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ASUS ROG ALLY | OT + Review Thread | Steam Deck but ROGher

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Played this all evening...its an absolute beast for a handheld. I love the thing. Have all the launchers installed. Playing sf6 on couch at 15 Watts set to 1080p internal scaling set to 3 I have textures on high and a mixture of other settings on low or medium I get between 45 and 60 on the load in screens then combat is locked 60 until the ko hit and it drops a couple of frames.

This screen is gorgeous and makes my steam deck screen look like poop. I can actually play games with a mixture of medium settings and get 60 fps on games.

Hi fi rush is locked 60 with high settings.

It's so nice having all the launchers easily available.

Battery life is a concern. I got about 2 hours out of it playing sf6 and plugged it in at 10 percent. That's at 15 Watts.

I'll test how it performs with my power bank plugged in tomorrow.

Super impressed. Hope they officially support a larger battery.
 
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xrnzaaas

Member
I know a few people who own Steam Deck and use it regularly and none of them are interested in ROG. Steam Deck is very user friendly, offers great controls, the community is strong plus if you already have a Steam library you're good to go. Maybe if someone likes to play AAA titles which are usually more user demanding it would be more appealing, but it would still mean spending quite a lot of money to own both Deck and ROG.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
Any Dolphin impressions? Specifically Eternal Darkness and F-Zero.

June 14th 2023
Attn: Bender

Dear Bender,

I am an attorney with the law firm Jenner & Block LLP. We represent Nintendo of America Inc. ("NOA"), which, along with its parent, Nintendo Co., Ltd. (collectively referred to herein as ""Nintendo") develops and distributes video games and video game consoles.


The Dolphin emulator is a piece of software that emulates games designed exclusively for Nintendo consoles pecifically the Wii and Nintendo GameCube consoles so the games can be played on other platforms, specifically, any computing device capable of running major operating systems such as Microsoft Windows (particularly the new ASUS ROG Ally), macOS, and Linux, such as the Valve Steam Deck.

As set forth below, because the Dolphin emulator violates Nintendo's intellectual property rights, including but not limited to its rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)'s Anti-Circumvention and Anti-
Trafficking provisions, 17 U.S.C. $ 1201, we provide this notice to you of your obligation to remove post #206 in NeoGAF's (hereby known as "GAF") thread ASUS ROG ALLY | OT + Review Thread | located at: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/asus-rog-ally-ot-review-thread-steam-deck-but-rogher.1656458/page-5 discussing the Dolphin emulator performance on the ROG Ally.

The Dolphin emulator is designed solely to play Wii and Nintendo GameCube games Nintendo owns or exclusively controls copyrights in Wii and Nintendo GameCube games,' and authorizes third-party licensees who develop thousands more. Nintendo authorizes these games to be played solely on their native consoles.2 To protect Nintendo and its third-party licensees copyrighted works, Nintendo places certain technological measures on its consoles and games These include, among others, encryption on Wii and Nintendo GameCube consoles and games that effectively protect against access to and copying of the copyrighted games (and inherently the ability to play those games on an unauthorized console) Wii and Nintendo GameCube game files, or ROMs, are encrypted using proprietary cryptographic keys. The Dolphin emulator operates by incorporating these cryptographic keys without Nintendo's authorization and decrypting the ROMs at or immediately before runtime Thus, use of the Dolphin emulator unlawfully circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under" the Copyright Act. 17 U.S.C. $ 1201(a)(1). Discussion of the emulator, whether by the Dolphin developers or other third-party forum users constitutes unlawful "traffic[king] in a[] technology . .. that . .. is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure ...." 17 U.S.C. $ 1201(a)(2)(A).

We specifically request that this and any other post regarding dolphin be removed and that you ensure to not post in regards to this emulator moving forward. This letter is not intended to be a complete statement of Nintendo's legal position or the relevant facts and law, and nothing contained in this letter is intended to, or does, constitute a waiver of any rights, claims, remedies, defenses, or positions of my client, all of which are expressly reserved.

Nintendo is happy to discuss in more detail should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Sleepwalker
Meme coordinator at Jenner & Block LLP.
 
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June 14th 2023
Attn: Bender

Dear Bender,

I am an attorney with the law firm Jenner & Block LLP. We represent Nintendo of America Inc. ("NOA"), which, along with its parent, Nintendo Co., Ltd. (collectively referred to herein as ""Nintendo") develops and distributes video games and video game consoles.


The Dolphin emulator is a piece of software that emulates games designed exclusively for Nintendo consoles pecifically the Wii and Nintendo GameCube consoles so the games can be played on other platforms, specifically, any computing device capable of running major operating systems such as Microsoft Windows (particularly the new ASUS ROG Ally), macOS, and Linux, such as the Valve Steam Deck.

As set forth below, because the Dolphin emulator violates Nintendo's intellectual property rights, including but not limited to its rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)'s Anti-Circumvention and Anti-
Trafficking provisions, 17 U.S.C. $ 1201, we provide this notice to you of your obligation to remove post #206 in NeoGAF's (hereby known as "GAF") thread ASUS ROG ALLY | OT + Review Thread | located at: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/asus-rog-ally-ot-review-thread-steam-deck-but-rogher.1656458/page-5 discussing the Dolphin emulator performance on the ROG Ally.

The Dolphin emulator is designed solely to play Wii and Nintendo GameCube games Nintendo owns or exclusively controls copyrights in Wii and Nintendo GameCube games,' and authorizes third-party licensees who develop thousands more. Nintendo authorizes these games to be played solely on their native consoles.2 To protect Nintendo and its third-party licensees copyrighted works, Nintendo places certain technological measures on its consoles and games These include, among others, encryption on Wii and Nintendo GameCube consoles and games that effectively protect against access to and copying of the copyrighted games (and inherently the ability to play those games on an unauthorized console) Wii and Nintendo GameCube game files, or ROMs, are encrypted using proprietary cryptographic keys. The Dolphin emulator operates by incorporating these cryptographic keys without Nintendo's authorization and decrypting the ROMs at or immediately before runtime Thus, use of the Dolphin emulator unlawfully circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under" the Copyright Act. 17 U.S.C. $ 1201(a)(1). Discussion of the emulator, whether by the Dolphin developers or other third-party forum users constitutes unlawful "traffic[king] in a[] technology . .. that . .. is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure ...." 17 U.S.C. $ 1201(a)(2)(A).

We specifically request that this and any other post regarding dolphin be removed and that you ensure to not post in regards to this emulator moving forward. This letter is not intended to be a complete statement of Nintendo's legal position or the relevant facts and law, and nothing contained in this letter is intended to, or does, constitute a waiver of any rights, claims, remedies, defenses, or positions of my client, all of which are expressly reserved.

Nintendo is happy to discuss in more detail should you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Sleepwalker
Meme coordinator at Jenner & Block LLP.
It's all good

 

DR3AM

Dreams of a world where inflated review scores save studios
Am I doing something wrong? I downloaded a bunch of games and all my small Indy titles work great but big 3D games like GTA5, Doom or FIFA won't open. They just close before the game starts and figs is stuck on the title screen
 

FingerBang

Member
I don't understand the people who tried to play down the jump from the Steam Deck to this. Performance-wise, it feels like a big jump. Like going from a xx50 to a xx60ti/xx70. And this thing it's smaller, quiet and lighter. The only thing I really miss from the Steam Deck is the pads for typing and navigating, but it's not really a big deal in the big scheme of things.

Am I doing something wrong? I downloaded a bunch of games and all my small Indy titles work great but big 3D games like GTA5, Doom or FIFA won't open. They just close before the game starts and figs is stuck on the title screen
What launcher? Are you sure your drivers/bios are up-to-date? I have tried Forspoken (epic), Persona 5 (game pass) and Monster Hunte (steam) r and they open and work fine. The only game I've had issues with so far is Alan Wake Remastered that for some reason crashes after playing for a few seconds
 

Mr Hyde

Member
f8P2yjH.jpg


xtDhIvp.jpg


Finally, my ROG Ally has arrived. Transformed my little reading corner into my little PC corner. Got the XG Mobile for the docked experience. Going to get it up and running in the weekend.

In total, I've spent close to 2.5 k on this thing, which is the most I've ever spent on a video game device. So right now I have massive buyers remorse but I reckon it will fade the more time I spend with the Ally.

I'm taking a major leap of faith here. I'm new to PC, only dabbled with it before but I'm a console player since 5 generations back. It's possible that I might have a terrible experience but I've been researching a lot on this, so I have faith that the Ally is something I'm going to enjoy. I've been wanting to get into PC gaming for quite sometimes now, and I feel this is the perfect opportunity for me. I love hybrid gaming setups ever since I purchased the Switch, and now I have a much more powerful and versatile device. Another reason why I'm comfortable spending this much money is because I trust Asus. They have a strong presence here in my country and it will be easier for me to get in touch with them if something goes wrong. I know they get a lot of shit but I've never had any issues with them. Knock on wood.

Anyway, it's going to be a fun weekend. I hope you all enjoy your Ally's. I'm going go be using this thread to chronicle my new journey into PC land.
 
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FingerBang

Member
Finally, my ROG Ally has arrived. Transformed my little reading corner into my little PC corner. Got the XG Mobile for the docked experience. Going to get it up and running in the weekend.

In total, I've spent close to 2.5 k on this thing, which is the most I've ever spent on a video game device. So right now I have massive buyers remorse but I reckon it will fade the more time I spend with the Ally.

I'm taking a major leap of faith here. I'm new to PC, only dabbled with it before but I'm a console player since 5 generations back. It's possible that I might have a terrible experience but I've been researching a lot on this, so I have faith that the Ally is something I'm going to enjoy. I've been wanting to get into PC gaming for quite sometimes now, and I feel this is the perfect opportunity for me. I love hybrid gaming setups ever since I purchased the Switch, and now I have a much more powerful and versatile device. Another reason why I'm comfortable spending this much money is because I trust Asus. They have a strong presence here in my country and it will be easier for me to get in touch with them if something goes wrong. I know they get a lot of shit but I've never had any issues with them. Knock on wood.

Anyway, it's going to be a fun weekend. I hope you all enjoy your Ally's. I'm going go be using this thread to chronicle my new journey into PC land.
That's a beautiful setup. Which GPU did you go with?
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
f8P2yjH.jpg


xtDhIvp.jpg


Finally, my ROG Ally has arrived. Transformed my little reading corner into my little PC corner. Got the XG Mobile for the docked experience. Going to get it up and running in the weekend.

In total, I've spent close to 2.5 k on this thing, which is the most I've ever spent on a video game device. So right now I have massive buyers remorse but I reckon it will fade the more time I spend with the Ally.

I'm taking a major leap of faith here. I'm new to PC, only dabbled with it before but I'm a console player since 5 generations back. It's possible that I might have a terrible experience but I've been researching a lot on this, so I have faith that the Ally is something I'm going to enjoy. I've been wanting to get into PC gaming for quite sometimes now, and I feel this is the perfect opportunity for me. I love hybrid gaming setups ever since I purchased the Switch, and now I have a much more powerful and versatile device. Another reason why I'm comfortable spending this much money is because I trust Asus. They have a strong presence here in my country and it will be easier for me to get in touch with them if something goes wrong. I know they get a lot of shit but I've never had any issues with them. Knock on wood.

Anyway, it's going to be a fun weekend. I hope you all enjoy your Ally's. I'm going go be using this thread to chronicle my new journey into PC land.

I think you will learn to love this. I imagine there will be some tinkering at first but once you have USB adapters plugged in etc for Keyboard and mouse, you are going to have a wonderful home desktop style experience for your TV at great settings...and with games like Starfield on the way!...oh boy!

Handheld this thing is a beast a big jump over steam deck, so I think with some tweaking and playing around you will be extremely happy. I already love mine, but I do admit there is a flaw with the battery. The ALly is extremely light so they should allow us to drop a heavier battery in if we want.
 

Tunned

Member
Damn it, screw you guys and all your positive impressions, I'm going to ignore this thread because its making me want to get an Ally for its superior screen and power over the SD.

*Loads up YouTube to see more Ally reviews*

I hate myself.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
I think you will learn to love this. I imagine there will be some tinkering at first but once you have USB adapters plugged in etc for Keyboard and mouse, you are going to have a wonderful home desktop style experience for your TV at great settings...and with games like Starfield on the way!...oh boy!

I think so too. Everything I've read about it is right up my alley. I'm really looking forward to get into the nitty gritty with this thing. And yes... Starfield is a big reason I'm investing so much into this. Looks absolutely incredible and I can't wait to play it.

I’m considering grabbing one as well. Please let us know how it works!

Absolutely. I will share all my impressions with the Ally and the XG Mobile here in this thread so stay tuned 🙂
 

Estellex

Member
Played this all evening...its an absolute beast for a handheld. I love the thing. Have all the launchers installed. Playing sf6 on couch at 15 Watts set to 1080p internal scaling set to 3 I have textures on high and a mixture of other settings on low or medium I get between 45 and 60 on the load in screens then combat is locked 60 until the ko hit and it drops a couple of frames.

This screen is gorgeous and makes my steam deck screen look like poop. I can actually play games with a mixture of medium settings and get 60 fps on games.

Hi fi rush is locked 60 with high settings.

It's so nice having all the launchers easily available.

Battery life is a concern. I got about 2 hours out of it playing sf6 and plugged it in at 10 percent. That's at 15 Watts.

I'll test how it performs with my power bank plugged in tomorrow.

Super impressed. Hope they officially support a larger battery.

Are you still going to use your Steam Deck?
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Are you still going to use your Steam Deck?

I don't think so. The steam deck will be sold and I'll look out for a steam deck 2 when it launches.

I just want a simple way to play everything. The Ally was super easy to install a 2tb nvme and I have very launcher on it.

Runs super well.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
How is the fan noise?

One of the things that bugs my wife to no end is that when I'm playing my Steam Deck on the couch or anywhere near her, she always says "Oh, that loud thing again?". Might be worth picking one up if it's much quieter.
 

Jooxed

Gold Member
How is the fan noise?

One of the things that bugs my wife to no end is that when I'm playing my Steam Deck on the couch or anywhere near her, she always says "Oh, that loud thing again?". Might be worth picking one up if it's much quieter.
Traded my deck for this.. so far very impressed. Fans are noticeable but not as loud as steam deck..after tweaking everything and setting it up how I want its been a great experience.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
How is the fan noise?

One of the things that bugs my wife to no end is that when I'm playing my Steam Deck on the couch or anywhere near her, she always says "Oh, that loud thing again?". Might be worth picking one up if it's much quieter.

It's still audible but it's deffo quieter than the deck. It's a different tone. Not as intense.
 
Damn it, screw you guys and all your positive impressions, I'm going to ignore this thread because its making me want to get an Ally for its superior screen and power over the SD.

*Loads up YouTube to see more Ally reviews*

I hate myself.
Just get a pair of Nreal Air's ggez.
 
Got mine home and installed a 1TB SSD that I picked up at MicroCenter after work. I might go back and get a 2TB at some point but this works for now, I also have a 1TB Micro SD so I think I'll be fine on storage.

Swapped SSDs before I even turned the device on, and then used the cloud backup feature in the bios to download everything I needed. I'm not sure how long it took, I set it up to download and did bath/bottle/bedtime with my daughter and had to actually speak to my wife for a bit before checking back in, and it was ready to rock.

I installed a few different software applications and played a couple games, but didn't have time to play anything serious or mess with the settings too much. So far I love it, my wife bought my Steam Deck in November and was sad that I was ditching it so soon haha.

I miss the trackpads on the SD, but I'm sort of adapting to using the right stick for the mouse. I like the ergonomics and the screen is fantastic.

I bought it mainly in anticipation of Starfield and Forza Motorsport coming out this fall. I play my Steam Deck a ton and the extra performance (plus the ability to dock to an external GPU at home) was too tantalizing.
 

Jooxed

Gold Member
Really my only gripe with this thing is the battery life. Thinking of investing in an Anker 737, anyone have any experience with this power bank?
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Did the Ally come with a code to Game Pass or is it bundled already in the device? Can't seem to find a code in the box.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Really my only gripe with this thing is the battery life. Thinking of investing in an Anker 737, anyone have any experience with this power bank?

Yup. I think a powrbank is required. Such a shame about the battery. Its the only flaw imo.

The 737 is amazing by the way I just wish it was a little larger capacity. Safe for flights and super fast.
 
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dolabla

Member
My experience so far has been pretty bad. I've encountered so many bugs/errors/black screens that I hope are ironed out soon otherwise I may return it. It started when I very first powered it on for setup and the touch screen to bring up the keyboard didn't work. After I got past that, it started working. The Armoury Crate likes to become unresponsive and freezes up. On Resident Evil HD Remaster, I try to change the video settings by clicking on it and it just goes to a black screen and crashes. Resident Evil 4 (old version) runs like it's moving in slow mo. It's awful. I've also had a few other games crash, or I have not been able to play them in full screen (GTA4). It's been a headache for me so far.
 

Haint

Member
This thing shits all over Steamdeck from a great height. The screen is vastly superior (even just the ootb calibration quality), the speakers are shockingly fantastic, the ergonomics are great and actually usable for something besides Gorilla hands, and the easy no nonsense installation of ALL the launchers/games is wildly preferable to Steamdecks hacky ass 2 hour tutorial Linux bullshit. Anyone buying a Steamdeck after today is a fool. While not as idiot proof as running Valve's sampling of "Deck Verified" games on Steamdeck, it's MUCH more user friendly on expanding outside that limited walled garden. If you can operate and basic troubleshoot a Windows gaming PC, you'll have no problems with this.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Did the Ally come with a code to Game Pass or is it bundled already in the device? Can't seem to find a code in the box.

I just signed into my Xbox account and it said you get three months with this device. Hope that helps :D

Can't wait to hear feedback on the Ally with your XG set up. I want one!
 

Sleepwalker

Member
My experience so far has been pretty bad. I've encountered so many bugs/errors/black screens that I hope are ironed out soon otherwise I may return it. It started when I very first powered it on for setup and the touch screen to bring up the keyboard didn't work. After I got past that, it started working. The Armoury Crate likes to become unresponsive and freezes up. On Resident Evil HD Remaster, I try to change the video settings by clicking on it and it just goes to a black screen and crashes. Resident Evil 4 (old version) runs like it's moving in slow mo. It's awful. I've also had a few other games crash, or I have not been able to play them in full screen (GTA4). It's been a headache for me so far.

This thing shits all over Steamdeck from a great height. The screen is vastly superior (even just the ootb calibration quality), the speakers are shockingly fantastic, the ergonomics are great and actually usable for something besides Gorilla hands, and the easy no nonsense installation of ALL the launchers/games is wildly preferable to Steamdecks hacky ass 2 hour tutorial Linux bullshit. Anyone buying a Steamdeck after today is a fool. While not as idiot proof as running Valve's sampling of "Deck Verified" games on Steamdeck, it's MUCH more user friendly on expanding outside that limited walled garden. If you can operate and basic troubleshoot a Windows gaming PC, you'll have no problems with this.

BowedBeneficialFinwhale-size_restricted.gif
 

OverHeat

« generous god »
Well after a day of use…the Ally don’t touch the steam deck of today but is miles better then when the deck launched we will see if Asus can’t step up to plate and keep updating the platform
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
It would be very interesting if they would release an external gpu at a half decent price. Or a 3rd party enclosure.....
 

MacReady13

Member
Thanks to you guys (and possibly gals) I decided to order one here in Australia! Really looking forward to gaming on this little beast!
 

.hacked

Member
Mine still not here, no big deal just been on fence all day about keeping it.
I have a very nice gaming laptop (Zephyrus M16 2023) but man do I want just mess with it around the house.

saving for Father’s Day anyway so I get to debate it til Sunday yay.
 

Foilz

Banned
My ally is still sitting at bestbuy. I'm still torn if I want it or not. I've watched and read a lot of reviews and seen a bunch of user experiences so far on discords/reddit. The ally just seems so buggy. The new firmware killed the performance by like 10-20 frames. The software itself is very buggy.
 
My ally is still sitting at bestbuy. I'm still torn if I want it or not. I've watched and read a lot of reviews and seen a bunch of user experiences so far on discords/reddit. The ally just seems so buggy. The new firmware killed the performance by like 10-20 frames. The software itself is very buggy.
That's about where I am . This thing looks amazing but I'm a windows amateur and PC in general. Steam Deck just works most of the time for me.

I'll either get this when its running buttery smooth for all or a Steam Deck 2.0. Either way primarily handheld gamers win. If battery tech can take a better leap soon , we will really be in for a treat.
 

Rivdoric

Member
Really tempted by this one, but been playing on PC as far as i can remember, the limited power of these devices makes me wonder if i'd be able to enjoy it.
Playing Red Dead Redemption and other games on very low doesn't actually sell dreams.
So the only reason would be emulation, old games or indie.
In my case, already owning a pretty decent computer, i might be better off buying a cloud gaming console like a Logitech Cloud or cheaper and enjoy my desktop computer on a handheld ?
What's your main usage on this device ?
 
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Hayabusa83

Banned
Just a note here. I got this thing on Tuesday and my games were not loading. After I manually updated the time and date settings all the games started launching.
 

Tams

Member
I don't understand the people who tried to play down the jump from the Steam Deck to this. Performance-wise, it feels like a big jump. Like going from a xx50 to a xx60ti/xx70. And this thing it's smaller, quiet and lighter. The only thing I really miss from the Steam Deck is the pads for typing and navigating, but it's not really a big deal in the big scheme of things.


What launcher? Are you sure your drivers/bios are up-to-date? I have tried Forspoken (epic), Persona 5 (game pass) and Monster Hunte (steam) r and they open and work fine. The only game I've had issues with so far is Alan Wake Remastered that for some reason crashes after playing for a few seconds

Deckies are going to be Deckies.

Sesame Street Idk GIF


There's been a decline in their vocal verocity since the Ally has become available.
 
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