Video gaming prices continue to explode

Just 6 months ago, Lenovo launched their Legion Go 2 handheld PC game console. It came in 2 versions, each with a different chip (AMD Ryzen Z2 or Z2 Extreme) powering the device. They came in at the profoundly premium price points of $1,099 and $1,349.

Now, those are profoundly high price points compared to the competition. The Steam Deck OLED was (and technically still is, but it's been out of stock for over a month) $549-$649 which outside of the OLED screen being nicer, does lag behind in a bunch of specs, so the price difference is somewhat understandable. Still, a bit north of $1,000 for a portable gaming console is pretty wild.

But now the Legion Go 2 has gotten a price increase. And not a small one…

Instead of $1,099 and $1,349, now they cost $1,499 and $1,999. Yes, those are $400 and $650 increases, or put another way, one top-of-the-line Steam Deck more than before.

As I said back at the start of the year, 2026 is going to be a very painful year in tech.

On the plus side, if you did want a portable gaming PC with the power of the $1,999 Legion Go 2, you could look at the seemingly-reasonably-priced-in-comparison $999 ROG Xbox Ally X, which has the same Z2 Extreme chip as the $1,999 model, 24GB RAM (down from the Go's 32GB), and a slightly lower res screen, but honestly I think it's a way better buy, even if the software sucks hard. Install Bazzite on that sucker and enjoy life.