Random: We're Getting Major 'Nintendo DS' Vibes From Microsoft's Surface Duo Running Xbox Game Pass

I was wondering when you guys would report on this after seeing it on Pure Xbox yesterday.
Its great being able to play games like Outer World and Doom Eternal portable, without having to put up with the Switch downgrades.

Well even if I did have interest in Xbox games, at that price it's a very hard, instant NOPE!

Also touch screen only is a no go as well. Some games are fine with that, but I don't buy consoles for just some games.

Looks cool. Why do I not want one? Oh yeah, price and touchscreen only. Ouch!

Okay, I need this. Bad.

Meh, you can get a cheaper GPD XD (Androids) or a GPD Win 2 (Windows) and run Xbox GamePass games much better. At least with those you not only get the clamshell design and touch screen but physical d-pad, buttons, triggers, bumpers, and duo analog sticks making this thing feel like last gen tech.

@Yosher can we please for a second stop mentioning price on clear tech articles. It’s two iPad minis stuck together with phone connectivity that’s bleeding edge, we know it’s expensive, we know you won’t buy it, we don’t care. It just muddies the conversation.

Points for starting somewhere, but... streaming AND touchscreen "gamepad"? Sounds about as functional as PS5 Remote Play. The only actual perk here is keeping the overlay separate from the actual game screen, but the ultimate result has little to with NDS/3DS - it looks more like a more powerful but much clumsier take on GBA SP.

@Mr-Fuggles777 as someone actually playing The Outer Worlds here, I'll take Switch "downgrades" any time, thank you very much. Sparser vegetation doesn't impede my portable experience of a first person RPG shooter in the slightest; touch controls would be guaranteed to.

@The_New_Butler the subject clearly states “ds vibes”
You understand what a vibe is right? It also stated that it turns the duo into a “ds style” device.
Style and vibes sir. No one said it was a ds, just ‘ds like’.

And they are right, that huge border around the game really gave me ds bezel flashbacks

@nhSnork
Game pass games can be downloaded on android it’s not just streaming.

@nhSnork you can also play with a controller on Android.

@Barbara001 Chances are your smartphone could already do this out of the box, all you need is get Xbox GamePass and a bluetooth controller. The Switch itself could already do this if you run Android on it.

@Ghost_of_Hasashi I don’t think she was saying she wanted it specifically for gamepass, the duo itself is an amazing device. It’s bleeding edge and does a lot of basic thing mediocrely but it does things other phones and devices can’t. It’s definitely going to be more than a niche in the future

I've been looking at this device for forever. But to anyone considering this phone, wait until the Duo 2 releasing this year.

I'm getting major Persona 5 vibes from NintendoLife, NintendoLife uses the colour red, Persona 5 also had a very clever use of the colour red, I think there was some inspiration there.

"...it starts from $1,399 in the US..."

And now you know why the Switch is supposedly "underpowered". Nintendo wanted to keep it reasonably affordable.

@Mountain_Man you’re comparing a phone to a game console…. Two totally separate things

@Strictlystyles Feel free to skimp past my comment if you don't like it. The price is important if you want to have this tech, and it's mentioned in the article, so I will comment on it if I want.

I kinda want a Surface Duo. It seems like a really cool machine.

@Strictlystyles "downloaded"? Meaning, they all have Android ports?🤔

@Mr-Fuggles777 controllers are an extra cost in compromise peripherals, even moreso if you invest in a more expensive model with a holder (assuming those even exist for Surface Duo, let alone support xCloud) without which the portability is restricted to tabletop mode - playable but also done with less hassle and more convenience on Switch.

@Ghost_of_Hasashi I know, but the touchscreen controller would be soooo nice. I have an LG doublescreen now and it runs my gamepass games quite smoothly with my Series X controller, but is s#cks I can't just use the second screen. So I think my next phone will be a microsoft double screen device 😊😊😊😊

No physical buttons for games, no interest.

@Strictlystyles The question is, why would anybody spend $1400 on an Xbox phone when they can get a Switch game console for a quarter of the price.

@nhSnork not sure about the Surface Duo but I grabbed the Razer Kishi for my Galaxy. It's amazing being able to play big AAA games portable without downgrades.
I also get a lot of the bigger Indy games included for free with my gamepass subscription.
My switch is now used just for the exclusives I can't play elsewhere.

Just no. Constantly rubbing your thumb over the screen surface for analogue control actually becomes painful after any extended play time. Touch screen is no substitute for a proper stick or d-pad.

@Mountain_Man
It’s not a game console so if you’re a getting a duo it’s not just so you can play games. No one buys a cutting edge phone just to play games, but it’s nice to have as an added feature which is why Microsoft went the extra effort to add it. Comparing prices of two different devices, that are designed to do different things is not worth

@yosher you can comment however you’d like but like I said it’s a tech article about a cool feature, it’s not a hardware review, it’s just a totally useless comment to talk about price. It’s a PHONE we all know cutting edge phones are over 1k these days.

@Mr-Fuggles777 For real! I don't think people realize how much this is a thing. I've really enjoyed having Game Pass on my phone along with a Kishi. It makes it so nice to be able to play Xbox-powered games on the go. Now I just need a bigger phone so I can see my game better!

As much as I love the Xbox platform and all its great features, I'd never buy a MS Surface since I find tablets too limiting, nor want to play console-type games with just touch buttons.

@Strictlystyles Again. Feel free to ignore my comment if you don't like it. It's not like I'm constantly whining about the price of these things. Get over it and comment on other people's comments that you think are worth discussing, this is a total non issue.

@The_New_Butler I don’t think you do, if so you wouldn’t have made that comment in the first place but ok bro.

@yosher I’m not just singling you out, it’s everyone. Every time there’s an article about a cool peice of tech or a feature there’s always a bunch of people whining about price, ruining the conversation. We couldn’t even talk about Mario legos without multiple users derailing it with complaints about price. I’m just saying, please stop.

@Strictlystyles There's nothing stopping you from simply ignoring the comments about price and commenting on people who talk about just the tech portion. It's not like all the articles are always flooded with price comments. They'll probably always be there, sure, but don't act like they take the upper hand in these kinds of articles all the time. Ignore, and move on. That's it. It's that simple.

@The_New_Butler yes “style” as in “distinctive appearance “ which is accurate. Screen on top, touch screen at bottom, even distinct OG DS bezel around the top screen. Other than no physical buttons your comment was more about mechanical workings. You really were overthinking it. It wasn’t that deep sir.

@yosher all I’m saying is please stop complaining about price when it just a feature article. It just promotes better conversation. You can scroll past this and ignore it if you want to as well it goes both ways.

Nintendo fans are touchy, huh? This device is obviously influenced by the DS, and not competition with the Switch.
It’s pretty cool, but very in step with Microsoft’s “throw it at the wall and see what sticks” design philosophy. Touchscreens should have touchscreen games, and they are a poor 1:1 replacement for controllers. It’s very cool but hard to see exactly who it’s for at that price and what use cases it serves.
That said, I love the clamshell design and the multiple folding and standing options are much more versatile (and sturdy) than Switch. I hope this design influences Nintendo in their next or next-next generation of handheld/hybrid.

Touch screen game pad. Are they having a Giraffe?

@Strictlystyles I'm confused as to why you want people to stop talking about a major consideration in the buying process of any tech product. It's a little odd. Clearly if a lot of people are commenting about the price then accessibility is an issue. Yes it may be a good product that can make your breakfast and drive you to work but if consumers can't afford it then the success of the product will be limited - which brings with it it's own consequences. Look at the Wii U (I know the issue was not price but the point is the same) which was a commercial failure despite being a great product.

Oh lawd no. That price matches the cost of my new PC. Granted the PC doesn’t fit in my pocket, but I don’t need it to lol.

@B4L0R_CLUB it doesn’t matter what the device is or how much it is people will always complain about the price. It’s not even about accessibility at that point. Just people de railing the conversation about something we all know is going to be expensive, as in this case, a dual screen cutting edge PHONE. I could see if it were a strictly gaming console but it’s a phone, like no duh it’s gonna be expensive, but the point is, Microsoft made custom game pass configuration and button layouts for 50 games on their dual screen device. Let’s talk about those things…

Thanks but no thanks...

A quick Google search says this device is like 800 dollars.

How about no.

That's way too expensive for this kind of thing.

What you actually want to do with this thing is use it for DS emulation.

@Strictlystyles you're giving me gatekeeper vibes

@Heavyarms55 lol it’s 2 phones stuck together that’s why. It just happens to do other things.

Is it cool? Yes

Would I want it? No. I absolutely hate touch screen controls

This looks super cool but that's a bit out of my price range.

should have a special world ends with you port

@Strictlystyles wow you must be fun at parties. How about a $500 Black Shark 4 that has real trigger buttons instead? That is a phone too at about the third of the price and plays games better since xbox games dont use two screens like DS anyway, just lame screen controls on this Duo

@ChakraStomps for one duo isn’t a gaming phone or a console, it just happens to play games and Microsoft spent the time to add those features just as a bonus. As far as the price the build quality of the duo is better than the black shark 3 and 4 ( so you do get what you pay for) but on top of that it has two screens and other unique functionality, and is the very first one so I would expect the price to be where it’s at.

But I’d rather not talk about what devices are than the duo for gaming that’s besides the point. That’s nit the intention of the article and a pointless discussion here tbh.

@Strictlystyles Game Pass games cannot be downloaded on Android - unfortunately it is streaming only.

I have a duo, have since last year's release. It is definitely a 1st gen device, lots of issues until after the first 2 updates, still has issue at about 4-6 updates (OS updates). Lots of neat features, especially using a surface pen and now this game pass feature (streaming only) is a nice addition, but honestly... really not worth the price in it's current state, worst phone camera in any current market phone that I have ever used. Save your pennies and get something else, like a surface Pro, that you can play xbox games on. Touch controls are still Dog Balls and pretty much make any shooter just trash using them.

@everynowandben Yeah, this is a somewhat annoying issue since I am often in fairly rural areas with spotty internet. Maybe they will allow download of some sort in the future, but I'm not holding my breath.

@N64-ROX Done that. Not as good as you might think. Again, touch buttons = not good interface.

Honestly, its a cool option, but without the tactile feedback buttons provide it just isn't the same.

Not even close to a 3DS, lol. No 3D, & with no physical controls (which many prefer, i won't play any game without them, but also only bought a 3DS for 3D games) it's not like a 2DS, either. Also the price difference between this & those is insane, ofc. Basically, the title of this article is acceptable. The tweet is not, imo.

@Mr-Fuggles777 are you blessed with sufficient mobile internet or does xCloud actually acknowledge the existence of subHD resolutions?

@nhSnork I only play over WiFi - either at home or in Work. I've had a few instances of stutter but not enough to cause any serious issues - I pop my phone into aeroplane mode to reset the WiFi and it works great afterwards.

@Mr-Fuggles777 oh. Reliable out-of-home wifi is barely a thing where I live, even at work. Much as our mobile internet leaves to be desired, it's ironically THE vessel for portable online activities, and somewhat manageable in most of them - but streaming is only viable in up to Vita's resolution. Even Switch's 720p screen struggles with eShop trailers, and I dread to think what services like xCloud may default to on the smartphones.

@Strictlystyles people compare things when they evaluate them..

This is a high end phone and that's it. Folding smartphones cost about this much. Playing xcloud on this phone is for people who already own this phone. And I'm like 99% sure a bluetooth controller works with this or will shortly. Also I dont think anyone including xbox fans would buy this $1,400 phone just to play gamepass.

@The_FastLife yeah I'm definitely not spending this much just for GP. I love Xbox games but not this much lol

No sticks and buttons. Who in the world wants to play like this? Maybe many. Not me though.