The world of emulation handhelds tends to pass through phases when it comes to design. Years ago, there was a spate of PS Vita-style devices, and in more recent years, we've had imitations of the GBA, GBA SP, and 3DS / DS.

It would seem that Anbernic is lining up another dual-screen clone, and this one looks like it could be the most blatant copy yet seen of Nintendo's famous handheld family.

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AYANEO's work rate is truly remarkable – it seems that not a week goes by without the company announcing something new.

Hot on the heels of the revelation that AYANEO is producing its first smartphone, we have more information on its previously-teased vertical handheld, the Pocket VERT.

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Remember when one-hit-wonder Soulja Boy (real name DeAndre Cortez Way) got caught selling rebranded handhelds? Well, he's back at it again (actually, this is technically 'again again') because he's now flipping Retroid handhelds via his shady Soulja Game branding.

As spotted by Retro Dodo, Soulja Boy is selling the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 and the Retroid Pocket 4 at massively inflated prices, attempting to pass them off as his own devices.

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Dempa Shimbun's miniature recreation of the classic Japanese computer, the NEC PC-8801mkⅡSR, has been delayed for a third time, according to the company's Twitter/X account (as spotted by Gosokkyu)

The PasocomMini PC-8801mkⅡSR was originally announced back in May 2024 and is designed to be a 1/4 recreation of the NEC's PC-8801 mkIISR — the classic 80s computer that saw the release of several highly influential Japanese games like Ys, Xanadu, R-Type, and Popful Mail.

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AYANEO, which is famous for its handheld gaming devices built around Windows and Android, has revealed that it's putting its considerable talents into making a smartphone.

The silhouette of the AYANEO Phone has been shown on social media, along with some fairly lofty claims.

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If you were around in the late '90s and you owned a PC then chances are you encountered ZSNES, one of the first retro emulators to really break into the mainstream.

Coded by zsKnight, the emulator was astounding for 1997 – not only did it offer excellent performance, it even had netplay. Remember, this was back when most households still had dial-up connections, and the average PC was less powerful than a smartwatch is today.

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The Android PS2 emulator ARMSX2 just received its version 1.0 release, marking an exciting new era for PlayStation 2 emulation (thanks, Android Authority).

Backed by the powerful PCSX2 codebase and sporting x86-to-Arm64 translation as well as emulation, ARMSX2 looks set to change the standard of PS2 gaming on Android devices – it's also fully open-source.

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If you've been following the emulation hardware scene recently, then you'll be aware of the proliferation of dual-screen handhelds based on the concept popularised by Nintendo with its DS and 3DS systems.

We've had the AYANEO Pocket DS, Anbernic RG DS and Ayn Thor all appear in 2025 alone, each running Android and blessed with two separate displays.

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The creator of DOSBox Pure has released a new version of the popular emulator that is playable outside of RetroArch in a standalone app.

This means it is now easier than ever for players to experience their favourite DOS games with all the modern conveniences they've come to expect from modern-day emulation solutions (thanks, Tomshardware, for the spot!).

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You may remember back in May that we told you about a new Sega Saturn emulator on the block called Ymir from StrikerX3, which was looking extremely promising.

Well, since then, a new update has been dropped for the emulator (update v0.2.0) just yesterday, with this brand-new release reportedly bringing further improvements to its compatibility with the Sega Saturn's library of games.

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PS2 emulation on Android is in a pretty good place these days, with NetherSX2 providing great performance on phones, handhelds and tablets.

However, given the popularity of Sony's console, there's always interest in new emulators, and it seems that a rather shady individual is taking advantage of this with PSX2, a new PS2 emulator based on PCSX2.

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Dual-screen handhelds which ape the form and function of the Nintendo DS and 3DS aren't a new thing – AYANEO produced the Windows-based Flip DS and Flip KB at the start of 2024 – but we've seen a formidable second wave appear in 2025, with AYN joining AYANEO at the dual-display party via its Thor.

AYANEO has returned to the concept with the Android-based Pocket DS, a device which is very similar to the Flip series in terms of size and form factor.

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Support for NEC LD-ROM² is coming to Ares, and is already available as part of the multi-format emulator's nightly builds, it's been announced online.

Last month, as you may well be aware, brought the exciting news that Ares would become the first ever emulator to support the Mega LD add-on, a peripheral device created for Pioneer's 1993 video game system and laserdisc player, the LaserActive.

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FunnyPlaying's Retro Pixel Pocket – an Android-based emulation handheld shaped like a Game Boy Pocket – is getting a new variant that boosts its power and reduces its price (thanks, Retro Handhelds).

The original model sold for around $100 and shipped with the Allwinner A64 chipset. According to our friends over at Retro Handhelds, this struggled to keep pace with the Android OS, leading to a less-than-ideal user experience.

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Not content to hit consumers with a new wave of emulation handhelds on a yearly basis, Chinese firm AYANEO has now established a sub-brand called KONKR which is focused on budget-friendly devices – which means we'll be seeing even more devices from the company over the next few years.

The first product in this family, the Pocket Fit, is notable for offering a Snapdragon G3 Gen 3 chipset (or Snapdragon 8 Elite, depending on your budget) and a starting price of $239, making it a little friendlier on your wallet than some of AYANEO's previous offerings.

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The group of developers behind Dolphin, the popular Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo Wii emulator, has posted its latest blog post, documenting some of the major changes it has made over the last couple of months, since its previous progress report.

Among the headline features, which were documented within the post that was published earlier this week, are an improved focus on stability as well as improvements to Bluetooth Passthrough, allowing for greater Wiimote compatibility.

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If you've ever been playing your favourite Nintendo Wii game on an emulator and wished there was support for Steam-style achievements to give you that added push to conquer every mode and exploit every possibility, then we have some exciting news to share with you.

Yesterday, the folks behind RetroAchievements, the volunteer group responsible for injecting retro achievements into a wide range of classic games for older platforms, announced it would be introducing retro achievement support for the Nintendo Wii starting next year, on March 19th, 2026.

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Released all the way back in 2001, the Pokémon Mini is one of Nintendo's most unique portable projects – and one which perhaps didn't hit the commercial heights you might have expected.

A dinky monochrome handheld which ran even dinkier cartridges, the Pokémon Mini only saw 10 official releases during its lifespan and is often overlooked when discussing Nintendo's handheld history.

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Things are hotting up in the world of emulation handhelds, with companies like AYANEO, Retroid and MagicX all revealing powerful devices for 2025 and beyond.

Anbernic isn't missing out on the action either, and has already announced the RG557, a MediaTek Dimensity 8300-powered device that comes with a 120 Hz IPS screen.

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The name ZSNES will be instantly familiar with anyone who was emulating video games back in the late '90s and early 2000s.

One of the earliest SNES emulators, ZSNES launched all the way back in 1997 and was created by a team consisting of zsKnight, _Demo_, pagefault, and Nach. While it has since been surpassed in performance and accuracy by emulators such as Snes9x and higan, its place in history is assured – and one of its developers is hard at work on a new project, named Retro Endurance 8bit.

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Many of AYANEO's previous devices, like the Pocket Micro shown here, have been aimed at more discerning retro gamer

AYANEO is never a company content to rest on its laurels, but 2025 feels like it's been especially hectic when it comes to new hardware releases from the firm – and it's got more on the way, it would seem.

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There's a reason so many retro handheld makers have embraced Google's Android OS over the years – not only is it a hotbed for advanced emulators, but it also allows the side-loading of unsigned and unverified apps, and this has allowed the emulation community to grow pretty robustly on the platform without too much fear of hardware makers knocking on the door (although this has happened in the past).

However, as reported by Retro Handhelds, the freedom that has made Android so popular is under threat; Google is about to implement sweeping changes to its policies that could dramatically impact retro emulation on Android.

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Chinese emulation handheld manufacturer MagicX has just revealed its product roadmap for the rest of 2025 and beyond, and one device in particular has caught our attention.

The Retro DS appears to be a successor to MagicX's Zero 40, which we recently reviewed. That device used a single, portrait-oriented screen to replicate the dual displays of the Nintendo DS, but it would seem that the Retro DS is going one stage further and laying down the foundations for 3DS emulation.

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Not too long ago, I reviewed the Anbernic RG ARC. Available in a Saturn-style colour scheme and boasting a button layout based on that console's iconic controller, it was all set to become my dream system – until it became glaringly apparent that it couldn't run Saturn games very well, and its D-pad had serious manufacturing issues which only became obvious over time. It was crushed, because the Saturn is one of my favourite consoles of all time.

You can imagine, then, why I was so excited when Retroid announced the Pocket Classic 6, a Game Boy-style emulation handheld which not only offers the power to run pretty much all Saturn games at full speed, but also has a six-button layout – and is available in a colourway which mimics that of the Japanese Saturn.

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In 1993, Sega partnered with the Japanese multinational Pioneer Corporation to release a new module for its LaserActive home entertainment system in Japan and North America.

This exciting and technologically impressive add-on featured support for standard Sega Mega Drive / Genesis cartridges and Sega CD discs, and allowed LaserActive owners to play and experience a bunch of additional "Mega LD"-compatible games at home. These were games that contained jaw-dropping visuals that took advantage of the LaserActive's Laser-Disc playing abilities to present graphics far beyond what the regular Sega Mega Drive / Genesis system was capable of.

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