The Nintendo Switch made a debut about a month ago and that made everyone very excited. From gamers to game developers, even its graphics chip provided is very exciting. Hold that thought as you might get disappointed when it gets destroyed by SMACH Z - a handheld gaming PC that plays Steam games.
It's pretty obvious that no matter how much we debate PC versus consoles, PC always wins. Or at least that's the case as of this writing as the PlayStation and Xbox are gearing up towards being at par with PC performance. But as of today, PC would beat the heck out of console gaming at any given day. I play a lot of console games and I do not favor which platform is best but I have to admit, PC gaming has the graphics and performance department as its forte - provided you have enough money, of course.
Going back to handheld gaming, there are tons of choices. The PlayStation Vita might have been abandoned by first-party developers but it still keeps on going with indies. The 3DS is getting back its sales due to Pokemon Games with Sun and Moon as the latest addition. Nintendo, by the way, is enjoying this as side effect of Pokemon Go's success, where everyone went on checking other Nintendo merchandise after discovering the wonderful world of Pokemon in their mobile devices.
Here Comes a New Challenger
Though not technically a challenge yet as both devices aren't on the market, a Kickstarter project called SMACH Z - The Gaming PC is threatening to bag everyone's money once this bad boy hits the shelves. The Kickstarter device is practically a PC in your hands that is powerful enough to play any Triple-A game natively. Its developers claim that it can play all your stored Steam games. Now, this is interesting.
As stated, this is a Kickstarter project so it still needs everyone's support. With a minimum donation of €4, you can help out launch this little powerful device. Project SMACH Z has gathered $479,295 as of this writing, not a good number to compete with big companies such as Nintendo. But who knows, maybe these guys will push through.
Why would it destroy the Nintendo Switch?
Simple, SMACH Z claims that it can play all the favorite games you love, right in the palms of both your hands. Steam has currently more than 10,000 so put that as your default catalog when it comes to games. It has haptic touchpad controls which evolved from mouse controls and also boasts a 5-hour battery life.
That's not all; SMACH Z also claims to play games outside of Steam. Since it's a handheld PC, you can pretty much install whatever you can install on a traditional PC. That places you and Starcraft II games on a train or a plane. More technical specifications can be found here.
Now, I'm no video game expert but if the SMACH Z rolls out in stores, it should take over the handheld market. What stops it from completely destroying the competition are handheld exclusives, then there's this thing called branding, and the SMACH Z is a bit bulky. This means titles like Pokemon and Super Mario will take care of the 3DS when this little bad boy comes out. Not sure about Sony's PS Vita though.
