why are the "screens" so far apart? 🤔

@MoriyaMug

"I've seen it (many times), and am therefore not making it up, however much you may wish otherwise. Again, money is money."

yes I'm sure you have. perhaps you'd like to take your argument to those people directly, as no one here is exhibiting that behavior, thus it is an unnamed strawman in this context.

"I notice you say "I won't buy from anything that MBS has controlling stake in." So by your own standard, you have no trouble buying Capcom, Nintendo, Rockstar, etc. games, even though some portion of that money goes to MBS and thereby supports him and his regime. "

again, context matters. I was referring to another user here who said essentially that. Indeed, the only person here who has said anything at all about not buying SNK, besides you.

not that you asked, but I don't buy SNK since the purchase. I havent bought a capcom, rockstar, or Nintendo game in years either. See there? you can't strawman an actual person to their face. 😂

Careful! You are actually pretty bad at this... and I've heard the regime doesn't take failure lightly. 😬

@MoriyaMug

there you go again 🥳 its funny to say "im not making up something to attack" and then literally make up a scenario ("if...") and attack it. not "laughing" funny, but like "what a silly thing to do" funny.

btw there is nothing inconsistent at all in saying "I won't buy from anything that MBS has controlling stake in" and then doing that. you've made up arbitrary rules about how to not be a hypocrite that no one else has any reason to abide (whoever they are, if they exist.)

@MoriyaMug

Those rascally straw men are nothing if not inconsistent.

There's a hole-in-the-wall arcade/pinball hall in a ***** stripmall just outside of OKC that has the best maintained machines I've ever seen. My wife and I keep going back, and have a blast every time. we feel really lucky to have an arcade this good in driving distance from our home. 🤗 They have a modest but strong selection of (almost entirely pre-y2k) arcade games, lots of games of skill (Smokin Token, SkeeBall, et al) that spit out prize tickets, and a truly impressive collection of pinball tables that all work perfectly. zero jank in the entire place! It even has actual families with children having a blast with the same stuff we grew up with, and its a great time racking up a big score on skeeball and then just give the big string of tickets to some elated kid 😄

If you're ever in the area, check out Cactus Jack's Family Fun Center! 🥳🎉

Death Regime, Schmeath Regime

"As part of this move, it announced its intentions to release an OS update that "allows users to migrate all functionality to their local machine",

couldn't we just call this console "complete?"

for me this seems like the best case scenario, in the fullness of time, and I would prefer my consoles to be "locally functional" in the first place and essentially offline besides necessary updates.

@StyrofoamCup

"And to this day, I still have my copy which has weathered house moves, collection selloffs, and a recent lay off."

I really felt that. 😮‍💨 I have a stack of Square PSX RPGs, some from childhood, some miraculous mid 00s pawn shop digs, that basically is a concrete manifestation that life could've been worse. ✌️

OTOH pour one out for the ones that didn't make it. I miss my copies of SMK and All Stars dearly.

OH btw this was quite possibly the first game I rented on PSX when I got mine c. xmas 95. I never owned it to this day but it will always be among my favorites, along with (in no particular order)

rtype 3
gradius V
UN squadron
lords of thunder
darius gaiden
stinger
ikaruga
einhander
phelios

@AnonUser

If I didnt have some very fine emulation devices AND an OG N64 I would want this, absolutely 👍

Yes all my favorite consoles came out between 85 and 05 so im well served by conventional software emulation, too. As "retro gamers" we are pretty well served, even compared to the "hey I just found a stack of mint zelda carts at the thrift store for 0.79 each" days (true story 😅)

@N64-ROX

yeah I like the idea of FPGA but I can't imagine this runs Fzero X even 1% better than my RP Nova. ✌️

I've been enjoying emulation since the Zsnes days on a 200mhz pentium, so I might be a little more lenient than a "modern gamer" expecting nothing less than perfection, but my lord if it lacks for anything I can't tell to save my life. 🤯

@_Ex_

software emulation is so good I cant imagine needing anything "better." or even better, just.

this is good journalism, Jack. I'm impressed and even more importantly, entertained and informed.

"Upon hearing this amazing news, I contacted James Higgins, the original coder of the game (who I had previously interviewed briefly for our Sacred Spaces feature on Ocean Software)."

☝️this in particular impressed me. Thanks!

Total War: Shogun 2 "We-Thought-You-Wouldn't-Notice" Edition.

I've bought a few of these things, direct from various manufacturers including Amberlick and Retroid, and none of them came with any ROMs.

Are there lots of people out there buying these devices just to play the (reportedly) terrible romsets they (apparently sometimes) get bundled with?

I really doubt anyone is buying a Switch 2 just to subscribe to NSO and play SNES rentals, and they wont sell me the games otherwise. So.

Yeah. What? WOO

I've beaten every cup on every difficulty a number of times, but I can't imagine doing so with even A LITTLE added lag. if you are struggling on NSO with a bluetooth controller and an LCD tv, it's probably not just a skill issue ✌️

I don't believe I've ever come across the phrase "Super Smash Bros. for N64."

sounds kinda weird 😂✌️

@Lanmanna

IDK why people are interpreting that I dont like dumb fun movies from my comment. I was rather pointing out that "turn your brain off movie" was not a 2020s turn of phrase or trend in movies, as was implied by that bit in the review 👍👍

@jtotal

I totally hear you and Inagree, but I'm so happy with my RG cube XX with its 1:1 screen that I think that's endgame for me for gameboy/gbc, NGPC, gamegear and pico.

I have to admit, I'm historically pretty much an aspect ratio purist, but this handheld has shown me that stepping outside the lines a little bit can have satisfying results! many gameboy games look great stretched to 1:1, and I've come across so many "4:3" games on snes, psx, and others that look far more "right" in 5:4, 8:7, and other "squarer" ratios that my mind is kind of blown wide open for alternative approaches and "unorthodox" settings.

I just wish someone would make a 50" 1:1 TV 🥳👍

EDIT-

Richie: "Why don't you fix the horizontal? Everybody looks short and fat."

Mr. Cunningham: "I like it this way..."

(I guess I'm Mr. C, now 🕯️⏳👴✌️)

@GameManAdvance

"Welp, this is the last stop. The last novel handheld that remains to be cloned."

I disagree, depending on what you mean by "novel," as I have yet to see the three on my personal bucket list:

1) horizontal with 4:3 or 1:1 screen, dpad and 6 face buttons, no sticks, a la Nomad

2) pocket friendly device made specifically to do either landscape or portrait aka TATE mode, a la Wonderswan

3) something with a clicky microswitch stick a la Neo Geo Pocket.

@16bitGeneration

oh, yes! I love trash! 😃

I recently found Johnny Mnemonic on vhs at the thrift 😎 that's some good bad stuff.

PS - personally, I would never say "turn your brain off" about a movie. If I actually need to turn my brain off, that means I need to turn the movie off. (and my phone, and steamdeck, et al.)

that's my philosophy. ✌️ YMMV

I own a couple japanese carts but I didn't "import them," per se.

"turn-your-brain-off, goofy fun", which has fast become 2020s [always been] cinematic shorthand for "Not very good, but let's agree not to say it"

ftfy.

☝️I'm proud you could will yourself into existence 34 mins ago just to referee my comments. that must've been a strain.

@Bot_Bot_69

sorry about that! I fat fingered the delete button and it didn't seem worth retyping 😅✌️

I love the story of the "two fingered solute," and wish the american "bird" had such a good one.

(though I must say, "flipping the bird" is a wonderful and catchy turn of phrase, itself.)

@CookieByte

you know that's a bot, right?

ps - I sometimes get characterized as being "upset" when someone chronically lacks the ability to refute what I've said on substance. occasionally I get superfans that can't seem to quit replying to (or subtweeting) me even though they have nothing cogent or even comprehensible to offer in kind.

anyway why am I telling you this?

still going with the incorrect aspect ratio, I see.

@Kotonete

good for you! if there weren't people on the wrong side of the issue, there wouldn't be an issue. 👍

"Controlled via keyboard"

if you have any interest in pico 8 at all, the Anbernic RG Cube XX is money very well spent 🤌

"Anyway, the student's eventual apprehension would lead to an investigation of FairyTale,"

this is the most interesting part of the story, in part because of the lack of context. How did one lead to the other? what was illegal about the game the kid stole? did officials simply look at a legal but risque game and say "yeah I'll bet this guy has some nasty stuff" and is that probable cause for an investigation, there?

"FairyTale, looking to lay low while the heat died down, decided to make the natural transition from sex games to horror games"

is this tongue in cheek? I fail to see the connection.

"In North America, Japanese art styles like that just won't be accepted."

I'm going to call this kind of thing, "narcissistic racist projection."

ironically, I had some notion that "Japanese games = less likely to suck" in the SNES era so I generally sought out the anime looking games, but certain boomers in charge like this idiot actively made that harder for me.

I would love to see this evolved into full on pocketstation emulation but this is amazing!

a fix to a problem I got over in 5 seconds when i was like 6 years old.

the game worked perfectly before and the mod looks completely wrong.

as the above user said, the bottom half of the screen displayed useful info in real time.

"If I Didn't Have These Powerful Tools, I Wouldn't Do It at All"

Don't threaten us with a good time!

@Sketcz

"We need to stop conflating using AI as tools and using AI to generate content. These are two vastly different implementations of AI, and we need to start thinking about it with more nuance."

how does the environmental impact compare between these two vastly different implementations?

@Damo

that comports with experience as I havent even seen a resistive touchscreen in a long while, come to think of it 👍

I agree that it's probably an overall upgrade, besides the chunky stylus ✌️

@Kotonete

Piracy is when you copy the game files, not when you play them.

This is an emulation device. 👍

are resistive touch screens just not a thing anymore?

I don't really understand why, as both kinds of touch screens seem to have their advantages. certainly I'd prefer resistive for a DS emulation device, I think.

Device looks good, I'm loving the same size 4:3 screens, top and bottom 👍

Great review! thanks Damo.

@Krambo42

I like your attitude. 👍 I really really tried to enjoy it, for my 40 bucks. oh well!

anybody play this and liked it?

I'm a long time fan since the first game (one of the NES games I actually had before SNES came out) and from my perspective, the controls, gameplay, graphics, and audio do not live up to the series, or the 40 dollar price tag.

I really wish I'd waited for a sale but at the time I still wanted to pay full price for companies like Taito. If the eShop allowed returns I'd have returned it, 100%.

4/10.

@Echtzeit

I don't want to speak for him, but I "know" him well enough to know he realizes the differences between the devices. 😅✌️

anyway this thing is cool, no? I want one too but I have like four gameboy carts and they arent getting any cheaper 😂

I mentioned it to another user here, but if you have an android phone I strongly recommend ZXTUNE for listening to legacy game music. it's FOSS and "comes with" all the music you'd likely ever need.

Artists: please learn how highlights work or don't use them at all.

@Echtzeit

I suspect Mr. McBucket was being a bit tongue in cheek there 😅

@bjm

if you have an android phone, check out ZXTUNE at your nearest convenience ✌️👍❤️

PS don't sleep on Smurf's Nightmare! 😀

https://youtu.be/z6QZQJv9wpc?is=8w6rxObIho2kF5Zr
(this one reminds me of my 25 yr old faded memory Robbie Williams' "Millennium." I refuse to revisit that song and find out im wrong 😂)

https://youtu.be/UnzHTkRLcE4?is=RmHrDJ5Tbh38OZa_

oh, to have enough Gameboy carts to justify having this thingy. 🥲 Very cool!

good lord, that's bad artwork.

(not even) pro tip: if you dont know where highlights are supposed to go, just don't use them. 👍

EDIT - even the bubbles have them in random places 😂

"the final assets are fully human-authored, with algorithms used only for intermediate visualisation."

Why does everyone think this is a valid explanation?

this is like saying "yes this product was manufactured using forced child labor, but we cleaned all the blood off and you wont see any children or parts of children in the final product."

to use another accurate but perhaps less hyperbolic analogy: "yes, the story was written by AI, but our writers wrote out every word on their own paper, by hand."

@notreallyhere

do you remember the heavy gear games?

I bought heavy gear 2 based on hype but my family's computer wasnt as up to the task as id hoped so to this day I still never really played it, and NEVER hear anyone talk about it for how much praise and hype it got at the time.

✌️