Modern Retro Handheld Game Players thread

[bradigor]

Nice one @glb

I am booting my Anbernic 351M for the first time in a while and I still have 351ELEC. 

 

Is it an auto update to AmberELEC? Or a fresh install?

[glb]

That Miyoo is gorgeous. Very, very tempted. And only has one SD card slot, so I won’t melt a mainframe setting it up.

 

I had a look, for research purposes obvs, at some different retro libraries but think GBA, Megadrive and SNES are about all I need to revisit my youth. Am I missing any obvious classics from elsewhere? Going to add a couple of SNES files before going to the office on Wednesday. And quite excited to play Minish Cap again, as remember that being a joy. Still have my 3DS, so won’t bother with anything from that system (Pocket Jockey is all anyone needs anyway)

 

Here’s Mario Kart Advance. The system is on charge but the screen is as bright running off battery alone.

 

[glb]

7 hours ago, bradigor said:

Nice one @glb

I am booting my Anbernic 351M for the first time in a while and I still have 351ELEC. 

 

Is it an auto update to AmberELEC? Or a fresh install?

I installed from scratch but I think the AmberElec website has instructions for upgrading.

[Flub]

I now have a Anbernic RG552. Currently running Amber Elec

 

 

It also runs Android so I swapped that out for the patreon only Black Serpah Android 11 build since it's very good. I'm going to start on getting everything setup on that side soon. Handily the Android side can read my roms off the exfat microsd card so both Linux and Android can share.

[Paulando]

@Flub Looks good! I actually have one of these on the way to me too (I’m getting addicted to these retro handhelds), even if it’s just to tide me over until my Steam Deck arrives/the Ayn Odin availability improves.

 

I know it’s had some bad press due to the fairly high price, and that it still isn’t powerful enough for the systems out of reach on their other handhelds (N64/DC/GC/PSP). I have heard great things about the screen though, and that the res lends itself very well to scaling every other format.

 

It seems a bit of a minefield with all the custom firmwares available, plus Android too, so might need to chat with you about that when mine arrives.

[watusi]

9 hours ago, bradigor said:

Nice one @glb

I am booting my Anbernic 351M for the first time in a while and I still have 351ELEC. 

 

Is it an auto update to AmberELEC? Or a fresh install?

https://amberelec.org/

 

update files under downloads, I upgraded from an old release using this for a 351V. worked perfectly, there's nothing to state that you need to be a specific version or above to do this - but don't quote me on that!

[bradigor]

7 minutes ago, watusi said:

https://amberelec.org/

 

update files under downloads, I upgraded from an old release using this for a 351V. worked perfectly, there's nothing to state that you need to be a specific version or above to do this - but don't quote me on that!

 

Just ran the auto update and it worked. 

[AK Bell]

I really like the guides by Retro Game Corps ... the AmberElec one is a bit basic compared to the detailed on I did for Odin, sending you to the official setup, but the videos are good and there is some extra useful info in there. https://retrogamecorps.com/2022/07/13/amberelec-setup-and-update-guide/

 

 

In other news, I got Jade Empire streaming on PC to Odin. Yey!

 

I initially had success with Moonlight, I'd just missed installing some tool that makes a virtual 360 pad for Sunshine (the replacement for Geforce Experience if you got a crappy old card). But while initially the stream looked good, in actual play I was finding the streaming performance to be crap. Getting 20fps where I was getting 60fps in Steam Link. 

 

So I tried to do similar for Steam Link by trying tools like InputMapper to fake a 360. But whatever is sent through by Steam Link isn't something any tool can convert. 

 

In the end, I finally found the solution I needed was to just have Steam run in Administrator Mode. Now all inputs are getting through fine. 

 

Definitely don't need a Steam Deck now!!!

[glb]

Given I managed to melt an SD card into snapping setting up the Anbernic, on a scale of a puppy could manage it to Nikola Tesla has to phone a friend, how hard is the Miyoo Mini to set-up?

 

Asking for a friend. Yeah. A friend.

[bradigor]

33 minutes ago, glb said:

Given I managed to melt an SD card into snapping setting up the Anbernic, on a scale of a puppy could manage it to Nikola Tesla has to phone a friend, how hard is the Miyoo Mini to set-up?

 

Asking for a friend. Yeah. A friend.

 

I want a Miyoo Mini, it looks pretty simple. 

[Paulando]

1 hour ago, glb said:

Given I managed to melt an SD card into snapping setting up the Anbernic, on a scale of a puppy could manage it to Nikola Tesla has to phone a friend, how hard is the Miyoo Mini to set-up?

 

Asking for a friend. Yeah. A friend.

 

It’s really easy. Just a case of dragging and dropping some files to a memory card if you want a different frontend (MiniUI is gorgeous and super simple).

[bradigor]

I pre-ordered a Miyoo Mini V2 a while back when Droix was awaiting stock. Just had an email that it is being shipped. 

 

I think I will use it purely as a handheld for old handhelds. 

GB, GBC, GBA, NGP(C), GG 

Then keep everything up to PS1 on the RG351M.

[ontwofronts]

Just ordered a white one!

 

I’ve got the Retroid Pocket 2, which is good but a bit of a faff, hoping this is a bit more straightforward 

[bradigor]

14 minutes ago, ontwofronts said:

Just ordered a white one!

 

I’ve got the Retroid Pocket 2, which is good but a bit of a faff, hoping this is a bit more straightforward 

 

Still tempted by bolth a Retroid Pocket 2+ and also a RG351V

[ontwofronts]

3 minutes ago, bradigor said:

 

Still tempted by bolth a Retroid Pocket 2+ and also a RG351V

The 2+ sounds better than mine. It was infuriating to set up, though performs well now. Can be hit and miss with some roms, especially mame. The built in N64 emulator is much better than retroarch.

 

looked at the RG 351V, I’m hoping the Miyoo will keep me going until the next gen when we can get into Dreamcast properly and hopefully GC.

[Paulando]

4 hours ago, bradigor said:

I pre-ordered a Miyoo Mini V2 a while back when Droix was awaiting stock. Just had an email that it is being shipped. 

 

I think I will use it purely as a handheld for old handhelds. 

GB, GBC, GBA, NGP(C), GG 

Then keep everything up to PS1 on the RG351M.

16-bit/PS1 stuff looks so good on the Miyoo screen though, and much clearer than on the 351M or 351P. You don’t have the sticks of course, so certain PS1 games will certainly play better on the RG351M.

 

It’s top-notch for handheld stuff though, sure!

 

[Paulando]

1 hour ago, ontwofronts said:

looked at the RG 351V, I’m hoping the Miyoo will keep me going until the next gen when we can get into Dreamcast properly and hopefully GC.

In a year or two, I’m sure there’ll be a bunch available that can play DC and GC fine, maybe even PS2, with a decent size and with analog triggers. It all seems a bit ‘so near, yet so far’ at the moment.

[AK Bell]

10 hours ago, Paulando said:

In a year or two, I’m sure there’ll be a bunch available that can play DC and GC fine, maybe even PS2, with a decent size and with analog triggers. It all seems a bit ‘so near, yet so far’ at the moment.

 

On a mini handheld you're always going to have bother getting sticks and two shoulder buttons each side. The quality will be poor too with digital triggers and I think the sticks will end up being 3DS sliders and nubs. 

 

What you're going to hit soon on PS3/360 era is not being able to read the text too as it was hard enough on the telly. This is around when digital screens became a thing with developers noses pressed right up to it and the standards of the platform holders started going out of the window to make anything readable 

 

I'm surprised by how many games I got working alright and playable with just the dpad on PS1. I just want a flawless quality unit that can do what they can do now. 

 

 

[Paulando]

3 minutes ago, AK Bell said:

On a mini handheld you're always going to have bother getting sticks and two shoulder buttons each side. The quality will be poor too with digital triggers and I think the sticks will end up being 3DS sliders and nubs. 

Oh I don’t mean Miyoo-sized, just Ayn Odin/Switch OLED-sized would be perfect.

 

At the moment they’re either underpowered, super expensive (some are £1000+), have crazy order times, silly flaws (digital non-stacked triggers etc), or a mixture of these.

[glb]

17 hours ago, Paulando said:

 

It’s really easy. Just a case of dragging and dropping some files to a memory card if you want a different frontend (MiniUI is gorgeous and super simple).

 

It does look lush. Even though I've only just started using the Anbernic (Mario Kart Super Circuit is a winner on my commute), quite like @bradigor's idea of having the Miyoo as a handheld games exclusive. It also means if I'm on the same train home as my better half and she wants to play Street Fighter, I've got a back-up!

 

Going to try adding some PS1 games to the 351MP tomorrow. Read that the performance is mixed but if Tony Hawk's works, then I'll probably do an overjoyed jig. Wait... Cool Boarders!!!!!! Oh my, might need a lie down...

[Phantoon]

41 minutes ago, glb said:

 

It does look lush. Even though I've only just started using the Anbernic (Mario Kart Super Circuit is a winner on my commute), quite like @bradigor's idea of having the Miyoo as a handheld games exclusive. It also means if I'm on the same train home as my better half and she wants to play Street Fighter, I've got a back-up!

 

Going to try adding some PS1 games to the 351MP tomorrow. Read that the performance is mixed but if Tony Hawk's works, then I'll probably do an overjoyed jig. Wait... Cool Boarders!!!!!! Oh my, might need a lie down...

Nah, PS1 should be pretty much flawless on the 351MP.

[Vimster]

13 hours ago, Paulando said:

In a year or two, I’m sure there’ll be a bunch available that can play DC and GC fine, maybe even PS2, with a decent size and with analog triggers. It all seems a bit ‘so near, yet so far’ at the moment.

The Steam Deck has set a new standard for these sort of handhelds to aim for, so I'm hoping for something with a larger screen, a bit more oomph. PS2 would be great. 

[AK Bell]

1 hour ago, Paulando said:

Oh I don’t mean Miyoo-sized, just Ayn Odin/Switch OLED-sized would be perfect.

 

At the moment they’re either underpowered, super expensive (some are £1000+), have crazy order times, silly flaws (digital non-stacked triggers etc), or a mixture of these.

 

In that case, I think it will be by the end of the year. A lot of the new releases seem to be targeting Sept/Oct and by then we'll know if it's vapourware and/or how they'll handle order times. I still reckon Anbernic will just be able to knock something new out the door without all this pre-order faff and marketing too. 

 

I'm really hoping that while there is too much variety of Ayn Handheld, they're all pretty much the same case, screen, etc and that means they're looking at having more ramped up production. But they're farting them out as and when they get parts right now and their suppliers keep letting them down (probably as they're so low volume). 

 

 

People are finally getting their hands on the Odin Lite btw. Apparently it's better than the early version Taki got. It's kicking around about same as the Base/Pro but the fan comes on more (at two speeds, quiet for a cpu boost, louder if gpu needs a kick too). So they are PS2/GC runners (except for the always awkward games that don't like emulators). Looks like you can only get it on the indiegogo still, not their website. People are saying you'd probably get it in Sept if buying now. £165 + shipping (I paid £38 but it was a bundle of extra crap) 

 

I'm going to be a bit annoyed when it starts getting compared. I think both Lite and Base/Pro have some performance left on the table but Lite potentially has way more. But I quite like that my fan rarely kicks in.

 

[Paulando]

3 hours ago, glb said:

Going to try adding some PS1 games to the 351MP tomorrow. Read that the performance is mixed but if Tony Hawk's works, then I'll probably do an overjoyed jig. Wait... Cool Boarders!!!!!! Oh my, might need a lie down...

 

2 hours ago, Phantoon said:

Nah, PS1 should be pretty much flawless on the 351MP.

Yeah, PS1 will be perfect. Drag the folders for each game over (which may contain a cue and multiple other files), and use one of the built-in tools to find them (I think it creates m3u files for them too?).

[AK Bell]

2 hours ago, AK Bell said:

 

 

I'm going to be a bit annoyed when it starts getting compared. 

 

 

Well that was quick ...

 

 

Not much difference between the two. Swings and roundabouts. Lite can actually perform better sometimes on CPU heavier emulation. 

The video actually shows how much emulation has come on if they're about on par. They weren't as fast as when Pro was reviewed. 

 

The only cons being that on a newer chipset you're going to be stuck with Android and not put another OS on (no great loss) and the speakers lack a bit of bass.

Also you're going to get a different screen that will hit the battery harder than this one ... but odds are you were never going to realise that if there wasn't something to compare it to. 

 

But does mention that the Pro CPU isn't working as hard as it could be and he's told Ayn. Hopefully should get patched up. Hey, it was worth the extra money to have the Pro for a few more months and at least it's not worse. 

[glb]

17 hours ago, Paulando said:

 

Yeah, PS1 will be perfect. Drag the folders for each game over (which may contain a cue and multiple other files), and use one of the built-in tools to find them (I think it creates m3u files for them too?).

Got some up-and-running, albeit I’m missing BIOS. All the files I found are .chd, which I simply dragged over. Most work fine bar a couple that freeze on the title screen with ‘checking memory card’. The PSX memory cards! That’s a trip down memory lane
 

Rushed adding them last night so I’ll have another go today.

 

Did try a couple of Amiga files too but they don’t get past a load screen.

[glb]

Whoop, BIOS installed and bypassed the 'checking memory card' freeze.

 

Still no joy on Amiga but not going to lose sleep on that one. 

[AK Bell]

10 minutes ago, glb said:

Whoop, BIOS installed and bypassed the 'checking memory card' freeze.

 

Still no joy on Amiga but not going to lose sleep on that one. 

 

Amiga might be a pain in the bum. I didn't have much luck getting it to work on my v90, other than some basic A500 with no memory expansion stuff, and it looked broke when it did work. Is it through UAE4ALL ?  ... hard to find any info, and what I didn't find didn't look hopeful. 

 

Need to see if I can get it working through retroarch on the Odin at some point. But the games don't feel right without some massive cheap joystick anyway. 

[glb]

Yeah, it was only a couple from my youth that I wanted to try.

 

PSX looks great on the 351MP. If, as discussed above, PS2/GC become viable later this year, think this was a good time to jump on the retro handheld train.

[bradigor]

I got Speedball 2 working on my Steam Deck, but was a ballache. 

 

In other news, my Miyoo Mini v2 arrived. Can't tell you what it is like though as Lo has already stole it for Tetris and Edith is playing Mario Bros.