There's a lot of talk about the ASUS Xbox handheld right now, and that's no surprise considering it was teased last night by the company - it's all but confirmed at this point.
We don't know really know anything about it yet though - aside from that it's going to be similar to an ASUS ROG Ally and will seemingly place a big focus on Xbox Play Anywhere compatibility. But what about the interface? If this is going to be a Windows-based handheld, is it going to suffer with the same issues that have plagued them in the past?
Well, it was reported a while ago that the ASUS Xbox Handheld would probably a feature a "console-like" interface, and now a couple of strings in the latest Windows 11 development build appear to have confirmed this.
As reported by both Xeno Panther and Windows Central, the following strings are mentioned:
Windows Central: The references included are "Boot into the Full screen experience at device startup" and "Choose your Full screen experience," which might imply that there may be multiple different game-focused interfaces to choose from. Windows Central can confirm that both strings are present.
This obviously would be a massive benefit to the ASUS Xbox handheld, and if it's introduced alongside the device at launch, it's going to make it stand out compared to what we've seen from Windows handhelds in the past. That's not to say they couldn't benefit from it too, but it's going to look particularly great on an Xbox-branded device.
Let's see what comes of this, shall we? ASUS is clearly keen to make us all aware of this thing, and with the Switch 2 reveal taking place this week, it's going to be interesting to see how they time the full reveal. Can't wait too long!
Liking the sound of this? Let us know down in the comments section below.
Comments 9
Good news, we really need to make the Windows interface of portable consoles much more gamer friendly.
Xbox = the one who unites them all
This seems like the logical next step. It's one of the biggest complaints with devices like ROG Ally.
Sweet. I don't understand any of it but feedback seems great from what I've read across sites so far.
If this is the case this new ui will probably be the one going forward onto the next gen Xbox if it's going to be a PC type hybrid.
I feel like the Xbox handheld is just going to be a rebranded ASUS ROG Ally.
@sp00nard That's pretty much exactly what everything is pointing to. Lol. The original leak specified that Xbox's own actual handheld is still further out. This is still going to be a windows OEM, just one that it seems Microsoft is working more closely with ASUS on to make a better overall experience.
Based on everything that's coming out, the overall strategy here seems to match that of what Microsoft likes to do with big software improvements for Windows. They'll work with OEMs to announce a big update with ready made hardware that'll take advantage of it (but without having to invest too much themselves in the hardware department), and then later ship an update across windows that'll enable the big update for all existing products and upcoming products capable of taking advantage of it.
I think this will be treated as a big "moment" for gaming on Windows. The major focus will probably be an Xbox gaming mode and improvements across the Xbox App, Microsoft Store games, and Windows overall aimed at making gaming on Windows feel more intuitive all through a familiar Xbox shell. I'd even expect Microsoft introducing an Xbox button to OEMs that want it and encouraging them to use this and their Xbox interface launcher instead of their own solutions (like Legion Space on the Legion Go). But I don't at all expect this to be a unique device or that much of an Xbox device. The Microsoft work seems to be on the software end, as expected. It'll still be an ASUS OEM and ASUS hardware manufactured PC handheld. More than anything this feels like an answer to all the complaints PC gamers have had with Windows (over the years but especially since the Steam Deck and handheld PCs gained popularity), and largely a competitive answer to Valve who has started selling SteamOS to OEMs. For once windows could lose its gaming dominance on PCs and as such Microsoft is actually doing something to remain competitive (which very hilariously so just means that they do what they should've done like a decade ago; God Microsoft gets so complacent with Windows).
I feel like I must be the only person who doesn't have an issue with windows on a handheld. It works fine in my opinion, and my ROG Ally already boots straight to the Armory Crate app thingy, so I already don't have to deal with windows if I don't want to.
The metro interface from windows 8 is making a comeback
If this better UI happens, as it should, i'll just dual boot my steam deck again. I'll probably wait until an "official" xbox handheld comes out in a few years.
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