More from Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and more: all the news about the handheld PC gaming revolution
The 1TB version also reappeared this morning, but was gone before I could get up a Verge Quick Post. I’m moving faster this time! Here’s the store page. Valve warned on February 16th it’ll be intermittently out of stock because of RAMageddon. Wednesday was the Deck’s fourth anniversary. (Update: 1TB is back too, and hearing Canada has stock as well!)
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Today is the fourth anniversary of Valve’s gaming handheld, which has been out of stock for weeks due to RAM... but when I set my VPN to the UK, I see some available now! Not in the US, EU or Asia, though.
Last February 25th, I wrote how the Deck had dominated handheld sales; recently, Circana analyst Mat Piscatella shared that the Asus ROG Ally still hasn’t made a dent.
Microsoft also said that “more than 85% of the Game Pass catalog is compatible with these PCs,” now, after a rocky journey for ARM gaming support on PC.
Other new Xbox app updates, like the new Game Save Sync Indicator and Handheld Compatibility Program labeling, also seem to be well-timed ahead of a possible Qualcomm PC gaming handheld launch in March.
What’s more powerful than an AMD Strix Halo handheld? One with liquid cooling! OneXPlayer brought the Apex handheld and the Super X tablet to CES, both of which attach to this external liquid cooler. (They’re still technically portable once you disconnect.) Nelly has the best look and some benchmarks; I only had time to snap these photos.
Qualcomm sells Arm chips that play PC games on Windows... and occasionally on Android... and newly on SteamOS too. So: when do we get a Qualcomm Steam Deck? Qualcomm tells me PC handhelds aren’t happening at CES, but it’s “keeping an eye” on GDC in March for possible Windows ones! Full context here.
Last night was the first Xbox Bowl, with Arkansas State taking the trophy, presented by Halo’s Master Chief, over Missouri State. Every player received a free ROG Xbox Ally handheld ahead of the game, but the winning team also received a playable trophy to, presumably, lock away in their case.
Microsoft seems to have gotten the message that Linux is becoming real competition and that the Xbox Ally needs more work! “[W]e will continue refining system behaviors that matter most to gaming: background workload management, power and scheduling improvements, graphics stack optimizations, and updated drivers,” the company writes.
[Windows Experience Blog]
The Steam Frame is a Trojan horse carrying Arm’s gaming future.
IGN’s Wesley Yin-Poole has an excellent interview with Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat, including one reason why they have no news about Steam Deck 2. It’s because yet again, the promised “generational leap” in performance is not yet possible. They haven’t found the right chip.
Griffais says:
“We’re not interested in getting to a point where it’s 20 or 30 or even 50% more performance at the same battery life. We want something a little bit more demarcated than that.”
