I figure it will be a good thing to throw onto a wish list for whatever holiday is coming next. In a perfect world, it would run a Linux-based OS, be moddable, have decent ergonomics for an adult, and kinda just generally not suck. Is a hundred bucks a reasonable price point? One hundred fifty? I grew up in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras but never completely stopped gaming, so I’d be interested in emulating somewhat newer stuff too. I normally just plug in a controller and find a desktop emulator, but portable could be fun, especially if it had potential for general SBC computing.
Edit: I think I have a better idea what I’m looking for now. The Anbernic devices seem to more or less match up with what I am looking for, so I’ll start there with a more informed search. Thanks! Happy to get more suggestions and tips, though.
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If your budget would allow it, I think it would be tough to beat the Steam Deck.
I think the SteamDeck might be overkill here. Something along the Miyo or Anbernic is what I’m thinking initially, but I have no idea what in this product category is worthwhile.
I had a Steam Deck and gave it to my partner because it’s gigantic and unwieldy. Just a heads up for the small-handed individuals. The thumb-sticks felt like absolute garbage as well. Hilariously, the biggest thing I can say - is that while the device itself was gigantic - the screen felt relatively small. I decided in the end, to get an old Chromebook and convert it to a Linux based system for all my gaming needs. It’s thin, durable, and has an extremely long battery life. I can see the screen inside and outside. It actually feels lighter than the Deck because the weight is evenly distributed through-out it’s form. I am very happy with it.
I considered the Miyoo Mini+ but figured I would run into a similar issue where I realized that I was no longer a child and that a Gameboy perhaps isn’t the best form factor for an aging gamer. But I think it’s quite portable and it might make a solid system.
Steam Deck or the miyoo mini plus with onion os would be my picks. I have both and they both scratch an itch in a different way.
It depends what you want to emulate. Most consoles can do PSX and below without any trouble. A lot of devices share the same chipset so that’s a big thing to look out for.
If you want to get into things like PS2 and GameCube you are going to have to pay more and likely consider Android.
A console with HDMI out and Bluetooth might be what you are looking for so you can potentially have that desktop experience you are used to.
Thanks. This product category has matured nicely from the days of the GP2X and Pandora.
Yeah it seems like since COVID19 and the release of RG350 there’s been a real increase in the amount of progress
I guess the main question is where do you draw the line for “somewhat newer stuff”? 5th gen consoles only (and then which one) or even newer?
And what screen size are you looking for?I think realistically 5th gen would be the limit in the price range, right? Any recommendations on which are most versatile? I understand Android can be better for some emulators, and Linux for others.
This is probably not what you’re looking for, but I have two suggestions that don’t really fit your criteria but you might find at least mildly interesting:
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Playstation Vita. Moddable, retroarch gives you most retro games, and you can stream your PC with Moonlight. It’s a bit small but it roughly fits your price point and is just awesome
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Surface Duo & Duo 2. A bit out of your price range but with a good expandable controller, I consider this the ultimate Nintendo ds emulator. And I mean, I guess android is sort of like Linux? lol
The original Surface Duo is dirt cheap on ebay and I enjoy it
I am certainly interested in something that fits your criteria more closely. But it most likely doesn’t exist out of the box. You’d probably have to hobble it together yourself with a Raspberry Pi and other hardware
The Vita also has a lot of source ports.
For the right price it can be a pretty good deal considering it can play PSX and below as well as PSP games and a lot of handheld emulators still struggle with Vita emulation.
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Have you looked into Miyo Mini+?
That was one of the posts that piqued my interest. Also think the Anbernic ones look decent.
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.
The RG35XXSP has a GBA SP clamshell style and is relatively new with a lot of positive reviews
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 installprograms, 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!
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.
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).
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.
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!
