Xbox fans torn over 'steep' price of new console

Xbox fans are disappointed with Microsoft’s latest console, and it’s easy to see why especially when you take a look at that absurd price…

You’ll have no doubt seen that Xbox is finally dipping its toe into handheld gaming, a bold move considering the Nintendo Switch 2 just came out and Valve has dominated the handheld PC space with its Steam Deck.

Xbox has teamed up with ASUS to bring you the Xbox ROG Ally, a handheld device that’ll work independently from your Xbox consoles unlike PlayStation’s PlayStation Portal, which requires the console.

While preorders haven’t gone live yet it’s said they’ll kick off in August, and it’s believed the price of the handheld devices has already been leaked.

According to leakers, some European retailers have already priced the ROG Ally White model at €599, whereas the ROG Ally X Black model will cost an extraordinary €899.

As you can imagine fans haven’t taken too kindly to this, especially since you can just get a Steam Deck for less money.

“Me trying to analyze what this means for Silksong…” read one fan’s reaction to the pricing, as Hollow Knight: Silksong will apparently be a launch title for the handheld.

“Asus: We decided against OLED to keep the handheld affordable for gamers” read another sarcastic critique”

“The only reason that will happen is because the use of the Xbox name will bring on causal interest from a group of people who likely weren't going to buy it anyways” said another comment. It continued “This isn't really a new device, it is a new shell and a spec bump for the existing ROG Ally X, which also launched at $899 without much in the way of complaints about it being overpriced.”

From the look of things it looks like Xbox’s venture into handheld gaming is going to fail before it even begins, unless there’s a pretty good reason given for why you’d want one of these instead of a Steam Deck, or a Nintendo Switch 2.