Tag Archives: handheld

Gaming, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

Nintendo Switch Users Can Switch to Next-Gen Console They Say, It Will Be Easy They Say

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The Nintendo Switch was launched in 2017. The global release of the world’s most revolutionary handheld gaming console was on the 3rd of March in 2017 specifically. Counting today, the Nintendo Switch, considering its v1 iteration, is now six years, three months, and 25 days old. To put that into context, the PlayStation 4 Pro, with significantly more powerful hardware than the handheld, was launched on the 10th of November 2016, just about four months prior to the Nintendo Switch. The PlayStation 5 was announced on the 4th of April 2019, about three years after the upgraded PlayStation 4 was released, and officially launched on the 12th of November of 2020, about a year later and four years after PlayStation 4 Pro. While it is fair to say that the gap between the original PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5 is about seven years, you must consider that the PlayStation 4 Pro came with a significant update enough that it looked more like the next-gen console over the original hardware. So yes, the Nintendo Switch is old even with the consideration of the OLED variant they announced just a few years ago, with no realistic announcement or indication of a replacement coming anytime soon.

While it is not Nintendo’s most successful hardware, it is one that really put Nintendo on the main map of mainstream gaming consoles while also pushing their own exclusive titles and existing assets to the next level. In that case, despite Nintendo’s poor history in product continuity, it only makes sense for Nintendo to prolong and expand the Nintendo Switch line-up especially with updated hardware. Their shareholders meeting notes from last week seems to confirm that, which is a relief to those of you that have been patiently waiting for Nintendo to update the Switch.

In the meeting notes, the President and CEO of Nintendo, Shuntaro Furukawa mentions that the next-generation console, whatever it will be called, will support games from the aging Nintendo Switch. That also means that if you have a Nintendo account with the switch, you should be able to transition to the new hardware system as smoothly as just signing in, pretty much like PlaySation and Xbox. Whatever you have bought from the Nintendo eStore will be carried over to the new system.

The same cannot be said with the cartridges you have bought previously though. They also did not reveal any specifics on the hardware of the next-generation console. There are also no real dates that have been mentioned for the next-generation console. Nintendo just had their Nintendo Direct announcement as well that showcased plenty of new games and DLCs for older games, which is further indication that the next-generation console will not make it to the shelves anytime soon. The meeting notes are confirmation though that they are working on a next-generation console, a consolation at least.

Gaming, News

ROG Ally Officially Available in Malaysia

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Update 8:45pm – The ROG Ally First sales have sold out in record time!

Handheld gaming is going more mainstream than ever with the ASUS’s Republic of Gamers (ROG) throwing their hat in the ring. The recently announced ROG Ally is making its debut in countries across the world. The latest country to get the handheld gaming device? Malaysia of course!

ROG Ally Launch Event Product photo 01

The handheld runs on AMD’s Z1 Extreme processor. It runs on the latest Zen4 architecture and promises enough power to run most games and power efficiency for a respectable gaming session. The Malaysian version of the ROG Ally will come with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal SSD storage.

It comes with a 7-inch, IPS-level display with an FHD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. It has a 120Hz refresh rate and 500 nits brightness.

The ROG Ally will officially be priced at MYR3,299. At the time of writing, ASUS has only announced a single variant of the ROG Ally for the Malaysian market. It will be available in retail on July 1, 2023, at the ROG Roadshow happening in Plaza Low Yat and at ROG Ally authorized dealers nationwide.

ROG Ally Travel Case 10
ROG Ally Travel Case 05
ROG Ally Travel Case 07
ROG Ally Travel Case 08
ROG Ally Travel Case 04

Together with the gaming handheld, ASUS is offering a slew of accessories including the ROG Ally Travel Case priced at MYR199 and the ROG Gaming Charger Dock which comes with HDMI 2.0 support at MYR299.

ROG Gaming Charger Dock Scenario photo 01

Of course, being an ROG device, the Ally is also compatible with ROG’s XG Mobile platform which provides even more power for the device when you hook it up. They give access to top-of-the-line GPUs for mobile devices which include the ROG Flow Z13 laptops. There are currently three versions available in Malaysia, the XG MOBILE RTX4090 which retails for MYR 999, the XG MOBILE RTX3080 which retails for MYR7999 and the XG MOBILE RX 6850M XT which retails at MYR6999.

ROG ALLY Authorized Dealer Promo

The first sales which are happening now will be bundled with the ROG CETRA True Wireless earbuds, the ROG Ally Travel Case, the ROG Gaming Charger Dock, a screen protector and 9-month access to XBOX PC GamePass. The bundle is worth MYR1,299.

Accessories, Android, Computers, Gaming, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

[RAZERCON 2022] Razer Announces Razer Edge with 5G to Take on the Steamdeck

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The biggest thing that has happened to gaming for the past few years is not really the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X. They are great, they are revolutionary, but they are rather regular and expected. You still need to be sat in one location and get it plugged to a display to fully enjoy them. The most important thing that has happened in gaming over the past few years is portable gaming, or mobile gaming.

What really started this handheld gaming phenomena is not really the smartphone. It is more to do with Nintendo’s Switch. Later, Steamdeck revolutionized the handheld gaming space again bringing the entire strength of Steam’s gaming library for PC games to a handheld device no bigger than a hard cover Harry Potter book.

Then Razer comes along with the Razer Edge. The Razer Edge is unique, not really a Nintendo Switch with exclusive titles. It is not exactly a Steamdeck competitor in the hardware space as well.

Razer Edge 5G render 2
Source: Razer

Where the Steamdeck is powered by a swatch of PC like parts, AMD’s Zen 3 CPU with integrated GPU, for example, the Edge is made more like a smartphone. It is powered by Qualcomm’s snapdragon G3x Gen 1 platform. That is also an exclusive for Razer, the most powerful integrated processing chip that Qualcomm can produce at this time clocking up to 3GHz on it eight-core Kryo design.

It makes plenty of sense though the Razer Edge is not made to be a smartphone. It is made purely for gaming on the go and to be the best at it. But since it is Qualcomm, there is some smartphone qualities about the handheld device. You get to opt for 5G connectivity for example, so you can technically game anywhere you want to game. You also get WiFi 6E, which is technically still a brand-new technology even for the PC space.  

If display quality is what you are looking for, the Steamdeck and Nintendo Switch has nothing on this handheld. It packs a 6.8-inch AMOLED display that refreshes at 144Hz boasting Full HD+ (2400 x 1080). It is technically the most advance display you can find on any handheld device in its class.

Razer Edge 5G render 4
Source: Razer

So, what can a handheld device that is built purely for gaming with smartphone class hardware can do? It can run on Android, obviously. In that case, you can play Android games like PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends Bang Bang. It also comes with Epic Games Launcher app out-of-the-box which also means that it will run games like Fortnite and Rocket League Sideswipe with no issue.

It is not just made for mobile games though. It is designed with cloud gaming in mind too. So, if you have and active subscription on Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming and you want to take them out to the world, you can.

That is not all though. While you will not be able to install PC games directly on your Razer Edge, you still can play them. The Razer Edge is the only handheld gaming device out there that comes with the ability to play Steam games at 144Hz via Steam Link remote play. You also get access to Moonlight, and Parsec. We are guessing that Razer might get PlayStation remote play available on the Razer Edge soon too. Sure, you want to be constantly connected to the internet, that is why you might want to get yourselves the 5G variant.

The Razer Edge is technically just an integrated handheld device that works like a smartphone. You can detach it from the new Razer Kishi V2 Pro that it will come with. That also means that you can even use the controllers with your smartphone, if you like. But then again, you would want to be using your Razer Edge for all your games.

  • Razer Edge Base Model 5G render 7
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge Base Model 5G render 6
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge Base Model 5G render 5
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge Base Model 5G render 4
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge Base Model 5G render 3
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge Base Model 5G render 2
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge Base Model 5G render 1
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge 5G render 6
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge 5G render 5
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge 5G render 4
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge 5G render 3
    Source: Razer
  • Kishi V2 Pro render 1
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge 5G render 2
    Source: Razer
  • Razer Edge 5G render 1
    Source: Razer
  • Kishi V2 Pro render 6
    Source: Razer
  • Kishi V2 Pro render 5
    Source: Razer
  • Kishi V2 Pro render 4
    Source: Razer
  • Kishi V2 Pro render 3
    Source: Razer
  • Kishi V2 Pro render 2
    Source: Razer

The Razer Edge will be available only in the United States for now January 2023 onward. It will only be available in stores and Razer.com in its WiFi only variant at launch. Yes, there will also be a 5G variant as we mentioned, but it will only be available later and exclusively from Verizon. The WiFi variant of the Razer Edge will retail for US$ 399.99 (MYR 1,885*) at launch. Unfortunately, there are no mentions on its availability and official pricing in other regions currently. More information on the Razer Edge can be found on their website.

*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.71 as of 18/10/2022 on xe.com

Computers, Gaming, Lifestyle, News

Valve Announces the Steam Deck – Proper PC Gaming in Nintendo Switch-esque Package.

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When Nintendo Switch was first teased, the PC gaming market went a little wild. Independent manufacturers took bold steps and packed all they can into a package that resembles the Nintendo Switch running the Windows platform. Despite the fact that most of these devices packs a notebook PC APU with no discreet GPU, they sold them as handheld gaming devices. To be fair, those were good attempts to squish portable gaming devices (gaming laptops) to an even more portable size. In theory also, you get the best gaming experience that is PC gaming.

Obviously, cramming PC grade hardware into constricted space is no mean feat. Most of the handheld gaming ‘PCs’ are thicker than your college textbooks and are as heavy as a brick. You need to fit cooling fans, thermal management systems, storage, RAM, and whatever else you have on a regular laptop into the small package. On top of all of that, you need to fit the controllers too. We thought that we will never see the day a handheld gaming device that can run PC games looking like a Nintendo Switch anytime soon.

Imagine our surprise then when Valve came out to say they have made a handheld gaming device that runs all your PC games. While it should not be a big surprise, it did catch the world off guard a little bit. Valve is not new in creating console peripherals for the PC gaming industry though. They were also responsible for creating something called the Steam Controller a few years back, we never saw the product ourselves though.

Screenshot 2021 07 16 at 14 36 55 Steam Deck Hardware
Source: Steam Deck

The Steam Deck, they call it. It really looks like a Nintendo Switch that is permanently stuck to two third-party Joy Con controllers. You do not get the funky colours of the Nintendo Switch though. Instead, you get a completely gun metal black finish that gives it a more edgy look.

It is built to run the Steam interface on its 7-inch 720p (1,280 x 800) LCD display with 60Hz refresh rate. It is built to run games on your Steam Library on that exact same display at that resolution too. You can get better displays from smartphone devices today, obviously. The issue with better and faster displays is that it presents a very real bottleneck for modern PC games, so some level of sacrifice would be required on portable handheld devices.

Keeping the display running at full chat is an AMD Zen 2 architecture CPU (four-core, eight thread) that is also paired to RDNA 2 GPU (eight CU) custom APU for the Steam Deck. You get 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM that is non-replaceable. 16GB of RAM is ample though for a gaming PC. They even pack it with up to 512GB in an NVMe PCIe SSD format to keep things trundling along at breakneck speeds.

The controller layout does look a little weird because the D-pad lines up with the joystick. The layout is necessary though to fit the touch pads for a more intuitive navigation for the Steam Deck. The 7-inch display is also a touch sensitive display, if you really cannot figure out the controller navigation.

  • rcc hero
    Source: Steam Deck
  • rcc thumbstick
    Source: Steam Deck
  • rcc trigger
    Source: Steam Deck
  • rcc back
    Source: Steam Deck
  • hardware touchscreen
    Source: Steam Deck
  • hardware trackpads
    Source: Steam Deck
  • gyro
    Source: Steam Deck
  • Screenshot 2021 07 16 at 14 36 36 Steam Deck Hardware
    Source: Steam Deck
  • Screenshot 2021 07 16 at 14 36 55 Steam Deck Hardware
    Source: Steam Deck

Obviously, the Steam Deck runs on Steam’s custom interface. However, it is also built as a PC complete with a dock and everything with proper I/O. That also means that you can run it as a PC on a desktop display or a TV if you really want to. It runs on Linux though, so you do not get the Windows experience here. Still, you can run third-party apps on Steam Deck, something you cannot do on any other gaming consoles.

Valve’s Steam Deck comes in three flavours when it is available later in December 2021 and beyond. These are not colour options though, rather three storage options. At the most basic you are getting a 64GB eMMC internal storage. A step above that is a 256GB NVMe SSD. At the top of the food chain is a 512GB storage option. All variants come with a MicroSD expansion slot, so you still can get a MicroSD card for more storage if you need to. Prices start from US$ 399 (MYR 1,676*) for the most basic version and tops out at US$ 649 (MYR 2,727*). Compared to the Nintendo Switch, the entry level price is still more expensive. At the top as well, the Steam Deck is approximately US$ 150 (MYR 630*) more than current generation gaming consoles. You do not get to bring around your Steam Library with you on the other consoles though.

*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.20 on xe.com as of 16/07/2021