Xboxremote play and similar cloud gaming solutions have never really cut it for me. I used to carry my Backbone peripheral with me all the time on the off chance that I’d feel like playing a game while waiting for something else to happen, and almost never used it.
The major issue is that you need a stable internet connection for it to work, which means almost every time I try to use remote play outside of my house, something goes wrong because of slow internet or a lack of stability. Using remote play is only feasible if I’m sitting in a static place with great internet – like my house – which eliminates the vast majority of times when I actually want to be playing video games.
I wrote about how I finally began to appreciate myNintendoSwitchwhen I got briefly but intensely hooked on Dave the Diver, but once I stopped playing, my Switch went back to the dusty dock where it’s lived peacefully and undisturbed for most of the last few years. I just don’t use my Switch that much because it doesn’t have most of the games I’m interested in playing. My Xbox does, though. I bought an Xbox over aPS5because ofGame Passand the number of games on the service that interested me, and though many of those games have since been cycled out, I still get enough value from the service that I’ve kept my subscription.
I’ve played with the idea of getting a Steam Deck for far too long, but I don’t even use Steam all that often because I hate sitting at my tiny desk and squashing my wrists between the edge of my table and the keyboard. I have plenty of games in my Steam library, but there aren’t that many in my backlog that I couldn’t play on console. Plenty of them are even on Game Pass. If Xbox is as serious about its desire tomake every screen an Xboxand expand on its multi-platform strategy, a handheld seems like an obvious choice. If I could use Game Pass easily and on an affordable handheld device without having to finagle with the settings, I’d probably be more likely to buy that than a Steam Deck. It’s not like there isn’t a market for it.
To be clear, I’m very aware there are multiple handheld PCs and portable cloud systems on the market already. Microsoft could make a better product working directly with Windows OS or something else entirely. And I am not interested in cloud gaming, as much as I know that tech has benefits for other people with other priorities – I want my games downloaded and ready to play on the go, without the need for Wi-Fi or mobile data. Being able to stream from the cloud is a plus, but I’ve always craved a Steam DeckbecauseI can download games directly onto it.
I don’t think a handheld is that far out of the realm of possibility – in fact, if you put on your tinfoil hat and read intoPhil Spencer’s interview with The Verge, specifically the part about how he keeps liking tweets about handhelds, you might even assume that Xbox is already on the case. There’s a gap in the market when it comes to Game Pass’ accessibility and play-everywhere ethos, and Microsoft could easily be the one to fill it within the next few years. I’m surprised it hasn’t already, quite honestly. Mark my words Phil Spencer, put an Xbox handheld in my hands andI’ll be playing as many video games as you somehow manage to.
