Dockable handhelds.
you really have to give it to Nintendo to produce a console that can be handheld, easily shared with other players, and dockable so you can play it on the big screen. what a versatile system
I always felt Nintendo was rather innovative or at least took risks. Shoulder buttons with the SNES controller. The thumbstick and rumblepack with the N64. Wireless with the wavebird on the GameCube. Motion controls with the Wii. Touch screen with the DS and WiiU.
A lot of these are common sense now but at the times they were introduced they were awesome.
Before then, Nintendo literally invented the crosspad which has been a mainstay we take for granted on game controllers ever since (except for the decade when they had it patented, which is why the directional pads on the Master System, Genesis, PS1, 3DO, etc., etc., from that era are such shit). Even as something as simple as that can be innovative.
Imma let you finish, but the Genesis controller was not bad at all, especially for fighting games that required quarter/half circle inputs it was always reliable for hitting diagonals
And hopefully higher clocks and/or more cores when docked or on AC. I lov love my steam deck but would love it more if it could manage 1080p when docked without the performance tanking.
Oh man that’s disappointing.
A little, yeah. It’s screen is 800p and the hardware was designed to target that. Older and less demanding games manage ok at 1080p or even 4k but newer AAA games are not going to get there.
I definitely hope the trend continues, though not necessarily replacing consoles as an entity. I’ve an Aya Neo 2021 (first gen) and it’s been amazing. I have a hard time staying in one place and actually committing to sitting down at a console / desktop to play games, I don’t like gaming on laptops too much, and the Switch has a limited library; so a handheld PC specifically made for gaming has been fantastic. It’s so nice to just pick up and be able to play whereever, and I’m very glad to see that it seems like handheld PCs are here to stay
Handheld PC games have been such a “game changer” for me too. I love Nintendo and the Switch but like you said the library was a bit limited. Alongside, the storage and the types of games too.
I’m in bed and playing Ori. I haven’t bought a TV for my bedroom yet and sitting at a desk to play some games feels more cumbersome.
I really like that Steam has really changed things. It really brings PC games to a console-like experience.
Handhelds are severely power limited, even if they get really good there will always be a desktop/console version of the hardware with better performance
Yeah but I can’t lug my tower around on a train, now can I?
From that artsy article graphic, at first I thought the ROG Ally was smaller than the Switch. Not so, it seems.
Funny thing is, this isn’t the first time this has been attempted. I remember Razer putting out a gaming tablet back in the Windows 8 days. Most of the concern I have for people buying these is interface - Steam has done a lot to alleviate concerns of a desktop environment in a game boy, including offering community tools to fill the gaps.
The ROG Ally is enormous. I had a chance to handle one in person – it’s closer to the size of the Steam Deck, and it’s like five times the thickness of the Switch.
If anything it’s really incredible the Switch is as small as it is.
Especially since it was something of a mobile powerhouse when it first launched.
my ideal pc is one where I can dock it to an external GPU seamlessly. the price also has to make sense
Yeah something like the Steam Deck, but where the dock has a beefy eGPU so you can play in 4k on the big screen would be 🔥
Yes the steam deck is a dream console for me especially having Linux on it.
I’m not sure. I honestly don’t find a huge appeal to them, but I’m not often in a situation where I have a large amount of time to kill outside of my home.
A steam deck would be nice, but I realize I’d probably do what I do with my switch, which is use it once every few months.
As long as desktops are a thing I can’t see myself using a handheld. I can see it replacing gaming laptops though, and those may soon be a thing of the past.
No they’re not. They’re what I use when my kid is using the tv, and it’s what my kid uses when we’re away from home and the tv. Handheld gaming will always be a side distraction to consoles and PC gaming.
I owned every Nintendo handheld since the original Gameboy. They were so convenient to just be able to play anywhere. I could be laying in bed or on the sofa. Put it in your pocket or toss it into a bag to carry with you.
However, I don’t really feel like the switch has really captured that same sense of portability. It’s large and bulky and heavy. It feels uncomfortable for me to play the same ways I used to play the older handhelds. It also feels more fragile, so I’m hesitant to just toss it in a bag. I ended up just using it as a normal console 99% of the time.
Maybe it’s just me being older, but I feel like the switch didn’t give us the best of both worlds, it just compromised and gave us a worse version of a handheld and a worse version of a console.
I don’t know. Handhelds are nice for travel, but they can hardly match the raw power of a dedicated home console.
