Anbernic is releasing a new emulation handheld called RG34XX. Here are the details:
- Supported Platforms: Over 30, including PSP, N64, DS, DOS, Dreamcast, PS1, etc.
- Screen: 3.4-inch IPS with a resolution of 720x480
- OS: 64-bit Linux
- Features: 5G Wi-Fi, HDMI-out, and Bluetooth 4.2
The RG34XX will be available in four colours: indigo, green transparent, red transparent, and black.
What do you think about the fact that they’ve mimicked the design of the GBA so closely?
No analogue stick, so a significant number of Dreamcast, PSP and N64 will be directly affected. It probably has 8 buttons (4 face, 4 shoulder), but the video never shows anything other than the front. I’m basing this on the other models the company sells. Also, considering several other models come with 2 analogue sticks, I’d say this one is a pass, unless you want something that’s easy to put in the pocket
BTW, the GBA SP form factor is already for sale as the RG35xx. From the looks of it, all these portables run EmuELEC
For a long time, the GBA form factor was the best. But I don’t think it holds up to current designs.
It’ll be great for people who are nostalgic for the GBA.
Personally, I’ll pass because I have other handhelds that are fantastic.
Which are other handhelds ?
Ages ago I built a couple raspberry pi zero powered Game Boys. Those were fun projects, but not the best hand helds due to boot up times.
My first retail device was an Anbernic M280. I even gifted one to my brother. It was great, but the tiny screen sucked. I still have it, but never use it.
Then I got an RG353P which I love.
I also have a Steam Deck.
I gifted an RG35XX for Christmas last year. I dropped the first one in a parking lot, breaking the screen. So I had to buy a second one to gift. I still have the broken one and plan on putting that inside an arcade stick.
@chunkystyles @rozlav The boot time is indeed kind of annoying. Seems like there ought to be some way to save a memory image, and reload it on startup, and avoid a proper boot.
I just got a pi zero 2w, and read somewhere that they boot faster than the v1 pi zero. We’ll see.
But the solution may just be to have a decent battery, and try not to let it ever get to 0%.Honestly, just get a retail unit of some kind. Unless you’re just extremely picky, and one doesn’t exist that meets your criteria. The devices on the market these days absolutely blow away anything based on a raspberry pi. And they’ll be cheaper.
@chunkystyles I’m not doing this for practical reasons!
I hacked/rooted/jailbroke or whatever you want to call it a 3DS and that’s now my emulation device for GB family games.
(It’s a big process; Nintendo naturally didn’t make it easy; took most of an evening, but the result was a pretty good device for copying ROMs onto and playing them).So more just as a project? Projects are fun, for sure.
I think the only handhelds that are more comfortable than the GBA are the ones that are way bigger. If you look at the rg351 lineup or like the retroid 5 mini they’re all basically the same.
I think since everyone was raving over the SP variant the GBA one will do well too
Looking at the photo, it doesn’t seem to have an analogue stick? In which case its appeal for PSP, N64, DC and PS1 all dip considerably imo
There are two versions. One has 4 face buttons and no analog while another has 2 face buttons with the analog stick
Idk I dont see the advantage of this over the RG35XXSP. I guess if you really like the gba form factor but tbh this seems like they’re banking on nostalgia while doing very little new. Every few months Ambernic releases a new one of these with very little improvements and a different form factor. Me personally I would love to see them try a Steam Deck style handheld with a low end embedded ryzen processor for $150-$200.
Looks awesome. On a side note, why does an Anbernic have a worse naming scheme than USB?
And there was some doubt they weren’t going to make the 12/12 mo model announcements in a year. Impressive honestly. How many designers and engineers do they have to keep up this mad pace?
The detail that stands out the most about this is its screen resolution: 720x480 is both a perfect 3x integer scale of GBA’s 240x160 and a good 1x fit (with small black bars) for NTSC video.
GBA games scale particularly poorly on most of their other devices’ screens. On 640x480, the closest integer scale is 2x which makes the image fill only 50% of the screen area, otherwise you can use 2.667x scaling to fill the width (11% of height being letterboxing) at the expense of blurriness from non-integer scaling.
The last time Anbernic released a screen well-suited for GBA games was four years ago with RG351P/RG351M. Their 480x320 screens are a great 2x fit for GBA but an awful fit for every other system. 720x480 is a lot better for NTSC content while still being integer scale for GBA.
Unfortunately the lack of analog sticks ruins the compatibility improvements it’d otherwise have over RG351 thanks to the screen and newer CPU. Best to see this as like a GBA that can also play SNES games and not much else. I’d rather have a system that includes the inputs it needs than one that imitates a classic system’s design.
One of the perks of RGblahblah is that it has a vertical form factor and is GB pocket sized. This seems like a step backward.
Some people (me included) prefer horizontal handhelds. That said, I already have an RG Cube and a Steam Deck, I’m not buying any more.
Almost every handheld nowadays is horizontal, vertical ones are great for playing 2D games.
Their previous SP variant looks more interesting.
