The best retro gaming console is the one you already own. Any old hand-me-down or thrift office PC can handle the majority of retro titles, as can most consoles with custom firmware.
If you already own anything from the DS-3DS-PSP-Vita lineups you should be looking into making the most of the hardware you already own.
That being said, my partner is very happy with their Deck, and I’m pretty pleased with my RG351V running ArkOS. I’ve also been very happy with running my RP3B+ with Retropie.
But to be very honest, I don’t do a damn thing that my gaming PC two builds ago, and my PSP1000 I’ve had since high school wouldn’t be able to handle with flying colors.
Good to see that hall effect analog sticks are starting to become mainstream.
My steam deck is kinda perfect for retro gaming. But this handheld looks neat too, so I might check it out.
Vita for me, does everything I want.
I love following these Chinese handhelds but there is always one deal-breaker which turns me off in each device. Maybe they’ll get it right one day.
I owned a GP2x back in the day, that was a fun device at the time. Playing portable SNES was unheard of but I could do it.
Same, I’ve been dabbling in these handhelds for about a year or so now and I always tend to go right back to the Vita, it’s such a solid device.
Same here! It has wonderful buttons, a gorgeous screen, long battery life, comfy form factor (compared to other handhelds, at least), plus is powerful enough to handle anything I’d want to use it for. If/when I pick up a Steam Deck I suspect I’ll use that more, but for pocket-sized handhelds the vita can’t be beat imo.
Wiat, I have a vita, how do I get retro games on it? Specifically snes games.
https://vita.hacks.guide/ has all the info you need to hack your vita. From there just install retroarch, put your roms on, and you’re good to go.
I also had a GP2x. Would be nice to play with it still but unfortunately it doesn’t turn on anymore. No idea what’s wrong with it. Though it also had a rubbish joystick so would need to fix that too in order to make it playable.
Mine has a similar problem, it would turn on under AC power but not battery. Maybe capacitors? I’m not sure I still have it anymore.
The joystick was terrible I agree. I loved the mods people did adding the Neo Geo Pocket joystick or a d-pad but they looked too difficult for me.
My Steamdeck is my preferred method of handheld gaming. Works amazingly.
The only problem is the size. I’m 6’3 with large hands and it fits me perfectly, but my wife is 5’2 and has to buy children’s gloves, so she can’t use it.
Yeah, I don’t have a spare $300-500 on me.
LPT: buy the base model. You can get a matte screen protector and a 1TB ssd for like $150. It’s stupid easy to replace the ssd.
Okay, but, again, I don’t have the cash for something that expensive. Even the base model is $400.
To be honest I am extremely happy with my N3DS and Steam Deck. The second can let me change between a 40 years old game in a game released last month in a few seconds.
I use the Retroid Pocket 3, but I really just want something in the same form factor that can reliably emulate GameCube.
Shame it’s android only
Not really. Android has been doing great in terms of emulation.
Why? You can install Dajisho and it’s great.
I just prefer an open source Linux/community supported OS so my handheld won’t be left to die like my old Nvidia Shield Portable.
I’m not dissing Retroid devices but the Android only thing puts me off buying one
I agree with you, this turns me off buying any of these devices too. I look after my stuff and keep it for a long time, so I don’t want something the manufacturer is going to forget about and never update again after 6 months.
Yeah that makes sense. On the other hand I see drivers are more optimized for android. I have an orange Pi Zero 2 that does both android and Armbian, the android versions are much more efficient than the Linux ones.
I don’t think there will ever be a perfect OS or hardware in this marketplace. Everyone is chasing a white whale. I’ve been doing it since the GP32x and I’d buy every damn device that came out if I didn’t have some rules for myself.
I’ve currently got the Miyoo Mini which is great but a bit too tiny for me. So I went and got the MM+ which seems perfect for now at least…….
Steam Deck for me. Though I do like the idea of the really tiny retro handhelds. The Deck is super comfortable though, and with EmuDeck it’s an absolute joy for emulation.
I recently picked up the Miyoo Mini+ as well as Retroid pocket flip. Honestly the Miyoo is so much better being Linux based. So much easier to get going. The only thing I prefer the flip is it can play DS games and a handful of gamecube/ps2 games. Its also more comfortable for playing PS1 games. But I have been exclusively picking up the Miyoo Mini+ to play most things. They are both great handhelds, but like I said. The set up for the Miyoo Mini+ was like 5 minutes versus the couple hours its taken me with the Retroid pocket flip.
The Linux devices are fantastic. For Android, are you using Daijisho? It’s an excellent solution
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You can get replacement joysticks on AliExpress. Apparently it’s not a difficult swap. Look up guides on iFixIt or YouTube. Make sure you get the correct stick for your device, 1000 or 2000.
I’m happy with my RP3+. Surprisingly, I mostly use it to stream PC & PS5 games.
But the retro games are all there when I decide to quit playing Yakuza Kiwami…
I like being able to do both those things too. Stream when possible. Local otherwise
NDS :)
Imagine an adaptor that connects a second small screen via HDMI. I wonder if the device is capable is sending two different signals to the screen and HDMI port… that would be an instant buy.
Meanwhile I do DS on my iPhone with Delta and an active capacitive stylus.
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This is a new release. I haven’t kept up on details but it looks like a cheaper re-shell of the 2+ with the analogs moved to the bottom.
They said in the launch email:
The Unisoc T610 delivers a much more powerful performance than RP2+
Whether that’s true or not, well have to wait and see.
The green one is such a beauty, especially if one were to install the black buttons. Can’t justify buying one though since I already have a 2+ which is still running fine
There seems to be a green and purple transparent plastic trend going on at the moment and I’m totally into it
