Hey everybody, this is Russ from Retro Game Corps. Welcome to the inaugural edition of my newsletter!

This is going to be a weekly email summary of everything that happened with this channel and retro gaming in general, plus some other fun stuff. I'm envisioning it as a convenient way to get caught up on useful RGC-related info without having to scour social media (which has become increasingly unpleasant).

I'm very privacy-minded, and it should go without saying, but I won't be using your personal information in any other way besides sending these emails to you once a week or so. There will always be a handy unsubscribe option at the end of each email, too.

So let's jump in and talk about some cool stuff.

🎥 Now Playing

Here are the videos I released this week:

Retroid Pocket 6 Impressions

The Retroid Pocket 6 is finally here, and it improves upon its predecessor in many significant ways. It's about $250 after shipping, but it redefines what we should expect from handhelds at this price point. Expect a full review next week, which will build on this thorough impressions video.

ASUS ROG XG Mobile (2025)

The 2025 version of ASUS' XG Mobile eGPU has a potentially bright future ahead of it. Partially because it's a fantastic piece of tech, but also because the hardware is a little ahead of its time (for example, it has a Thunderbolt 5 connection, rarely found even in 2026). Its biggest issue is eye-watering $1,300+ price, which pushes it into niche territory.

I did CES all wrong

I went to CES again this year, and it felt like the whole show was focused on AI. I still managed to find some interesting gaming-focused stuff, and here is my recap of the experience.

📰 Loading...The Latest News

• Over the past six months, AYANEO has been digging themselves into a hole with poor service, shipping delays, and tone-deaf community responses. It got so bad that I started a poll about whether to review their devices at all in the future (we'll discuss those results next week). This week, their CEO announced a service improvement plan for 2026, which is in-depth and forward-leaning; whether they can make good on these promises is something we'll have to decide this year. Most notably, they are delaying the launch of their upcoming Pocket PLAY (slider phone) until they can fully address their previous commitments. Read their full statement here.

• Some Reddit drama popped off this week (as it usually does) about AYN's Odin 3 handheld, because its RAM speed is slower than what they first promoted. Long story short: they initially shared a graphic that said 5300MHz, but they quietly removed that speed metric from their pre-order page before orders began. I tested my batch 1 retail Odin 3 and its speed is 4761MHz, which is what most users are getting too. They clarified the situation over discord, and you can read the full breakdown on Retro Handhelds.

• AYN Thor prices will increase starting 20JAN, due to the ongoing RAM shortage. They will now be $309 ($10 increase) for the Base model, $369 ($20 increase) for the Pro model, and $449 ($20 increase) for the Max model. You can still get them at the old prices for the next couple of days: Affiliate link / Non-affiliate link​

• The Retroid Pocket 6 is starting to ship to customers this week, but they noted in their discord that their factory had a bottleneck during the screen calibration process, which slowed down assembly. They have 100 black units ready to ship on Monday, and they bought a new calibration system that will speed up the process (which should be ready to go by Tuesday). You can check the status of your order via their Shipping Dashboard (once it gets populated).

❤️ Currently Grinding

Castle of Illusion

My retro game of the week is Castle Of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse for the Sega Genesis. This is a simple platformer with slightly floaty controls and vibrant, diverse levels. This game was one of my favorites to rediscover once I got into emulation a few years back; I remember seeing advertisements for it in the Sears Christmas Catalog one year (probably around 1990), and being enamored with its high-fidelity (at the time) graphics. It's still a great all-ages experience, but can be pretty punishing -- I had to finish it by using cheats in RetroArch (more on that in a minute!).

Hades II

The first Hades is one of my all-time favorite PC games, but it took me several months for its sequel to finally click with me. That "click" happened over this past week, once I had spent about 12 hours with the game and fully understood its gameplay loop, and just how deep the gameplay and story really is.I don't want to give any spoilers, but the journey was well worth it, and I don't see myself ever going back to the first Hades in the future. I'm 20 hours in now and can't wait to get back to it.

The Jealous Sound - Kill Them With Kindness

My album of the week is The Jealous Sound's debut full-length record, which came out in 2003. This LA-based band was a sort of supergroup made by members of Knapsack and Sunday's Best, who each were late 1990s emo-rock pioneers (before "emo" became a bad word). The songs themselves have aged well, and remain catchy, biting, and polished. Recommended if you like Jimmy Eat World, The Get Up Kids, and The Promise Ring.

💰 Bargain Bin

• Samsung P9 Express microSD Express Card, 256GB is currently $34.99 on Amazon (Affiliate link / Non-affiliate). These are the cards that work on the Switch 2, and even though you can find 512GB (and even 1TB) options, I think they are still prohibitively expensive. Until we get more killer games on the Switch 2, this storage size has been ideal for me, and this price for a reputable Samsung card is decent.

• Teepublic (where I buy many of my band tees) is currently running a 40% off sale on all T-shirts, which means their basic shirts are only $16 each. Affiliate link / Non-affiliate​

• Speaking of Teepublic, the shirts in my merch shop are also created and distributed by them, but I have control over pricing, so they are always $16! Pick one up here.

• AYN added their Thor and Odin 3 devices to their AliExpress Store. Depending on where you live, getting these on AliExpress may be cheaper (especially if you stack coupons). If you are in the US, try code 30USAFF for $30 off the Base model, and 45USAFF for $45 off the Pro/Max models.

  • Thor (Affiliate link / Non-affiliate)

  • Odin 3 (Affiliate link / Non-affiliate)

⏪ Previously on Retro Game Corps

RetroArch Cheats

In this oldie, I go over how to set up RetroArch cheats. The video is super dated (please forgive the production quality!), but the info is timeless.

Dual Screen Guide

Setting up a dual screen device is similar to any other Android-based handheld, with a few key differences. Here is my guide on how to get set up with devices like the AYN Thor and AYANEO Pocket DS.

🎬 Behind The Scenes

Today's XG Mobile review video required over a month of GPU testing, it was probably one of the most involved videos I have ever made! I tested half a dozen different eGPU solutions across another dozen different devices and PCs -- keeping track of the drivers and Windows updates alone was a full-time job. And of course, the studio sounded like an airplane hangar.

That’s it for now, see you next week!
Russ