Games Revealed

ASUS ROG Ally Release Date

On May 11th, ASUS held an event detailing everything you need to know about the upcoming Steam Deck rival, the ASUS ROG Ally.

The ASUS ROG Ally Windows-based gaming handheld PC is available for pre-order at Best Buy in North America and will be released on June 13th, 2023, for $699.99 USD.

For a full breakdown, read our write-up of the specs here.

Controversy with ASUS

ASUS AM5 motherboards have recently been under scrutiny by Gamers Nexus. In many designs, the power is incorrectly being distributed to the CPU, causing them to overheat and brick the motherboard or, worse, burn the CPU. While this issue was ongoing, ASUS released BIOs updates to try to remedy the issue. Still, the BIOs are considered to be in a beta phase, and users had to agree to completely void their warranty in order to install the beta BIOs. As the warning was written, ASUS could deny warranty claims if the BIOs didn't solve this issue. Furthermore, these $700 motherboards that are impacted are also being advised not to overclock, which is effectively rendering the main attraction of being able to overclock the motherboard to be moot.

For more information, check out Gamer Nexus' analysis in their latest video. While coincidentally, this major video dropped as the ASUS ROG Ally was revealed in a live stream, the current state of ASUS' product support should be a major factor that buyers of the ASUS ROG Ally might want to consider before committing a $700 purchase.

Hogwarts Delayed on Switch

This past February saw the release of Hogwarts Legacy for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The promise originally was to bring the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to lower-end platforms, including the PS4 and Xbox One, which was released this past week. Meanwhile, Nintendo fans will have to wait until next semester, as Hogwarts Legacy has been delayed until November 11th, 2023.

We have yet to see any gameplay of Hogwarts Legacy running on a Nintendo Switch. Given that the Steam Deck originally struggled at times with performance with this massive open-world game, it isn't surprising to know the game is delayed. Should Hogwarts Legacy actually deliver on Nintendo's aging hardware, please hand the game one of the coveted "impossible port" awards.

Zelda Flies to New Heights

While Potter won't be out any time soon for the console, anyone itching for an open world on their Nintendo Switch can breathe easy with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This massive open world will surely keep fans and newcomers to the addictive puzzle-solving franchise playing for weeks to come. While many games are trying to ease themselves into the $70 price tag, it's safe to say that Tears of the Kingdom, despite its aging console, is so far the only game worthy of justifying its $10 price bump. The sheer scope and size of the game, in addition to complexities in its new building mechanics, make Breath of the Wild look like a rough outline to an open-world Zelda in comparison.