The ROG Xbox Ally Situation Post Release

[TheSoulWalker TheSoulWalker]

First off, I want to say cheers to those who pinned my original post, I hope that gave a little bit of insight for what my expectations were.

Just incase you didn't read the original post yet.

So it's now Day 5 of having the system and I have words.

The Bad:
- Windows 11 Out of Box Experience is still terrible as ever.
- First time setup involves a lot of tinkering, both with settings, things that aren't installed that really should be like Armory Crate.
- Xbox GameBar directly interferes with Steam because of the Xbox button opening Steam Big Picture Mode, (Thank you tintingaroo for the fix), this has been an issue with Steam for the longest time.
- The Xbox Ally Base is quite honestly a 5-10% upgrade to a Steam Deck, if the convenience of having Windows and that small bump in power is worth the $50 upcharge, more power to you. ($50 upcharge from the OLED 512GB model, not the 256GB model)
- If you are already in the Handheld PC Scene this second gen Ally and Legion Go might not be what you're looking for depending on which handheld you own.
- "This is an Xbox" slogan has completely overtaken everyone's capability to properly research what it means to play on a Handheld PC. I would argue this is more a failure on the consumer for falling for marketing gimmicks.
- Technically you can play Xbox games on this hardware, it is used as a cloud device much like the PS Portal (so long as you have GamePass) or for games that support the Xbox Play Anywhere system where one copy can carry to both console and PC. (I have Gears Reloaded & Cuphead for example that supports this)

The Good:
- It runs Windows, as much as we like to dog on the platform, the biggest benefit is the ability to play games with Anti-Cheat at the Kernel level such as Battlefield 6, Skate, 2XKO, and Fortnite.
- Emulation is rock solid, the Xbox Ally X plays CEMU at 60 FPS without fail. The Steam Deck would often hitch on certain games.
- If you are currently a Steam Deck owner looking for an upgrade, the Xbox Ally X is likely what you're looking for. While $1000 is a hefty drop, the Legion Go 2 is $1350 by comparison and holds the same APU chip but instead has 8 more gigs of RAM than the Xbox Ally X.
- The Pixel Density of the screen makes 720p look extremely clean, allowing you to lower your resolution and crank your in game settings to high or ultra in certain cases.
- On the Xbox Ally X I have noticed a significant increase on frame rates when putting settings at the same level as a Steam Deck. Some games actually perform better than the Steam Deck at low TDP settings.
- The Battery Life is a standard 2.5-3hr battery if you're on a long play session.
- Battery Care is an option on the Xbox Ally, meaning it won't charge past 80% in order to attempt to save the health of the battery.
- The Ally X is able to play most games, there are a few games that hitch such as Expedition 33 & Space Marine 2.
- Steam came pre-installed, any other launcher is able to be installed by Xbox Full Screen Experience. (Not exactly bad but odd: EA-App, Riot & Hoyoverse all need to be installed in the desktop environment)
- The Internal SSD is still a full-sized M.2 Drive, no proprietary storage needed.
- No proprietary MicroSD card format (Personal fuck you to Nintendo for pushing MicroSD Express before it was even wildly accepted let alone on market.)
- Docks are still universal
- Much like the steam deck, your controllers should work, however I've noticed that the home button on a PS4 & 5 Controller do not pull up Game Bar. 8BitDo Controllers are fine it seems. Switch Controllers Do Not Work Properly without a dongle to convert it.
- The Xbox Ally X is a beast at 720p gaming some games run at double what a Steam Deck can push which is amazing.

If you have any question, please do not hesitate to ask!

 

[Heinzu]

The Xbox Ally X is a beast at 720p gaming some games run at double what a Steam Deck can push which is amazing.

I think the same but this device is a bit too expensive. But I will keep an eye on the device.

 

[qw90700]

When there is a Steam Deck at home its existence is trivial, it feels like buying Switch 2 when PS6 or something around the corner and it's not good enough to justify its weak ass AF existence in this time and age. It feels like buying Sega Dreamcast when there is PS1 and PS2 is around the corner!!! lolol

If you have no such "handheld PC" shit better wait more to buy a better one or wait more until the era of Gamer Smartphones™©℗®. Let's see how the market will be when Steam Deck 2 comes for real. Valve doesn't wait for significant technological improvement for nothing before they release Steam Deck 2 and my guy Asus and Microsoft just milking customers with trivial sense of performance for something that isn't really worth paying for lol. Just buy a Steam Deck and call it a day if you really need one because soon there will be better ones than The ROG Xbox Ally around the corner!!!

 

[NotReallyHere]

It feels like buying Sega Dreamcast when there is... PS2 is around the corner!!! lolol

aaaaaaand that line of thought, alone, did more to kill the Dreamcast than anything else >..<

Off topic, I know. But if you weren't around for it, that was absolutely the prevailing opinion within the gaming industry. Hell, ZDTV (later G4) did a feature on the launch of the Dreamcast, hyping it up in a half-hour special... which ended with a segment of the hosts discussing the PS2. Which was still over a year away at that point.

I distinctly remember walking into FuncoLand to buy a copy of the Survival Horror non-classic Carrier. The clerk looked at me and said, "I don't even know why you're buying this. The PS2 is just going to blow the Dreamcast out of the water once it launches." Like, dude... just shut up and take my money

And people who owned a Dreamcast? We loved that damn thing!! And it seems to be almost universally beloved these days, too. Sometimes, all you have to do is give something a chance, rather than just badmouth it from the start

And BTW - the PS1 had already been on the market for four years before the Dreamcast launched. It was nowhere near "around the corner."

 

[Zerpina]

aaaaaaand that line of thought, alone, did more to kill the Dreamcast than anything else >..<

Well and all the piracy.....

Off topic, I know. But if you weren't around for it, that was absolutely the prevailing opinion within the gaming industry. Hell, ZDTV (later G4) did a feature on the launch of the Dreamcast, hyping it up in a half-hour special... which ended with a segment of the hosts discussing the PS2. Which was still over a year away at that point.

I remember this, and yeah they hyped up the PS2 as i recall pretty hard, and looking back now with good reason, the PS2 was and still is a badass system

I distinctly remember walking into FuncoLand to buy a copy of the Survival Horror non-classic Carrier. The clerk looked at me and said, "I don't even know why you're buying this. The PS2 is just going to blow the Dreamcast out of the water once it launches." Like, dude... just shut up and take my money

Well, some people just want to watch the world burn

And people who owned a Dreamcast? We loved that damn thing!! And it seems to be almost universally beloved these days, too. Sometimes, all you have to do is give something a chance, rather than just badmouth it from the start

Ya god damn right. i STILL power mine on from time to time and play it <original 9/9/99 model> only thing is i have had to replace the laser twice in this span of time

And BTW - the PS1 had already been on the market for four years before the Dreamcast launched. It was nowhere near "around the corner."

ya it was what? a couple years from being released at this point in time?

 

[sama_lton]

aaaaaaand that line of thought, alone, did more to kill the Dreamcast than anything else >..<

Off topic, I know. But if you weren't around for it, that was absolutely the prevailing opinion within the gaming industry. Hell, ZDTV (later G4) did a feature on the launch of the Dreamcast, hyping it up in a half-hour special... which ended with a segment of the hosts discussing the PS2. Which was still over a year away at that point.

I distinctly remember walking into FuncoLand to buy a copy of the Survival Horror non-classic Carrier. The clerk looked at me and said, "I don't even know why you're buying this. The PS2 is just going to blow the Dreamcast out of the water once it launches." Like, dude... just shut up and take my money

And people who owned a Dreamcast? We loved that damn thing!! And it seems to be almost universally beloved these days, too. Sometimes, all you have to do is give something a chance, rather than just badmouth it from the start

And BTW - the PS1 had already been on the market for four years before the Dreamcast launched. It was nowhere near "around the corner."

TBF, SEGA was 100% responsible for people having that opinion. They lost so much trust due to mishandling the Saturn. They somehow even bungled the Dreamcast's launch in Japan; I think Saturn sales falling by the wayside there in 1997 is what made them rush Dreamcast for 1998 over there.

But as for ROG Ally...yeah it looks like a waste of money IMO. Kernel-level anti-cheat exists on Linux & Steam OS too, the thing is devs don't want to implement it on those platforms. Same with Nvidia not wanting to work on Linux drivers; thankfully actual gamers & users of Linux are doing that for them and making major progress recently.

To me the only upcoming PC handheld that actually matters, is Steam Deck 2.

 

[PhaseJump]

Well and all the piracy.....

Piracy didn't kill Dreamcast. Sega ran out of money, and what they did have was being burned on Shenmue. DC was already dead before rampant piracy and the necessary file sharing side of it really took off.

It didn't kill the OG Playstation. It arguably did kill the PSP since it gutted the software sales.


The ROG Xbox Ally needs one thing from Microsoft. The back compat library.

 

[Zerpina]

Well... myself, I don't care about the ROG or Steam Deck 2 for that matter.

I don't play much in the way of new games anyway, most of what I play is Dreamcast and such, and earlier systems. So when my paycheck goes in next week <get paid Bi-weekly, so it is what it is>

I'm going to slap $90 down on a MANGMI AIR X. It's Android-based and can do up to PS2 level emulation, so Dreamcast shouldn't be a problem for it.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 3:28 PM

Edit -
Knowing myself it'll end up being a PSP and Castlevania SOTN system XD.

Tech Dweeb review of it, skip to about 8:20 if you don't wanna watch the whole thing

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

The question is how long is that thing good for when the next Gen consoles are right about the corner.
I really don’t care much for modern gaming yet for me buying a ROG is like a NES on the year 1990 when the 16bit console are at the horizon.

 

[Zerpina]

The question is how long is that thing good for when the next Gen consoles are right about the corner.
I really don’t care much for modern gaming yet for me buying a ROG is like a NES on the year 1990 when the 16bit console are at the horizon.

From looking online, they start at $600 USD for fuck's sake....

I could build a decent gaming PC for $600, let alone the $1000 USD the 1TB version goes for.
Thanks but no thanks.

 

[moonbits]

The question is how long is that thing good for when the next Gen consoles are right about the corner.

this isn't to play the future, it's to play the past and the somewhat present.

 

[PhaseJump]

The Bad:

- "This is an Xbox" slogan has completely overtaken everyone's capability to properly research what it means to play on a Handheld PC. I would argue this is more a failure on the consumer for falling for marketing gimmicks.

Xbox itself has been obfuscating their marketing for more than a decade.

They figuratively shit themselves trying to explain what Xbox One was to their own market, confusing every tech/gaming journalist in attendance at the unveiling. The different outlet's literally had to scrum after the fact, and piece together what they actually knew about the platform and their goals.


We can't blame the consumer for anything here, especially when a handheld PC in a console form factor is being sold as "This is a console brand X"

Asus will piggyback off the brand, but Xbox is doing nobody any favours with their slogans and nonsense. It's not a gimmick. It's arguably misleading at this point. The thing can't run Xbox's console games. That's the bare minimum expectation being set by their stupid slogan.

 

[qw90700]

And BTW - the PS1 had already been on the market for four years before the Dreamcast launched. It was nowhere near "around the corner."

Oh by "It feels like buying Sega Dreamcast when there is PS1 and PS2 is around the corner!!! lolol" I meant we already have PS1 at home (there is PS1), then this is when PS2 is just around the corner" lol.

aaaaaaand that line of thought, alone, did more to kill the Dreamcast than anything else >..<

Off topic, I know. But if you weren't around for it, that was absolutely the prevailing opinion within the gaming industry. Hell, ZDTV (later G4) did a feature on the launch of the Dreamcast, hyping it up in a half-hour special... which ended with a segment of the hosts discussing the PS2. Which was still over a year away at that point.

I distinctly remember walking into FuncoLand to buy a copy of the Survival Horror non-classic Carrier. The clerk looked at me and said, "I don't even know why you're buying this. The PS2 is just going to blow the Dreamcast out of the water once it launches." Like, dude... just shut up and take my money

And people who owned a Dreamcast? We loved that damn thing!! And it seems to be almost universally beloved these days, too. Sometimes, all you have to do is give something a chance, rather than just badmouth it from the start

Not everyone has enough money to "give it a chance". Buying a Dreamcast instead of a PS1 or PS2 back then would be a stupid decision when you wasted your money so you can't buy any other console anymore for a long time because you had to save money to buy one unless you are rich which is a rare thing. And then you would sit around the corner when people talked about amazing PS1 and PS2 games you couldn't play lolol. So that's why Dreamcast failed. If it was good enough people would buy it instead but it lacked interesting library for society compared to PS1 so people bought PS1 or waited for PS2 so it wasn't because people had money but refused to buy Dreamcast because "eww it is rubbish", it was more like "damn I barely can pay for my bills so sorry Sega I'll sacrifice youuuuu" and/or "damn I already have a PS1 but Dreamcast doesn't worth to buy" and that was the logic the cashier tried to meant but your rich ass was deaf to it due to too much money covering your ears lolol.

In the end I did not say Dreamcast is bad (I wanna buy it someday and play my favourite games on it), I said it's not better than PS1 and PS2. If you disagree well it's like it's your opinion, man!!! lolol

So point of my message is to provide POV in context of how most people have no money to dilly-dally waste so naturally I would recommend them to get what is best. No, despite I liked Dreamcast I didn't recommend people to buy it and I didn't buy it. I said better buy PS1 or wait for PS2 and I use the same logic here regarding The ROG Xbox Ally. The ROG Xbox Ally is like Dreamcast, Steam Deck is the PS1 I would recommend instead, and there is an unknown handheld PC around the corner and that is PS2 in this analogy. If you are rich enough to call your private helicopter to your location anytime ASAP then sure dude buy The ROG Xbox Ally, if not I would warn you about how waste of money it will be when buying something significantly better is a smart choice considering the weight of your pocket lol. So save the money you would waste on The ROG Xbox Ally and wait for better one, but if you are in hurry to buy something like that 2nd hand Steam Deck will be a smart choice so when something better comes you may realistically afford it and by buying Steam Deck you wouldn't waste much money to have a negative financial impact in your personal life.

 

[TheSoulWalker TheSoulWalker]

From looking online, they start at $600 USD for fuck's sake....

I could build a decent gaming PC for $600, let alone the $1000 USD the 1TB version goes for.
Thanks but no thanks.

Everyone keeps making this argument when it's not the same target audience. You're talking about having a PC that you're likely not going to be able to take anywhere with you unless you decide to go small form factor which can be both fun and challenging to build. The handheld PC market is for 2 types of customers, First time PC users and people with PCs looking for a companion system that they don't need to shell out money to buy games they already have.

Oh by "It feels like buying Sega Dreamcast when there is PS1 and PS2 is around the corner!!! lolol" I meant we already have PS1 at home (there is PS1), then this is when PS2 is just around the corner" lol.

Yeah but that whole argument falls apart because there's no "PS2 around the corner". At least not yet. All of Steam's hardware leaks is turning out to be VR based and not home console based. MSI hasn't said or done anything about a Claw 2, The Legion Go 2 is $1350.

The thing can't run Xbox's console games. That's the bare minimum expectation being set by their stupid slogan.

By technicality it does play Xbox games, but through their cloud gaming. By technicality they are able to make that statement and it be partially true. I think this is going to be a sneak peak into the next Xbox console experience where the OS is going to be more windows based and less proprietary.

buying a ROG is like a NES on the year 1990 when the 16bit console are at the horizon.

We're at a point within gaming where games are hitting critical mass graphics wise, where there's really nothing to make a game stand out and go "That's a next Generation Game" We barely had that with this generation outside a few 3rd parties actually pushing that envelope like Capcom, CD Project Red, and Rockstar.

 

[qw90700]

Yeah but that whole argument falls apart because there's no "PS2 around the corner". At least not yet. All of Steam's hardware leaks is turning out to be VR based and not home console based. MSI hasn't said or done anything about a Claw 2, The Legion Go 2 is $1350.

If you don't think Steam Deck 2 is around the corner then whatever is better than The ROG Xbox Ally that is significantly good to justify its price will come for sure unless a big ass meteor hits Earth before it happens lolol. Do you think The ROG Xbox Ally is the best that can ever happen so we should sell our kidney to invest on it as soon as possible for sure? lol

 

[MajesticSiN]

Steam deck 2 when

 

[TheSoulWalker TheSoulWalker]

If you don't think Steam Deck 2 is around the corner then whatever is better than The ROG Xbox Ally that is significantly good to justify its price will come for sure unless a big ass meteor hits Earth before it happens lolol. Do you think The ROG Xbox Ally is the best that can ever happen so we should sell our kidney to invest on it as soon as possible for sure? lol

No, especially not when you're speaking hyperbole, the Xbox Ally isn't end game, tech never has an end game. I made this post originally for people to make as much as a well informed decision as possible if they were debating on getting one. What I'm saying is that people go on and on about how steam's making x product and right now the only product that we have credible leaks over is their next VR headset.

Steam deck 2 when

Whenever a major leap in APU hardware happens. Not for the next 2 gens I would guess. All we have is a single forum reply that says "Steam Deck 2 is 2028" and no actual substantial leaks to support it.

 

[PhaseJump]

Valve's next leaked product has the Fremont APU, and it is likely a traditional game console.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 6:58 PM

Everyone keeps making this argument when it's not the same target audience. You're talking about having a PC that you're likely not going to be able to take anywhere with you unless you decide to go small form factor which can be both fun and challenging to build. The handheld PC market is for 2 types of customers, First time PC users and people with PCs looking for a companion system that they don't need to shell out money to buy games they already have.

It's targeting PC gamers who already have libraries, and targeting Xbox console gamers who need to trade off their expectations yet again, losing their libraries while having smoke blown up their ass about this PC being an Xbox.

Yeah but that whole argument falls apart because there's no "PS2 around the corner". At least not yet. All of Steam's hardware leaks is turning out to be VR based and not home console based. MSI hasn't said or done anything about a Claw 2, The Legion Go 2 is $1350.

Fremont specs have it likely to be a low/mid tier game console.

By technicality it does play Xbox games, but through their cloud gaming. By technicality they are able to make that statement and it be partially true. I think this is going to be a sneak peak into the next Xbox console experience where the OS is going to be more windows based and less proprietary.

It is disingenuous marketing that tries to obfuscate what an Xbox even is, when 99% of customers casual or not tend to think the word refers to a console, or the more contemporary take, the console ecosystem. It fails to deliver on both. It's like saying your phone is an Xbox because you can stream Gears of War to it.

Never has the situation been more worthy of a dismissive "fuck off" than here.

We're at a point within gaming where games are hitting critical mass graphics wise, where there's really nothing to make a game stand out and go "That's a next Generation Game" We barely had that with this generation outside a few 3rd parties actually pushing that envelope like Capcom, CD Project Red, and Rockstar.

The idea of generations and consoles mattering at all should be either dead, or shifted in focus more to the GPU product cycles they rely on, and their new features.

A decade ago, underdog AMD backported better features to their old archetecture and cards when possible, while Nvidia would just force obsolence and upgrades on their customers. It's why PS4 and Xbox One saw improvements over time, more than any justification that developers learn how to work better over time with console hardware.

The shiny new thing was fast storage and unified memory, next is ray tracing for lighting, and dedicated AI co-processors.

All of it is just bullshit. Derivative PC hardware products on a tick/tock bump in performance, "generationally" upgraded every 6-18 months, while developers target the masses who have 80 bucks to burn, and still depend on low end potato hardware.

 

[moonbits]

Steam deck 2 when

Late 2026 or early 2027, maybe.

I am patiently waiting for it, hopefully with an OLED screen.

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

What about Xbox Li- i mean, "GamePass Core" to play online? If it is a Windows platform it shouldnt be required, but MS is MS, and it would not be the first time they try to put a price on online on PC.

 

[TheSoulWalker TheSoulWalker]

What about Xbox Li- i mean, "GamePass Core" to play online? If it is a Windows platform it shouldnt be required, but MS is MS, and it would not be the first time they try to put a price on online on PC.

Only needed for Cloud Streaming supported Xbox console only titles, nothing more.

Edit: And Game Pass Games but that's obvious.

 

[NotReallyHere]

TBF, SEGA was 100% responsible for people having that opinion. They lost so much trust due to mishandling the Saturn. They somehow even bungled the Dreamcast's launch in Japan; I think Saturn sales falling by the wayside there in 1997 is what made them rush Dreamcast for 1998 over there.

No argument

Most of us didn't realize it at the time, but the internal power struggles / infighting at Sega were FOR REAL. I'm written about this in another post, but I used to be so sympathetic towards Sega regarding their financial misfortunes with the Saturn and Dreamcast. But as more and more stories of their behind the scenes antics during that timeframe have come to light, I've changed my tune. They absolutely got what they deserved during that era, and essentially rotted from the inside out.

The shame of it all was that the Dreamcast was a damn good piece of hardware. Much easier to program for and port games to than its predecessor. And having similar (identical?) hardware to their then-current arcade boards made arcade ports a near-perfect thing of beauty! As someone who lived in the arcades in the late 90s, having a Dreamcast at home was basically like owning an arcade machine. A joystick was a must, though

In the end I did not say Dreamcast is bad... I said it's not better than PS1 and PS2. If you disagree well it's like it's your opinion, man!!! lolol

I appreciate your response!

I do prefer the Dreamcast to the PS2, and think it is just a step behind the PS1 in terms of the software library and overall quality of games. The PS1 has really grown on me over the years. I didn't think too much of it at the time (as I owned a Nintendo 64 and Saturn back then) but I am really impressed by how its library expanded and improved during its lifespan. It started off being full of good ports (Doom, Street Fighter Alpha, Road Rash) and excellent weekend rentals (Alien Trilogy, Die Hard Trilogy, Krazy Ivan) but really hit its stride after a few years. And some of the later titles (Ride Racer Type 4, Fear Effect Retro Helix) are almost as impressive today as the day the were released.

As for the PS2, I spent over a solid year from September 1999 to October 2000 getting kicked in the figurative nuts by friends, classmates, and co-workers for buying a Dreamcast. One friend called me a f****t - to my face - when I showed him Space Channel 5 and Jet Grind Radio. And the incident with the FuncoLand employee. Et cetera. Everyone talked endlessly about the PS2 being the be-all and end-all when they hadn't even played the damn thing yet.

And what did we get at the PS2 launch? Sure, Tekken Tag was fun, but it was no Soul Calibur. SSX was pretty cool. Madden and NHL were not as as good as their 2K counterparts. And there wasn't any online play, nor were there any games I thought were as impressive as something like Phantasy Star Online or Skies of Arcadia. But you better believe all my friends with a PS2 would never shut up about how "awesome" it was.

It did get better with time, of course. Twisted Metal Black was incredible! But by the time Silent Hill 2, Devil May Cry, and GTA III hit the scene, I had pretty much checked out of videogames, in general. I just didn't care. Having a few years of people treating you like you're stoopid for buying a particular console will do that to a guy

For everyone that has fond memories of the PS2, you can have it. But in my own experience, the hype and buildup to its launch really seemed to bring out the worst in people. I do not look back on those days fondly...

 

[qw90700]

No argument

Most of us didn't realize it at the time, but the internal power struggles / infighting at Sega were FOR REAL. I'm written about this in another post, but I used to be so sympathetic towards Sega regarding their financial misfortunes with the Saturn and Dreamcast. But as more and more stories of their behind the scenes antics during that timeframe have come to light, I've changed my tune. They absolutely got what they deserved during that era, and essentially rotted from the inside out.

The shame of it all was that the Dreamcast was a damn good piece of hardware. Much easier to program for and port games to than its predecessor. And having similar (identical?) hardware to their then-current arcade boards made arcade ports a near-perfect thing of beauty! As someone who lived in the arcades in the late 90s, having a Dreamcast at home was basically like owning an arcade machine. A joystick was a must, though

I appreciate your response!

I do prefer the Dreamcast to the PS2, and think it is just a step behind the PS1 in terms of the software library and overall quality of games. The PS1 has really grown on me over the years. I didn't think too much of it at the time (as I owned a Nintendo 64 and Saturn back then) but I am really impressed by how its library expanded and improved during its lifespan. It started off being full of good ports (Doom, Street Fighter Alpha, Road Rash) and excellent weekend rentals (Alien Trilogy, Die Hard Trilogy, Krazy Ivan) but really hit its stride after a few years. And some of the later titles (Ride Racer Type 4, Fear Effect Retro Helix) are almost as impressive today as the day the were released.

As for the PS2, I spent over a solid year from September 1999 to October 2000 getting kicked in the figurative nuts by friends, classmates, and co-workers for buying a Dreamcast. One friend called me a f****t - to my face - when I showed him Space Channel 5 and Jet Grind Radio. And the incident with the FuncoLand employee. Et cetera. Everyone talked endlessly about the PS2 being the be-all and end-all when they hadn't even played the damn thing yet.

And what did we get at the PS2 launch? Sure, Tekken Tag was fun, but it was no Soul Calibur. SSX was pretty cool. Madden and NHL were not as as good as their 2K counterparts. And there wasn't any online play, nor were there any games I thought were as impressive as something like Phantasy Star Online or Skies of Arcadia. But you better believe all my friends with a PS2 would never shut up about how "awesome" it was.

It did get better with time, of course. Twisted Metal Black was incredible! But by the time Silent Hill 2, Devil May Cry, and GTA III hit the scene, I had pretty much checked out of videogames, in general. I just didn't care. Having a few years of people treating you like you're stoopid for buying a particular console will do that to a guy

For everyone that has fond memories of the PS2, you can have it. But in my own experience, the hype and buildup to its launch really seemed to bring out the worst in people. I do not look back on those days fondly...

Well Dreamcast has good games and compared to really failed consoles I wouldn't even call Saturn "failed" because they both have decent libraries. My favorite console is Sega Genesis due to its library and for my taste if someone liked NES's library TBH pretty much similar quality of games are present in Dreamcast. I mean on NES most games were not everyone liked. Everyone found their own style of games they liked. It wasn't like liking tons of games on Sega Genesis, and Dreamcast has its own "game for me" aspect of the library therefore it shouldn't be underestimated for sure.

However what people misunderstood back then is wrong sense of "the best". I understand financial concerns making people buy one console and sticking with it and that's why buying PS1 and PS2 was best bets then, but for new gamer types came with popularity of PS1 they had no idea how video game industry really is because they had no such a gamer culture. They had no way of living to try lots of consoles and their games to find which games you like. And they had no idea that sales of PS1 was massive that was not normal. I mean to say for example Dreamcast was not failed per se, it was just overshadowed because of existence of PS1 and then PS1 became a too big deal. Without existence of PS1 Dreamcast would sell ok and loved, without PS2 Dreamcast would be the talk of the town. It wouldn't be a console that was released and quickly forgotten for how sucks it was.

As for "launch titles", I honestly never cared about that. Since witnessing success of PS1 and how popular it was it was no rocket science to figure out how whole industry would be focused on PS2 and fill it with tons of games so either way you could find amazing games. IMO PS2 could never had an awesome library Sega Genesis could have (which no other console could have for my taste) yet lots of my favourite video games of all times on PS2 while Dreamcast having good games they are not my favourites per se. I don't see the point of being die-hard fan boi and prefer one console in every generation or something but I still say no one would regret buying a PS2 or Dreamcast especially if they have no financial issues but if they have the issues I'm sure most people would either regret buying Dreamcast and cannot afford PS2 when it was popular and they probably skipped to PS3 or they would be proud to be the one person who admires Dreamcast when people favors PS2 more.

In the end besides of financial issues, it was new generation gamer type logic of picking one console and playing it instead of caring about multiple consoles to play all. Old gamers didn't take sides because there weren't many games to play so you would naturally explore all consoles available to you, but it's a modern gaming thing that PS1 came and spamming tons of games people felt like "buy just a PS1 and ignore other consoles" that this mentality carried over to PS2 era and so on. In that regard I cannot deny that I barely had time to play my PS1 games even few years after PS2 released to keep up with the current time when my life didn't give me much free time to play games back then. And then PS1's popularity bringing new "gamer types" but they weren't really gamers who played games a lot, they were the type of gamers who are clueless about gaming so they only play the most popular ones because "everyone plays so" but they play games for 20 minutes and never playing them again after they say "wow Resident Evil 1 was amazing dude". And then owning a PS1 and PS2 was social thing to show off and not being behind of society just like buying iPhone these days so it was the mentality to despise people who have a Dreamcast instead because to them it feels like "oh poor buy using Android!! If I were you I would suicide" lolol.