Welcome to the latest edition of Retro Handhelds Weekly. This week, we saw a bunch of news in the world of hardware and software. Our writing team continues to be on an absolute tear, and there’s even a surprise or two sprinkled in! So sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and catch up on what’s happened this week in the world of Retro Handhelds.
Table of Contents
Anbernic RG Rotate Pre-orders
Pre-orders for the Anbernic RG Rotate are set to open on May 11 (tomorrow) at 6 AM EDT (3 AM PDT). For the first 72 hours, you’ll be able to save $5 on the Polar Black model and $8 on the Aurora Silver version.
Hardware & Industry News
- Lao Zhang Teases New Yoo Y1 Handheld, and It’s Looking Ambitious: Lao Zhang, the Chinese handheld designer best known for his work with GKD on the Pixel series and for the inventive LG Wing handheld back in 2022, appears to be working on something new. During a livestream on a popular Chinese social platform hosted on Baidu, Zhang showcased what is currently being called the Yoo Y1, a horizontal Android handheld with a polished look.
- A “Lenovo” Retro Handheld Is Selling on AliExpress, But Is It Actually Real?: A retro gaming handheld bearing the Lenovo name has turned up on AliExpress for $71, and while the branding looks official at first glance, there are enough red flags here to warrant serious caution before anyone gets excited about it.
- Anbernic Releases the RG34XXSP in a New Blue Hue: In a short video that was dropped this morning, Anbernic detailed the release of a RG34XXSP in a brand new color: Metallic Blue. While the RG34XXSP doesn’t hold a special place in my heart (I never owned a Game Boy Advance SP), this is easily my favorite color for this device.
More Hardware News
- Royibeila P36S
- The Spectrum White Edition Arrives, Inspired by a Clive Sinclair Legend
- Sony Teases Backwards Compatibility Ambitions as PS6 Rumors Swirl
- THEA1200 Delayed Again: Amiga Replica Now Targeting December 2026
- Atari Acquires PS1 Emulation Studio Implicit Conversions
- Valve Reboots Steam Controller Sales With Orderly Queue System
Apps and Software
- Paper Mario Star Nova is a Massive Total Conversion Mod for the N64 Classic: The modding community around Nintendo 64 classics has been productive for years, but total conversions of the scope that Star Nova represents do not come along often. Creator NicTube has released Paper Mario Star Nova, a full-scale mod for Paper Mario 64 that replaces essentially everything that made the original game what it was and builds something new in its place.
- Anbernic RG477V Gets a Massive Update with New Launcher, Control Center, and More: While Anbernic has been busy releasing a new RG34XXSP shell and gearing up for the RG Rotate launch, it’s also been doing some work on older devices. The company just released a new update for the RG477V, but this isn’t just your run-of-the-mill bug fix update.
- The Minish Cap Is Now Playable on PC Thanks to a New Unofficial Port: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap has a checkered history of availability. The 2004 Game Boy Advance title has never seen an official PC release, and aside from a brief window on the Wii U Virtual Console years ago, Nintendo has made no effort to bring it to modern platforms. Developer MatheoVignaud has taken matters into their own hands, releasing an unofficial native PC port of the game via GitHub.
More Software News
- Dusk is a Recompilation of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Now Available for PC, Linux, Android, and iOS
- Someone Put Morrowind on the Fallout 4 PipBoy, and It Actually Works
- LSFG Comes to Android via GameNative, Tripling Frame Rates in PC Game Tests
- A Saturn Prototype of a Completely Unknown Cancelled Game Has Been Preserved
- Star Fox Returns to the Switch 2
Emulation Corner
Custom Core
Game of the Month
From the Writers
While there’s always a lot of news to cover and talk about, we also try to take a step back and give everyone something a bit different to enjoy. These are the more editorial-styled articles and reviews that you might have missed over the course of this week.
- Anbernic RG Rotate First Impressions: Refreshingly Odd, but Not Perfect
- ROCKNIX on the Miniloong Pocket 1: Transformative!
- EPOMAKER Split70: I’m 50/50
- The Retro Handheld Accessories I Can’t Live Without
- How to Install Ubuntu on the R36 Ultra
- Game Over: Zeebo
On the YouTubes
RH Partners
Looking for Deals?
The AliExpress Summer Refresh sale is underway, bringing with it coupon codes that can save you up to $50 off on some of the best gaming handhelds. As always, we’ve rounded up all of the AliExpress coupon codes that we could find. If you find that one code isn’t working, chances are you’ll be able to try a different one and save some dough.
AliExpress Discount Codes
Deal Highlights
- DSPico: $14.08 at AliExpress
- GameSir Pocket Taco: $33.49 w/ code SRUS02
- Miyoo Mini Flip: $60.01 w/ code SRUS07
- Miniloong Pocket 1: $71.67 w/ code SRUS07
- Retroid Pocket 5: $207.26 w/ code SRUS25
- AYN Thor: From $312.14 w/ code SRUS38
- Lenovo G02: $66.33 w/ code SRUS07
- RG43H Pro: $68.15 w/ code SRUS07
Sign Up For the Retro Handhelds Weekly Newsletter
We recently launched the Retro Handhelds Weekly newsletter! This has been a long time coming, but basically, it’s what you’ve enjoyed about this weekly news round-up, just in an email format. You’ll receive ad-free weekly updates on what’s going on around the Retro Handhelds community. We have handhelds, devices, emulation/software, gaming, community news, reviews, deals, current RH games of the week/month/quarter/year, and more! And of course, it’s completely free to sign up.
