Microsoft’s first ‘Xbox’ handhelds are shipping not fully baked.
What does “Xbox” mean? Some might say it can only refer to a box-shaped Microsoft game machine. Others will argue it’s a collection of Xbox-native titles like Halo, Gears, Forza, and Fable. I think most would probably agree it’s a game console experience, a way to kick back and easily play the latest games without thinking too much. Press the power button, play, press it again to pause.
The 7-inch Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X gaming handhelds, on sale tomorrow, don’t meet that bar. The cheaper one doesn’t even come close.
They run Windows 11, and they never let you forget it — not during their lengthy setup process, not when you’re trying to navigate their menus, and not when you want the latest games to “just work.” They also don’t play Xbox games designed for an Xbox console, only Xbox games ported to PCs; when GTA VI comes out next May without a PC version, you won’t be playing it here. Not unless you’re streaming from the cloud.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve tapped the tiny button with three vertical lines right next to the tiny button with three horizontal lines, which can be a problem, because one of them pauses your game and and opens in-game menus, while the other kicks you out to your game library to launch a new game without pausing your game at all. If you press the library button a second time, it doesn’t take you back to your game, so you probably have to long-press the Xbox button to get back to your game, but not the Library button or the Control Center button because those will summon AI assistants instead, and if you understood everything I just wrote and found it reasonable then boy do I have the operating system for you.
All the UX people are tasked with cramming garbage AI and data collection into everything while everything else is “designed” by a bunch of overpaid engineers checking off boxes on “features” it should have regardless of where they end up or how usable they are
The difference is XBOX and Switch are consoles, and this is just a handheld PC with all the terrible Windows things and a new lazily-slapped-together interface at an exorbitant price.
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Lol, Lmao. Peak Microsoft.
All the UX people are tasked with cramming garbage AI and data collection into everything while everything else is “designed” by a bunch of overpaid engineers checking off boxes on “features” it should have regardless of where they end up or how usable they are
And despite all of that, they sold out of them immediately.
Not just embarrassing, but confirmation that XBox is dead and Microsoft is woefully out of touch with gamers. I doubt the
19.99GamePass can save it.MS is shit at naming products? You dont say!
Common Microsoft L
Looks like April Fools Day came late this year.
Seems like a double standard for Xbox to be mocked for branding a handheld when Nintendo does this repeatedly. What’s the difference?
The difference is XBOX and Switch are consoles, and this is just a handheld PC with all the terrible Windows things and a new lazily-slapped-together interface at an exorbitant price.
Nintendo doesn’t sell products that are branded as Switch but don’t actually play Switch games.
Xbox has always been the favorite punching bag of legacy media.