This isn’t quite what we expected to see last year, but the ROG Xbox Ally still marks a new chapter in the rapidly developing “handheld war.” Microsoft’s announcement of the Ally during its annual Xbox Showcase broadcast on Sunday only came a few days after Nintendo’s release of its latest console,

The new handheld console was revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase, and I got to spend some time with my hands on it.

Microsoft has needed to respond to SteamOS ever since the Steam Deck launched three years ago, and it has steadily been tweaking its Xbox app and the Xbox Game Bar on Windows to make both more handheld-friendly. But there was always a bigger overhaul of Windows required, and we’re starting to see parts of that today.