Support NeoGAF

[Chiggs]

I received the ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme) as an early Christmas present this afternoon. My initial jubilation has since turned into annoyance and frustration.

Does anyone here remember that scene in As Good as It Gets, when Jack Nicholson storms out of his psychiatrist's office and comes to face to face with all the sad sacks of shit (including himself) that are waiting in the lobby, then, in a moment of sobering clarity, utters the title of the movie? If not, here you go:



And that's me right now...after several hours of :

• Updating both Windows and Armory Crate (great fucking name, by the way...sure it did great at the focus group with John Q. Undersexed and his basement full of Doritos and Dew).
• Constantly resetting my Windows pin because the BIOS updates seemingly wipe it out entirely.
• Trying to figure out why the fucking controller stops working sporadically in the settings menus.
• Wondering what dickhead at Asus pitched the idea of RGB on the analog thumbsticks...fucking rad!
  • Yes, I know you can turn them off, but please see the bullet point above about the controller sporadically working.
• Praying to God that the Castlevania Advance Collection will finally fucking run on this thing.

At this point, I'm left wondering what the point of this goddamn device is, and just who the target audience is. From my admittedly brief experience, it blends together the worst of PC gaming and the worst of console gaming. I know the Steam Deck had its early hiccups, but it was NOTHING like the bullshit I've put up with tonight. Oh, and the SD card thermal issue is just the cherry on fucking top.

Looking for any decent reason NOT to exchange this fucker out for a Meta Quest 3.

 

[phant0m]

Better idea, just buy a fucking OLED steam deck and play your games. GPDWin handhelds have been around for a loooong time but never took off. Why? Because of bullshit like this. tinker, tinker, oops you broke it can't play anything now.

The Deck at this point really lives up to "it just works".

Quest 3 is cool AF too but serves a VERY different purpose.

 

[Chiggs]

GPDWin handhelds have been around for a loooong time but never took off. Why? Because of bullshit like this. tinker, tinker, oops you broke it can't play anything now.

You know what really chaps my ass? I'm on Best Buy's website right now and I see a TON of open box deals on the ROG Ally, and we both know why that is.

What's ironic is that when I return this one, the lucky SOB who picks it up will get it for $100 off, and all of the hard work will be done.

And yes, on the Steam Deck OLED....I just wish it was sold in retail stores.

 

[delfrickintree]

I always strayed away from PC gaming, not because it was over my head, but because the hassle of customization and finagling to get things working properly. Its a shame we went from day 1 nes/snes flawless, patchless full game releases without any hassle, into everything is a cobbled mess of custom settings and they eat half your memory as well. Even consoles are becoming pc structured.

I got an oled steamdeck last week and it's been revolutionary so far. Its not a requirement to tinker with customization, its an optional feature! You can boot up games without stress (provided they are deck supported) and its like the good old days. But switch to desktop mode, and theres the entire system bare for tinkering. Its sometimes inconvenient to figure out control layouts, and not all games are fully playable and/ partially playable. Thats still in the works from what I understand.

I will say its great that handhelds are making a comeback, and yea its a rough field right now as the newcomers are entering the market. I was eyeballing the GPD mini but settled on steamdeck because of the new oled model. It rules. I am now in a hybrid phase of sony and steam, and its great to play older games on a beefy system, its like hd remasters everywhere.

 

[bender]

The Deck at this point really lives up to "it just works".

That really depends on the age of the title. The farther back in time you go, the more compatibility issues you'll experience.

 

[//DEVIL//]

Better idea, just buy a fucking OLED steam deck and play your games. GPDWin handhelds have been around for a loooong time but never took off. Why? Because of bullshit like this. tinker, tinker, oops you broke it can't play anything now.

The Deck at this point really lives up to "it just works".

Quest 3 is cool AF too but serves a VERY different purpose.

I am not the OP but:

1- I do not like Oled screens, they look nice but they all tend to have this blotchness or uneven screen color/ brightness that is noticeable in a dark Gray background that is close to black but not fully black ( as it turns the pixels off at black ). Even the Switch has this problem ( Honestly was super lucky as my fold 5 doesn't have it, but my brother's one plus open or whatever it is called does.

2- the screen 120hz vs 90hz.. I would rather get 120 and at least I know the IPS I will not suffer screen burn-in

3- the difference in power is very big it's a joke to even compare them to each other as one a much more powerful ( Yes I know some games are better optimized etc ) but then lots of games don't even run at all pm deck but runs on the Asus

Not saying the Rog doesn't have its fair share of problems. but the OP is a drama queen ( kidding,,, kinda...maybe.... it's classified) if these things are bothering him and can't figure out how to get it sorted, then this whole PC thing is not for him at all.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I vote Quest 3.

I really like my Quest 3, We are about to get a second one for one of my kids.

My Steamdeck just did not get much use this past year.

Handheld gaming is tiny screen, VR is about as big as it gets.

 

[Chiggs]

Not saying the Rog doesn't have its fair share of problems. but the OP is a drama queen ( kidding,,, kinda...maybe.... its classified) if these things are bothering him and cant figure out how to get it sorted, then this whole PC thing is not for him at all.

I just have a very comprehensive perspective when it comes to PC gaming...and it's a segment of the gaming industry that I feel has only been getting worse when it really used to be the best. Sad to see it happen. Even more sad are the fanboys who run interference and provide compensation-free damage control and PR for some truly shitty companies.

 

[Bruno_Arrais85]

Steam deck wins again I guess.

 

[Torrent of Pork]

I have virtually none of the issues on my Ally as OP.

The updates take a few minutes here and there. I've never had either a wired gamepad, or the onboard controls not work. I've never had to reset my Windows PIN.

OP, it's possible you got a defective unit.

 

[//DEVIL//]

I just have a very comprehensive perspective when it comes to PC gaming...and it's a segment of the gaming industry that I feel has only been getting worse when it really used to be the best. Sad to see it happen. Even more sad are the fanboys who run interference and provide compensation-free damage control and PR for some truly shitty companies.

All companies are shitty companies. Their purpose is to get most of you and give you nothing.

It's just what you having problems with are really just ... Windows drivers. I don't think you need to install it to install armoury crate. They are available as stand alone if I am not mistaken.

 

[sendit]

Sold my Ally a couple of months ago. Setup is not intuitive. The power gap it has over the Steamdeck is completely negated by the horrible interface. Windows 11 was not meant for a device this small. Steam knew this, and executed accordingly. Asus just failed to follow and improve.

 

[Celcius]

The Ally uses Armory Crate? YIKES
I hate Armory Crate

 

[sendit]

I am not the OP but:

1- I do not like Oled screens, they look nice but they all tend to have this blotchness or uneven screen that is noticeable in a dark Gray background that is close to black but not fully black ( as it turns the pixels off at black ). Even the Switch has this problem ( Honestly was super lucky my fold 5 doesn't have it, but my brother one plus open or whatever its called does

2- the screen 120 vs 90.. I would rather get 120 and at least i know the IPS i will not suffer screen burn in

3- the difference in power is very big its a joke to even compare them to each other as one a much more powerful ( Yes I know some games are better optimized etc ) but then lots of games don't even run at all but run on the Asus

Not saying the Rog doesn't have its fair share of problems. but the OP is a drama queen ( kidding,,, kinda...maybe.... its classified) if these things are bothering him and cant figure out how to get it sorted, then this whole PC thing is not for him at all.

At 15 watts, the Steamdeck both (standard & oled) perform equivalently to the more powerful Asus Ally. The Ally needs to be boosted to 25 watts (effectively cutting battery life and turning it in to a brick while you look for an outlet) and the resolution dropped to 720P to out perform the weaker Steamdeck.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go are both shackled to Windows and Windows is pretty shit as you've discovered. Switch and Steam Deck are both superior because they don't run Windows.

 

[balls of snow]

Sell it get the steam deck oled and enjoy the best portable gaming machine of all time albeit at limited performance.

 

[Mythoclast]

Bro, you shouldve known what you were getting into buying a Windows handheld. I got a Legion Go and Im VERY happy with it, but I knew I was literally buying a mini PC with a touchscreen.

This is a thing there every single youtube review will mention

 

[UniformDeliverance]

Get the quest 3. Between Asguards Wrath and Walkabout Mini golf (yeah that’s right. Mini golf. It’s sick) I haven’t been able to put it down.

The AR features are also way cooler than I expected.

You can get all the games you need on console or a full on pc, do you really need a portable solution that plays those same games worse? Gets something new. And play mini golf on it.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Dude.. I'm a new self proclaimed Quest/VR fanboy. I have owned a PSVR and Quest 1, but Quest 3 is on another level. Get one soon so you will receive Asgards Wrath 2. Use someone's referral to get $60 store credit. Get Eleven table tennis, In Death: Unchained, RealVR fishing. Then download Shootout and X8 for a free shooter fix. You are going to have a blast.

Just do it, there is no way you would regret it

Accept referral | Meta Quest

www.meta.com

 

[Poppyseed]

I have virtually none of the issues on my Ally as OP.

The updates take a few minutes here and there. I've never had either a wired gamepad, or the onboard controls not work. I've never had to reset my Windows PIN.

OP, it's possible you got a defective unit.

Agreed. My Ally is a joy. Playing Castlevania without any issues.

 

[H From Steps]

Agreed. My Ally is a joy. Playing Castlevania without any issues.

Love using it on the go tbh lol I have no problems with it

 

[Chiggs]

Bro, you shouldve known what you were getting into buying a Windows handheld. I got a Legion Go and Im VERY happy with it, but I knew I was literally buying a mini PC with a touchscreen.

This is a thing there every single youtube review will mention

I received it as a gift for Christmas.

 

[Thaedolus]

When someone like Gerstmann of all people was like nahh I’m returning this thing, when he’s got like 100 years of useless gaming shit, I knew sticking with Steam Deck was the way to go.

The “it just works” factor cannot be understated…

 

[Klosshufvud]

I don't have ROG Ally but another Windows handheld. And I've had the best gaming time of my life on this. I vastly prefer W11 over SteamOS. If I wanted SteamOS, I could choose to just boot into Big Picture mode. The 7840U does produce a substantial performance upgrade but you need a larger battery so you can push to 18W (7840U gets insane perf jump from 15-20W). I play games at 1200p 8' and it's night and day difference to the 800p 7' on SDLCD. I emulate PS3/Switch games with little trouble and online games work just fine.

IMO all these devices have their pros and cons but I would choose a Windows handheld every day in the week due to superior software compatibility and familiarity. I wish Rog revised Ally with a 8' display and 60Wh+ battery with bigger fans. Those changes would transform the device.

 

[Dr.D00p]

I wish Rog revised Ally with a 8' display and 60Wh+ battery with bigger fans. Those changes would transform the device.

Which is why my advice to anyone would be to buy the pretty much now perfected Steam Deck 1.5, and enjoy that whilst waiting for Asus to update the Ally in 2024, if you demand more power from your handheld.

I never buy 1st Generation hardware for a reason

 

[Crayon]

One of the things I like better about linux is the maintenance. Updates are way faster and less intrusive. Drivers are all rolled in. Even your graphics driver with amd and intel. Doesn't try to push a browser on you. No weird hardware-tied activation. Windows works well so it's not like there is a ton in it, but linux definitely seems quieter and more out of the way.

Then there is the ability to completely alter it like you see in the deck. For example, I don't know if it's quite the same in steamos3, but in steamos2, the big picture mode you see is not being drawn over the desktop. It actually is the desktop.

Then there is the capability of the os itself. There was talk of google making their own kernal for android for a long time. I don't know if there still is. But they've been using a linux kernel for 20 years now and managed to just about take over the world with that shit.

Windows is fine but there are many cases where linux is the better tool for the job and making a pc act more like a console is one of them. Largely because anyone can change whatever they want freely, given they have the resources.

 

[Poppyseed]

When someone like Gerstmann of all people was like nahh I’m returning this thing, when he’s got like 100 years of useless gaming shit, I knew sticking with Steam Deck was the way to go.

The “it just works” factor cannot be understated…

I sold my Steam Deck for this reason. It doesn’t just work. Couldn’t easily do Gamepass games, Epic Games was a nightmare to get working, lack of power etc etc. Battery life on Deck is leagues better, but my overall feeling is the Ally is the better device for ME. Do wish we had OLED on Ally, but at least it’s 1080p/VRR.

 

[GHG]

Return it and get either the Quest 3 or a Steam Deck OLED.

There was a suspicious amount of manufactured hype/social media/influencer marketing surrounding the Ally in the run up to its release (and just after). It's clear to see why now - the product itself doesn't stand up to scrutiny, there are too many obvious and glaring issues.

 

[Poppyseed]

Return it and get either the Quest 3 or a Steam Deck OLED.

There was a suspicious amount of manufactured hype/social media/influencer marketing surrounding the Ally in the run up to its release (and just after). It's clear to see why now - the product itself doesn't stand up to scrutiny, there are too many obvious and glaring issues.

The only real issue with the Ally is the perpetually faulty SD card reader. Not an issue to me as it takes 3 minutes to upgrade the SSD size and that’s all I needed. But it’s ridiculous it’s not been fixed. The Ally is still a fantastic piece of kit, though.

 

[Kings Field]

This is why I got the steam deck out of all three. I’m a dummy when it comes to anything PC. I can barely use EPIC at the hospital I work at without fucking something up.

I don’t have a clue what any of you are talking about in this thread. I just want to play games, remote play my Xbox and ps5, and emulate shit (which I still don’t have a clue about yet when people are talking about bios and roms and shit like that but I’ll get there).

 

[Panajev2001a]

That really depends on the age of the title. The farther back in time you go, the more compatibility issues you'll experience.

Even then in many cases they are quite easy to solve and for DOS games the defaults I got are better than what I ever could achieve tinkering (Betrayal at Krondor). Also, having the plethora of inputs the machine has (touchscreen, twin touchpads, gyro, four back buttons, etc…) allows you to finely adapt the game to your liking and it is great for those older games that were built around controller and mouse options.

Also… this is Linux, this is not Windows it should be more complicated and yet it is often the opposite. The work that Valve and the OSS community did on Wine, Proton, Linux itself… is outstanding. With a console like HW and base Software setup you can make really good use of the dedicated Steam community too.
The Shell / the “launcher” they built is also far beyond what anyone else has built: it has a tons of features and knobs to tinker but exposed at the right level (progressive disclosure is a thing) and with sane defaults: finding a new controller scheme shared by the community, customising it, and then re-sharing it is very simple and satisfying.

 

[ahtlas7]

Won’t say exchange it for the Deck because too many have already told you but I just spent 15 min watching As Good as it Gets clips. Great movie so thanks for that!

 

[Goalus]

The Deck at this point really lives up to "it just works".

I have about 500 games in the Microsoft Store, 20 in the Epic Games Store, 30 on GOG and 5 games on Steam.

I have no doubt that these less than 1% of my library "just work". Not exactly a compelling premise though.

 

[Panajev2001a]

I have about 500 games in the Microsoft Store, 20 in the Epic Games Store, 30 on GOG and 5 games on Steam.

I have no doubt that these less than 1% of my library "just work". Not exactly a compelling premise though.

Adding a lot of those external games to Steam is actually quite easy, but sure you might benefit of MS trying to lock as many of their games to Windows and making them difficult to run… victory…

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

I thought the complain would be something legitimate like the shit battery life on the Ally.

I got the Steam Deck and and AOK Zoe A1Pro, same apu as the Ally basically. The deck is a brilliant form factor, unfortunately too underpowered when compared to the A1Pro. I left it on the shelf basically as the A1Pro can play the same games and much more at better resolution and frame rates.

Also so much easier to get launchbox and emulation working well on windows, too much fucking around in linux to make things work and then 1 update later they stop working again.

I hope Valve keeps it up though and hopefully we could entirely ditch windows for handheld gaming devices, but for now it is as it is.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Also so much easier to get launchbox and emulation working well on windows, too much fucking around in linux to make things work and then 1 update later they stop working again.

Am I missing something here?

I've been emulating everything on the Deck since I've had one from the Atari 2600 onwards, never had any problems and it's the easiest I've ever set up a retro handheld.

No idea how you got to a point where it was too much fucking around. And updates never broke it either.

 

[Chiggs]

I thought the complain would be something legitimate like the shit battery life on the Ally.

Oh, so the shitty setup and the flawed SD card slot design which inevitably breaks due to overheating isn't enough?

 

[sendit]

I have about 500 games in the Microsoft Store, 20 in the Epic Games Store, 30 on GOG and 5 games on Steam.

I have no doubt that these less than 1% of my library "just work". Not exactly a compelling premise though.

Found the sole person who failed at PC gaming.

 

[old-parts]

Install the linux ChimeraOS on the ROG Ally, it will turn it into a Steam Deck like OS, they added support for that device recently.

Though you should really make a backup image of the windows install of the ROG Ally due to its customized nature.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

That really depends on the age of the title. The farther back in time you go, the more compatibility issues you'll experience.

And for each of these you will have idiot-proof explanation what to do in order to make it work flawlessly. Even if you make the same with ROG it can still crash because lol

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I have about 500 games in the Microsoft Store, 20 in the Epic Games Store, 30 on GOG and 5 games on Steam.

Are you Bing AI?

 

[Goalus]

Are you Bing AI?

Why would I be?

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Why would I be?

Because only Bing AI would have so many games on the worst possible shit digital storefront on PC.

Let me guess - Microsoft Reward points?

 

[Topher]

I have about 500 games in the Microsoft Store,

 

[Dr.D00p]

Though you should really make a backup image of the windows install of the ROG Ally due to its customized nature.

Why would you need to do that when reinstalling the Ally's Windows OS is done by cloud, via the BIOS

 

[Topher]

The Ally uses Armory Crate? YIKES
I hate Armory Crate

I get some of the OPs frustration with some aspects of Rog Ally, but Asus actually did a pretty good job incorporating their game launcher into Armoury Crate. It is nice how it adds games to the launcher regardless of whether the game is in Game Pass, GOG, Battle.net, etc. The in-game menus work pretty well. Not quite as clean as Steam Deck, but overall I was impressed considering, like you, I've despised Armoury Crate in the past on their laptops and such.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Found the sole person who failed at PC gaming.

I thought that too

But then I thought does he mean for the Xbox? If not then, phew, that's harsh going

 

[Topher]

Because only Bing AI would have so many games on the worst possible shit digital storefront on PC.

Let me guess - Microsoft Reward points?

Plenty of options to spend points with MS Rewards without resorting to that poor excuse of a store. Amazon giftcards immediately come to mind.

Bing AI? You may be on to something there.

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

Am I missing something here?

I've been emulating everything on the Deck since I've had one from the Atari 2600 onwards, never had any problems and it's the easiest I've ever set up a retro handheld.

No idea how you got to a point where it was too much fucking around. And updates never broke it either.

Obviously it's doable, but 100% not straightforward.

Sure the retroarch is quite fine as a stand alone, but playing around with Ryujinx and a few others it's a pain in the ass. Needing to go to desktop mode to install and update shit, then being a cointoss whether things still work in steamOS. I haven't fucked with it much since earlier this year, so hopefully things are more stable now.

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

Oh, so the shitty setup and the flawed SD card slot design which inevitably breaks due to overheating isn't enough?

Or 120Hz being absolutely pointless as you can't run any modern game at such framerates and then even faster draining the battery.

I mean, all that better reasons than RGB which can be turned off