Yes, I’ve got the Steam Machine in hand, and yes, the Retroid Pocket Nova is on its way to me right now - but I’m going to cover all that stuff next week. For now, let’s see what else is going on in the world of gaming.

🎥 Now Playing

It took me a bit to get back into the swing of making videos again, so just two releases this week:

TrimUI Brick Pro: Bigger But Not "Pro"

The new TrimUI Brick Pro is the bigger brother of the beloved OG Brick, with a couple nice upgrades like a bigger screen and battery, and analog sticks. At the same time, it loses a bit of magic compared to the original, even if it is more comfy.

Retro Handheld Gaming Down Under

My family took a trip to Australia, and this is a recap of that adventure. Trigger warning: lots of food featured in this one, you may walk away very hungry.

Other Russ Sightings:

• Expedition: Handheld - In Entry #21, Adam and I discussed the 8BitDo FlipPad and the OneXPlayer 3, both of which I have for review. I had full intentions to finish review videos of BOTH items before this episode went live, but my production schedule got turned upside down this week. So you can hear some early impressions in this video, and then hopefully I can knock out those full in-depth videos soon.

• Nerd Nest - we’re off this week while Bill moves house, so look forward to seeing a brand spankin’ new Nerd Nest (both literally and figuratively) next week!

• randomfrankp - Frank contacted me out of the blue and invited me to collaborate with him on a roundup video, where he showcased the Anbernic RG Rotate. So I spent a couple minutes waxing poetic about why it’s one of my favorite little handhelds this year. It was fun to jump into someone else’s video like this!

📰 Power-Up(dates)

• Alex from the RetroPup channel has released Mimir, an Android toolkit built to help retro handheld owners organize their ROM libraries directly on-device. The current build centers on multi-disc cleanup, with a ROM Organizer that scans a chosen folder, detects multi-disc games, and applies frontend-specific presets to organize those pesky m3u files. Additional modules include RomZipper, which bulk-converts a wide range of RetroArch-friendly ROM formats into .zip archives (saving valuable space), and a built-in searchable PS Vita shortcut database for generating .psvita shortcuts directly on your handheld.

• Similarly, Pocket Curator is a PortMaster utility that lets retro handheld owners manage their ROM collections entirely on your device, no SD card removal required. It runs in an EmulationStation-style interface with two modes:

  • Delete Mode, which shows screenshots, ratings, and descriptions so users can trim unwanted ROMs (and their associated scraped media) directly from the handheld

  • Fetch Mode, which connects to a WebDAV server and copies ROMs, scraped media, manuals, and metadata straight onto the device over WiFi at full HTTP speeds.

  • The tool is built primarily for ROCKNIX and Knulli, with additional support for dArkOS, Batocera, and AmberELEC, and has been tested on handhelds spanning Anbernic, Powkiddy, TrimUI, and several R36-series devices. Like Mimir, it is open source under the MIT license and available now via GitHub.

• Grant Sinclair's GamerCard, the ultra-thin Raspberry Pi-powered handheld built into the shape and size of a retail gift card, is now starting to ship after previously facing production hurdles. The device packs a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, a 4-inch square IPS display (254 PPI), stereo speakers, a 1600 mAh battery, and ten tactile snap-dome buttons into a stacked-PCB chassis just 6.5mm thick and 105 grams. It ships preloaded with six indie games and supports emulator apps like RetroPie, Recalbox, and Lakka, along with PICO-8. I pre-ordered one when they were first announced last year, so hopefully I’ll get mine soon and can give it a full assessment.

• Miyu.works, the developer behind the popular DS Keyboard app used by dual-screen handheld owners, has released a new Android port of their game Super Night Riders. It's a modern arcade racer inspired by retro classics, casting players as Alice, the "Red Rider," on a motorcycle where the goal isn't finishing position but distance traveled and dodging rivals to reach checkpoints before time runs out. It's a spiritual follow-up to the developer's earlier Night Riders and Night Riders Remastered titles, and it's available now as a free, ad-supported download on the Google Play Store.

• YAPS2 — short for "Yet Another PCSX2" — is a new PS2 emulator fork built specifically for Linux handhelds. The project is being developed by three contributors, and is currently hosted on GitHub and being built into the nightly releases of ROCKNIX and Batocera. Its goal is straightforward: take PCSX2's codebase and optimize it for performance and compatibility on lower-end Linux handheld hardware. Those interested in trying YAPS2 can check the GitHub page for the latest builds or read more about it on Retro Handhelds.

• Blink-182 and Pac-Man are teaming up for an arcade-themed collaboration at San Diego Comic-Con, running July 23–26 at booth 1415. The activation will feature a claw machine stocked with band and Pac-Man merch, arcade cabinets themed around the crossover, and an “animated appearance” from the band (what does that even mean?). This timing appears to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Blink-182's Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, which released in June 2001. I’m not really sure what all that has to do with Pac-Man, but hey, I guess both the band and game are considered “retro” nowadays.

❤️ Currently Grinding

Retro Game: Ape Escape

When testing the TrimUI Brick Pro’s dual-stick functionality, of course I gave Ape Escape a whirl. This is a game that sort of fills me with dread when playing it, because its unique dual-stick setup (left stick controls the player, the right stick swings your weapon) means that camera controls are wonky. You can tap L1 to recenter the camera, or rotate the camera with the d-pad. It always breaks my brain when testing this game, but I’ve learned that tapping L1 to constantly re-center is a lot more natural than taking your thumb off the left stick to reach the d-pad. Either way - cool game, but not one that has ever really stuck with me. I’ve seen lots of folks argue that they need their low-powered devices to have twin sticks specifically for this game, but I’m not one of those folks!

Modern Game: Inmost

This game made it onto my Steam wishlist at some point (likely a suggestion from one of the Nerd Nest nerds, or a viewer/reader), and this week it’s on sale for $4.49, a 70% discount. At that price I picked it up without hesitation, and played the first 30 minutes on the OneXPlayer 3. It’s a fascinating story-driven puzzle platformer, where you switch between different characters as the story progresses, and they each control differently from one another. The story itself is a bit morose, and the overall dreary atmosphere makes me think of Inmost as a pixel-art version of similar puzzle games like Inside and Limbo. Before you hit that buy button, two warnings: the color palette is somewhat samey, making the puzzle bits hard to identify, and it’s an older game (released in 2020) that sadly doesn’t seem to support Steam Cloud Saves. I sat down today to play it further on my newly-arrived Steam Machine and it tried to force me to start the game all over…so it’s definitely a single-PC experience.

Music: My Summer 2026 Playlist

Every season I like to make a new music playlist, and I’ve been sharing them for the past couple of years (you can find my other playlists on my second channel here). I spend a LOT of time on these lists, testing the song order, transitions, and overall flow. I have a few self-imposed rules:

• Somewhere between 9 and 11 tracks, and under 40 mins when possible (don’t want to wear out my welcome)

• Avoid repeat artists (sometimes I just HAVE to use a certain track even if I’ve featured them in a previous playlist)

• At least one track from the past couple of years, but the majority come from my own back catalog

• Songs that are befitting the season or theme of the playlist

This week I released my Summer 2026 jam, which you can find on few different streaming platforms: Apple Music / Spotify / YouTube Music

Here is the track listing:
1. Beulah - Gene Autry (2001)
2. Tune-Yards - Gangsta (2011)
3. Guided by Voices - Everywhere with Helicopter (2002)
4. Damien Jurado - Magazine (2026)
5. Okkervil River - Piratess (2011)
6. Spoon - Guess I'm Fallin in Love (2025)
7. The Unicorns - Tuff Ghost (2003)
8. Smog - Cold Blooded Old Times (1999)
9. Bad Religion - 21st Century (Digital Boy) (1990)
10. Troy Taroy - Chest Pains (2021)

(Note that one track is different on my YT Music playlist, that's because the song isn't available on that platform. I chose a different song from the same artist.)

In the past I’ve recorded videos talking through each track and why I like the song, but I wasn’t able to manage that this time around. Thankfully the music speaks for itself, so I don’t think those videos are 100% necessary to enjoy the playlist. The explanation videos are meant to be a casual conversation, but like with any video I make, they end up taking up nearly an entire day to research, record, and edit. I do enjoy making these videos, I just need to find more time in each day 😀

💰 Bargain Bin

• The MagicX XU Mini M is a tiny little EDC-style handheld, and it’s on sale for as little as $23 on MagicX’s website right now. At first I thought this was a blowout sale ahead of an inevitable discontinuation announcement, but I checked with the company today and they said there is plenty of stock. You can pick one up directly on their website (affiliate/non-affiliate), but beware that this price is before shipping, which can vary by region; it calculated $15 shipping to Hawaii, which slightly dampened the fun of this deal.

• AliExpress is running another discount event (which ends tonight), this one is called the "Score Big Sale". Some of these are genuinely good deals compared to normal pricing right now, like the RG Rotate for $99 with free shipping. Most of the others are only modest discounts considering that these handheld prices have been getting progressively higher over the past year.

  Here are the coupon codes for US shoppers. To find the coupons for your region, you should see them automatically on your country's AliExpress home page after logging in.:

  • VSRGC2 or USAFF2 = $2 off orders $18+

  • VSRGC5 or USAFF5 = $5 off orders $39+

  • VSRGC10 or USAFF10 = $10 off orders $69+

  • VSRGC20 or USAFF20 = $20 off orders $139+

  • VSRGC23 or USAFF23 = $23 off orders $169+

  • VSRGC35 or USAFF35 = $35 off orders $249+

  • VSRGC55 or USAFF55 = $55 off orders $379+

  Here are some deals I found, note that prices can vary by region:

  • Game Console R36S ($27 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • BATLEXP G350 ($42 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Miyoo Mini Flip ($53 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Anbernic RG Cube XX ($53 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • TrimUI Brick ($55 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Miyoo Mini Plus ($57 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Anbernic RG35XXH ($58 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • TrimUI Smart Pro ($61 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Anbernic RG40XXV ($63 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Anbernic RG Rotate ($99 after coupon, $113 for metal version)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Anbernic RG DS ($101 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Mangmi Air X ($113 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Anbernic RG Slide ($114 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Anbernic RG557 ($208 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Retroid Pocket Flip 2 ($250 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • AYN Odin 3 Base ($423 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • AYN Thor Base ($423 after coupon)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • (Note this the last three in this list are cheaper via their respective manufacturer’s website, this should only be considered if the company doesn't ship to your country or if this ends up being cheaper after shipping and regional import taxes.)

• KYY have launched another affordable 15.6” 1080p portable monitor on Amazon, and this one can be used vertically. I picked one up for testing, I think its rotating feature might come in handy for TATE arcade gaming. Check it out here for $80: Affiliate / Non-affiliate

⏪ Previously on Retro Game Corps

MagicX XU Mini M Review: Best/Worst Micro Handheld

When it first released in summer 2024, the MagicX XU Mini M came out of nowhere with some seriously impressive features. In fact, it was the BEST horizontal micro handheld at the time in some important categories: analog sticks, ergonomics, screen, audio, and cooling.

Since then, the device has only gotten better - the d-pad is reportedly improved, and you can now install ROCKNIX on it for a more seamless and stable experience. And at the $23 price point mentioned in the section above, I still think it warrants some consideration. Either way, check out the video above for a fair (albeit slightly dated) assessment of this very pocketable handheld.

🎬 Behind The Scenes

A couple years ago I reviewed the MinisForum V3 tablet PC, and I really liked its compact size and surprising amount of gaming power. Since then I’ve been using it in my studio to quickly check prices/specs online while recording, or to test Moonlight local streaming speeds in my handheld reviews (you can see it sitting on my desk in the BTS photo I shared a few weeks back). Sadly, I came into the studio the other day to find that its battery had swollen significantly, to the point that it separated the tablet’s screen from the frame. I used some tools to carefully remove the rest of the screen (sadly shattering it in the process), and I was able to extract my SSD before taking it to a local electronics shop for safe disposal. I had hoped to swipe the valuable RAM while tearing the device down, but unfortunately this model had the RAM soldered onto the main board, so no luck there.

For now, I’ve replace that spot on my desk with my 13” ROG Flow Z13 tablet PC, but I sure miss the MinisForum’s 15” size for easy visual references. Sadly, MinisForum no longer sells this unique PC.

See you next week,
Russ