After the Steam Machine price reveal, this powerful handheld looks like even more of a steal
The Asus ROG Xbox Ally gets a cut
It's been a busy week in the world of PC gaming, which is always going to be the case when Valve has a big announcement to make. It chose this week to finally confirm the pricing for its long-awaited Steam Machine, and to start collecting registrations for its randomised pre-order system.
With the most affordable version (sans Steam Controller) coming in at £879 / $1,049, there's no way to sugarcoat it – the Machine looks pretty overpriced relative to the raw performance on offer. In fact, I'm not the only person questioning it – our news editor Rik is wondering whether he needs to cancel his pre-order registration already.
If you want a flexible PC gaming machine right now, though, there's actually good news. Thanks to Prime Day, there's a really nice saving on the excellent Asus ROG Xbox Ally, which is relatively recently-launched and offers far more bang for your buck if you're happy playing on the go.
The state of the gaming market means that deals like this are likely to be looked back on in 12 months with pure nostalgia – the price rises we've all been seeing seem to be inevitable and have no real counter, so brace yourself for far crazier prices in a few months' time.
For now, though, this deal will get you a really handy gaming machine for portable use. It can also be docked to connect to an external display, although you probably shouldn't expect the world from it in performance terms. On its own two feet, though, it's a great bit of kit, and with support from Xbox it's actually more user-friendly than many pure Windows alternatives.
If you're looking for something a bit more old-school, though, we've also rounded up the best retro gaming deals this Prime Day – check them out here.
