(Image credit: Future)
If you want to understand the future of gaming, you have to survive Gamescom first. With over 350,000 attendees flooding into Cologne, Germany, the city’s convention center is a chaotic, RGB-lit maze of upcoming titles, booth tours and next-generation hardware.The Tom’s Guide team was on the ground to cut through the noise, as we spent the week walking the halls, getting exclusive behind-the-scenes access, playing a ton of titles early and getting our hands on the tech that will redefine how we play over the next few years.From Nvidia’s astonishing new MacBook-killing superchips and Alienware’s 5-star OLED monitor, to the return of the Alien franchise and gaming furniture we actually want in our living rooms, we found the gear that truly stood out.After covering every square inch of the show floor, here are our official Tom’s Guide Best of Gamescom 2026 awards.Best of show: Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20
(Image credit: Future)I’ll put my hands up and admit that maybe I was a little hard on the ROG Xbox Ally X20 back at Computex 2026. In the midst of Intel Arc G3 Extreme eating AMD’s lunch in handheld gaming, I was quick to count it out. But as the $1,299 price emerged for this impressively upgraded Ally, my mind changed on it quite drastically.That OLED panel is glorious, the ergonomic tweaks with TMR joysticks, reshaped bumpers and face buttons and rubberized grips make the most comfortable PC handheld even more comfortable, and that transparent design is a nerd’s joy to behold.Yes, I can only hope that FSR 4 comes to the AMD Ryzen Z2 AI Extreme chipset here for boosted performance in the future. But with 60 FPS being easy to achieve if you tweak the settings in AAA titles, this is a really well-rounded system for gaming enthusiasts on the go.Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.Jason England - Managing Editor of Core TechBest game: Alien Isolation 2
