Tech company Razer has teased a new portable device, alongside a surprising partner for it, namely, Xbox.
The teaser shows a handheld gaming device, with full game controls and a screen, including two analog sticks and two pairs of side triggers. Notably, Razer’s video teaser flashed the Xbox logo. You can view the teaser trailer below.
While Razer was happy to make a small video teaser of the device, Verizon has already published a press release that discusses it.
“The world’s first 5G gaming handheld — Razer Edge 5G
- Together, Verizon, Qualcomm and Razer will introduce the world’s first 5G Gaming Handheld built on the Snapdragon® G3X Gen 1 Gaming Platform and designed for high-performance gaming on the move.
- This Android handheld gaming device will give you access to games you love, whether they are downloaded to play locally, streamed from your console or accessed directly from the cloud — all over 5G Ultra Wideband.
- Tune into RazerCon on October 15 for more details about this amazing new gaming system.”
Interestingly enough, Razer already made a Razer Edge, all the way back in 2013. This was a gaming tablet, running full x64 Windows, and packed with an Nvidia graphics card, three years before the Nintendo Switch would be running with a fully mobile Nvidia SOC.
With the power of hindsight, its obvious that the original Razer Edge was ahead of its time. Releasing just a year after Microsoft released its first ever hardware product, the Surface tablet, Razer built a fully operating Windows computer in tablet form, just like Microsoft, but couldn’t offer it at a lower price point as Razer didn’t have its own operating system or software attached to sell alongside it. Razer never released sales figures but the fact that they waited over a decade to reenter this space indicates this first Edge was not a success.
This is par for the course for Razer, who initially entered the gaming markets with their mice and keyboards, but slowly encroached into gaming with one new product category after another.
Razer switched from gaming tablets to gaming laptops, with products like the Razer Blade Pro. They entered video game peripherals with controllers like the Atrox fightstick. They even joined the VR bandwagon with their own HDK 2 Virtual Reality headset. These are only a small slice of the many gaming related products the company has seen fit to enter into. While they aren’t afraid to innovate, they haven’t always seen success in their endeavors.
If this teaser indicates something, however, they have a serious plan to make this device a success at launch. They have a hardware partner with Qualcomm, an internet services partner with Verizon, and a content partner with Xbox.
Xbox Game Pass, in particular, is one of the most successful video game services of its kind. As Microsoft puts it, this service was created with the intention of letting“Anyone play any game, anywhere they want.” As recent as last March, Microsoft was reporting huge interest in the service, but the company has hidden away in their line items on annual reports exactly how much money they are making from the service.
Xbox Game Pass is already playable on Xbox game consoles, PCs, and even mobile phones and tablets. That includes portable Windows gaming devices and tablets. However, Microsoft has yet to come out with a dedicated streaming device that has Xbox Game Pass out of the gate, either on their own or with a partner. So this is a huge opportunity for the company, and Microsoft doesn’t have to stick to only one partner either. All will be revealed for the Razer Edge 5G this coming October 15, 2022, at Razer’s event RazerCon.
Source: TechRadar
