This week revealed: GPD Win Mini, Price Increase, Ally Specs, Sega Made A Purchase
PlayStation Increases the Price of PC Games
Early this week, Resetera forum user, Chairmanchuck noticed prices have increased for PlayStation games released on PC in Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Japan, and South Korea.
It appears Canadian prices for games went up $10 from their asking price of $69.99 to $79.99. PlayStation games sold on Steam in Japan have increased by 30% with a jump from 5,900 Yen to 7590 Yen.
While the prices have yet to impact users in the United States, the correction is very concerning but in line with how inflation is impacting all aspects of the current economy. For more, check out Video Games Chronicle's article on the situation.
Angry Birds Found a New Owner
Rovio, the creators of the hit mobile game Angry Birds have been acquired by Sega Europe for $775 Million. While Rovio has struggled for quite some time to break off from being just known for Angry Birds, this acquisition is in line with Sega's multi-year goal to break more ground in the mobile gaming space.
Statista.com projects the value of mobile gaming to hit $173 billion by 2026, and Sega seems to see a 56% growth in the mobile gaming sphere. While Angry Birds seems a bit dated to acquire in 2023, it's hard to argue the value of the IP's recognition and multi-media reach with movies and retail stores. Read our initial write-up on GamesRevealed.com
ASUS ROG Ally's Specs Leaked
A lot of details of the ASUS ROG Ally were revealed this week. Here are some of the key highlights of this Steam Deck killer:
Pros:
- Powerful Ryzen 7 7840U Zen4/RDNA3 APU
- More than double the GPU performance of a Steam Deck
- 7-inch full-HD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate
- Dolby Atmos Speakers
- 16GB of memory
- Support for AMD RSR
- 512GBs of Storage
- The rumored price is very competitive
Cons :
- $2000 4090 eGPU.
- No word on a release date yet
- The likelihood of gaming at a resolution of 1080p/120 FPS is slim
- The NVMe Storage is the same as the Steam Deck's 2230 size drive, which is still very expensive and limited in storage capacities compared to 2280 NVMe SSD Sizes
- The Ally is reliant on ASUS really supporting software as a man-in-the-middle for a better user experience since Microsoft isn't interested in optimizing Windows 11 for controllers or touchscreen devices
Cody Castona
GPD Win Mini Variant to Rival the Ally
However, not to be outdone by ASUS, the GPD Win Mini specs were released with a variant that will come with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U– the same APU found in the ASUS ROG Ally. However, the price isn't known for that variant, and the lower-end unit already starts at $699.99, leaving the expectation of higher-end units to be exceeding that of the ASUS ROG Ally. For a full breakdown of the leak, check out VideoCardz.com's comparison chart based on details released by YouTuber The Phawx.
Keeping tradition the GPD Win Mini will still have a physical keyboard, but will now offer clickable sticks for L3 and R3. The D-Pad and face button placements are pretty deep into the unit, which begs the question of how comfortable a device like this will be. We will know more as hands-on previews come out soon.
