These companies are out of their minds.
this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2025
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Handheld PC gaming is a niche. The high end market of that is a niche within a niche.
Going to look out for high end devices like this as they hit the secondhand market.
That’s fair. Perhaps it’s their strategy but I fail to see how it’s a winning one.
I can’t see paying more than a few hundred for this form factor. Love my Steam Deck, but for the times when I feel like being treated to a nicer gaming experience, that’s when it’s time to break out the real gaming rig with a 4K screen or a VR headset. With such a small screen, streaming games to the Deck on max settings via Moonlight / Sunshine doesn’t really look that much different than the same game on medium settings running on the Deck, so paying double or triple for a slightly more powerful machine with a slightly better screen doesn’t make a lot of sense for me.
I don't think Ars is paying attention to the other handhelds on the market.
And after it comes out, a lot of people will say they never blinked at the price.
Switch 2 had a similar reaction. After it came out, people still bought it. This will be similar — though, it'll be more in line with Xbox's numbers vis a vis Nintendo. I'm not saying they will have a Switch 2 launch. I am saying everyone who wanted a handheld Xbox will probably still buy one. A couple won't. A couple people new to Xbox will buy it though.
I know a guy who already preordered it.
I think people need to realise it's not an Xbox, it's a handheld PC and it can only run Xbox games that are on PC. It's gonna run the PC version. The rest it will do via cloud gaming and its specs will not be a factor. It may even do that for newer, more powerful games that would run better remotely on a Series S or X. And it won't run 360/OG games, at least not natively.
I feel like Microsoft needs to push for emulation of older systems natively much like Nintendo has. While the Switch can run Game Boy, NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, and Genesis (more?), Switch 2 can also run GameCube. Xbox needs to be modified to run OG and 360 games, and that includes the handheld. Honestly it should include Windows PCs, too. I mean, if you're using Windows, you should be able to run Xbox games you legally own on your computer, especially if you pay for GamePass, but even if you just prop Windows up in 2025 when you could be running Linux or using a Mac. For all the telemetry they collect and ads they serve, letting you play games you legally own on hardware running software they sold you just... makes sense. I mean they already got your money and you can play games you bought from others (e.g. Steam, GOG), so, why not them?