Welcome to another edition of the RGC newsletter! I can’t believe that it’s been 13 issues already. Let me know in the comments below how it’s going for you: are the newsletters too long, too short, etc? Any additional sections you’d like to see?

🎥 Now Playing

Two new videos this week:

Could Android Replace The Steam Deck

With PC gaming apps like GameNative and GameHub getting better and better, are they at the point where Android handhelds can be a viable Steam Deck replacement? In this video I test the most popular Steam Deck PC games to see how they perform without any settings configurations.

The Easiest Retro Gaming TV Box Setup

There's now a super easy way to play retro games on an Android TV box, thanks to a new launcher called Cannoli. It's also designed for handhelds, but I think it really shines when creating a TV-friendly retro gaming machine. In this video I'll show you how to set this up on a $30 ONN Walmart TV box. Other TV boxes will work, too: Google TV/Chromecast, NVIDIA Shield, and even a Google-enabled TV.

Other Russ Sightings

• Nerd Nest: we talked about Valve’s rumored SteamGPT tool, a potential Ocarina of Time remake, and we totally got sidetracked talking about old NES peripherals.

• Expedition Handheld: this week, Adam and I did a deep dive into our Nintendo DS experiences, some Steam Deck 2 rumors, and the OnePlus handheld “leak”.

📰 Power-Up(dates)

Lots to talk about:

• AYN changed their Odin 3 sales page, and the Snapdragon 8 Elite device now shows a "Dragonwing Q8" SoC instead. Retro Handhelds did some digging and it turns out that this is the same chip as the SD 8 Elite but removes the camera processing and mobile data module, which in turn lowers temps, improves performance, and stabilizes WiFi/BT functionality. Rumor has it that Qualcomm didn’t like AYN using the more recognizable SD 8 Elite name instead of Dragonwing Q8, and so they had to change their marketing materials.

• Farmers and romantics: do you prefer playing Stardew Valley on the go, but hate being out of sync with your cloud saves? Well, if you prefer the touch-friendly Android version of the game, a new app called Cinderbox Companion has got you covered; it pulls your PC/Steam cloud save into the Android version.

• The EmuDeck Store is now live, which has a collection of homebrew retro games and is even gearing up to become a storefront for paid indie ROMs too. The first paid title is Glory Hunters, a Zelda-like Game Boy RPG made by my friend Cesar.

• Retroid is now selling yellow and turquoise variants of the Retroid Pocket 5, likely because the RPG2 (which also sported those colors) has been temporarily and unceremoniously discontinued. You can read more about it in my recent YouTube community tab post.

• HighPoint is rolling out a new CopprLink PC connection standard primarily for Enterprise servers, but Adam at PCWorld shows that their ($1,300!) eGPU setup is so fast for gaming that it doesn’t even throttle an RTX 5090 GPU. Your PC would need an expansion card to accommodate this connection, which will limit its usability, but it certainly looks promising.

• Evercade has announced their new handheld, the Nexus, which aims to be their most capable handheld to date. The device sports dual sticks, a 5.89” display, and ships with a Banjo-Kazooie Double Pack cartridge. It launches in late October at $199.99, with pre-orders open now.

❤️ Currently Grinding

Retro Game: Peggle

Is Peggle a retro game? I think so, it’s nearly 20 years old! This pachinko-like casual puzzle game has just enough random chance to it that when you make an accidentally brilliant move, you actually feel like a genius. Plus that final snippet of Beethoven's Symphony No 9 (Ode to Joy) kicking in as you hit that last orange piece? Pure gaming bliss. Sadly, there isn’t really a definitive way to play it on handhelds today: the DS and PSP games don’t upscale most textures (and no high-resolution packs are available, as far as I can tell), and the PC game has rudimentary controller support and doesn’t scale well on smaller screens. For my part, I prefer the PSP version because of its 16:9 aspect ratio, and the puzzle pieces themselves do upscale, so at least they’re nice and crispy. My Odin 3’s OLED panel makes the game really pop, too.

Modern Game: Resident Evil 4 (2023 Remake)

It’s a little strange: Resident Evil 4 is one of my all-time favorite gaming experiences, but I also kinda hate playing it. I’ve never been one to enjoy resource-starved survival horror games, mostly because they fill me with dread as I’m playing (and scavenging). Case in point, it took me SIX MONTHS to play through the GameCube version of this game back in the day, because I could only handle it in 20-minute spurts, one inch at a time. When the remake came out a few years ago, I definitely wanted to play it again, but the fear of being surrounded by zombies while running out of ammo prevented me from really giving it the college try.

This week I decided to play through it on my living room PC, and sure enough, I just wasn’t enjoying myself, even on the easiest difficulty. The way I see it, games are a fun way for me to unwind, and the Resident Evil 4 remake was just spinning me up more during my downtime. So I turned to the internet and tried out some Nexus Mods, and gave my character unlimited ammo as a desperate last resort. As if by magic, I started having the time of my life with the game, and I’m now about 2/3 of the way through the story. I’m certainly not playing it the “right” way, but there is also something especially satisfying about tearing through the Las Plagas zombies like the superhero I envision Leon Kennedy to be. And in the end, enjoying the game this way, however flawed, seems like a much better experience than letting it sit untouched in my Steam library.

The game itself is great, by the way. Very true to the original, with some slight quality-of-life updates and stunning graphics. It’s also on sale for $16 on Steam right now (more info in my sale section below).

If you are interested, here’s how to set up the mods for Resident Evil 4 on Windows:

• Download REFramework and move the unzipped dll file into your RE4 Steam game folder

• Download the Chenstack Trainer mod and keep the zip file handy

• Download the Fluffy Mod Manager and open the exe file, then drag your Chenstack mod zip file into the open window and enable it. From there you can close Fluffy, start the game, and turn on all sorts of mods, including infinite ammo. Press the INSERT key on your keyboard to show/hide the mod window while you play.

Recipe: Ham and Kale Risotto

As often happens the week after cooking an Easter ham, my family found itself with a lot of leftovers. One of my favorite ways to enjoy extra ham is by throwing it into a risotto, and so instead of sharing an album this week, I thought I’d share my old recipe for ham and kale risotto. This type of dish is somewhat time-intensive, since you’ll be hovering over your pan for about 30 minutes as you stir in new broth as the rice cooks, but I find the whole process to be deeply relaxing. Not up for all that stirring? If you have a pressure cooker (like an Instant Pot), that reduces the work by about 90%; here is an old recipe of mine, too.

Fun fact: The “Currently Grinding” title of this section fits especially well with food, because in Hawaii, “grinding” is slang for eating 😀

💰 Bargain Bin

Here are the deals I found this week:

• Amazon is having a sale on select Nintendo Switch 2 games. There aren’t a ton on sale, but some of them are over half off.

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows, $39 (normally $60): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Cronos, $30 (normally $40): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Persona 3 Reload, $30 (normally $60): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Sonic X Shadow Generations, $25 (normally $50): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Star Wars: Outlaws, $29 (normally $60): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut, $25 (normally $50): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

• Woot also has a bunch of Switch games on sale right now, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for $45.

• MagicX is having a site-wide sale, with some of their handhelds down as low as $21! Even after shipping, popular handhelds like the Zero 40 and One 35 are available for less than you can find them on AliExpress and Amazon. Head over to their site to see all the available deals: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

• The entire mainline Resident Evil series is on sale on Steam (excluding the recently released RE Requiem).

  • Resident Evil, $5 (normally $20): Link

  • Resident Evil 2 (2019), $10 (normally $40): Link

  • Resident Evil 3 (2020), $4 (normally $40): Link

  • Resident Evil 4 (2023), $16 (normally $40): Link

  • Resident Evil 5, $5 (normally $20): Link

  • Resident Evil 6, $5 (normally $20): Link

  • Resident Evil VII: Biohazard, $8 (normally $20): Link

  • Resident Evil VIII: Village, $10 (normally $40): Link

⏪ Previously on Retro Game Corps

Ultimate ROM File Compression Guide

Make the most of your ONN TV box’s limited space (or overpriced microSD card) with this evergreen guide on ROM compression. It may not be the most exciting topic, but there is no feeling quite like seeing a game shrink by over half! Be sure to check the written guide because it’s a little more up-to-date compared to this older video.

🎬 Behind The Scenes

A while back my YouTube contact asked me for my jacket size, which I thought was a little strange. But this week a crazy Grand Prix-themed jacket arrived in the mail, with my channel name and establishment date on it! I think it was part of some Grand Prix sponsorship that YouTube is doing, and to celebrate their 20-year anniversary. I’m not sure what I’ll do with the jacket itself (especially with Hawaii’s warm, jacket-free climate), but I imagine it’ll be a trip to pull this out of the closet in 20 years on a whim.

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