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
Hardware & Industry News
- Anbernic RG Rotate Specs Revealed Ahead of Official Release: After much speculation, the RG Rotate will be powered by the Unisoc T618, which is the same chip found in the recently released RG Vita. In the Official Unboxing video, Anbernic also shared the entire spec sheet, and our source tells us the handheld will go up for pre-order on May 11th, and pricing starts at $82.99.
- “Valve is receiving a ton of ‘Game Consoles’ these past couple weeks in their USA distribution warehouse”: Last week, we saw Valve reveal the price and release date of the Steam Controller. Now, Brad Lynch is getting our hopes up that we might soon hear these same details for either (or both) the Steam Machine and Steam Frame.
- Stop Killing Games Makes Its Case to the EU and Walks Away With a Win: The Stop Killing Games initiative had its day in front of the European Parliament on April 16, and by all accounts, it went about as well as the movement could have hoped.
More Hardware News
Apps and Software
- A New Open Source Project Can Boot Linux on Original PS5 Hardware With Full Steam Support: An open source project called ps5-linux has just dropped on GitHub, and it does exactly what it says on the tin: it turns a PlayStation 5 into a Linux gaming machine. There are caveats, but the scope of what it pulls off is genuinely impressive.
- Windows “K2” rumored to “slash bloat, boost performance, and make the OS seriously competitive with SteamOS”: Windows 11 has been one of the most frustrating OS releases, especially for gamers. A report from Windows Central suggests that Microsoft is refocusing its efforts with a new “Windows K2” initiative. The report goes on to state that “For gaming, Microsoft views steamOS as the benchmark, and is working to optimize the platform so that SteamOS and Windows gaming performance are comparable.“
- Xbox Mode Begins Rolling Out to Players on Windows 11 PCs: Do you remember how the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X were the first devices to feature Microsoft’s Xbox mode? Since then, it’s become available on more hardware, and as of April 30, it’s now available for all Windows 11 PCs.
More Software News
- Pokemon Light Platinum DS Drops Its First English Demo, and It’s a Big One
- Farewell, Spiders: The Makers of GreedFall Are Closing Their Doors
- MiSTer Gets RetroAchievements Support for SNES, N64, PS1, and More
- TITENIC – unlicensed NES scrolling beat ’em up
- Yamata Launcher v1.0.34
- Parallel Launcher – v9.0-4
- Steam Deck Client Update: April 28th
- Bazzite 44 Update
Emulation Corner
- citron-neo 2026-04-27
- Papaya Config Version 14
- play! progress report (01/05/2026)
- GameHub 6.0
- ARMSX2 Arrives on Google Play
- mors ✈️ bitsummit (soon) (@MorsGames)
- BizHawk 2.11.1
- felix86 26.05
- Scorpio Emu | Early Gameplay Test Xbox One Emulation Progress 2
- OpenEmu-Silicon 1.0.7
- I Built Dark Souls on a Real Nintendo 64
- StevenMXZ/Winlator-Ludashi 3.0
- TheWizWiki (@TheWizWiki)
- nupsx v0.3.0
- snes9x 1.63.11
- Speed-007 (@zombie_round)
- Release v0.9.1-prerelease · utkarshdalal/GameNative
- DIB1998/NetherTTC: A simple application that adds texture compatibility to NetherSX2
- AzaharPlus 2125.1-A
- jgenesis v0.12.0 · jsgroth/jgenesis
- drhelius – Overview
- Vita3K Updates Incoming
Custom Core
- GammaOS Next v1.3.1 for AYANEO Pocket Air Mini
- Arch R v2.0 RC-3
- GammaOS Next v1.3.1 for RG Vita
- Allium v1.0.0
- Quark v1.7.0
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.
- BatleXP G350 Setup Guide and Tutorial
- Game of the Month: Portable Perfection for Mobile May
- PortMaster Roundup: March & April 2026
- Late to the Party: Anbernic RG DS
- The Travel Board You Didn’t Know You Needed: Epomaker Luma40
- AYN Odin 2 Portal Setup Guide
- Game Over: Broderbund U-Force
On the YouTubes
RH Partners
Looking for Deals?
The latest AliExpress Choice Day sale is underway, bringing with it coupon codes that can save you up to $60 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: $13.46 at AliExpress
- GameSir Pocket Taco: $34.08 w/ code RHH02
- Miyoo Mini Flip: $56.91 w/ code RHH5
- Miniloong Pocket 1: $66.12 w/ code USCD10
- Retroid Pocket 5: $169.73 w/ code RHH23
- AYN Thor: From $313.72 w/ code CDUS35
- DJI Osmo Pocket 4: $578.71 w/ code CDUS90
- DJI Osmo Pocket 4 (Creator Combo): $736.86 w/ code CDUS90
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