Coming holiday season 2025, Xbox is launching its own competitor to the Nintendo Switch: The ROG Xbox Alley (sidenote – who is naming these Xbox consoles? Can we get something more concise, please?).
Here's a quick rundown of the latest X-system:
- Price: Undisclosed
- 7" display with 120hz FHD at 1080p & built in anti-reflection Gorilla Glass
- Bluetooth enabled
- Two Options:
- Alley | 16GB RAM | 512 GB storage | AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor | 60 Wh battery
- Alley X | 24GB RAM | 1TB storage | AMD Ryzen AIZ2 Extreme Processer | 80Wh battery
XBOX, Anywhere
This handheld will allow you to access your game library from whichever Xbox affiliated system you choose with just one purchase. So that means your copy of South of Midnight can travel from your PC, to your Xbox, to your ROG XBox Alley seamlessly – as well as any other games you purchased from Xbox or other PC game storefronts, like Steam.
And, no, it's not creating separate save files. You can pick up your same game across any of your Xbox systems, with all your add-ons and save files in tact.
The ROG Xbox Alley/X will also feature an Xbox button that opens up your Game Bar which you can customize with widgets.
The best feature in my humble opinion? There's built-in streaming (with a Game Pass membership). No external capture cards needed. I am so tired of having to set up my stream equipment. This is a game changer!
Xbox is gunning for Nintendo
So, yes, it's a handheld. You knew that. But really take a moment to let this info sink in.
With a system that can support practically any PC game as well as Xbox games, and comes with built-in streaming capabilities, the Nintendo Switch is seemingly dwarfed before this baby even has the chance to be birthed.
Now, it doesn't have Nintendo exclusives (of course) but I'm not sure that will be enough to allow the Switch to keep its lead.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
