This past year was a tipping point for the games industry.
The major game studios took the wrong lessons from the expansion of mobile gaming.
They thought players really enjoyed paying through the nose for every feature drip, character skin, or mini-expansion.
Pick your poison, as there’s no shortage of handheld devices that were released in 2023.Photo: Jorge Jimenez / Andrew Liszewski / Gizmodo
Really, it was about access.
Most people had phones, ergo, most people would play games on their phones.
Its ease of access.
Guess which popular systems have all that in spades?
Forget high-fidelity graphics that few but the most expensive gaming rigs can maximize the polygon count.
That game sold 19.5 million copies globally, not including digital sales.
Yet it was Valve who finally flipped the switch (pun intended) on the true portable console experience.
The Deck is its own gear capable of accessing far more than your Steam library.
Linux-based SteamOS is still annoyingly buggy, but emulation and plugins have proved equally versatile on Valves premiere handheld.
And thats a good thing because competition is key to this new markets success.
We hope more big names plant their own stake in the 2024 console market.
DellsAlienware brand showed off its UFO conceptthree years ago, and wed love to see it resurface.
But you cant forget all the minor players as well.
Other manufacturers had been deep into this space years before Valve first came in.
Instead, the focus is on software, andit could prove a winning strategy.
Microsoft and Xbox execshave pretty much declared theyre hedging their bets on Xbox Game Pass.
The problem is Windows 11 is a real pain in the posterior on gaming handhelds.
Love the feedback, thank you.
We are focused on making the Xbox and GP experience great on devices like the Ally.
It is great to see Xbox customers using the Ally to take their gaming with them on the go.
Something as simple as a better touch keyboard and UI scaling are still missing.
Its wild weve waited this long with little more than side chatter from Microsoft.
However, its not like this past year wasnt a success.
Its one of its best holiday seasons to date, and Sony toldReutersits already meeting sales expectations.
Now, there arerumors well see a PS5 Proin late 2024.
There have been so many handheld releases this year its a bit hard to keep track.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
Two banks say Amazon has paused negotiations on some international data centers.
Those who want a console at launch June 5 should get in line as soon as possible.
