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Weekend Gamer Update: Labor Day

Weekend Gamer Update:

Read More Games Can you believe it? Baldur’s Gate 3 is out now on the PC. I paid full price ($60) for this game in Oct 2020, and have played a demo or early access of the game. I maxed out my character, and have patiently waited for the full …

Baldur’s Gate 3

After over 60 hours, I finally made it to Act II. There are three acts in the game, and each Act, I felt could have been sold as three different games.

Act I set up the story and throws you in the outskirts Baldur’s Gate. All signs points to Baldur’s Gate, so the goal is to travel there… but getting there is harder than it looks. Act I basically is a giant tutorial on how to play the game. You have to solve the goblin crisis, the grove, and help inhabitants along the way. I tried to complete everything in the first part: killing the hag, killing the giant spider, saving Halsin … and murdering every goblin!

Act II, you are given several choices to get to Baldur’s Gate 3. You can travel through the underdark, you can try to go through Githyanki, and finally through the cursed land. Your companions’ stories also unfolds, with Lae’zel’s story the most compelling to me. Her entire belief turned upside-down… and even her god, the undying queen, is out to kill her.

Shadowheart’s story is no slack either… you have to make some hard decisions to keep her in your party, because fighting her will result in her leaving your party. You’re given an impossible decision to save both Shadowheart and the Nightsong… and, there is a way to save both of them! My first play, Shadowheart kills Nightsong. After reloading the previous save, I confronted Shadowheart and she got angry and left! I’m sorry, we can’t have that, because she’s my only cleric and a useful one at that! Finally, after various choices, I was able to reason with Shadowheart and as a result, save both of them! It’s the best scenario… however, I know most players will just “go with the flow” and continue the game.

Anyway, currently, I’m about 100 hours into the game… and I finally got to Act III! It’s been a long journey, and I have a feeling that it’ll end up being 150 hours when I finally finish the game. And when I see the credits roll… the first thing I want to do is start another game, with a different character build!

For those who are interested in checking out the game, I wholly recommend it.

Read More PlayStation For the lowest priced, PS+ Essential, you only get three or four “free” monthly games… and the ability to play online games, just like the original PlayStation Plus. For $3 more, you can get PS+ Extra, which includes the monthly “free” games …

PlayStation

With the extra-long Labor Day weekend, that means more weekend gaming for me. Originally, my plans were to see Soul Asylum at the Minnesota State Fair, but having walked about 10 miles on the Second Day of the Fair and seeing that this weekend is going to be over 100 degrees Fahrenheit… I think it’s probably in my best interest to stay indoors and keep cool.

With the Labor Day weekend here, there’s actually a lot of sales going on right now. GOG is having an Autumn 2023 Sale, which includes the original Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2, Cyberpunk, The Witcher, etc. A good sale, unfortunately, I own all those great games, so there’s not much for me… but if you are interested in those games, get it on sale and try them out.

Steam has a PlayStation sale… including, for the first time, a sale on The Last of Us Part 1. The game launched poorly on PC, and I wasn’t really didn’t love the television show… so I haven’t exactly been excited to re-play the game again. I bought the game when it was on the PS3, and re-bought the game for PS4. Do I really want to get it again for the PC? I probably will get it… but who knows.

Speaking of Sony, they recently announced a huge price hike in their PlayStation Plus subscription, with their premium plan going from $120 to $160. What do you get for the extra $40? Absolutely nothing.

On top of that, with the recent useless $200 PlayStation Portal (a tiny screen to stream games locally from your PlayStation 5), I’m not a PlayStation fan at the moment. I’m glad I never bought a PlayStation 5, instead going with Xbox for this (and next) generation.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: Lenovo Legion Go

Lenovo Legion Play Read More Lenovo I bought the Lenovo Legion T5i 26IOB6 Gaming PC for $850 today from MicroCenter. This is a great price, it’s about 40% off the original asking price. Most of that money probably goes to the Nvidia 3060 video card. … ROG Ally Now enter the ROG Ally from Asus. The ROG Ally will address all the things that I wanted in my Steam Deck: Windows, faster chip, better screen, higher resolution, pleasing looks, and the ability to dock in their enhance graphics …

According to Windows Central, Lenovo will be entering the handheld PC gaming market with its Lenono Legion Go device.

Based on what we know, it could look similar to their Lenovo Legion Play product, which shown in 2021, but was never released.

I am very excited about this, because I am currently rocking a Lenovo Legion Gaming PC since Nov 2022, and it’s a pretty solid desktop PC. It comes with an NVIDIA 3060 card that can run any modern games.

However, is it already too late, especially with the market dominated by Steam’s Steam Deck and Asus’ ROG Ally? For enthusiasts, they might also imported other handheld makers like Aya Neo, OneXplayer, GPD Win (all from China). I guess it depends on pricing… if the Legion Go can offer something better, at an affordable price, I can see a scenario that fans like myself, might end up owning both the ROG Ally and Legion Go.

According to Windows Central, the standout features of the Legion Go will be a bigger 8-inch screen, the latest Windows 11 OS, and AMD’s new Phoenix (Ryzen) processors.

According to the Legion Play listing at whatmobilez.com, the handheld had a network dual SIM (5G), had a duo camera system (64MP and 16MP), with a AMOLED display was a 1080p at 388PPI. Hopefully these features will carry over to the Legion Go, especially that AMOLED screen.

If Lenovo is smart, they would focus on a better software experience and emphasis on better, longer battery life.

Everyone who owns the ROG Ally will tell you that setting up the device was a nightmare, taking over four hours to work out the non-popup keyboard or doing all the Windows updates. Plus, the Armoury Crate Software is not a great experience. The software is slow and is very buggy. Sometime it works, sometime it doesn’t. It’s not good.

Since I already use the Lenovo Legion, I’m already familiar with their Lenovo Vantage software, which is used to control its lighting and monitor/manage GPU/CPU. It would make sense that Lenovo would implement the software on the Legion Go to easily switch to controller mode for their handheld.

Another advantage that Lenovo could do is allow the Legion Go to use any eGPU to boost its gaming capacity. This would be a massive saving, since the ROG Ally uses a proprietary external GPU connection.

On top of that, Lenovo recently released the Lenovo Tab Extreme Tablet, which is a giant 14.5 inch Android tablet… but can double as an external monitor! Imaging gaming on the Legion Go on an OLED 3k screen!

Another idea is that Lenovo can also release an official dock that comes bundled an external HD and a small-foot print mechanical keyboard and mouse, with all Legion Go branding, I can see a compelling reason to go with the Go.

Lenovo’s biggest problem is going to be price. If they sell the Legion Go for anything above $800, it’s going to be a ‘no’ for many people (especially if they already own the cheaper Steam Deck).

Having said all that, the Legion Go may never be release, Lenovo hasn’t officially made any announcement yet.

P.S., I’ve previously mentioned that I would love to see MicroSoft, if you’ll excuse the pun, get into the game, with its own Xbox Go handheld. Think about it, I can see it running a Windows 11 “Handheld Edition” or perhaps a custom Xbox OS, scaled for handheld.

Read more Technology and Weekend Gamer .

Lenovo to enter in the handheld PC market with the Legion Go

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

ROG Ally Review

Description 7-inch, FHD (1920 x 1080) 16:9, Gorilla Glass DXC, Gorilla Glass Victus, 120Hz Refresh Rate Windows 11 Home 512GB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD (2230) Storage 16GB LPDDR5 (6400MT/s dual channel) RAM AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme Processor ("Zen4" architecture with 4nm process, 8-core /16-threads, 24MB total cache, up to 5.10 Ghz boost) AMD Radeon Graphics (AMD RDNA 3, 12 CUs, up to 2.7 GHz, up to 8.6 Teraflops) Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax) (Triple band) 40WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion Battery Type-C, 65W AC Adapter, Output: 20V DC, 3.25A, 65W, Input: 100~240V AC 50/60Hz universal 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, 1x ROG XG Mobile Interface and USB Type-C combo port (with USB 3.2 Gen2, support DisplayPort 1.4), 1x UHS-II microSD card reader (supports SD, SDXC and SDHC) Read More ROG Ally Now enter the ROG Ally from Asus. The ROG Ally will address all the things that I wanted in my Steam Deck: Windows, faster chip, better screen, higher resolution, pleasing looks, and the ability to dock in their enhance graphics …

Even though handheld gaming devices have been around for a while now, such as the Sony Vita or the Nintendo Gameboy… it wasn’t until Nintendo’s Switch that really opened my eyes to the idea of gaming on the go and also, when you “dock it”, it is also a home console. The idea that this system can “switch” between portable and home console was really exciting to me.

Since then, we’ve seen various Chinese companies putting out micro handheld PCs, such as Aya Neo or OneXplayer or GPD Win, but they were very expensive, and has to be imported from China.

When the Steam Deck entered the handheld gaming market in July 2021, it changed everything. For only $399 (for the entry Steam Deck model), you can get a handheld to play all your Steam games! It was (and is) an unbeatable value.

Now, there’s a new kid in town: ASUS’ ROG Ally, a Windows 11 handheld that can play Steam games, but also every other Window-based games. The ROG Ally beats the Steam Deck in every way: Windows 11, faster hardware, double the fans (and quieter), full HD display at 120Hz, a smaller and lighter device… and at a competitive price of $699 (if you compare that to the highest Steam Deck etched screen of $649).

I will spotlight some of the ROG Ally’s key features:

WINDOWS 11
So let’s start with the ROG Ally’s advantage: it runs Windows 11 by default. This has a huge advantage; in that it opens up a whole new avenue of gaming. However, that’s also a disadvantage, running Windows 11. You see, Windows wasn’t built for handheld, and you can tell, with all its services, “bloat ware”, performance, and terrible hibernation options. So, you need to view the ROG Ally as a tiny laptop computer, and not as a gaming only device. Sure, it can game, but it’s certainly designed to do a lot more.

Unfortunately, since it’s Windows, you basically want or need a mouse and keyboard. The touch screen and pop-up keyboard is fine, but is limited (for example there is no F4 key).

To make the handheld more useable, ASUS implemented their Armoury Crate SE software and ROG Command Center that runs in the background and can be pulled up anytime using the two dedicated buttons on the side of the screen. While it works, for the most part, it’s not an ideal solution. The true solution is to have MicroSoft or ASUS to build a special OS for ROG Ally… otherwise, it’s basically a laptop with special Armoury Crate software overlay.

Since Windows 11 was intended to be run on a laptop or desktop, it has various software and background services that are unneeded for a gaming device. For example, they pre-install Office and the Amazon video streaming services.

The other added bonus of running Windows is that you can now run games that uses anti-cheat software, for example, Destiny 2 will run on Windows but not the Steam Deck. You can also run any Xbox PC Games, meaning you now have access to hundred of games via the Windows-only app. In fact, MicroSoft is bundling a free three months of Game Pass Ultimate to any ROG Ally user. This is a $45 added value. I did take advantage of the free Game Pass… but I suspect I will be cancelling it after my three month trial as I don’t use the service enough (especially after they got rid of the free Xbox 360 games) to justify continuing my subscription. If there is a game I want to play, I don’t mind buying it, knowing I always have access to the game (sometime a game will leave the Game Pass service).

How to Upgrade your ROG Ally Internal Storage

Description The Rocket Q4 2230 is finally here, bringing up to 2TB of high-performance storage for your Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, and other devices. It’s a single-sided M.2 2230 NVMe SSD designed for maximum compatibility. It’s the easiest way to avoid the uncertainty of an OEM, double-sided, or M.2 2242 SSD solution for your valuable tech. This drive may also fit in longer slots while maintaining the advantages of a physically small drive. That means Gen4 performance of up to 5GBps sequential and up to 800K IOPS with high responsiveness, low latency, and excellent power efficiency, even when placed into a Gen3 slot. The Rocket Q4 2230 is the simplest way to get the most internal storage in a single drive without having to rely on microSD cards or external storage. This SSD offers gaming desktop class storage performance in a small form factor, perfect for your Deck and other devices to get the best loading and transfer times. Combining the powerful Phison E21T SSD controller with reliable and efficient Micron QLC, this tiny SSD is fast and efficient while packing in up to 2TB to handle all your games and files. It’s also backed by Sabrent’s warranty and comes with a copy of Acronis True Image for your convenience. Read More ROG Ally Now enter the ROG Ally from Asus. The ROG Ally will address all the things that I wanted in my Steam Deck: Windows, faster chip, better screen, higher resolution, pleasing looks, and the ability to dock in their enhance graphics …

On Sunday, I upgraded the internal storage on my ROG Ally. This is one of the easiest installations I’ve done on these devices.

I followed the comprehensive guide was published on Asus’ website on Jun 09, 2023.

What you will need:

ROG Ally

A size 0 Phillips head screwdriver

The latest BIOS software (as of this writing, 3.19)

2230 M.2 NVMe drives (I’m installing the 2TB Sabrent NVMe 2230 Card)

USB-A or USB-C keyboard or dock with ethernet port

The website said you need to deplete the battery to 25% or less, which is easily done by just playing a game on battery and before you know it, voila, 5%. You need to fully shut down Windows, make sure there is no spinning fan or flickering lights. The ROG Ally needs to be completely off.

Remove the SD card if you have one, remove the screws and the back plate. Flip over the flap, remove the battery, and remove the SSD. Install the new SSD, re-plug in the battery cable.

After that is done, plug in the 65-Watt power cable that came with the ROG Ally and hold down the volume down and power button at the same time. This should bring up the Asus BIOS. This may take a few minutes, so don’t worry, just let the computer do its thing.

Once you’re in BIOS, you need to exit the EZ mode by pressing “Y” and go the advanced tab. Select the Asus Cloud Recovery, the software should automatically detect and download everything you will need to run the ROG Ally system, including their SE version of the Armoury Crate.

You will need to get access to the internet. You will need a physical keyboard to type in your password to your WiFi, or you can get direct internet with a dock and ethernet cable.

Depending on your WiFi access, this may take a few hours to download. The Windows 11 image is about 16GB, at least that was the number that I saw. Do not unplug the power cable, let it download everything. The entire process took me over 2 hours, so be patient.

Despite unexpectedly needing a physical keyboard, this Asus online recovery process was a much easier approach than my previous upgrades. I’ve had to upgrade the storage on my Fallout Computer, the ROG Strix G15 and Steam Deck… and this cloud recovery option was an amazing experience.

Also, if you screw it up the new SSD or if the new SSD is causing problems (overheating?), the beauty is that you can always put back in the old SSD and pretended like nothing happened.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: ROG Ally is here!

ROG Ally Read More ROG Ally Now enter the ROG Ally from Asus. The ROG Ally will address all the things that I wanted in my Steam Deck: Windows, faster chip, better screen, higher resolution, pleasing looks, and the ability to dock in their enhance graphics … Steam There’s no more waiting… You can now buy Steam Deck, right now, without reservation. According to steampowered, it’s been more than a year since it was first announced, but due to numerous supply chain issues and …

There’s an unexpected change in my schedule, so my weekend has been reduced to just Sunday for my one day off. The amazing thing is that my ROG Ally that I pre-ordered last month came in today (Sunday). That’s amazing, considering that I wasn’t expecting it until June 13, when it officially launches.

At the moment, the only place you can buy the ROG Ally is at Best Buy, and that has not been a good experience for me. While I am happy that I am getting the device a few days earlier, I would have just preferred to get it from Amazon. Speaking of which, there is a strange “Pre-Order” page for the ROG Ally on Amazon, so eventually I am assuming you can get it from any retailers.

There seems to be a lot of hate for the ROG Ally from the Steam Deck community, which I honestly don’t understand. I own both devices, and while I have previously praised the Steam Deck, there are some short comings on a Linux (SteamOS) system. My Steam Deck, at this moment, is just limited to Steam games… while my ROG Ally will be used for everything else, such as GOG, Epic Games, Battle Net, Bethesda, playing videos, playing YouTube, using MicroSoft Office, using PhotoShop, and Steam games too.

Look, if you already own a Steam Deck, and is happy with it, there is no reason for you to get the ROG Ally.

For me, I think the Steam Deck is ugly, I think it’s too big and heavy. I don’t really like Linux. There are certain games that just won’t run on the Steam Deck… I’m not entirely sure that the ROG Ally will answer all my problems… but being a Windows device (with Xbox Gamepass), it’s certainly a step in the right direction for me.

Windows is both a curse and a blessing. While I love the Windows compatibility of it all, it wasn’t really designed to be run on a handheld gaming device. You start to notice these things really quickly, as text can be unreadable or unable to pull up the on-screen keyboard can be really frustrating. Asus tried its best to make it usable with their Armory Crate software, but that’s also not a great solution either. What MicroSoft need to do is release their own gaming handheld, call it the Xbox Deck or something. Then they can finetune their operating system to suite the need of a tiny 7” inch screen. Still, despite all of Windows’ problems, the good outweighs the bad.

So far, I’ve had the ROG Ally for a few hours, and all that time, it is spent updating and downloading some games to try out. The first game that I will run is Diablo IV… but it’s a big game and will take a few hours to load up.

The next step is to buy another 1TB Micro SD card to install more games… and a screen protector. Unfortunately, since Asus did not release their files or mock models to third party manufacturers, there are really no cases or accessories designed for the ROG Ally. Give it a month or two when companies get their hands on the device - they will start making all sorts of accessories for it, such as a good dock or some skins, etc. At the moment, the only things available are officially from Asus… and it’s limited to just a cheap carrying case and a charging brick with HDMI out.

P.S. It’s confirmed that the battery life on the ROG Ally is not great. I dropped to 50% just doing normal Windows things, like updating and downloading software. On the bright side is that the 65-Watt charger can quickly charge the ROG Ally to 90% in ten minutes. It’s pretty amazing to see this.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer Update: Memorial Day Weekend

Windows 11 Pro Product Description Instantly productive. Simpler, more intuitive UI and effortless navigation. New features like snap layouts help you manage multiple tasks with ease Smarter collaboration. Have effective online meetings. Share content and mute/unmute right from the taskbar (1). Stay focused with intelligent noise cancelling and background blur. (2) Reassuringly consistent. Have confidence that your applications will work. Familiar deployment and update tools. Accelerate adoption with expanded deployment policies. Powerful security. Safeguard data and access anywhere with hardware-based isolation, encryption, and malware protection built in. Read More MicroSoft That’s because I just bought the Microsoft Office Professional 2021 lifetime license for $30, after reading about it on C-Net. The article referenced Stack Social, which I’ve never heard of until today. …

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, which means I have this Monday off and it’s a long weekend for me. As usual with these holidays, there are a lot of sales and deals all across retailers. I’m planning on going to a few Half-Priced Books to take advantage of their 20% instore purchases. The problem with HPB is that their stocks are limited and are vastly different from store to store. You never know what you are going to see, day to day, store to store.

Best Buy is selling a lot of Bluray for under $10… but the cool thing is that the new Pixel 7a is being sold for $450, the first sale price since it was launched on May 10. That was fast! Even though it’s a $50 savings, it’s still not enough for me to want it. I’ve already committed to buying the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max, so I need to set aside roughly $1,200. I was never an iPhone guy, until I started using the $25 unlimited data/phone service from Visible. Now, it’s impossible for me to break away from the Apple ecosystem.

Anyway, over at Stack Social, I just purchased Windows 11 Pro for $40. This is the full product key, not an “upgrade” key, meaning you could use it on a freshly built computer. I just basically upgraded my Windows 11 Home on my current computer.

For most people, Home is just fine for everyone. There are some differences, such as local accounts and Hyper-V and some extra security options (as well as more faster updates), but for the most part, I personally didn’t need to upgrade to Pro… But the sale price was so good (it’s normally $199), that I couldn’t pass it up. As of this writing, I don’t have buyer’s remorse.

When Windows 11 first launched in late 2021, video gaming was a problem with stutter and lag… but it was related to driver issues for video cards. Now that it’s been out for a few years, there are no issues with gaming. Since I started using Windows 11 Home in Nov 2022, I have been impressed with its performance over Windows 10.

Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition

Speaking of games, Epic Games is offering Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition for free. You guys know I love Fallout, so naturally, I’m going to encourage you guys to get it for free. Of course, I already own this on various platform (GOG, Steam, Xbox, etc.), and you can usually find it on sale.

This is the Ultimate Edition, which means all the DLC are incorporated in this game, so there’s a ton of great content to go through.

Of all the Fallout games, New Vegas is one of my top three. A lot of fans did not like the game when it first came out, but over time, I believe they’ve turn around and would agree with me that it’s a great game. The game is 13 years old, and it could benefit from a remaster or remake of the game, in my opinion.

Also, ROG Ally Update: On the day that it was available to pre-order on May 11, 2023, I overreacted and immediately ordered it from Best Buy. It was at a location and a time (noon-ish) and at Best Buy, that I normally don’t buy from online, and at such a high amount, that the unusual activity alerted my bank to issue a stop on my bank card. I had to basically go to the bank and told them that I did purchase the ROG Ally. Unfortunately, the bank already put a stop on the payment. That’s fine, I suppose I’ll just have to go to the physical store on June 13th to see if I can just buy one at their store. It kind of sucks because my local Best Buy closed this year, so I need to travel to another city to visit a Best Buy now. You know, all this could have been prevented, if ROG Ally would just make it available at all retailers… meaning if I had purchased it from Amazon, my bank would’ve just allowed it.

I suppose it’s probably better this way. Now that I’ve seen early reviews, it’s not exactly “twice as fast” as they’ve been claiming. The truth is, it sounds like the ROG Ally is about the same as the Steam Deck… the only difference is that the ROG Ally runs Windows 11 out of the box. Basically, once I get the ROG, I’m calling it my ROG GOG because it’ll be my GOG and Battle Net machine. I just cannot wait to play Diablo IV on handheld.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

ROG Ally vs Steam Deck

Description Play your way with the ROG Ally gaming handheld. Access any game that runs on Windows across all game platforms, including Steam, GOG, Xbox Game Pass, cloud gaming services, Android apps and more. Play anywhere, anytime, using handheld mode or by connecting the Ally to a TV and linking multiple controllers to play with friends. The Ally even transforms into a gaming PC by connecting to ROG XG mobile eGPU and dock - supporting mouse, keyboard, monitor, and more of your favorite peripherals. Equipped with an AMD Ryzen Z1 extreme processor, a smooth 7-inch 1080p 120Hz touchscreen with AMD FreeSync premium technology, and ROG intelligent cooling, the ROG Ally takes handheld gaming on to a whole different level. Read More ROG Ally Now enter the ROG Ally from Asus. The ROG Ally will address all the things that I wanted in my Steam Deck: Windows, faster chip, better screen, higher resolution, pleasing looks, and the ability to dock in their enhance graphics …

I pre-ordered the ROG Ally, the handheld PC gaming device from Asus, via Best Buy, which, as of this writing, is the only retailer selling this product. The Ally will arrive June 13th, 2023.

I’m excited, because I can easily run all my Windows-based games, such as Diablo IV on this handheld PC. The major problem with Steam Deck is that Steam OS is Linux-based system. Yes, I’m aware there are work-around, such you can install Windows on the Steam Deck … but I’m not doing it. Besides, the Steam Deck wasn’t designed as a Windows machine, there are some drivers and features that won’t work.

Anyway, even before I ordered the Steam Deck, I mentioned that I wanted a Windows-based device, but the expensive pricing (above $1,000) have kept me from pulling the trigger.

The ROG Ally is aggressively priced at $700, with a cheaper $600 model available at a later date. I’m glad I never purchased the OneXPlayer or Aya Neo handhelds.

Obviously, I don’t have the ROG Ally yet, but looking over the specs, almost everything is better than the Steam Deck, including faster processor, better screen (1080p at 120hz refresh rate), a faster UHS-II MicroSD card reader, faster-charging at 64W, slightly smaller, lighter, better cooling (two fans), free three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, fingerprint reader, Dolby Atmos with smart AMP, and, again it runs Windows 11.

Although I praise that with Windows I have access to more of my games, the bad side to Windows is that it wasn’t designed to be on a small 7 inch screen. Navigating Windows with joysticks probably isn’t fun either… however, I’m willing to put up with all that so I can use GOG or Battle Net.

I think for most people, the Steam Deck will be just fine for people (especially if they don’t like Windows), but I really feel the ROG Ally will fit most gamer’s needs.

Plus, importantly, with a direct competition, I hope Valve get off their butt and release a Steam Deck 2 or something. They don’t have to release it, maybe just make an announcement on what they are working on. Maybe not just Steam, but I would welcome even more computer makers get into this market. I would love to see an official MicroSoft handheld. They already make the MicroSoft Surface and the Xbox… why not make an exclusive Xbox Handheld? Heck, Sony should make a Vita 2!

Right now, I’m still playing in Steam Deck and putting in over 80 hours, at 30 minutes at a time during my lunch break, on Fallout 4. I love the ability to start up a quick game while I have a little time.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Details from tomshardware.com:

Spec	Steam Deck	ROG Ally
CPU	Custom Zen 2 "Van Gogh," 4 cores, 8 threads, 2.4 - 3.5 GHz	AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme (Zen 4, 8 cores / 16 threads, up to 5.1 GHz, 4 nm)
GPU	8 RDNA 2 compute units, 1.0 - 1.6 GHz	RDNA 3, 4GB VRAM, 12 compute units at 2.7 GHz clock with Z1 Extreme, 4 compute units at 2.5 GHz with Z1
RAM	16GB LPDDR5	16GB LPDDR5-6400
Storage	512GB m.2 NVMe SSD	512GB NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 SSD
External Storage	SD card slot (UHS-I)	SD card slot (UHS-II)
Display	7-inch touchscreen, 1280 x 800 (16:10), 60 Hz, IPS, anti-glare etched glass	7-inch touchscreen, 1920 x 1080, 120 Hz, IPS touchscreen with Gorilla Glass Victus and Gorilla Glass DXC
Battery	40 WHr	40 WHr
Power	45 W	65 W
Operating System	SteamOS 3.0 (Linux)	Windows 11 Home
Weight	1.47 pounds / 669 grams	1.34 pounds / 608 grams
Price	$649	$699.99
Release Date	February 25, 2022	June 13, 2023

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Google I/O 2023

Read More Google a Google home, as everything is built around the Google Home Hub application. If you don’t mind giving Google your information, you can use many of their services - for free. That’s the attractive thing, it’s mostly free. …

Here’s all the products announced at Google’s I/O 2023.

Pixel Tablet
We’ve seen similar designs from Lenovo, but hopefully the upcoming Google Pixel Tablet will be a faster and better experience. Like that other design, the Tablet is a picture frame when you dock it to the magnetic charger and speaker. If you want to use it as a tablet, you just pick it off the stand… think of it as a tablet that is always charged.

I’m not entirely sure if I will use it on a daily basis, since I already love my iPad 12.9 for the big display and fast processor… the Pixel Tablet is kind of a step down.

Pixel 7A
At $500, the “A-Series” of Google’s phones are the affordable version of their Pixel phones. I’ve been unimpressed with their previous A phones. The phones are not fast or flashy, they’re basically a budget/cheap version of their regular phones… Having said all that, I think the 7A is the phone that I’m actually interested in. That’s because, for the first time, their A phones are going to include wireless charging. I have been all-in on wireless charging, it is hard for me to go back to the old way of charging my phone.

While I’m not in the market to replace my iPhone 14, I might pick up the 7A as my backup phone… mostly because for a limited time, Google is throwing in a free Pixel Buds A-Series if you buy the new 7A phone. I have a Pixel Bud Mint Color and I think it’s one of the best earbuds I own. I love that rubber nub that locks the buds in my ear.

I guess it all depends on if I can buy the Asus ROG Ally (the better and faster Steam Deck) or not. I have already devoted my budget of $800 to buy the new handheld gaming PC.

Pixel Fold
As soon as I saw the price for this upcoming Google’s folding phone, at $1,800, that’s a hard pass for me. As cool as it looks, there’s no way I’m spending that kind of cash on sometime that is unproven. I would love for the price to be sub $1,000... that is the magic number for me.

As a fan of technology, I’m always interested in seeing new products. My complaint about Google has a bad reputation about introducing something and then not supporting it. Plus, I hate to say it, but their products look boring.

Still, I love the fact that I can find any Google products in retail stores, such as my local Target or Walmart. Knowing me, I might just end up buying their Pixel Tablet on a whim, while standing in line at a Best Buy or something.

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

ROG Ally

ROG Ally Read More Steam There’s no more waiting… You can now buy Steam Deck, right now, without reservation. According to steampowered, it’s been more than a year since it was first announced, but due to numerous supply chain issues and …

You guys know that I love my Steam Deck. I don’t always have time to play video games, so having a portable handheld PC, I can play games whenever I get the chance (in fact, I played a little Fallout 4 on my lunch break today).

I do have one major complaint about the Steam Deck: it does not run Windows by default. You can install Windows, but I don’t want to buy a Windows license and it seems complicated to install (I’m sure it’s easy). So for a time, I did entertain the thought of buying an OneXPlayer or Aya Neo, but pricing and long wait time and expensive shipping fees have steered me away.

Now enter the ROG Ally from Asus.

The ROG Ally will address all the things that I wanted in my Steam Deck: Windows, faster chip, better screen, higher resolution, pleasing looks, and the ability to dock in their enhance graphics with the XG Mobile dock, 120hz refresh, lighter, thinner… just everything better! Best of all, you can walk into a Best Buy and buy it (if they have it in stock), starting on May 11, 2023!

You can’t underestimate how amazing it would be to run Windows 11 natively on the ROG Ally. This opens up a whole new avenue of games, from GOG to Battle Net to Epic Games to Xbox Game Pass…. And you can also run Steam! I’m very interested in running Diablo 4 on the ROG Ally, which is something I couldn’t do currently on my Steam Deck.

Now for the bad news. The retail prices haven’t been announced yet for the ROG Ally. They said they are going to be competitive, but I’m going to guess that it’ll cost about $800 to $1,200. It won’t be cheap… but I’m definitely going to try to buy one.

The other thing is that there will be two version of the ROG Ally, like a good version and a “lite” version. I’ll have to wait to see how the cheaper version perform… or the price differences. Again, there’s a lot of unknowns, we’ll have to wait and see.

Once I get a hold of the ROG Ally, it might just replace the Steam Deck... Just like how the Steam Deck replaced my Nintendo Switch (that thing is so slow!)

Ryzen Z1 Extreme vs Ryzen Z1 via techgoing

UPDATE: “Leaked” prices suggests that the highest spec ROG Ally will sell for $699.99. That is a really good price. I wonder if the cheaper version will sell for $500 or so? Looking at the chart for the two chips in the upcoming ROG Ally, the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme is over twice as much teraflops than the regular Ryzen Z1 chip. Which ever chip that people will get - it is still a massive improvement over the Nintendo Switch... which, by now, is a bit of a joke, when it comes to running modern triple A games.

While I did sign up on Best Buy to notify me when the ROG Ally is in stock, I feel that with so much demand for this product that I may not actually get one until later this year or next year. The May 11 I mentioned earlier, I think that may be the pre-order date and not actual ship date. May 11th is just around the corner, so I guess I will find out if it is available or not.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: Hogwarts Legacy and Encased

Hogwarts Legacy (Original Video Game Soundtrack) Hogwarts Legacy (Study Themes from the Original Video Game Soundtrack) Read More Harry Potter The J.K. Rowling/Harry Potter-themed dance party named Wizard Fest just took place at the Cabooze in Minneapolis on Thursday night (September 27th). ... Harry and the Potters We’ve been kind of fascinated with these guys, Harry and the Potters, ever since we wrote about them as the leading pioneer of “Wizard Rock” (yes, that is a thing) in 2007. The brothers (Paul and Joe DeGeorge) just released …

Hogwarts Legacy
hogwartslegacy.com

Harry Potter fans are loving the new Hogwarts Legacy video game. However, there are some people that are banning the game and some “reviewers” are giving it a 1 out of 10 based on their dislike of J. K. Rowling’s transgender comments.

The people calling for the boycott or gave it a bad review is probably not going to buy the game anyway, so I wouldn’t pay attention to their outrage.

From what I’ve seen, this looks like a great game for Potter fans. Of course, having said that, I personally haven’t bought the game as I’m not a huge Potter fan… but I am mildly interested in picking it up when it goes on sale. I do this for most games, and I know all prices goes down a year later (in some cases like Gotham Knights it went on sale a month after it was released). So eventually, one day, I’ll probably own this game to play on my Steam Deck.

Anyway, if you bought the game and love it and want more… I’m happy to report that WaterTower Music has released two separate albums of music from Hogwarts Legacy. The two albums offer a total of 75 incredible tracks from the game soundtrack composers chuck e. myers “sea”, J Scott Rakozy, and Peter Murray.

The two albums are named The Hogwarts Legacy (Original Video Game Soundtrack) and Hogwarts Legacy (Study Themes from the Original Video Game Soundtrack). The first one, Original Video Game Soundtrack version is available on vinyl (via Mondo), streaming, and digital. The second one, Study Themes version, is available for streaming and digital only.

The composers, Myers, Rakozy, Murray, along with Alexander Horowitz, had this to say:

“We feel so unbelievably lucky, privileged, and grateful to be a part of the amazing team behind Hogwarts Legacy. So many talented and brilliant people have poured their hearts and minds into this game - made by fans for fans. It is so impressive on a multitude of levels. The moment you step foot inside these great halls of Hogwarts, you can sense the love and passion that each person involved gave to this project. It’s an experience like no other. It is our sincere hope that fans of Hogwarts Legacy will experience the joy, the awe, and the magic we felt when immersing ourselves into the game and its music. We’re excited to see players' reactions as they see and hear this world for themselves.”

Hogwarts Legacy is out now on PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. PlayStation®4 and Xbox One will launch on April 4 and Nintendo Switch on July 25.

The Hogwarts Legacy (Original Video Game Soundtrack) and Hogwarts Legacy (Study Themes from the Original Video Game Soundtrack) are available now on WaterTower Music.

Track List: The Hogwarts Legacy (Original Video Game Soundtrack)

1. Overture to the Unwritten* 2. The House Cup 3. Fig’s Search 4. A Proper Hogwarts Welcome 5. Potting Mandrakes 6. Seeking the Keepers 7. Ranrok’s Rage 8. A Lost Friend 9. Everybody Grab a Broom 10. All Roads Lead to Hogsmeade 11. Anticipating Rookwood *(from "Hogwarts Legacy")

12. Miriam’s Memory 13. Grasslands Vivarium 14. A Fitting New Home 15. Isidora’s Pain 16. See You After Class 17. Hog’s Head Jig 18. Guardians Awaken 19. Accio! 20. Legacy of Magic 21. Ruins of a Noted Seer 22. A Portrait of Love 23. The Greenhouse

24. Ollivander’s Wand Shop 25. Coastal Vivarium 26. The Four Houses 27. You’ve Made Your Choice 28. Soaring over Hogwarts 29. Haven 30. The Halls of Hogwarts 31. The Room of Requirement 32. Niamh’s Lullaby 33. Trespassers 34. Tribute

Track List: Hogwarts Legacy (Study Themes from the Original Video Game Soundtrack)

1. Your Journey Awaits… 2. Sorting Hat Ceremony 3. Slytherin Common Room 4. Gryffindor Common Room 5. Hufflepuff Common Room 6. Ravenclaw Common Room 7. Honeydukes 8. Hogwarts’ Best & Brightest 9. Focus on What You Need 10. Gateways to the Far Stars 11. How to Care for a Beast 12. Contemplation 13. Aire on the Side of Love 14. Hall of the Keepers

15. Morning at Marunweem Lake 16. The Room of Hidden Things 17. A Trick of the Light 18. A Delicate Art 19. The Quest Begins 20. Forbidden Forest Waltz 21. A Focused Mind 22. Mysteries of the Cosmos 23. The Escape 24. “Intra Muros” 25. A Faded Path 26. Lost 27. Outside the Castle Walls 28. The Observation Deck

29. Potions Class 30. Meeting with Professor Weasley 31. Caring for a Puffskein 32. Friendship to Be 33. An Intense Aversion 34. Dance of the Mooncalves 35. Central Tower 36. The Arrival 37. Hope Fades 38. A Forgotten Mystery 39. Ancient Magic Coda 40. Submerged 41. Gringotts Vault

Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG Read More Encase Currently, the free game is Encase. I don’t know too much about the game, but it looks like it was inspired by that Fallout gameplay… so I’ll check it out. …

Encased
encasedgame.com

I’ve been playing a lot of Encased, by Dark Crystal Games, over the weekend (I’ve already sunk 33 hours into the game so far). The game is over two years old now, originally early access in 2019 and a full release on September 2021. I didn’t know about the game until I got it for free via Epic Game’s Christmas Giveaway 2022. I tried it out and I love it, so I bought it again on Steam during their Winter Sale 2022.

If you’ve ever played the first two Fallout games, it plays the same way. My biggest criticism is that, as far as I know, there is no way of resetting your stats. For example, I had to restart the game a few times because I was putting my points into the wrong traits. Wish I’d known that I can’t get a certain “Perk” if I have some stats too low, etc.

My third time restarting the game, I think I have the best solution: go for the Renaissance Perk, since that boosts all your stats to 6. Once I started with that strategy, I was able to level up much faster and it made the game much easier (I’m playing on Normal). The game can be very punishing and unforgiving if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Right now, my build is an Energy Weapon user. I’m at level 12 right now and got my first Power Armor after becoming champion of Junktown. It feels so much like Fallout, I love it. The more I play, the more I wish Bethesda would make a new Fallout game in this style.

Encased is normally $30, but sometime it’ll go on sale - such as GOG currently listing it for $6.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com