Microsoft officially allies with ROG for handheld PC-Xbox gaming

 After a smattering of rumours, Microsoft and ASUS officially took the wraps off the Xbox ROG Ally and Ally X portables over the weekend, with a blended approach to gamers' PC and Xbox (steaming) collections. The device is the first official Xbox-branded portable, but the brand has long promoted broader cloud and remote gaming as console sales have died off. 

August Update: official prices are coming in around the world, with Best Buy USA listing the hardware and accessories at Ally ($549.99), Ally X ($899.99), Dock ($99.99) and Case $69.99 (pictured, below). UK prices would be around £499 and £799 for the hardware, or €599 and €899 on the continent. 

Update: Pricing rumours are ranging from £500-£750, with the hardware hitting shelves in October. However, this move sounds prime for a fluffed soft launch as the two companies likely expect each other to do the heavy marketing lifting. 

Update to the update: EU pricing has been pre-mentioned by Asus EU, with prices set at €599 ($700) for the Ally and €899 ($1,050) for the Ally X. And in the ballpark of the UK pricing above, but we'll see. 

The two editions create a bumpy non-level playing field for all of the major gaming ecosystems (if you count the Portal filling in the gap until PSP2 arrives), but no word on price which makes me rather nervous, and with six months to to launch, there's lots that could change.  

A 10-minute video shows off the details and the ins-and-outs of the devices, with an interesting detail in how it was designed around the muscle memory Xbox players have of their existing controllers. The Xbox button leaps players back to the Game Bar and widgets.

The ROG Xbox Ally ships with an AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor while the Ally X has an AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor for top performance. These will likely end up in other handhelds soon.The AMD Z2 Extreme features an NPU for any AI applications that vendors might want to throw at gamers.  

All of which makes me wonder how successful the current generation of Xbox would be if they'd launched a 2020-powered equivalent alongside the Xbox Series X instead of dragging along the Series S as the skinny sidekick. 

ASUS press shots provide a look at the back of the unit, with stylish air vents and rainbow-ish ROG logo. And the Armoury Crate (really??) Special Edition software.