Well, at least the base model Xbox Ally has essentially the same SoC as the Steam Deck. The Z2 A has 4 Zen 2 cores and 8 RDNA 2 CUs. It will be configurable up to 20 watts TDP instead of 15 on the Deck, but that’s it. So much for “long in the tooth technology wise”.
Sure, the Z2 Extreme variant will be more powerful, but it’ll also be in a different price category (800-900,-€).
And in terms of user-friendliness: the Xbox Ally will run Windows. It won’t launch into the regular desktop shell (by default), and it won’t have as many services running in the background which might help with performance and battery life, and you’ll probably be able to update drivers and Windows through it. Maybe it will have some preconfigured scripts/shortcuts to install Steam, Battle.net etc. But that’s it. Expect to fall back to the desktop mode (or open a browser, terminal and Explorer window in the new gaming mode) for anything more advanced like installing emulators.
In terms of pick up and play this won’t be much different to the Steam Deck, with the one exception being Game Pass - but even then don’t expect any of the more demanding titles to run well.
tonytins@pawb.social 9 months ago
lolwut? The Deck was released only two years ago.
LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 9 months ago
tonytins@pawb.social 9 months ago
Nintendo wiped the floor with mobile gaming market for decades despite their competitors having beefier specs. The DS lasted for years before we ever got the Switch. Let the Steam Deck mature.
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
The difference is that nobody’s releasing games specifically made for the Deck. Some are including optimizations to make their games run decently well on it, but it’s not a AAA machine. I bought one knowing this full well and am satisfied playing less demanding games on it, but it’s not going to be playing new demanding games, unlike with dedicated consoles.
LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 9 months ago