Happy Father’s Day to all my fellow dads out there! Only two videos this week - organizing my Shenzhen travel video took way more time than expected. Thankfully I also made two podcast appearances, so there is plenty of Russ to go around.

I’m aiming to release my usual three videos next week.

🎥 Now Playing

AYN Odin 3: Six Months Later

Six months later, the AYN Odin 3 is my daily driver handheld, and for good reason: it keeps getting better thanks to software tweaks, driver updates, and Linux compatibility.

I Visited China's Handheld Capital

I took a trip to Shenzhen, China, to see how handhelds are made. Here is what happened. (Buckle up for a wild ride, the video is nearly an hour long!)

Other Russ Sightings:

• Expedition: Handheld - in this episode, Adam and I talked a bit more about my Shenzhen trip, and some details that didn’t make it into my (very long) travel video above. We also talked about the mighty PSP 1001, which I regrettably trashed after bricking it over 20 years ago 🙁

• NerdNest - we’re back! Both Cary and I returned to chat with Bill about Steam Hardware updates: the new Steam Controller queue, and Steam Machine’s imminent release (no, I definitely don’t have a review unit!). We also talked about GTA6, Half-Life 3, and much more.

📰 Power-Up(dates)

• Anbernic has announced the RG 55G1, and boy do these names just get stranger and stranger. This one is a new Android handheld with a Switch Lite-style design and 5.5" display, clearly here to compete with the likes of the Retroid Pocket and Mangmi Air X. Details from their trailer are scarce, but it packs hall-effect joysticks and triggers, double-shot buttons (two molded layers per button, so the labeling never wears off), and 2.5D curved glass that blends into the rounded shell rather than sitting flush. It reminds me of a cross between the Retroid Pocket 4 and the Retroid Pocket 5. No pricing or release date yet, but it'll launch in Indigo, Retro Gray, and Black. Anbernic is teasing a "new core" (likely a new SoC) which should mean a step up in performance from their more recent handhelds like the RG Vita; the “G1” name suggests the Snapdragon G1 Gen 2 (the same SoC as the Retroid Pocket Classic).

• Old School Gamer Magazine's latest issue digs into the roots of the JRPG genre with a feature from Kurt Kalata, founder of Hardcore Gaming 101 and author of The JRPG Book. The piece traces the genre's origins back before Dragon Quest, which established many of the conventions still in use today. But DQ wasn't actually first: Japanese developers had been experimenting with RPG concepts on home computers well before Enix's classic hit consoles. Kalata's deep knowledge of the genre makes him a great fit for the topic, and it's a worthwhile read for anyone curious about where the JRPG as we know it actually came from. If you aren’t already reading this magazine, change that now with issue 52!

• Commodore's next hardware release isn't a retro computer revival; it's a flip phone. The Callback 8020 runs Jolla's Sailfish OS with 99% Android app compatibility, but blocks browsers and social media at a system level, ditches push notifications for a dome LED indicator, and ships with a curated selection of C64 games (plus Snake). It's also got a 3.5mm jack, swappable battery, and an "audiophile-grade" DAC with bundled IEMs. CEO Christian Simpson framed it as a personal mission to escape smartphone addiction, but the pricing may dampen the excitement: $499.99 for the base BASIC Beige, ProtoPET White, or SX Silver colorways, $549.99 for the Starlight Edition, and $640 for a Founders Edition with a 24k gold-plated "C=" button. Pre-orders open June 30th, and it’s targeting a Q4 release.

• AYANEO is teasing a successor to the Pocket Micro, promising "enhanced ergonomics," "greater performance," "more comfortable controls," and longer battery life over the original 2024 model. Both the original Pocket Micro and the stick-less Pocket Micro Classic have since been discontinued, clearing the runway for what AYANEO is calling a "Gen 2 powerhouse." No full-sized images or specs yet, but their most recent tweet did confirm that this model will (thankfully) have a 3.5mm headphone jack.

• iiSU, the slick Nintendo-inspired Android frontend, just shipped a big update with version 0.0.7, available now on GitHub. The star of the show is a reworked Home menu with a Wii U-style horizontal layout, full widget support (image/GIF, achievements, playtime, web embeds), and resizable, rearrangeable ROM tiles. The whole UI got moved onto a new renderer for smoother performance, which the team says should be a real win for lower-powered devices. There's a lot more under the hood too: a reworked onboarding flow, multi-source scraping, deeper RetroAchievements integration, expanded Discord rich presence, and broader emulator support.

• After roughly 19 years of development, Earthbound Beginnings Remake, a ROM hack that recreates the original Famicom game Mother inside its 16-bit sequel, is finally available to download. You can patch your own copy of EarthBound using the built-in patcher on the project's NeoCities website, or grab the patch and apply it yourself. The team also put out a companion patch, EarthBound: Giygas Strikes Back, bringing the remake's quality-of-life improvements to the vanilla game, plus fan-made SNES-style box art, with a full-color strategy guide still in the works. Mother fans are eating good this month.

❤️ Currently Grinding

Retro Game: California Games (NES)

With summer in full swing, I’m reminded of my first-ever summer game experience: California Games. It was first developed by Epyx for the Apple II and Commodore 64 in 1987, but it’s the NES version (ported to the console by Rare in 1989) that I know best. For a kid who mostly relied on rental stores for my new NES experiences, California Games presented a unique value: it’s six games in one! Events include half pipe, foot bag, surfing, (roller) skating, BMX, and flying disk.

Truth be told, none of the events are very fun on their own. They are punishingly hard, but thankfully there is a practice mode which allows you to get acquainted with the controls pretty easily. My favorite events are foot bag (a simple hacky sack juggling game with special moves if you press the d-pad at the right moment), and the roller skating and BMX events (which control exactly the same: you mash the A button to build speed, steer up and down, and press B to jump over obstacles). Another fun challenge is the flying disk game, which controls a bit like a golf game where you use a slider QTE to set the speed and angle - but then, you also control a second character who needs to catch your disc at the other end.

Modern Game: LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

As part of my MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ review package (video coming next week!), Intel sent me a Steam code to the latest LEGO Batman game for my testing (likely because the Intel G3 Extreme drivers have been optimized for the game). I had been eyeing the game previously, but its $70 price tag seemed steep, especially when all the other LEGO games will frequently go on sale for super cheap. The game plays well on the handheld (as expected), but I’ve also heard that it’s been optimized pretty well in general, so that’s not a huge surprise.

The game itself is a quintessential LEGO game, in that it revisits beloved media franchises like the previous Batman movies, and it borrows several cues from the Arkham game series, too. The controls have been updated for a more modern LEGO experience, much like some of the more recent LEGO Star Wars releases, but with an open-world component, too. Overall, it’s a solid, varied, and family-friendly title, but unless you really want to play it while school’s out, I’m certain it’ll be available at a discount in the coming months.

Book: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

I’m trying to make it a point to recap any book I finish (in place of my weekly albums), and over the past couple weeks I read Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. First released in 2021, I added this book to my queue because it’s being adapted into a film later this year (directed by Taika Waititi). The book follows a solar-powered android who has a naive but insightful way of looking at the world, which leads her on some rather unexpected paths as she hopes to help her host family during difficult times.

This the first book I’ve read from Nobel-Prize-winning Ishiguro; I’ve seen some of his other film adaptations (The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go), which were excellent, but I was really struck by the author’s prose. He was born in Japan but raised in England, and while Klara and the Sun is written in English (and set in the US), it carries a measured and distinctly Japanese cadence and reflective tone - in fact, up until I read more about the book after finishing it, I had assumed it was simply translated from Japanese into English. While not a whole lot actually happens in the story itself, the prose was spellbinding, and I can’t wait to read another Ishiguro book soon.

💰 Bargain Bin

• Amazon’s annual Prime Day is nearly upon us, and it runs from June 23rd to June 26th. I’ll be sure to post a full roundup on my YouTube Community Tab when the sale goes live on Tuesday, but in the meantime, if you want to browse some early deals yourself here is a direct link to the Prime Day event page: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

• AliExpress's Mid-Year Sale still has a few days left, wrapping up on the 24th. Here are some coupon codes:

  • US-exclusive codes (valid June 15th–24th):

    • MYRGC3 or MYUSAFF3: $3 off orders of $15+

    • MYRGC7 or MYUSAFF7: $7 off orders of $42+

    • MYRGC12 or MYUSAFF12: $12 off orders of $75+

    • 18RGCSS or 18USAFFSS: $18 off orders of $99+

    • MYUSAFF24: $24 off orders of $149+

    • 29RGCSS or 29USAFFSS: $29 off orders of $159+

    • MYRGC42 or MYUSAFF42: $42 off orders of $259+

    • 58RGCSS or 58USAFFSS: $58 off orders of $339+

    • MYRGC70 or MYUSAFF70: $70 off orders of $459+

    • MYRGC90 or MYUSAFF90: $90 off orders of $579+

    • MYUSAFF120: $120 off orders of $700+

• Here are a few AliExpress deals available right now:

  • Anbernic RG35XXH ($38 after coupon): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Anbernic RG34XXSP ($56 after coupon): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Anbernic RG DS ($84 after coupon): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Anbernic RG Vita ($84 after coupon): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Mangmi Air X ($84 after coupon): Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Retroid Pocket 5, ($148 after coupon, black only): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • AYN Thor ($324 for Base after coupon): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • AYN Odin 3 ($330 for Base after coupon): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

• Retroid is also hosting a modest "618" sale event right now through June 23rd. "618" is a big sale day in China because it's the anniversary of JD.com's establishment (sort of like their version of Amazon).

  Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  Code RPC20 = $20 off the Retroid Pocket Classic
  Code RP10 = $10 off the RP5/Flip2/RP4 Pro

⏪ Previously on Retro Game Corps

Traveling with Retro Handhelds

This isn’t the first time I’ve done a travel video. In fact, I have a whole playlist of them! This one from three years ago is an oldie but a goodie, but truthfully I picked it this week for the sweet thumbnail (photo taken by my nephew).

🎬 Behind The Scenes

I mentioned in my China travel video that I picked up this cool arcade shell for the Legion Go Tab Gen 5, which I’m currently testing for review. I love these bright colors, and I think $100 for this unique form factor isn’t a bad deal. I haven’t unboxed it yet (I want to do that on camera), but I did peek at an assembled unit while in China, and it was surprisingly wobbly. So I’m worried this thing might look a lot better than it actually feels.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend,
Russ