Comment on Handheld Linux Retrogaming recommendation?

Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• wjrii@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  That was one of the posts that piqued my interest. Also think the Anbernic ones look decent.

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  • SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    There’s the RG35XX line of devices, they have decent performance and come in a bunch of different form factors. Wouldn’t be a bad choice.

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    • CorrodedCranium@leminal.space ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The RG35XXSP has a GBA SP clamshell style and is relatively new with a lot of positive reviews

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  • GrappleHat@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I have an Anbernic RG353M & it sounds like it fits your needs. Emulates up to PSP. Moddable: I run ArkOS which is Debian-based - so I can SSH in, apt install programs, run custom bash scripts I wrote, etc. I also ported a desktop game to run on it. So moddability points are high! Also dual-boots into Android, so Android games are available if that’s your thing. It comes with the Android dual-boot right out of the box!

    Downsides:

    • It can be a little small in my hands for long play sessions. I have a custom 3D printed handle extension which works great and solves this problem.
    • There’s a hardware problem involving the 3.5mm audio jack output where chip noise gets in the audio. Annoying, but ignorable. Switching to Bluetooth headphones is a fine workaround too.
    • In long play sessions when the device gets hot horizontal bar artifacts show up on the screen. Like the audio thing, they are annoying but ignorable. When they show up I normally interpret it as a sign I’ve been playing too long and take a break while the device cools down.

    Overall, it’s got those hardware quirks above but I still like it and I don’t regret it for the price (something like ~$100 a couple of years ago I think). Battery life is very good, even for graphics intensive games. It can go many hours without needing a charge, and generally it has better stamina than I do!

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    • wjrii@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Do you find you are able to emulate much that can make use of the analog sticks? The RG Arc-S and -D have similar internals and a nice screen, but they seem to have been consigned to the discount pile for lack of analog sticks (and maybe being late to the game for RK3566 models). As a Genesis kid, I always liked the Sega controllers of that era.

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      • GrappleHat@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Yeah, for sure. The analog stocks work flawlessly & I love them. I use them for games where they’re native (i.e. ZDoom & mods), where they emulate a mouse (i.e. Minetest), or where they emulate a d-pad (i.e. psx games). All cases work great! For d-pad games I find myself switching back and forth between d-pad and sticks depending on the application (i.e. Tetris needs precision & is better with d-pad, NBA Jam needs adaptivity & is better with sticks).

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    • wjrii@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Thanks! That class of device is probably where I’m leaning, having now poked around some other sites as well. Honestly, those issues are about what I’d expect from this pricepoint/feature combination, but they don’t seem like dealbreakers and sounds like it’s a usable SBC in a gaming friendly package, which is about what I’m after.

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      • GrappleHat@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Sweet! You’ve probably already found this, but if you’re interested in these devices the Retro Game Corps channel on YouTube is an invaluable resource. That guy does a beyond excellent job reviewing options and giving quality advice!

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