Roanne Sones, head of Xbox devices, said the Asus ROG Ally mobile gaming PC is “making us think differently about the experiences” for Windows PC gaming at its launch event.
“How do we think about integrating this into the Windows platform?” she said, citing how consoles can swiftly resume a game. Making it easy to go from PC gaming to mobile gaming is another goal.
As my colleague Tom Warren notes, Sones has made similar remarks before. She addressed working with publishers on the “experience layer” for these capabilities at an April ROG Ally event.
on our ROG Ally review today, we appreciated the performance and screen but discovered Windows still has challenges on such a little computer.
An Xbox executive has hinted to porting Windows players’ favorite features, such as Quick Resume.
Microsoft’s increased focus on bringing console quality-of-life elements to Windows may help, although it’s unclear if the conversations are about particular titles or operating system upgrades.
Microsoft recently tested a Windows gaming portable mode as part of an employee hackathon, but Asus ROG Ally technical marketing director Sascha Krohn says his Microsoft contact wouldn’t confirm that it will be released. Meanwhile, Asus is adding Xbox button compatibility, battery charge limits, and rapid-fire buttons to its software.
Windows gaming handhelds have issues beyond UI. Windows portables enter an internet-connected “Modern Standby” mode when you click the power button, allowing you to download games and rapidly restart a game while saving energy.
In actuality, downloads didn’t resume, and we lost more juice than if we’d just put the Ally into hibernation mode, but switching the power button to hibernate means you can accidently send the system into a deep slumber while you’re attempting to wake the screen. Windows doesn’t recognize any of the Ally’s other controls until the machine is awake.
Despite its restrictions, Valve’s Steam Deck appears better suited for a portable device than Windows gaming devices like the Ally. Closing these gaps at the operating system level might help them take their enormous game libraries on the move.
