I’ve been a PC gamer for principally my whole life. Whilst a younger child on my dad’s boxy beige work pc, I spent hours taking part in the one sport it had put in: Microsoft Golf 1998 Version. I beloved the fantastic Flash period of browser video games, and acquired loads of magazines purely for the demo disks.
Rising up, I had my dalliances with console gaming, however as soon as I acquired my first gaming laptop computer as a teen, we had been again in acquainted territory. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than I constructed my first gaming PC, and the remainder, as they are saying, is historical past.
I by no means thought I’d abandon my trusty gaming desktop – maybe the fourth or fifth PC I’ve constructed purely for myself over time, discounting the literal dozens I constructed whereas working at Most PC journal – and but these days, I discover myself utilizing it much less and fewer for gaming. I used to spend hours seated at my desk grinding away in my live-service sport du jour, but now I largely simply sit in that chair to write down articles like this one. The rationale for that? I acquired myself an Asus ROG Ally.
The hand-held revolution
PC gaming handhelds have been floating round for some time in early kinds, however it wasn’t till Valve launched their profitable and fashionable Steam Deck handheld that curiosity actually began to choose up. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than different producers wished to muscle in on the scene; Asus was the primary main rival to Valve with its ROG Ally (and the brand new ROG Ally X), then extra began to seem: the MSI Claw, Lenovo Legion Go, and most not too long ago the Zotac Zone all ship high quality handheld gaming experiences beating something within the present console house.
I’m not ragging on consoles right here; I’ve a Nintendo Swap, and it was because of that (and a second Swap for my fiancé, and two copies of Animal Crossing: New Horizons) that I made it via each lockdown and most cancers therapy in a single piece. I’ve owned each Sport Boy, and I used to be one of many eight individuals who really purchased a PS Vita again in 2011 – a horribly misunderstood handheld, by the way in which.
However the ROG Ally is a unique beast solely; my big sport libraries throughout Steam, Epic, GOG, and extra imply that I can get pleasure from an enormous number of video games, with higher graphics than something supplied by the Swap. Plus, as a fan of indie video games, I get the added bonus of attending to play all the good stuff on Itch.io, the vast majority of which isn’t out there on consoles.
What makes PC handhelds so nice?
My love for the ROG Ally has grown a lot that I’ve taken to actively recommending it and its ilk – forsaking my common recommendation about gaming laptops and PC-building. The primary purpose, fairly merely, is pricing. The ROG Ally can routinely be picked up for round $400 / £400 in case you keep watch over gross sales – and admittedly, good luck discovering a gaming laptop computer able to providing the identical efficiency for that worth, even throughout sale occasions.
Talking of efficiency: the Z1 Excessive APU chip contained in the ROG Ally and another handhelds performs nice, providing robust 1080p gaming efficiency. Certain, you’ll possible have to tone down the graphics in some extra demanding video games to hit that coveted 60 frames per second, however the efficiency for such a compact system is really wonderful and would’ve been unprecedented only a few years in the past.
And naturally, it’s that compact nature that makes the Ally a lot extra interesting to me than a desktop PC or a chunky gaming laptop computer. I sit at my desk all day lengthy; why would I proceed to sit down there throughout my free time after work, once I might take my handheld and go lounge on the sofa whereas taking part in the very same video games? It’s a profit you don’t discover till you’ve gotten the choice. Throughout a latest storm right here within the UK, I stayed heat and comfy in mattress with a scorching water bottle and the quite wonderful Afterparty, and it was nice. Though the Ally is a bit heavy, it’s comfy design and durable thumbsticks are rather a lot simpler on my palms than a mouse and keyboard.
So sure: I’m performed with gaming laptops, and whereas I’m not about to toss my powerhouse desktop within the rubbish anytime quickly, I’m definitely placing rather a lot much less mileage on it now. That’s in all probability good for my electrical energy invoice too, now that I give it some thought – the RTX 4080 positive is an influence hog.