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Post by zisssou on Nov 10, 2024 17:32:54 GMT
Can anyone recommend a portable device suitable for gaming up to the PS2/Dreamcast/Gamecube era? Not for myself, but my partner, who has expressed an interest in such a thing. She keeps seeing these cheap devices loaded with roms on social media, but I’m surely right in presuming something a little more dedicated that I can obtain roms for myself would be better. That generation of console wouldn’t even be the ideal. It would just cover all bases. I imagine she’d mostly be playing PS1 era, sugared with SNES and Mega Drive stuff. Steam Deck. Decky Loader has everything for emulating the above and beyond.
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Post by dangerousdave on Nov 10, 2024 18:55:57 GMT
I came close to getting one of those, but she wants something much smaller. Perhaps even smaller than the Switch.
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Post by tonyferrino on Nov 10, 2024 19:05:24 GMT
Anbernic RG556 or the soon to be released Retroid Pocket 5. If you want to do GameCube well you have to spend a bit of money unfortunately. But these are both great devices with awesome screens. There are a few others from $150 and up that do a good job while still being smaller than a Steam Deck.
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richardiox
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Post by richardiox on Nov 10, 2024 19:14:13 GMT
Yeah the new Retroid Pocket 5, 5.5" 1080p OLED screen and can run PS2 / GC games full speed and with a 4x resolution upscale. About £220. Or the Anbernic RG40XX-V, about £60 and will run 8/16 bit easily as well as PS1 and some Dreamcast. They come stuffed with Roms but obviously you can also easily add your own/curate their selection. Anbernic: youtu.be/ECe4Lak58fY?si=rMjNDJ2dIlU_BqbNRetroid: youtu.be/ECe4Lak58fY?si=rMjNDJ2dIlU_BqbNThere's loads of these portable retro machines now, surprisingly good quality and excellent value for money. I have the Powkiddy RGB30 which has a 1:1 ratio 720p screen. Edit; for real entry level you can get a 128gb R36s for less than £30. Again, it'll be loaded with every GB/GBA/MD/SNES game ever plus mame, final burn alpha, neo geo Pocket etc etc a.aliexpress.com/_EHiQT4lI've got well into this stuff recently. Kind of thing I wish I could have shown my 10yr old self.
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Post by dangerousdave on Nov 10, 2024 19:47:46 GMT
You guys are amazing. I’ll keep you all posted on where I go with it.
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Post by tonyferrino on Nov 10, 2024 20:00:17 GMT
If you want any info on specific handhelds I also have a few. Currently I have the RG556, Powkiddy RGB30, Miyoo Mini and Miyoo A30 as well as a Steam Deck. I've also had a Retroid 2+ in the past and I have ordered the Retroid 5.
My name is Tony and I have a problem.
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Post by dangerousdave on Nov 10, 2024 20:44:51 GMT
I think the Anbernic looks like a solid mid-tier device. She isn’t overly fussed about performance, but it seems to run Crazy Taxi quite well! I’m honesty in two minds about how much she’ll actually use it, but she has expressed interest in something like this, multiple times.
I’ll sit on the idea tonight, but I think that might be the Xmas present sorted.
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richardiox
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Post by richardiox on Nov 10, 2024 21:06:49 GMT
In my experience the fact they're so portable and convenient and you can have insane numbers of roms on there, with a really snazzy UI/frontend (box art, game vid previews, manuals etc) means you do end up using it a fair bit. There's just so many models to choose from though.
Plus most emulators have a quick save function and the battery life is far better than a Steam Deck which also adds to the usability.
Be warned though, if you get one from say AliExpress, they tend to ship with super cheap microSD cards that are prone to failure. You'll want to sort that asap. If she's mainly wanting to play 16bit games you can pretty much get every 16bit game ever made on a 64gb card.
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Post by dangerousdave on Nov 10, 2024 21:37:18 GMT
Good call! Yeah. I think I have a spare 128GB stick hidden somewhere in the house. They can have that.
I’m looking at the RG40XXV, which seems to be going for around £95. I didn’t imagine these things working through a TV, so that’ll be a nice bonus.
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richardiox
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Post by richardiox on Nov 10, 2024 21:51:19 GMT
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Post by retro74 on Nov 10, 2024 23:17:00 GMT
For those interested Retro Game Corps tweeted a table of the Retroid Pocket 5 vs it’s rivals earlier today, seems to be the best option of the horizontal mid-tier devices
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Phattso
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Post by Phattso on Nov 11, 2024 8:30:38 GMT
Not sure where the best place to share my joy about this is, but in a random arcade today I came across a giant 8-player Bomberman arcade machine that was basically a giant dining table with screens embedded and controls along the edge. It was utterly batshit. :-D
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dmukgr
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Post by dmukgr on Nov 11, 2024 9:45:45 GMT
I’d love that.
Some of my best gaming moments are local multiplayer bomberman.
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Phattso
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Post by Phattso on Nov 11, 2024 11:55:41 GMT
Had to settle for two player. None of the locals seemed up for it. Maybe they presumed it was a key party sort of situation.
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