This week I focused on showing everyone some of my favorite handheld options at different price points, for maximum fun with minimal wallet pain.

🎥 Now Playing

Two fun videos this week!

My Favorite Handhelds under $100

It’s been a couple years since I’ve made a video rounding up all of my favorite handhelds under $100. Some things haven’t changed (the Anbernic XX handhelds are still a phenomenal deal), but the “performance” tier right around the $100 mark has had big shakeups since my last video. Also a cool note: this roundup has a written version, graciously hosted by my friends at Retro Catalog.

Entry-Level Handheld PC Battle! Steam Deck vs Xbox Ally vs Legion Go S

Handheld PCs aren’t cheap, but these are the three cheapest options widely available right now, at around $600 each. Here is an in-depth comparison, breaking them down into about a dozen different categories. The Steam Deck OLED is still sold out in many regions, but I figured it would be better to get this video out now rather than wait for a restock (or price increase!).

Other Russ Sightings

I also snuck in a couple podcast appearances:

• In our third Expedition Handheld episode, Adam and I discussed Xbox Full Screen Experience (now dubbed “Xbox mode”), AYANEO’s sketchy software bugs, and we answered a few reader questions to boot!

• We had special guest Baldly Rudy on the Nerd Nest this week, and things got a little heated (mostly my fault) when discussing where we see Xbox headed in the future. Honestly, I’m STILL confused about what we should expect on the software side from their next console/PC.

📰 Power-Up(dates)

Some cool things happened this week:

• Ball x Pit’s mobile version brings the chaotic brick‑breaker roguelite into your pocket. With options for touch and controller input, and the game’s hypnotic loop make it dangerously easy to lose an hour without noticing. You can find it everywhere, as it’s available on iOS and Google Play. The game is free to try and you can unlock the full game for about $13.

• GameNative v0.8.1‑prerelease is out, and it’s a heater: Steam achievement support, automatic PC prerequisite installers (VCRedist, PhysX, XNA, etc.), a new (EXCELLENT) performance overlay, and a pile of bug fixes and quality‑of‑life tweaks on top of the already stellar new UI. Grab it at their GitHub.

• That Xbox emulator app I featured last week is now being offered for free by the developer on their GitHub page, which is a nice turn of events. I’m still hoping for an official Android Xemu build in the future, but this one is fun to test out while we wait.

• Microsoft announced a new “Xbox mode” for PCs and handhelds, and it’s coming next month (which is lightning speed for those guys). It looks cleaner and more simplified than the previous Xbox Full Screen Experience, and with a much more fitting name. Read more about it over at Retro Handhelds.

• Speaking of Xbox, there are some rumors flying around that they will be officially bringing OG Xbox and Xbox 360 emulation to PCs this November. That would be pretty great! Right now there are ~50 and ~600 OG and 360 games available via Backwards Compatibility respectively, and my money is that it will be that same catalog available via emulation on PC.

❤️ Currently Grinding

Retro Game: Tales Of The Abyss

I spent some time testing ROCKNIX on my AYN Thor this week (video coming next week about that!), and one of the main games I tested was Tales of the Abyss. This game originally came out on the PS2 in 2005, but I never even knew about it; I played (and loved) Tales of Symphonia on the GameCube, but jumped right to Tales of Vesperia on the Xbox 360 (which I also loved). The version of Abyss I played this week is the 3DS port, and while it doesn’t make use of its second screen that much, the updated gameplay and visuals (especially after upscaling in Azahar) make it feel more modern. I only got a couple hours into it, but I think I’m going to keep plugging away at this action-adjacent JRPG; I like the fast-action battle system of these Namco games and the story is pretty engaging so far.

Modern Game: Marathon

Bungie’s latest big game released last week, but prior to that, they had a free weekend for potential customers. I knew going into it that it wouldn’t be my type of game (I generally don’t like any PvP style game, they stress me out!), but I do love me some Halo and Destiny. The gunplay feels solid, but a little weightier than their previous games. As expected, the extraction shooter genre isn’t a great fit for me, and I don’t think I’ll play this one any further. Regardless, I hope the game succeeds in its own way, so that Bungie gets the green light for a new single-player game (or Destiny 3).

Music: Wintersleep - Untitled

Here’s a bombshell: even though I rarely play favorites, Wintersleep is definitely a “top 20” band for me, and this album is what pushes it up so high on my list. The Nova Scotian rock band broke out in 2007 with their album Welcome to the Night Sky (which is also great, and widely considered their best). Funny enough, they won the “New Group of the Year” Juno (aka Canadian Grammy) award that year, even though it was actually their third album. My personal favorite is their second album, Untitled, which was released in 2005 - it’s more daring, diverse, and sonically interesting. The album bridges the gap between Pedro the Lion’s more morose, confessional emo, and bombastic stadium rock like U2. Even 20+ years later, it’s a hard album to pin down, and that’s what I love about it.

💰 Bargain Bin

A few deals this week:

• CRKD’s Rhythm controllers look and feel absurdly premium for the price: great shapes, strong build quality, and collectible designs that don’t cost nearly as much as actual guitars. They’re currently $10 off (non-affiliate link), and every penny counts right now. I have the blue Les Paul and it’s my primary Clone Hero instrument (which reminds me that I need to make a video about that!)

• If you prefer Amazon Prime for faster shipping and easy returns, the same deal applies to some variants, like the Blueberry Burst Les Paul model that I own.

  • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

• This 7-in-1 USB-C hub is on sale for $17 and works as an SD card reader in addition to connecting your handheld to peripherals and an external display. Note that its 4K output is only 30Hz (those that go up to 60Hz are much pricier), but it runs 1080p/60Hz no problem. Affiliate / Non-affiliate

• Another Prime deal: Anker’s updated Nano chargers and power banks are discounted. Their 70W charger might be the best deal, it’s foldable and comes with a high-quality cable too.

  • 70W Nano charger + cable ($30): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Shop the full sale here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

• The AliExpress Anniversary Sale is about to kick off, and runs from March 16th to March 25th, with savings up to $100 with the below codes. Note that the RGC codes are limited, so they may run out, but I am also listing the generic site-wide codes too. You can get a peek at tomorrow’s sale prices now, before they go live: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • ASRGC3 or USAS03: $3 off orders of $15 or more

  • ASRGC5 or USAS05: $5 off orders of $30 or more

  • ASRGC7 or USAS07: $7 off orders of $49 or more

  • ASRGC11 or USAS11: $11 off orders of $79 or more

  • ASRGC23 or USAS23: $23 off orders of $139 or more

  • ASRGC35 or USAS35: $35 off orders of $219 or more

  • ASRGC45 or USAS45: $45 off orders of $319 or more

  • ASRGC60 or USAS60: $60 off orders of $429 or more

  • ASRGC70 or USAS70: $70 off orders of $509 or more

  • RGC100 or USAS100: $100 off orders of $569 or more

    
    

⏪ Previously on Retro Game Corps

Best Handhelds Under $150 (2022, Colorized)

Another throwback to years past: it wasn’t long ago that some of the best budget handhelds still had occasional hiccups with systems like SNES. Now, there are options that play Gamecube. If this RAM nonsense ever lets up, who knows what we’ll see in the budget sector in 2030!

🎬 Behind The Scenes

One cool thing about living in Hawaii is that almost everyone knows someone who fishes, and if you play your cards right, you might get a nice big chunk of fish delivered to your door. Last week my nephew’s girlfriend’s family (say that 10 times fast) caught some ahi (yellowfin tuna) and had a ton of extra filets, and we wound up with a couple really nice cuts fresh from the boat. I sliced some of it for sashimi, some I chopped into big chunks for poke (here is a recipe I published years ago on my old blog), and the rest I finely chopped for spicy tuna hand rolls. I don’t have a spicy tuna recipe written out, but it’s dead simple: just mix 2 parts kewpie (Japanese) mayo with 1 part sriracha, and add togarashi powder until it’s at your desired spiciness, and salt to taste. You can garnish with sesame seeds if you want to be fancy.

That’s it for now, have a nice week!
Russ