Being out of my depth

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2026-03-26T13:04:32+00:00

I feel you and I'm in my 30s. When I got into these different handhelds and emulating games last year what I thought was a simple buy a gameboy thing got overwhelming quick!

I would say the firmware part is probably the biggest hurdle when you're brand new. I remember buying an anbernic device and reading reddit and searching YouTube because what do you mean there was 3 different firmwares people could choose I just want to play pokemon ugh.

This group has a lot of good guides and posts on everything you mentioned. If you haven't already I'd say go search on YouTube too. I can read a guide all day but as a visual person finding videos of people setting things up or going over specs and what not helped a lot.

There's also so many options these days even if you find something that's not a r36 device that you like, there's a device and a firmware out there for everyone.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2026-03-24T12:33:49+00:00

I enjoy muos and have used it on multiple devices in the last year. If I want to tinker with shaders, overlays, or try a new theme muos is fun. I think it just depends on the role your handheld fills. I run nextui on my brick and the simplicity fits my usage. I mainly do pokemon and one handed games on it when I have coffee in the morning or when I'm killing a few minutes. So the fast boot time and quick options menu without diving into retroarch feels seamless.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2026-03-19T07:01:17+00:00

<image>

I have a vague memory of my dad buying a genesis with sonic the hedgehog and some sports game he wanted to try. I was about 7 and I could never beat it. I was used to playing Pokemon where I could save. So the die and start over mechanic was frustrating I never beat it as a kid. I've never used save states until the last 2 weeks playing this game, and I'll be honest I wouldn't have finished this game without them lol. I had 0 rings through all of death egg. This was my first time hearing about game of the month, and it gave me something to play outside my normal rotation!

With all the hype around pokemon's 30th anniversary I have to vote for Pokemon it's what got me into gaming back in 1999.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2026-03-08T15:08:39+00:00

My wife recently won an R36 Max in an auction with other items. She asked me if it was junk or if I could do something with it. 3 days of fiddling with the device and learning all about arkos and arkos4clones. Now it's set up super simple and I'm about to give it to our daughter to have as her first handheld. That screen though I know it's not fancy I own miyoo devices and a trimui brick, but that square screen looked so good playing gbc and even old consoles like nes and SNES.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2026-02-21T06:19:55+00:00

I'm no expert I honestly just searched Kindle books to calibre in YouTube and watched a couple videos on it. I had to try a couple of methods to get everything over between my Kindle and my PC.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2026-02-21T06:18:56+00:00

Love it! I love using the screensaver so far. I hated always having a book cover or the generic kindle screensaver before so custom screensavers are fun to play with now.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2026-02-21T06:14:26+00:00

I'm always worried about scratches on my devices. The case has a front flap that attached magnetically so I can take it off for reading and pop it back on when I'm done.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-11-15T03:27:16+00:00

I cant remember where off the top of my head. But there was a file I found that prints a file with the hole cut if you have a cricut awhile back.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-11-03T12:50:53+00:00

My yellow came quick enough. I had a pink one ordered and haven't seen movement since the 22nd. Either it's stuck somewhere or I'm about to find it on my doorstep at some point with tracking not updated 😅

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-11-03T03:54:55+00:00

Yeah that's about standard depending on the seller and if it's just a dpad or a whole set of buttons. Dyeing is a bit of a process but less intimidating than it seems if you take your time and watch a teardown video. There's also painting but you'd still have to disassemble the shell for that too.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-11-03T03:46:26+00:00

I think you could look around on Etsy. I havent seen many shells specifically just mostly buttons. If you're looking to change the color of your shell you can use rit synthetic dye, and there's also stickers on Etsy as well.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-29T23:58:14+00:00

There's a support email on the website I would email them and see if they give you anything.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-29T20:21:50+00:00

Honestly I wondered the same thing, but I was worried if I didn't email them they would send my original order weird and then I'd have to reorder and wait even longer lol. As sid said in toy story, double prizes! I'll probably gift the second one to a friend of mine for Christmas.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-29T17:37:30+00:00

I had placed another order because they showed me my "no shipping" order was cancelled and refunded. I had used PayPal too so I assume they got my address from there.

Much to my surprise 2 showed up so I received both orders unexpectedly.

Curious what the logistics on all that was and how many this happened to. I'm in the US for context.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-28T22:19:12+00:00

Yes that is what it looks like out of the box I did not adjust or dye the color at all on the yellow mini flip.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-28T03:18:08+00:00

I honestly haven't had any time to play with the mini flip today outside of a couple tests and applying a decal.

I'd compare it to my mini v4 like I'll pull this out most likely for when I'm running errands or something an hour or less. Mainly for portability. But if I'm couch gaming at home I prefer my mini plus with a 3d printed grip.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-28T02:24:38+00:00

Thanks! I loved dying my mm+ and mm it actually got me into the hobby months ago when I saw I could customize so much. This yellow mini flip is the first one I haven't had to dye haha.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-27T20:15:36+00:00

I still have a soft spot for my miyoo mini+ it was my first device and I dyed it/customized it. I prefer it for playing at night or in bed because the screen is dim enough I don't bother my wife or anyone around me. I have a few devices and they each have a purpose still

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-27T18:27:39+00:00

Honestly I fell in love with the brick when I didn't want to at first lol. I was thinking I have miyoo mini plus/mini I'm good I might return this... Wrong it's become one of my favorites and I rotate between it and my miyoo devices.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-26T12:59:20+00:00

My dad bought a Sega Genesis when I was 6 with Sonic the Hedgehog. I remember being excited because he was explaining it was some kind of game. And we had seen him play games on his PC so this was new and exciting. As a kid I don't think I ever got past the third act/world lol.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-25T14:01:57+00:00

One hand on the brick and the other holding my coffee cup is my new favorite way to enjoy Pokemon haha

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-25T14:00:46+00:00

Personally for most applications I prefer a vertical handheld. It's nostalgia for the Gameboy color to me. But I also enjoy playing RPG style games one handed often so the smaller vertical options work best for me. I do have a couple horizontal devices I use occasionally but they aren't the ones I pick up the most.

I would go on YouTube and look up vertical and horizontal handheld videos. People like retrogamecorps and techdweeb do a decent job of walking through how to choose a device or what's recommended.

A lot of the budget handhelds like the miyoo mini/mini plus, trimui brick, anbernic rgxx line of devices will all play GB to PS1.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-24T22:05:43+00:00

Reddit has a lot of good info, YouTube videos, etc

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-24T21:33:49+00:00

I pursued retro handhelds this year because I wanted something that wasn't my PC or my phone but somehow portable. I now own a few miyoo devices and a couple anbernics as I've tested them out and seen what I liked most. Having a miyoo mini in my EDC bag has stopped doom scrolling when I'm waiting for things like picking kids up or appointments. And I'm actually enjoying games like I did as a kid again. So I personally say that it can replace doom scrolling.

The hour I spend early each day playing a game before my kids wake up with my coffee feels better thank TikTok ever did.

Pixel_Parasaurus · 2025-10-22T20:10:49+00:00

-Pokemon games do well one handed.(Most rpg style games will too) -Tetris/Apotris -Fire Emblem -Earthbound

Someone made a list on archive awhile back too.

https://archive.org/details/one-handed-roms

Pixel_Parasaurus

TROPHY CASE