For several years, the Nintendo Switch was regarded by many as the world’s best handheld gaming device, thanks to its unique and innovative hybrid design and an impressive selection of games.
More recently, players were treated to the Valve Steam Deck handheld gaming device in February 2022 and the Asus ROG Ally in June 2023.
These three state-of-the-art handheld gaming devices, along with smartphones like the Nubia Red Magic 7 Pro, the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, have helped take the handheld/mobile gaming world to the next level.
With these impressive devices on the market and sales of traditional video game consoles slowing down, is it safe to say that the future of gaming lies in handheld devices? Let’s dive straight in and find out.
Is the future of gaming going to be handheld?
It’s still too early to tell if the future of gaming will be entirely handheld. However, more people than ever are now preferring to play from dedicated handheld gaming devices and smartphones.
These same people also prefer watching their favourite 4K Ultra HD movies and TV shows on sites like Netflix and Prime and playing their favourite online slot games at licensed casino sites directly from their preferred handheld device.
Players spend less time on their traditional consoles, like the Microsoft Xbox Series X/S and Playstation, and more time gaming on the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and Nintendo Switch.
Microsoft also recently announced that it will no longer make any new Xbox One games in-house and will focus more on mobile gaming. In other words, we could one day see an end to console gaming as more people shift towards mobile gaming, but it won’t happen within the next few years.
Sales of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles are still high, which means there’s still a huge market for consoles. When sales of consoles are at an all-time low, then console manufacturers will have no other option than to stop producing them.
Many gamers worldwide are turning to their mobile devices to play their favourite games because of the sheer convenience of gaming from a handheld device. Consoles are much bigger, more difficult to move around and far more inconvenient.
Smaller and more modern devices, such as the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally, boast amazing graphics, more storage, and better processors than ever, which is great for handling today’s high-end, more graphically demanding AAA games.
Whether the future of gaming is going to be handheld or not remains to be seen. However, if current trends continue, there’s a good chance this could one day be a reality where traditional video game consoles are a relic of the past.
Many people believe that handheld gaming from devices instead of console gaming is the way we are heading.
What are the best games to play on a dedicated gaming smartphone, Steam Deck, or Asus ROG Ally?
If you own a state-of-the-art smartphone, Steam Deck, or Asus ROGY Ally handheld gaming device, and want to play some of today’s best games, here are some of the hottest titles you may want to try before any others.
They include the following hit titles from various game development studios:
- GRID Autosport
- Asphalt 9: Legends
- Fortnite
- Telltale’s The Walking Dead
- ARK: Survival Evolved
- League of Legends: Wild Rift
- PUBG Mobile
- Call of Duty Mobile
- FIFA Mobile
- Mech Arena
- Monument Valley
- Genshin Impact
- Roblox
- Pokémon GO
Others include Hearthstone, Badland, Crashlands, Sky: Children of the Light, Alien: Isolation, Black Desert Mobile, Dead Cells, Life is Strange, and Real Racing 3.
If that’s not enough to keep you going, then you may also like to try Battle Prime, Layers of Fear, XCOM 2 Collection, The House of da Vinci 2, and Journey. There’s also NBA2k 21, SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, The First Tree, and Divinity: Original Sin 2, to name just a few great games.
Should I stick with my console or get a handheld gaming device to play these games?
It all boils down to your own personal preference as a player. Some people prefer playing from a handheld gaming device or smartphone, and others prefer playing from a console.
What’s better, a Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally?
Although there are still a few minor usability issues with the newly released ROG Ally, which will improve with time, the ROG Ally is actually much faster than the Valve Steam Deck and has more games.
Both handheld gaming devices are fantastic, but if you had to choose between the two, many people would tell you that the new Asus ROG Ally is the better gaming device.
It comes with a superior screen, performs better, and the battery lasts much longer. However, the ROG Ally is slightly more expensive than the Steam Deck and costs around $50 more.