To start, let me just say thanks to everyone who supported my friend Chris’ GoFundMe over the past week, it really means a lot. We were able to raise about $35k for his wife as she navigates through her grief and all of the expenses associated with his passing.

His memorial service was yesterday, and a bunch of us musician friends got together last night for what we termed “Chris Fest”; we listened to the music he loved, watched some of his favorite movies (like Pootie Tang and Wet Hot American Summer), and shared stories about the special person he was.

I’m slowly getting back to a “normal” work schedule, but I imagine it will take me some time to grieve and adapt to this new reality. So this newsletter will be a bit sparser (and emotional) than normal; thank you for your patience and understanding.

🎥 Now Playing

My Favorite Movie Tie-In Games

I sat down to work on some videos this week, and it didn’t feel right to jump into a handheld review. Instead, I wanted to talk about Chris, who admittedly wasn’t a big gamer. However, he WAS a big film buff, so I decided to make a video discussing my favorite movie tie-in games to honor his memory.

Big thanks to TechDweeb for making this video’s thumbnail (and filling in for me on Expedition: Handheld this week).

8BitDo Ultimate 3E In-Depth Review

The 8BitDo Ultimate 3E ushers in the third generation of their flagship PC/Switch/Xbox controllers, with some significant improvements over the Ultimate 2 series. This particular model takes direct aim at Microsoft's Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, but it also gives us a glimpse at what to expect from future (and hopefully cheaper) versions of 8BitDo’s Ultimate 3 series.

📰 Power-Up(dates)

• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time joined GOG's Preservation Program with a major technical update that adds native widescreen and ultra-wide support across modern resolutions. This version automatically adjusts the field of view based on your monitor's aspect ratio, introduces an FPS limiter, and adds a multi-monitor mouse-lock option. The game is the first to benefit from GOG's new wrapper technology, which intercepts parts of the original DirectX 9 game and applies modern fixes without fundamentally altering its code. Physics quirks in the engine made it nearly impossible to run on current hardware without serious issues, but now an in-game overlay lets you adjust FPS caps and FOV multipliers on the fly. This news comes just seven months after Ubisoft cancelled the long-delayed Sands of Time remake, but thankfully, the OG is still a classic.

• Forty years after the original NES Legend of Zelda game, ROM hacker rdlm dropped Z for 2, a co-op mod that splits the adventure between Link and Shadow Link. Both players can pick up items independently and switch active items without the inventory menu, while sharing health and resources. The hack also includes a 1-vs-1 arena deathmatch mode (which you unlock by naming yourself ARENA). Each round randomizes item spawns, and rounds play out until one player falls. "It's dangerous to go alone" finally has an answer. Available now on ROMHacking.net.

• Genki, the team behind some decent Switch accessories, just launched the Manta: a CHUNKY 315g wireless controller with a 2.79” color IPS display built into the face and a feature sheet that reads like a fever dream: 8000Hz polling wired, 1000Hz over 2.4GHz wireless, TMR joysticks with adjustable tension, Hall effect triggers with separate digital/rapid/analog stages, and a custom MantaOS running on the embedded screen for profile management and tuning. And perhaps most interestingly, it has analog face buttons, ostensibly for improve input delay but it potentially could be used for pressure-sensitive PS2 games. It is also set to include a user-replaceable 2400mAh battery. Super Early Bird pricing sits at $189 (already gone), with Early Bird at $199, standard Kickstarter at $219, and retail at $279; the Founder's Edition goes for an eye-watering $349. Even at these prices, there apparently is a market for it, as the campaign has already funded with a January 2027 ship target.

• A fascinating bit of late-90s handheld history: YouTuber Nostalgic Aubrey unearthed gameplay footage of Turok Dinosaur Hunter for the Tiger Game.com, a first-person shooter scheduled for late 1997 that was shelved in July 1998. The build aired on the Cybernet TV show in 1997 and was featured in GamePro Magazine #111 with the caption "Turok is preparing to rock on the Gamecom." The Game.com's abysmal library and sluggish touchscreen ecosystem made it an easy casualty, but this footage proves developers were genuinely ambitious about 3D on Tiger's awkward handheld.

• Analogue have partnered with fashion brand Supreme on limited-edition Analogue Pocket variants for the label's Fall/Winter 2026 collection. The models feature either a garish 24K gold-plated unibody aluminum or a custom red glossy finish, both with Supreme logos stamped on the front and rear. If you want one, you’ll have to shell out $500 smackeroos for the red, and 600 for the gold brick! The company has been accused for years of encouraging FOMO through limited runs and new colorways instead of just making more units, and this crossover won't change anyone's mind on that front.

❤️ Currently Grinding

Retro Game: LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

I first played this game on the GameCube when it first released in 2006, and for me it really defined what a LEGO game could and should be - the smash-n-grab + lite puzzling formula is still largely in effect with modern LEGO titles. I featured the game in this week’s movie tie-ins collection video, and I ended up replaying the first hour to collect sample footage. I had a genuinely good time revisiting it; some enemy fights can be frustratingly unfair, but otherwise this game has held up nicely. I don’t think it can hold a candle to the sheer variety found in modern titles like The Skywalker Saga, but this one is still a fun trip down memory lane.

Modern(?) Game: Crackdown

I waited a bit before picking up the Xbox 360 when it first launched in 2005. One year later, they released the black Xbox 360 Elite with a whopping 120GB of storage and an HDMI port (vs component on the early models), and I bought that one on launch day. I freaking loved the thing, it was such a huge jump in performance and graphics from my aging GameCube and PS2 consoles. In 2007, Crackdown was released, and I really enjoyed this game - its mayhem was similar Grand Theft Auto III in many ways, but with a purpose: you blasted your way through hordes of bad guys, and grabbed random agility and secret orbs which powered up your character. Being the completionist that I am, I painstakingly scoured the map for as many agility orbs as I could, and was close to grabbing all of them.

It was during one of those orb-hunting sessions that my Xbox 360 Elite got the red ring of death (later models were mostly stable, but my launch day console wasn’t lucky). Because my console wigged out DURING a gameplay session, not only did my console get fried, but my save game did, too. I was pretty heartbroken; I sent my console in (for free!) and got it repaired, but I had to start Crackdown all over again, and by then, I wasn’t ready to sit through all of that hunting again. But while testing out the new 8BitDo Ultimate 3E Xbox controller this week, I decided to break out my old disc and see how much progress the 2007 version of Russ made on the game that second time around. First, I was just amazed that my save game was still waiting for me in the cloud 19 years later, that is very cool. The fact that my old disc worked in the Xbox Series X is also quite awesome. Turns out I actually got pretty far in my second playthrough, about 1/3 through the game before calling it quits back then. Also, the game is still super fun today, and I think I’ll be jumping into it again soon.

Album: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out by Yo La Tengo

One of the hardest things I did this week (and honestly, ever), was help make the playlist for my friend Chris’ memorial service this weekend. I teamed up with my friend Tommy to collaborate on it, and it was fascinating to hear the songs Tommy associated with Chris, versus the ones I chose when thinking about him. It really emphasized to us just how knowledgeable Chris was about music, and how he could adjust his musical tastes based on who he was talking to. Long story short: two Yo La Tengo songs made it onto the list via Tommy.

Although this gentle and ethereal band is right up my alley, I am not terribly familiar with them. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I have always been a Seattle-centric music listener, especially during their peak output era, and Yo La Tengo is a NJ/NYC band; so they were a group I heard about a lot, but never listened to more than just in passing. And we’ve got plenty of soft-spoken bands from the Pacific Northwest (see: Pedro the Lion, DCFC, Microphones, Damien Jurado, Elliott Smith), so I never felt the urge to explore too much - I think the furthest I journeyed from my home region was to Texas for bands like Bedhead, American Analog Set, and Silver Scooter.

Anyway, in a tribute to Chris, I fired up And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, their 2003 masterpiece. And it really is a finely crafted work of art: perfectly mixed, anchored by drum-and-bass combos that help to elevate the more “floaty” guitar, keys, and vocals. Overall, I’d classify it as a slightly jazzy slowcore album, and an excellent rainy-day record. I am looking forward to more intimately exploring their catalog.

💰 Bargain Bin

• The PNY Pro Elite 256GB microSD card is on sale on Amazon for $50 right now. It’s a modest 23% discount from its $65 list price, and I certainly miss the days when these cards sold for $30 or less. Still, it’s the cheapest decent card I could find of this size right now. Affiliate / Non-affiliate

• Amazon has a deal on most color options for the standard Xbox controller, bringing it down as low as $49. Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

• AliExpress is running a Back to School sale until August 26th, here are the discount codes for US shoppers:

  • USBS03 or VSUSAFF3 or VSRGC3 = $3 off $15 or more

  • USBS06 or VSUSAFF6 or VSRGC6 = $6 off $36 or more

  • USBS12 or VSUSAFF12 or VRGV12 = $12 off $79 or more

  • AFFUS20 or RGC020 = $20 off $99 or more

  • AFFUS32 or RGC032 = $32 off $159 or more

• And here are some discounts worth investigating, especially the Miyoo Mini Flip and Miniloong Pocket 1, which are at the lowest prices I’ve seen to date. Prices listed below are after applying the codes above:

  • Anbernic RG351P ($37): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Miyoo Mini Flip ($39): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Anbernic RG Cube XX ($46): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Anbernic RG40XXV ($49): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • TrimUI Brick ($54): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Miniloong Pocket 1 ($60): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • TrimUI Brick Hammer ($74): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

  • Anbernic RG Slide ($101): Affiliate / Non-affiliate

• For those outside of the US, here are some global codes that may work for your region. If they don’t work, check the frontpage of your AliExpress store to see if there are any others listed.

  • AFS3 = $3 off $15 or more

  • AFS6 = $6 off $39 or more

  • AFS10 = $10 off $69 or more

  • AFS15 = $15 off $99 or more

  • AFS25 = $25 off $179 or more

  • AFS40 = $40 off $289 or more

• Third-party Nintendo Switch 2 games are discounted almost across the board at Amazon, with many games hitting their historical low. Please note that all of these games (other than Sonic Racing) are Game-Key Cards, which means that they are essentially digital editions with a physical game cart in the box to verify ownership.

  • Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, $35 (normally $60)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Cronos, $25 (normally $40)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade, $30 (normally $40)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, $35 (normally $50)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Octopath Traveler 0, $35 (normally $50)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Sonic Frontiers: Definitive Edition, $30 (normally $50)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Sonic Racing: Crossworlds, $50 (normally $70)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties, $30 (normally $60)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

If you are ever wondering about which Switch 2 games are Game-Key Cards or legit Physical editions, Deku Deals has a running list of both Game-Key Cards and Physical games.

• Over 100 Sega titles are on sale over at Green Man Gaming. Everything from Sonic to Yakuza to Persona is fair game, with some stuff getting slashed by over 80%. Load up on some genuine classics, or Sonic 4, if you hate money: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

• Also on GMG, a juicy bundle of ten big games for ten little dollars! For less than the price of a Big Mac meal, you can get Mad Max, both LOTR Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, all three F.E.A.R. games, and for the fatality: Mortal Kombat XL and 11 Ultimate. Not bad for a buck a pop, check it out here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

• Finally, Best Buy is having their 60th anniversary sale and a smattering of PS5 games have been discounted, including the DQ games at prices that I think are decent for what you get:

  • Alan Wake 2, $30 (normally $40)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, $30 (normally $60)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, $20 (normally $40)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Rise of the Ronin, $33 (normally $70)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

  • Star Wars Outlaws, $11 (normally $30)

    • Buy it here: Affiliate / Non-Affiliate

⏪ Previously on Retro Game Corps

Five Games That Taught Me About Gaming (and Life)

Sometimes, I will hit a creative block; usually it happens when aren’t going well for me mentally, or I’m too distracted by external events to make a “typical” RGC review video. I’ve found that sometimes the best way to get through those speed bumps is to take a step back and make a guide, or simply talk about games I love. This week has definitely been one of those moments; both the RP Nova guide and my movie tie-in videos were made in the throes of shock and grief, and were helpful for me to process everything that’s going on right now.

Another similar moment happened in March 2025. This was during Retroid’s “RP Mini Screen-gate”, when we discovered that Retroid had lied about the origin and resolution of their RP Mini screen (more info here). Initially, the company claimed that the screen was having issues scaling correctly, which affected some shaders, and they were working on a fix (heck, I even made a video trying to mitigate some of the shader issues). It later turned out that they had used a completely different screen that covered some pixels to achieve a (simulated) 4:3 aspect ratio, with an advertised resolution that would never scale correctly.

The whole event was disheartening for me, not just because the company had misled the community and shipped a faulty product, but they had lied to me about it, too. It was a major talking point when I met with the company in China a few months back, and while I consider the matter resolved now (as explained around the 39-minute mark in this video), at the time, the whole thing threw me for a loop; I even briefly considered stepping away from the whole YouTube thing. Instead, I took a day off to reflect, and came back with an updated RetroArch guide and the video I’m highlighting today, which was a collection of five game experiences that shaped how I approach gaming today.

In the end, I think these moments are unavoidable but important, because they force me to consider the sort of mark I am leaving on the world. Game roundup videos always perform very poorly on my channel, but I think they are a good reflection of life’s ups and downs, and I’m always proud of the finished product.

🎬 Behind The Scenes

I did a little cleaning this week, and found one of my old photography surfaces from when I was a cookbook author (2010-2020). I thought I had given this one away with the rest of my food photography props many years ago, but I must have kept this one and immediately forgot about it. It’s a beautiful piece of Italian stone, quite heavy for its size, but with a nicely imperfect texture. I ended up using it in the thumbnail of my 8BitDo video, and I expect it’ll make other appearances in the future.

Take care,
Russ