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PGS-Feature

The idea of a portable PC gaming system that could handle a wide range of games and operating systems is an attractive one. But a contempo Kickstarter that claims it can deliver such a product should be taken with an extremely large grain of salt.

At outset glance, the Portable Game System for PC games (PGS), by PGS Labs, looks as if it ticks all the right boxes. It's intended to boot both Windows 10 and Android Marshmallow, and it claims it can handle streaming from other devices. The team behind the project claims to take washed their initial testing on a Cherry Trail-equipped Surface 3 earlier settling on baseline specifications. The PGS, they say, will transport in two flavors: The PGS Light will feature a 5.v-inch screen, 1280×720 resolution, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage, while the PGS Hardcore will characteristic a 5.7-inch screen, 2560×1440 resolution, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. The price on these two systems is supposedly $230 and $280, respectively, if y'all opt for Early Bird pricing.

PGS-Promise

Here'due south where the problems start. The Atom x7-Z8750 microprocessor at the eye of the PGS is only capable of playing a handful of last-generation titles at sub-30 FPS frame rates. While some games, like Arkham City, can reportedly average 26-32 FPS at medium settings, most are confined to minimal graphics — and that'southward according to PGS'south ain testing. What an independent review would reveal is anyone's guess, but the Atom microprocessor isn't known for having much graphics horsepower and at that place's no special sauce hither that would change that. You can play certain games on an Cantlet SoC, but not many, and not well.

PGS-PerformanceTests

Fifty-fifty if the low game detail levels and rock-bottom frame rates aren't enough to put you off, the list of claimed features should ring alarm klaxons. PGS claims it volition implement dual booting of both Android and Windows operating systems, despite the fact that both Microsoft and Google accept expressed a distinct lack of interest for such configurations. Over again, this blazon of dual-kick configuration may exist technically possible, merely information technology'south scarcely an selection that Microsoft or Google are going to desire to back up.

PGS also claims that information technology'll support streaming from the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 besides as other PCs. Xbox I and PC is a given, but the PS4? That's not happening without Sony's buy-in, and and then far, Sony has withal to announce whatever partnerships with 3rd-party would-be console "developers" with a Kickstarter campaign and delusions of grandeur. PGS also mentions LTE support — but once again, that implies that the visitor is partnering with a US carrier to provide LTE connectivity. That'south not a little feature to add together. It can take six months or more for companies like AT&T or Verizon to perform network testing, and information technology's non an inexpensive process.

The other features, like a secondary brandish mode, are like shooting fish in a barrel to hope on newspaper, but ensuring that both displays office properly in the broad variety of PC titles takes all-encompassing testing and troubleshooting — neither are capabilities that PGS has demonstrated the slightest ability to provide. And while $230 and $280 may be early on bird pricing, the $100K initial fund is ludicrously low for a panel system like this.

The long and brusque is this: Nevertheless nice it might be to take a portable PC gaming feel, this would-exist device isn't going to provide it. No no-name initiative from a random group of inventors based on Kickstarter funding ever could. This kind of project would require a deep lift from a company vested in the Microsoft ecosystem — not what we've got hither.