hand-held PC gamingis blistering right now . At least , itfeelshot .
tail the coattail of both the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch , devices like theAsus ROG Allyhave speedily been given the label as “ the next big thing . ” But is there really enough gas in the tank for a bright future for this form agent ?
After posture down for an exclusive talk with leaders at Acer atIFA 2024 , I ’m leave questioning some of my own preconceived notions about where this is all going .
Lowering margins
One of the great benefits of handheld gambling is the price . Being able to bribe a$400 Steam Deckfelt like a revolution in making microcomputer play more approachable — both in terms of figure factor and in term of price . Somehow , it feel fair to buy this to complement the technical school you already have , whether that ’s a full - bodge DIY gaming PC , a gambling laptop computer , or even a console .
But as it turns out , that ’s also part of the problem . At least , for the tech companies hoping to enlarge the class . One such society is Acer , which just so happen to be launching its first gambling handheld , theNitro Blaze 7 . It ’s an AMD - power 7 - in handheld not unlike the competition , but to my surprisal , Acer itself does n’t actually have high hopes for the future of the category .
When I ask Jerry Kao , the principal operating ship’s officer at Acer , he responded in a surprising way . “ We do not believe it is a big market . But when people call up about gaming , Acer is one of their choices , so we should n’t be abstracted . But do we think there will be a big succeeder ? My personal thought up until now is not so optimistic . ”
Kao went on to discuss that pricing was at the affection of the problem . The Steam Deck sound off off the category at such a low cost decimal point that it made scaling up from there very unmanageable . As he notes , even the ROG Ally had to drop its price to compete . There ’s only so much you’re able to add to distinguish yourself from the competitors , particularly since they mostly rely on the same chip . There ’s some sport with the more powerfulIntel Core Ultra Series 2to launching in theMSI Claw AI 8 + , but we still do n’t have sex how that will be priced .
As we find out just a few days later , the Nitro Blaze 7 is n’t really a homebrew product for Acer . According to an observation byETA Prime on YouTube , the Nitro Blaze 7 is likely a rebranded rendering of the Terrans Force Handle 5 , an endeavour at another ROG Ally competitor by a lesser - known Chinese maker . Acer put its own spin on it aesthetically , but distinctly the Nitro Blaze 7 is n’t what I ’d call a task of sexual love from locomotive engineer and designer at Acer . And significantly , the company has n’t yet revealed its price .
All the while , Asus has already set in motion its second - generationROG Ally X , while Lenovo hasconfirmed developmenton a follow - up to the Legion Go . It ’s far from a dead class , but Acer is try not to get its promise up .
A new direction
When inquire , Acer was , however , cognizant of the unique convergences happening between console table and PC gaming , which is where its novel concept laptop enters the equating — Project Dualplay . The experimental laptop puts a game control into the body of the chassis , which can be used wirelessly and even split into two for multiplayer play on the go .
It ’s quite a unlike product than the Nitro Blaze 7 , but still speaks to an interesting crossover happening , specifically around the catholicity of joysticks and wanting to game on them regardless of the platform — whether that ’s on smartphones or PCs .
“ Controllers have somehow become a coarse linguistic communication , ” Kao explained . “ This is something we want to give a try and listen to customer feedback . So far , it ’s been overwhelmingly good feedback . ”
I can take the stand to that myself . Having attended the press conference , which had been fairly tame throughout , the introduction of Project Dualplay got a huge response from the crew . That ’s precisely the eccentric of rationality you bring a far - out concept to a show like IFA , hoping to make an stamp . Part of the positiveness around the machine is surely about the freshness of the project , but there ’s also something about making biz comptroller more approachable to PC .
I also spoke with James K. Lin , Acer ’s worldwide manager of Notebooks , who observe that Dualplay is all about trying to unfold people ’s minds to young ways into the PC gambling ecosystem .
“ Of of course , when you design a product with the controller in spite of appearance , you have to sacrifice something , and which one we can sacrifice is always a hard decision , ” Lin tell me . “ This time , we sacrifice the battery , which is the easiest way . ”
Acer has n’t provided details on how modest the battery is on Project Dualplay — or even if the laptop will happen into a real product . But I care to see Acer exploring new possibilities and opening up the ecosystem for PC gaming .
And finally , we do n’t know how bombastic of a category gaming handhelds will become , and I take Acer ’s agnosticism badly . That wo n’t blunt my inflammation for the future of the shape factor though , even if the Steam Deck will proceed to be the go - to option .
