrificing gameplay quality - 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage.
•ROG Xbox Ally X: features the AMD Ryzen™ AI Z2 Extreme processor - allowing us to bring new experiences to life including greater frames-per-second, sharp visuals and increased intelligence - double the storage to have more native games at your fingertips, and 24GB of high-speed RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.
I feel this is just a stop gap until their own dedicated portable, or the release of their next console/PC.
"I feel this is just a stop gap until their own dedicated portable, or the release of their next console/PC."
Indeed.
Xbox, PC and Playstation in the palm of your hand!
I can´t wait!
Too thic for me, I'll wait until we have that power on a more handheld console not a transportable one.
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With it's light weight version of windows, ergonomic controls, gaming performance, and open system with multiple store launchers, it may be the best handheld on the market. This device is more pro consumer instead of a handheld that just plays Xbox games.
If my cash wasn't so tight this year I would be looking to pick up one at or around launch and I have no issues recommending it to any gamer as long as it is within their price range.
Pro consumer? Have you seen the rumoured price for it? At that price and using an LCD panel, pro consumer is not the words I'd use to describe it.
So for you if it had an OLED screen but stay in a closed walled off software ecosystem, that would be pro consumer?
This is for the people who want an ergonomic handheld with as much power they could possibly get without compromising the battery life. It also gives you the ability to connect to your own display or an external GPU for those with the budget. What I love about it the most is that you have multiple competing store fronts so you can shop around for the best prices for your games.
Agree to disagree. This would open up a new era of Windows Handheld gaming devices: a cut down version of Windows with no bloatware, with hundreds of gaming clients.
It doesn't play all xbox games though. It plays pc games, meaning if you don't have play anywhere titles, you have to buy them again.
Right now that is a small inconvenience as the play anywhere program is not perfect.
You have to consider that it is offering something that no one else is doing for a large number of titles. That small nitpick should not count against this device and we as gamers should support moves like this.
The Nintendo Switch 2 has set a new record by selling over 3 million units within 24 hours, tripling the PlayStation 4’s previous launch day sales.
No doubt, but.... the current price is out of the realm of the average parent / kid to buy like the SW1 was. So this launch achievement is from those of us with more disposable income.
The number of SW2 specific titles pales in comparison to the variety of SW1 games that get a performance boost right out of the box on this. And like the SX and PS5 before it, you can bet the majority are going to be using it as a means to better enjoy their existing titles that can benefit.
This may have been quick out of the gate... so was the WiiU. I quite enjoy it for what it is, but am keeping my expectations in check.
The Switch 2’s price point is great and fine and it’s still cheaper than the current gen of consoles aside from the Series S.
The only place I think they will fall short is their software sales, which also in turn may affect the hardware sales but not significantly. Parents will be fine paying for the system for their kids, but one look at an $80-$90 price tag for a single video game, that is where a lot of people will draw the line. Maybe not so much the people who are in the “willing to pay because I buy deluxe editions anyway” crowd, but for parents specifically, more sacrifices are gonna need to be made in their choices of gifts for their kids.
As a parent of 3 with a very modest income, it was very affordable bc I already had an immense library of games, and the Mario Kart bundle came out to only about €50 more than a standard bundle. Both Zeldas were upgraded w Family Expansion Pass that I already had. Many games were upgraded for free. The only additional game I bought was Fast Fusion for 14.99 which was a great purchase!
People seem to forget that the Switch was $299 at launch which in today's money is roughly $400. That makes the Switch 2 a $50 increase when inflation is taken into account compared to the original.
Yes, people have less spending power on average compared to 2017 (Switch launch year) but this is not the MASSIVE price hike that people are making out Nintendo to be doing.
“No doubt, but.... the current price is out of the realm of the average parent / kid to buy like the SW1 was. So this launch achievement is from those of us with more disposable income.”
It could also be many people rushing to buy to avoid any possible tariff hikes in the future, but I think it’s still a good sign that many people still want physical consoles. Congrats to Nintendo! I’m not getting one at this time though (unless I get it for a Xmas present for one of my kids).
Congratulations Nintendo on finding the happy medium between their weak console and their invincible handheld plus learning from Sony and clearly defining the new console from the old unlike their Wii and Wii U just add a higher number simple yet effective 👍👍
Nope. I didn’t research, I don’t own any Nintendo consoles and I had read on here something about $90 games on switch 2, so I guess it’s good now, people can calm down. Have a nice day :)
I bought the Switch 2 I won’t be buying games at MK prices. I don’t ever pay over £45 for my games. Even my Nintendo switch exclusives I never paid more than £33 for.
I think the typo you put was meant to be $80.
Anyway, the answer to those questions seem to be yes.
Don't get your news from clickbait TikTokers/YouTubers, only go to the source (Nintendo) or reliable new outlets like IGN.
No game is $90 on the Switch 2, and they will never go there. Most games will be under $80, too.
Its crazy that it's both the highest selling console on day 1 and people can walk into a store and buy it with no pre order
Yup while I was waiting in line from Best Buy for Switch 2, like I did for Switch 1 back in 2017, every waiting 12am was going to get a Switch 2! I was in the no preorder line too!
My friend manage to get 4 Switch 2s at his GameStop store, that was lowkey not busy at all. Got them all for himself and his family. Super easy to get a Switch 2 over PS5.
The struggle to get a ps5 was real had mates wait over 2 years for stock i got lucky and got it day 1 but still
I know and I also struggled getting a preorder for the PS5, when Walmart, Best Buy among other retailers open their preorders a day early before most of us realize it. I got my PS5 launch day thanks to YouTube Live Streamer Jake Randell. He helps people get preorders and launch consoles.
It’s funny how I got disagrees for speaking the truth for what I experienced getting the Switch 2. Nintendo had more copies of Switch 2 than Sony for the PS5.
Don’t be butthurt about this very fact. People on here disagreeing with crazy reasons lol
Doesn't that mean Nintendo made sure they had plenty of stock available at retail.
Yeah, I remember reading an article over two years ago with Nintendo stating that they were going to do all that they could to make sure their next console didn't have the PS5/XBox reseller swiping /no stock fiasco happen to them.
Looks like they made sure production met demand. Refreshing to see that the reseller thing didn't trend and I hope a lot of people who bought multiple units for the sole reason to resell then at $1000 are now stuck with them.
I remembered I tried 7 pre-order events during the PS5 launch. I gave up and ended up buying 1 from a scalper. But now, I already secured 1 pre-order Switch 2 unit in my country very easy and without problems.
Unlike the Switch 2 , the Playstation 4 was not sold on the same day in most regions.
Do not miss the Final Fantasy IX lottery commemorating its 25th anniversary and see the new merch release by Square Enix.
I’m hoping Xbox Showcase will be where the Remake gets announced… freaking all this stuff with FF9’s anniversary and still nothing on the Remake…
The problem with this GPU is the market and as a result the price. It's not bad by any means, however, the market has killed off any chance of this being in the conversation of "the performance is decent, but the value is amazing". Instead we have "this thing is okay at best thanks to RT and DLSS, but has nearly no value because of its price".
It was never going to be a 2060 with more RAM, that would be a 3050 Ti. The performance clearly put it on par with the 1660s / 1660 ti / 1070 GPUs which by now should have become the new performance replacement tier for the $100 - $150 range of used GPUs (the like RX 570 / RX 580 / GTX 1060) were just a couple years ago. But the market is trash, the used market is trash, and as a result each GPU gets released at a ridiculous price that would have been laughed at two years ago.
In a healthy market this GPU would be around $159 which would make it an amazing value GPU. However, it has a MSRP of $249 which drastically hurts it's value, but even more insane is that it's not selling at retail, it's selling at over $400 in many places, when the 3060 and 6600XT are also in the price range, making the 3050 a complete pass.
Good luck getting it at an entry-level price.
Stuff like this just makes me happier about my lowly 3060.. i had borderline buyers remorse when I got it at it’s pretty inflated prices but since then things have just got worse.