Xbox ROG Ally X was first called the 'carboard unit' and Quake was played on it

Xbox has officially unveiled the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X, two new gaming PC handhelds powered by Windows 11 that first began in a cardboard box.

A partnership between Xbox and ASUS has spawned two new PC gaming handheld devices, marking the existence of the first Xbox handheld initially dubbed Project Kennan. Both devices are powered by Windows 11, with the Xbox Ally X being the much more powerful model of the two with a stunning 24GB of RAM, which is 8GB more than the Series X console and the brother handheld, Xbox Ally (16GB). Both consoles feature a dedicated Xbox button that launches the Xbox app, 7-inch 1920 x 1080p resolution displays with a 120Hz refresh rate and VRR. However, the first iterations of the handhelds were a cardboard box design.

Xbox has released a behind-the-scenes video for the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X, giving details about the creation of both handheld devices and the beginning stages of the development process. Throughout the video, Xbox shows that the first prototypes of the console were provided by ASUS, and all of the components were placed in a cardboard box. The video states that these components weren't just for show, as the handheld could be powered on and was even tested with Quake.

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"So we did actually get a functional build of Windows running on this and you could play a game?"

"Oh yeah, we powered it on. I think I played Quake on it," responded Casey Bates, Senior Technical Program Manager for Xbox