Xbox's handhelds have Valve in their sights, not Nintendo

Microsoft has tried and failed a few times with mobile devices. I doubt this will be any different.

This is their pattern. Way Kate to the market with some half baked ideas that has all these aspirations but never does everything right. Plus required Microsoft account, Cortana/copilot/gimmick of the week forced in there.
windows phone
surface
hololens (didn't even make it to market)
mixed reality
... Many more

Xbox anything is DOA at this point.

Microsoft sucks and I don't want their shit. They'll probably cram AI into it or otherwise shit it up.

Do you want copilot to clear this level for you? Only $4.99

They might have the dustbin of Microsoft innovations in their sights actually.

I think i speak for most gamers when i say i have a steam game library, but would not touch the Microsoft PC game store with a 10ft pole.

I am an xbox user, i have a vast digital(and physical) xbox library that can almost drink alcohol. This is the library and store i want on an Xbox handheld. Xbox not pursuing compatibility with that library is what will kill the brand IMO.

Xbox Play Anywhere was a nice program that gave people some double purchases on the MS game store for no extra cost... But it was too sparse to make the barebones MS game store seem worthwhile compared to steam.

If people bother to buy this generic PC handheld with an Xbox sticker on it, they might be slightly more inclined to buy games on the MS same store, but im certain the majority will just use Steam and Gamepass.

They can already do this on all other PC handhelds though, so why would anyone buy this one?!?

From the presentations on Sunday it seems like they are heavily reinvesting in the idea of play anywhere. I think all the games they announced had it.
- Im very glad they are... But this effort just negates their last push for backwards compatibility on the xbox console.
  I am sure they see the value in merging that library into their PC library. Tbh they will probably choose the lazy route and stick to streaming xbox-only games to PC because it requires no extra planning. Even the streaming process is a convoluted mess though with only certain games/publishers giving their games permission to stream. I am never allowed to stream every game i want for arbitrary reasons, and i dont like that when i have already bought the game.
  Xbox wants to move away from local processing anyhow because it funnels users into their beloved subscription model.

Didn't they just announce last week that the entire project is on pause?

I mean they just announced the Xbox Ally today at a presentation, so it certainly doesn't seem like it
Microsoft designed handheld is on pause (and probably cancelled because AMD is not going to provide Series S level performance anytime soon and ARM+Nvidia is no go after whole W11 ARM fiasco). They’re pivoting to what Valve is doing with specialised gaming OS for OEMs.

Valve, is it time to launch the HL3 bomb?

No thanks lmao

Isn't this a bit like saying that NASA has Mars in its sights, not New Jersey? Sure there are more people in NJ, but arriving in NJ isn't really an accomplishment. Likewise, being able to beat a piece of hardware that was out of date when it was first announced over a year ago (switch 2) obviously isn't their goal. Additionally, Valve already has superior hardware and distribution, so they are clearly the competitor to beat.

Nintendo aren't in the console war anymore and have't been since the gamecube. Nintendo consoles sell on the strength of Nintendo's first party titles, of which they have many. Nobody else can use their IPs, so that's their USP and as a result they don't need to compete with anyone on graphical capability or processing power. It's its own market.
- Nintendo made a very smart business move that is extremely anti-consumer:
  They removed themselves from competing with Sony and Microsoft.
  People don't think "Should I buy Xbox, Nintendo, or PlayStation?" They think "Should I buy Xbox or PlayStation, in addition to Nintendo?"
  Great business move, because consumers are buying Nintendo up more than before. Extremely bad for consumers because now we are seeing how Sony acts when they have only one real competitor: keeping console exclusives, raising prices, and enforcing PS Accounts for offlline singleplayer games.
  If Microsoft drops Xbox hardware, PlayStation will have zero competition and gain a monopoly on the console hardware market. Then they can raise the prices to be whatever they want. What are you gonna do, buy an Xbox that doesn't exist?