this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2026
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Hands on with the Retroid Pocket Nova; A custom OLED love letter to 4:3 gaming (gardinerbryant.com)
submitted 1 day ago by PerfectDark@lemmy.world to c/retrogaming@lemmy.world
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So this is my written article covering the Retroid Pocket Nova. This one might be interesting to you because as well as chatting to Retroid, I asked them to share a couple of the early design renders of the Nova with me to feature in here.

They said yes, and you can see some of the differences between what they were planning, and what we got!

Along with that I chatted to developers like those behind Leaf Studio, rootComputer: the Steam Curator behind Is it 4:3 (the page covering all the PC games they add to their collection, which is super apt for the Nova), and bmdhacks, a friend and dev from ARMSX2.

Naturally I cover the usual things in here, but I thought these might be interesting too!

Hope you enjoy it :)

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[–] popcar2@piefed.ca 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Great interview as always, I'm glad this device is living up to the insane hype from when it got announced. Everyone looked at this thing and immediately decided it's the best 4:3 handheld ever. And it seems to be just that. The fact that it can perfectly emulate PS2 at 2x resolution on low power settings is wild. I would've been frothing at the mouth to get this if I were younger.

Side note: I've never been a fan of transparent shells (kind of heresy in this hobby, I know), but I'm really liking the look of these frosted transparent ones. Clear purple looks like it could go hard.

[–] jaygray91@piefed.zip 2 points 12 hours ago

If you still sometimes look into the /r/sbcgaming, the purple shell is slightly redder than the marketing images. Of course, camera settings and all that as grain of salt, but a lot of people are disappointed and changed their orders to other colors.

I too hope the purple goes hard. It's one of my favorite colors.

[–] metallic_substance@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Those thumb sticks look painfully low

[–] sbeak@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 day ago

It looks like the device is d-pad centric + the 4:3 screen makes it focused on more retro emulation. Also, Russ (from Retro Game Corps) pointed out that the back is pretty flat OOTB, and this means it's more comfortable to shift your hands down. The ergonomic back is also going to ship with the retail units if you want to swap that in (requires screwdriver though, no fancy magnets or anything)

[–] jaygray91@piefed.zip 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'll give it a read over tea later. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

Been wanting a reto handheld for quote some time ever since the miyoo mini v1 days years ago. Never have bought one before. Idk if I want a big capable versatile machine or small easy to pocket little doodad.

I used to have a GBA as a kid and a NSDL as a college kid.

Dunno where I'm going with this comment, I'm just rambling now lol

[–] Wfh@lemmy.zip 1 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

As a happy owner of both a big powerful versatile machine (Steam Deck) that can play anything from the late 70' up to modern AAA PC games, and small pocketable-ish but underpowered console (RGCubeXX) that's good up to the PSX, I'd say go for the most powerful your budget allows. The Deck is my main gaming machine but for anything up to the mid-90's, the RG is great EDC. I feel this one, provided there is an open source OS released for it, could be an excellent compromise.

[–] jaygray91@piefed.zip 1 points 12 hours ago

At most I would want to spend US$ 100. And of course waiting for aliexpress sales.

There's plenty there but I have shortlisted

  • the two anbernic SPs (always pros and cons that I can't between the 3.5" 4:3 lower res screen of the 35sp, and the 3.4" 3:2 higher res screen), and now there's the RG SP as well coming out soon...
  • the cubexx like you mentioned because it's just so ~~cute~~ cube,
  • the trimui brick because that seems neat as a music player as well, the RG rotate because it's gimmicky (but the 3.5" square screen is a big trade off for playing anything other than GB and pico8),
  • maybe the PAM but that has risen in price above $100
  • magicx one35 because it's also gimmicky able to turn 90° and play TATE and somehow NDS as well with both screens the same size

I really should just go with either of the SP for now, and if I don't play much of it I didn't lose too much money.

[–] Elkenders@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I’ve been buying these since the GP32. I grew up with a Gamegear>GB Pocket>GBA.

There’s always a faster, more capable unit pushing what you’re capable of doing. I’d get whatever the current more affordable, pocketable darling is with the form factor you like (Eg TrimUI Brick) and if you love it and find yourself lusting after higher end emulation and PC game translation gaming after sinking time into your little one, then you’ll know it’s worth it and what you’re looking for.

I have just as much fun with the cute cheaper ones as the more powerful ones once I find a game that gets me hooked. I do like to tinker though.

[–] jaygray91@piefed.zip 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

That's my thought as well. And that's how I always go when entering a new hobby. Buy cheap that has great impressions, and judge from there.

After some sorting my mind, I think I would want to start just with ps1 and GBA. That is my childhood gaming systems after all. My parents didn't get any of the Nintendo systems prior to the ps1 as far as I can remember.

So since I've always wanted a GBA SP back then but never really saved the money and getting denied by my parents lol, maybe the RG35XXSP or 34XXSP. The former would be more versatile playing ps1 and others, but the latter would be perfect fit for GBA. Decisions, decisions. And yes, I saw that anbernic also has announced the RG SP, which is a stickless 34XXSP.

~~and then there's the magicx one35 my nerdery senses is killing me~~

[–] Elkenders@feddit.uk 2 points 4 hours ago

I have an RG35XXSP on MUOS and I do like it. Im on holiday at the moment and whittled down my backpack consoles to that console and my modded switch lite. I left my ROG Ally and more powerful android kit at home.