After several underwhelming releases, Anbernic finally delivered an exciting handheld.

🎥 Now Playing

Anbernic RG Rotate First Impressions

The new Abnbernic RG Rotate is a unique form factor, with a clever swivel hinge that sets it apart from the pack. After a few days of testing, I’m happy to report that it's a surprisingly powerful mini Android device and fun media player — but strangely, no 3.5mm headphone jack.

It goes on sale tomorrow (11 MAY at 6am EDT):

• Anbernic direct: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

• AliExpress: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

By the way, the title of this video is in reference to this Simpsons meme referring to Marge’s love of potatoes.

The Switch 2 is Finally a Great Handheld

Thanks to a new controller and a handy software update, I actually enjoy using the Nintendo Switch 2 in handheld mode. In this video I check out the transformative Mobapad M12 HD joy-cons, and new Handheld Mode Boost option for Switch 1 games.

How to Translate Games in Real Time

There's a new Android app called PlayTranslate that will translate your foreign language ROMs in real time. It only takes a moment to set up, and it really shines on dual-screen devices like the AYN Thor

Other Russ Sightings

• Expedition: Handheld (Entry 11): Now in our 11th episode, I think that Adam and I are really starting to get a flow going; deeper dives into the content we make each week, and what excites us about this week’s news. This week was all about the RG Rotate, Mobapad, and the new AutoSR upscaling rolling out from Microsoft.

• Nerd Nest: No surprise here, we talked a lot about the Steam Controller, but also Linux on PS5, Switch price increases, and those strange Starfox character models. We were also joined by Jimmy from DeckReady, who is a great fit with our crew.

📰 Power-Up(dates)

• After making my previous Steam Controller videos last week, I discussed some connectivity issues on Reddit with an updated graphic (above). From there, a programmer noticed that I showed Bluetooth wasn’t working properly on Android’s Steam Link app. They then found the bug, submitted a fix, and it was merged into their next release by Valve. Super cool to see something like that happen in real time!

  Also, as of yesterday Valve pushed an update to Steam that includes Grip Sense adjustments, which really let you dial in that new input method.

• Speaking of the Steam Controller: they went on sale this past Monday, and sold out in about 30 minutes. Stock immediately started appearing on resale sites at up to double the retail price, which was a bummer. Valve has since switched to a reservation queue system, the same approach they used for the Steam Deck rollout: reserve your spot, wait for an email when it’s ready to order, then complete your purchase within a 72-hour window before your slot passes to the next person in line. The controller remains $99, reservations are capped at one per account, and anyone who already grabbed one in the first wave is ineligible for now. Accounts also need to be in good standing and have made a Steam purchase before April 27, a direct shot at accounts created specifically to game their system.

• Lao Zhang, the designer behind the GKD Pixel series (among others), has teased a new horizontal Android handheld called the Yoo Y1. The device looks nice: glass front, metal mid-frame, 4.5” 1620x1080 (3:2) display, Hall Effect triggers, TMR joysticks, and a 6000mAh battery. Unfortunately, chipset details haven't been confirmed yet, nor price, nor release date, and the Yoo Y1 name may not even be final. Still, this small-batch handheld could be one to keep an eye on. Read more about it on Retro Handhelds.

• Neofid Studios, the team behind the well-regarded Sega Genesis homebrew game Demons of Asteborg, is bringing their flagship title to two new platforms with Demons of Asteborg DX. The DX version is a full remake rather than a straight port, with improved gameplay, reworked environments, new bosses, an exclusive OST, and plenty of new secrets. It's being developed for the Game Boy Advance and the Neo Geo, with the GBA version also coming to Switch and Steam. The Neo Geo version goes further still, with an exclusive level built around the hardware's larger sprites. Physical cartridges are available to pre-order through Kunekune now, though the Neo Geo edition carries a premium price tag reflecting the development work involved.

• A familiar-looking handheld called the Lenovo G02 has appeared on AliExpress for around $60 (affiliate / non-affiliate), with a vague listing on Lenovo's official Chinese support site lending it some legitimacy. Before getting too excited, there's been no official announcement from Lenovo, and the chip is the ancient RK3326 with only 1GB of RAM. The design is also kind of a dead ringer for the Anbernic RG40XXV, and might be an R36S equivalent. If it is legit, it’s a weird move for a company currently known for some of the more premium devices on the market. If it isn’t legit, it’s one of the weirder scams to grace this hobby! I ordered one out of curiosity, so it might make an appearance in a future RGC video.

• Nintendo announced a Switch 2 price increase, citing "various changes in market conditions". Here are the increases:

  • US: $450 to $500 USD

  • Canada: $629 to $680 CAD

  • Europe: €470 to €500 EUR

  Thankfully, the pricing doesn’t increase until September 1st, which makes this the longest lead time I’ve seen. If you've been on the fence about picking one up, you've got a roughly four months before the new pricing kicks in. Japan is seeing a slight increase in their Japanese-language-only model, and that one goes into effect this month.

• Time Extension has published a fantastic deep-dive on the making of the original Metal Slug, drawn from multiple interviews with director Kazuma Kujo conducted over several years. One fascinating revelation is that Metal Slug originally had no playable humans at all, Marco and Tarma were only added after two failed location tests revealed that controlling a tank was simply too unwieldy for arcade players. That redesign added six months of brutal crunch to a game that had already taken 18 months to build, requiring every enemy position and bullet pattern to be recalibrated for nimble soldiers rather than a slow-moving vehicle. Even more striking: Kujo says the game's reputation inside SNK was poor at launch, and he never expected sequels. It’s well worth a read if you have any affection for the series.

• My friend Chuck has launched a public beta for his mobile strategy game What the Shell, and it's worth a look. It's a simultaneous-turn board game where both players move at the same time, placing turtles, capturing opponents in sandwich formations, and hatching eggs to trigger chain reactions. The simultaneous play is the key hook: no waiting around, and no position is ever truly safe until the final move. It supports async online multiplayer, local play, and AI opponents at multiple difficulty levels. The beta is open right now for both iOS (via TestFlight) and Android. Give it a try and show Chuck some love!

• Offline RetroAchievements are becoming a thing. There’s a new Android app called RAOfflineProxy that lets you earn (softcore) RetroAchievements through RetroArch while offline. The way it works is you install the app, open it, and start the proxy so it grabs your RetroAchievement login data. From there, you can start the game and it will cache achievements while offline. You can read the full guide on their website, and it’s definitely something I’ll be messing around with in the days to come. I like the fact that it works with your existing RetroArch installation, and the developer ran their app through the RetroAchievement team before releasing it.

❤️ Currently Grinding

Retro Game: Dirt Racer

If someone asked you to name off some SNES games that used the Super FX chip, you’d probably answer Star Fox, and if you’re really savvy, maybe Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island too. But there were quite a few others, and after hearing about the upcoming Star Fox remake coming to Switch 2, it got me thinking about others. So I checked out Dirt Racer on my AYN Thor, and, well, it’s not great. This Europe-only release feels a bit like a cross between Hard Drivin’ and Virtua Racing, but with an off-road buggy that turns on a dime (to disastrous effect). It’s ridiculously easy to get turned around in the game, and it’s hard to see exactly where the race course ends and the off-road terrain begins.

The ROM itself is surprisingly tough to get working: the Snes9x RetroArch core crapped out in the menus, bsnes didn’t get past the initial publisher screen, and only the bsnes-hd-beta core got me into the game. The graphics are impressive, certainly one of the brighter and better-looking SNES racing games I’ve seen. I’d say it’s worth checking it out just for the thrill of playing another Super FX chip game, but you’ll likely quit after the first race (like me).

Modern Game: Mixtape

The much-anticipated 80s/90s story-driven adventure game Mixtape came out this week, and it sparked an intense online discussion. It all started when review embargoes lifted, and a surprising number of outlets gave it 10/10 accolades, including IGN. This certainly riled up some corners of the gamerverse, considering that Mixtape is unconventional: it uses a stop-motion style that feels like it’s running at a low frame rate, and there is essentially zero autonomy in the game — you are simply navigating through a variety of (well-crafted) set pieces and mini games on the way to its inevitable story conclusion. Elden Ring, this is not.

I’ve put about two hours into the game, which by all accounts is a three-hour tour, and I’d give it a solid 8/10 so far. I love the excellent music integration, and the coming-of-age story, and the setting itself is very close to when I too was finishing high school, so it does hit me in the feels from time to time. And I think its $20 price point is about right. When looked at through the lens of “walking sims” like Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch, and Firewatch, I think that Mixtape is a slam dunk in terms of variety and style, and easy to recommend if you like this sort of game. If you have Game Pass, it’s on there, so you could give it a spin before purchasing.

Album: Spoon - Kill The Moonlight

I’ve mentioned it before, but I don’t like assigning numbers to my favorite bands. That said, Spoon is a top-five band for me (maybe top-three, and even maybe top-one). I first heard them in 2001, when a track from their latest album (Girls Can Tell) was featured in a CMJ compilation disc that focused on Austin-based bands. (By the way, if you were around in the late 90s and early 2000s, the monthly CMJ magazine + CD was one of the best $40 you could spend each year.)

I was immediately hooked on Spoon. Britt Daniel’s raspy voice, combined with the band’s signature garage-meets-Pixies rock with a little extra swagger, absolutely melted my eardrums. I tore through their back catalog (which at the time was just two other albums and some EPs), and counted down the days to their next release, Kill the Moonlight, the following year. I was on deployment when it released, but thankfully I found it during a port call in Australia, complete with a special edition second disc with some live-in-studio tracks. It’s rare when a highly-anticipated album actually exceeds my expectations, but that’s exactly what this album did: it’s a svelte 34 minutes of minimalist rock anchored by a beautiful variety of percussion — every minute feels completely different from the next, while being part of a larger whole. Things only got better from here, with their 2005 album Gimme Fiction being my personal favorite, and if we’re being honest, they haven’t really missed in the five albums they’ve released since. If you’re just jumping into Spoon, Kill the Moonlight is a great place to start, but you can dive in just about anywhere (well, maybe not their debut album, that one is a little rough around the edges).

💰 Bargain Bin

• The Anbernic RG Rotate goes on sale tomorrow (May 11), and for the first 72 hours it's discounted by $5–$8 depending on the model. The plastic Polar Black drops to $83 (normally $88), and the all-aluminum Aurora Silver hits $100 (normally $108). Check out my impressions video above to see what I have to say (spoiler alert: I think it's pretty cool)

  • Anbernic direct: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • AliExpress: Affilate / Non-affiliate

• The ASUS ROG Ally (base model, Ryzen Z1E) just hit a new record low on Woot at $389.99 refurbished, beating out last week's deal that I thought couldn't be topped. You're getting the 7-inch 1080p 120Hz display, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and full Windows 11 with access to Steam, Game Pass, Epic, GOG, and anything else that runs on Windows. You could always through Bazzite on it, too, for a SteamOS-like experience. A 90-day Woot warranty is included. Stock is extremely limited, and the sale ends tomorrow, so definitely check it out if you’re interested.

• Steam currently has an Activision event on their site, with the full Call of Duty series on sale, but the more interesting highlights are elsewhere:

  • Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy: $16 (normally $40)

  • Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time: $20 (normally $40)

  • Prototype: $6 (normally $20)

  • Prototype 2: $12 (normally $40)

  • Space Quest Collection: $7 (normally $20)

  • King’s Quest Collection: $10 (normally $20)

  • Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2: $16 (normally $40)

  • Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4: $30 (normally $50)

• Miyoo is hosting a 7th anniversary sale from May 9–17, and the discounts are pretty solid. You get $7 off sitewide automatically, plus an extra 7% off if you buy two or more items, all themed around that lucky number 7. On top of that, there's a spin-the-wheel promotion that can shave a few more dollars off your order. If you've been eyeing a(nother) Miyoo Mini Plus or Mini Flip, this is a good time to pull the trigger. Affiliate / Non-affiliate

• Humble Bundle is running their Spring Mega Sale, with a ton of discounts, neatly organized into categories like Handheld Hits and games under $5, $10 and $20. There is even $2 off the recently released Mixtape, my modern game of the week. I’ve listed some nice selections below:

  • Alan Wake II (Epic Games Store), $15 (reg. $50)

  • Final Fantasy XVI Complete Edition, $28 (reg. $70)

  • Hollow Knight, $8 (reg. $15)

  • Mortal Kombat - Legacy Kollection, $33 (reg. $50)

  • Resident Evil Remake Trilogy (RE2, RE3 & RE4), $36 (reg. $90)

  • Valheim, $10 (reg. $20)

• Best Buy has a decent discount on the very good 8BitDo Ultimate 2C, for only $24. Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

• Silicon Power isn’t going to let last week’s hot TeamGroup 1TB microSD card deal eat their lunch, so they dropped their 1TB offering to the same price on Amazon to compete. Not a bad price for 2026! Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

⏪ Previously on Retro Game Corps

Demons Of Asteborg

A long time ago on a handheld far far away, I covered a then-new Sega Genesis game called Demons of Asteborg. Crank that old theme song and tune in before Demons of Asteborg DX drops for Game Boy Advance and Neo Geo.

🎬 Behind The Scenes

Since making my RG Rotate video the other day, I have been spending some quality time with the device in anticipation of a more “long term” review in the coming week(s). Each day I chuck one in my pocket, carry it around, use it as a media player, etc. Honestly, I’m still torn between the metal and plastic option, and even though my initial choice was the cheaper plastic model, I’m really starting to prefer the sturdier metal one.

Have a nice week, and be sure to call your Mom and tell her I said Happy Mother’s Day.

Russ