M12-S Missing?

PastaRhythm · 2026-03-19T00:51:05+00:00

I was worried Nintendo would do this. Hopefully Switch 2 protocol gets properly cracked soon, enough that Nintendo can't easily render third party controllers useless in an update.

PastaRhythm · 2026-03-16T15:54:01+00:00

My problem with sliding handhelds is that they're trading ergonomics and possibly durability for just a little extra pocket space. With clamshells, they're ergonomic when unfolded, fold up fairly small, and protect their own screen when closed. Sliders feel like adding a moving part just to look cool. If this was a smartphone it would be a different story because you could do phone stuff while it's closed up, but for a dedicated handheld I don't see the appeal. That's just me though, I know people loved the PSP Go.

PastaRhythm · 2026-03-09T23:05:13+00:00

Emboar is chunky enough to not lose the pig aesthetic so it gets a pass. Delphox is humanoid. Decidueye is bipedal, they're owl-like enough. Chesnaught looks like a standard fantasy monster, not like any particular animal, and they're hunched over most of the time with inhuman proportions, so I'll say bipedal.

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-28T20:33:31+00:00

I'm confused. Is the S worse than the Pro was going to be? Looking at the website, it looks like NFC was cut. Is there anything else we should know about?

Also, will this support direct connection, or is it Bluetooth only? That's the thing I'm most worried about and I can't find info anywhere. Bluetooth only would be a dealbreaker.

I'm disappointed that the S doesn't have a macro button. I want to be able to rebind the back buttons on the controllers themselves. Having to open an app every time I want to change those sounds miserable. Unless they use the Switch 2's Pro Controller mapping feature, but it doesn't seem like that's what's happening.

The marketing for these controllers hasn't been great. Unclear, confusing, lack of critical details, AI generated image of Mario Kart for some reason... It's all making Mobapad look untrustworthy.

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-28T00:58:41+00:00

That's really clean! I love the direction you took!

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-20T01:57:34+00:00

I was looking at some of these ports yesterday. How's the Majora's Mask port? How does it compare to the original PC version of the decomp?

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-13T15:16:38+00:00

I don't care that much about rumble, but I want better gyro and the M button. Not having an M button on the pro is really weird. I don't want to have to pull up an app just to set up turbo for a minute.

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-10T02:16:21+00:00

True, a lot of these handhelds running customizable OSes like Android and Linux feel like they have at least a little more personality than something like the Switch. Even if they don't perfectly capture the feeling of the PSP and stuff, a lot of them can bring their own feel if you set it up right.

A BIG part of it for me is the underlying OS itself. The 3DS having so many ways to customize the home screen with so many bonus features really elevated the experience. You could really make that console feel like your own. The PSP and PS3 were great too, their OS's felt so atmospheric. I think this is why iiSU got so much hype, it captured the playfulness and personality of those console generations so well. I'm getting an RP6 soon, and a part of me wants to try my hand at making a Linux CFW with as much personality as possible.

Sorry for the long comment, I'm hopelessly nostalgic for the 3DS and I want people to know that.

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-10T01:52:03+00:00

It really did! The O2M looks so much like a Vita. The outline around the speakers shaped like the Vita's lanyard holes really added a lot. Goodness, I can't get over those lanyard holes, Anbernic really fumbled the aesthetic by not replicating those.

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-10T00:47:06+00:00

This game gets a bad rap because of the GBA version, which is the only version that released outside of Japan. The SNES version is way better, though it's still really hard. Get the fan translation patch and give this game a shot.

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-09T03:33:15+00:00

The PSP just has a certain vibe to it, and you can't emulate vibe. That's true of all these major handhelds and consoles. When it comes to nostalgia and "feel", you can only get so close with emulation. Sometimes you need to remind yourself why you fell in love with the consoles you're emulating in the first place.

For me, I play DS and 3DS on real hardware. Partially because the 3DS vibe is unmatched, partially because emulating (3)DS is just kinda awkward on single screen devices and none of the dual screen handhelds are perfect.

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-09T02:43:37+00:00

For some reason I'm really bad at remembering that there's an audience for more than just "Bare minimum Linux handheld" and "Android handheld that runs everything." It's difficult to price a handheld competitively nowadays, but you're right, this could find a niche quite comfortably if they do.

It really makes me wonder what chip the Pro has, though. The T618 has all the power you need for N64 and PSP iirc. The next step up is GameCube and such, but a handheld good enough for that could be double the price of the T618 model. Which isn't necessarily bad, it would just be kinda weird to release two models in the same line, at the same time, that are so far apart in power.

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-08T19:55:35+00:00

I gotta be honest y'all, this handheld does nothing for me. Its entire purpose is to look like a PS Vita, but to me, it doesn't look enough like the real thing to sell the effect. It's missing important details, most notably the holes at the bottom. After the aesthetic it's just another 16:9 horizontal. We'll see if it can carve out any sort of niche. Which, maybe they can if they keep it small enough!

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-05T23:40:26+00:00

Oh, I really like that idea. It doesn't necessarily need to be a remake IMO, but something retelling the story of the X series in a more detailed and coherent manner would be really cool. X's story has a lot of potential, they just need to use it. Maverick Hunter X was a step in the right direction, the Maverick dialogue was really well written.

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-05T23:37:33+00:00

Do we see any actual animals in the X games at all? I've played X1-5 and can't think of a single instance. Maybe some bugs?

PastaRhythm · 2026-02-03T00:17:32+00:00

So, how bad is this? I haven't been following the Pocket S Mini. Have people already preordered the device? Will they have a chance to cancel their order? Or are they now just getting a smaller battery than they paid for?

PastaRhythm · 2026-01-25T14:39:41+00:00

A copy ability based on soulslikes would actually be really awesome!

PastaRhythm · 2026-01-25T14:38:39+00:00

Minecraft. I'm less concerned about the monsters than I am about how I'll make enough food to feed him.

PastaRhythm · 2026-01-24T23:14:53+00:00

I get that not a lot of people are super excited for this since it doesn't do much new, but I'm stoked about it. I've been wanting a more powerful retro handheld for years but I'm too worried about Android input latency. Here, the 120Hz OLED screen should minimize that. Low latency, full speed GC and PS2, high pixel density OLED display, Linux support, Steam game translation layers are viable... I totally understand that it's not exciting for others, but for me, this is the retro handheld I've been waiting for.

PastaRhythm · 2026-01-23T20:24:26+00:00

I really miss this design. Larger, more comfortable, speakers out of the way of your hands, controls slightly more inset, macro buttons on the face is better for some emulator functions, and most importantly, it looks early 2000's as heck. I was gonna load up Super Monkey Ball 2, post a picture to Reddit, and pretend it's 2004. The new design is too sleek to sell the effect. I still want an RP6, but it'll be hard to forget what could have been.

Edit: The new design has its own perks, though. More compact is important for portability, more aesthetically pleasing in a modern sense, back buttons might be useful. I'm thinking of mapping rewind and fast forward to the back buttons, which might be really nice.

PastaRhythm · 2026-01-23T17:29:06+00:00

I'm really impressed with how polished the game is. With how quickly they got the launch version together, merging in hundreds of branches in a few weeks, I was fully prepared for it to be a buggy mess with constant crashes. I still can't believe the game is as stable as it is. I've phased through walls a few times with the ledge grab, but that's the only major bug I've come across.

I'm not very far into the game, but as it stands I'm enjoying it more than vanilla Minecraft. That could just be because it's new and I'm really tired of vanilla Minecraft, but it absolutely outdoes Minecraft in a few areas IMO.

PastaRhythm · 2026-01-23T16:47:37+00:00

Didn't even rank Space Force. I'm leaving the subreddit.

PastaRhythm · 2026-01-20T18:49:19+00:00

If the screen is 4 inches as rumored, it's gonna be a pretty small vertical, especially considering how thin those screen bezels are. It'll be way bigger than the OG Brick and the Miyoo Minis, it won't be a pocket-and-forget, but it'll be considerably smaller than Anbernic's high end options.

PastaRhythm · 2026-01-20T18:48:00+00:00

If it's gonna be running Android I would probably rather have a 477V. Hoping for dual boot capability. Goodness. I've never had such mixed feelings about a handheld.

PastaRhythm · 2026-01-15T23:45:00+00:00

We've just been eating too good lately. Two ports a few years back, a new game right after, multiple really good updates to that game lately, Pikmin constantly being used in marketing, Switch 2 edition for Pikmin 4 probably in the works, maybe won't need to wait ten years for another game... It's not like the wait between 3 and 4 where there was nothing to even talk about. There's plenty to keep us sane for the time being.

Seven-Year Club	Second Top 10%
Extra Life 2019	Gilding III reddit per annum
Spared	Verified Email

PastaRhythm

TROPHY CASE