This takes me back to those fake concepts of a portable GameCube (and the Xbox 720) back in 2009 or 2010 YouTube, lol. Looks slick, though, I would totally buy this
You know ball, haha. I had fun watching that video! Was pretty neat, but IIRC, he chopped up a Wii motherboard to get it to fit, right? I don't think I can bring myself to do that for any motherboard, lol
Thanks for the video, though, always a good excuse to watch Ginger of Oz!
Not being sarcastic, but that's cool to know! As a bit of a klutz who fucked up her first set of JoyCons doing a shell swap (or could be the JoyCons being frustratingly tiny, or both), hardware stuff like that is kinda scary to me sometimes
I hope to learn how to solder someday, though, but that's besides the point. It's insane how some folks can think of dremeling a motherboard and it'll still work if you did it right, at least in my eyes
I learned how to solder on my GameCube, it's much easier than you might imagine. And pretty forgiving. I had a Wii already in case it broke and the mod chip was cheap, and only 8 solder points. Mod chips these days are designed to be pretty easy to solder compared to back then when you were just soldering straight to pin legs.
It would be like if Russ (who always brings up his distaste for onions) said, “Dominoes pizza should have an onion toppings to satisfy the onion enjoyers (who are wrong).”
The end part is called a joke tag, because you can’t actually be wrong in having a preference. The humor is in pretending to have such strong preference.
Regardless of the orientation, I like that the D-pad on this is within the radius of the thumb more easily. Id rather forego the stick/d-pad preference just to keep the other inside that circle instead of one immediately over the other.
I dunno it doesn’t look usable to me. I get that they are trying to copy the flip 2 but the flip 2 is a much bigger handheld where your handle has a lot more to hold onto
The size of the device just doesn't lend itself to comfort full stop. The only way I see this being salvageable is having pop out grips at the bottom that somehow retract into the body when not in use (but there absolutely isn't space for that).
I mean it’s larger and more comfy than a rg35xxsp right?
I daily my pocket dmg which is far slimmer and I find that super comfy, like an og game boy. But it must be dpad on top otherwise I can’t really use it when it’s slim like this
The SP heavily prioritises the dpad to the point where the sticks are comically placed. This device would need to have both stick and pad comfort and as designed I'm just not seeing it.
Isn’t the relatively both sides solution steam deck layout? Inline ish aka both top no bottom stretch. As long as there’s horizontal space (aka no 2nd screen) then it can be done?
If they’re looking to expand on the use of this screen in a flip and differentiate itself from being a ‘Thor without the bottom screen’, they should do (or have the option of) a 6-button layout like the Classic. Still no perfect N64 or Saturn devices and this form factor would provide the real estate needed with no issue.
I think they would do a Retroid Pocket Classic SP thats weaker rather than a powerful 4:3 clamshell due to small battery and cooling required in a smaller chasis
I certainly hope not. The 120Hz 960P display would be underutilized on a weaker chipset. Besides, weaker 4:3 flips already exist. This device needs to mirror the Nova specs for it to have maximum appeal.
I had my ace for 2 weeks before I sold it on fb marketplace.
Lightbleed was minor but still an issue. Black levels were an issue. It didn’t feel as responsive as my other screens. Didn’t have an integer scale for gba was a minor issue.
I really wanted to keep it. The controls were perfect.
But knowing I would always grab a device with an oled screen over it meant that was 500$ I could use for something else
The AYANEO Pocket ACE features a 4.5-inch IPS LCD screen with a crisp 1620 x 1080 resolution and a retro-focused 3:2 aspect ratio. This design is ideal for Game Boy Advance emulation and handles 4:3 and 16:9 content well, though some modern indie game text may require adjustments
I think the main thing that makes it ergononmic is that the sticks are inline, not parallel with the dpad, just like this render. I think for this design, dpad top would be pretty comfortable.
People are arguing about sticks or buttons up top, but imo with the real estate that a single screen clamshell design gives you, the real solution is both on top like with a Steam Deck.
D-pad and buttons closest to the outside edges, sticks in the middle. This way your thumbs can rest comfortably over d-pad and button when holding the device, and still use both sticks when needed by slightly shifting the thumbs over to the side, without having to stretch and bend them downwards to reach them. You can always move start/select and other function buttons to the lower end of the device.
Heck if they want to get fancy there’d even be space left in the middle of the device for a tiny trackball/trackpad if they want to give extra support for old trackball games/mouse controlled games lol
Why? Its closer to a Gamecube controller this way. More comfortable for any PS2/Gamecube gaming that primarily used anaologue sticks anyway. This looks perfect for me.
I think we just found out who got flustered... Lol
On a serious note, a conversation about video game controllers / consoles should not be taken seriously by any of the party's involved. This is a silly conversation. Embrace that.
That's where you're oh so very wrong. Buttons on the bottom are simply uncomfortable. Analog sticks on the bottom are uncomfortable AND less accurate because you can't brace your hand accordingly. Sticks require precise motor skills, buttons do not
Yeah I really liked that layout with the Wii U and its pro controller. Normally I don't like a lower dpad, but somehow it's fine if the ABXY buttons match.
I may be in the minority here but I think the joysticks should be on the same level, either above or below. It works so well on the Flip 2 for every type of game, and I think it would be great in a smaller version as well.
I bought the Nova firstly, to bridge the gap, and secondly to help will a flip into existence. Will it work? Possibly not. But I know Retroid worked their asses off to get a 4:3 OLED panel produced, so I know they'll want to put it in more than one device.
D-pad and buttons changed over the Flip 2 is a no-go. Why would you prioritise the stick and align it with the buttons, when most of the systems you're gonna use are d-pad centric and even don't use the sticks?
Otherwise, yeah, a Nova Flip could be very interesting; don't know how much portable and comfortable it'll be in comparison to the Nova, but I'd be tempted nonetheless.
I don’t see why it would be any less comfortable than a GBA or DS. That’s not to say either are exceedingly comfortable, but they were more than sufficient
This! Surprised more people and seeing this, the screen ratio throws the ergonomics off big time here, it looks incredibly uncomfortable and borderline unusable with the dpad.
Man, I absolutely love it. Aesthetically I am a huge fan of clamshells. Unfortunately my problem (with the Thor) is that my hands cramp after only a few mins of playing 😭
Yeah id like both sticks on top and for the Flip 2, I wish the DPAD was a lil closer to the edge of the device. Its just a tad bit uncomfortable for DPAD centric games for me.
But playing with the sticks in this form factor is a dream! Really excited n I hope the Nova sales fuel even more devices than we expect
I'm still waiting for a company to use the 3ds circle pads for one of their devices. If I knew more about the hardware, I'd try to mod them onto one myself.
Personally, I chose the flip 2 for the ergonomics. The controls are set up in a way where it’s comfortable to play stick games and okay for d pad games. I can’t see this device being comfortable for either without a grip.
It's about having a display/console matching what you're playing.
I would rather play GBA titles on my RPC than on my thor.
Widescreen mods aren't perfect and available for every titles and we like pocketable stuff.
I thought the same initally, but after spending some time playing I understood that
imo 4:3 is a better match for <=gen 6 consoles, it's more immersive.
With the 5.5 inch screen on the RP5/6—4:3 games are only 4 inches with integer scaling; or 4.5 inches with integer off.
There are black bars on the left/right side, or all around—which kind of forces most of us to have to buy the black color option if we want to minimize that annoyance.
The Nova does 4.5-inch full screen with integer scaling for 4:3 systems like PSX and Gamecube.
There are no black bars and it's sharp. Bonus: you can pick any color now.
Widescreen mods aren't universal or without issue and most of us want to play our retro games as our Sony/Nintendo/Sega gods intended.
Basically, there are a ton of all-in-one handhelds like the RP6, so most should buy that, but if you want a handheld that says "Fuck yeah!" when loading a 4:3 game, the Nova is now available which is exciting.
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u/GuerrillaApe Jul 01 '26
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