linux – Retro Game Corps

PowKiddy RGB30 Starter Guide

October 27, 2023March 31, 2024by Russ41 Comments

Last updated: 31MAR2024 (see Changelog for details)

The PowKiddy RGB30 has quickly become one of my favorite budget handhelds. It has a wonderful 720p screen with a 1:1 aspect ratio, which makes it perfectly suited for emulating a variety of retro systems. It’s also comfortable and affordable — only $90 retail with free shipping!

This guide will help you get set up with the device, from the very basics to some of my favorite advanced settings.

Buy one here:
PowKiddy website (use code “retrogamecorps” for 5% off your order)
AliExpress (frequently has sales/coupons)
Amazon (more expensive but faster shipping and easy returns)

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Guides

PowKiddy X55 Starter Guide

July 5, 2023March 31, 2024by Russ36 Comments

Last updated: 31MAR2024 (see Changelog for details)

The PowKiddy X55 is a surprisingly good handheld, at an affordable price. It features a beautiful 5.5″ 720p display, decent performance up through N64, Saturn, and Dreamcast, and has official custom Linux firmware that makes the device run like a dream. It’s in a magical category where it gets many things right and doesn’t have any dealbreakers.

This guide will help you get set up with the device, from the very basics to some of my favorite advanced settings.

Buy one here:
Official PowKiddy store (use code “retrogamecorps” for 5% off your order)
AliExpress listing

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steam deck

Review: JSAUX Steam Deck Dock

September 13, 2022September 5, 2022by RussLeave a Comment

In this video we’re going to take a look at the new edition of JSAUX’s Steam Deck Docking Station, and whether it’s worth it to get this now, or wait for the eventual Valve release.

Steam Deck docking station
JSAUX Steam Deck accessories

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Guides, RG552

Anbernic RG552 Epic Retro Gaming Guide

August 16, 2022March 31, 2024by Russ5 Comments

Last updated: 31MAR2024

It’s no secret that the Anbernic RG552 is an expensive device. At its initial starting retail price of $227, it can be disappointing that it’s not powerful enough to run GameCube or PlayStation 2 at acceptable levels (thankfully, as of 2024 it can be found for about $175 on sale). Even with that in mind, there are some aspects of this device that really shine — namely its screen and overall feel when it comes to d-pad-centric gaming — and so in this guide I’m going to walk you through all the little tweaks and tricks I use to get the most out of this device.

At the end of the day, the Anbernic RG552 is one of my favorite consoles for RETRO (i.e. 32-bit and below) gaming, and with these tweaks, I think you might agree.

Buy one here (AliExpress)
or via Anbernic.com
or via Amazon Prime (more expensive but fast shipping)

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Guides

Miyoo Mini (and Miyoo Mini Plus) Starter Guide

May 15, 2022July 10, 2024by Russ57 Comments

Last updated: 10JUL2024 (see Changelog for details)

This guide will show you everything you need to know about the Miyoo Mini and the Miyoo Mini Plus — where to buy one, the best tools to get it set up, accessories, and how to install custom operating systems like Onion and MiniUI.

Buy one here: AliExpress | Amazon (faster shipping) | KeepRetro | DroiX

Note that due to demand, availability has been an issue. The cheapest prices will be through the official Miyoo store on AliExpress, but you will need to check periodically to see when the device will be in stock. You can also try third-party vendors like KeepRetro or DroiX, or you can pay a premium price on Amazon to get it more quickly.

Miyoo Mini Plus review video

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Mini PCs, Reviews

Review: MinisForum B550 Mini PC

May 11, 2022June 19, 2022by RussLeave a Comment

The newest mini PC from MinisForum is easily the most powerful mini PC I’ve tested, and we haven’t even scratched the surface of what it can do. In this video we’ll take a look at its performance as a standalone PC, and in a future video we’ll unlock its full potential by adding a GPU and power supply using its innovative docking feature.

More info here (non-affiliate)

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Guides, Mini PCs, steam deck

Steam Deck Emulation Showcase & Guide

March 20, 2022March 20, 2022by RussLeave a Comment

At this point, what CAN’T the Steam Deck do? In this video we’ll look at the emulation performance of the Steam Deck within its stock SteamOS operating system. We’ll also discuss my findings with getting Batocera running on the handheld.

Links mentioned in the video:
Steam ROM Manager
Batocera installation guide
RetroArch starter guide

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Mini PCs, Reviews

Chuwi LarkBox X Mini PC Review

March 6, 2022by Russ2 Comments

The LarkBox X is Chuwi’s latest mini PC, running a Ryzen 7 3700U APU for about $400. In this video we’ll test how it performs with everyday computing tasks, PC gaming, and retro emulation in both Windows and Linux (Batocera) environments.

Buy one here
Batocera flash drive guide

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Guides, RG552

Anbernic RG552 Linux Setup Guide

December 27, 2021December 27, 2021by Russ6 Comments

Last Updated: 27DEC2021 (see Changelog for details)

The Anbernic RG552 is a unique device in that it can boot into both Linux and Android, giving users a wide variety of use cases. In this guide we’ll go over some of your options when it comes to the Linux operating system, including a pre-configured SD card image that you can download and use directly on your device.

Some caveats:

The Linux operating system that ships with the device is a modified version of Batocera v29. Several development teams (including the official Batocera team) are already hard at work on updated firmware that will improve the user experience. This guide is meant to be a stop-gap while we wait for proper updated firmware.
This guide will show you how to install a pre-configured SD card image you can simply flash an SD card that has all of the changes baked in.
I DO NOT recommend flashing this SD card image over your existing 16GB card that came with the device. Keep that one around for safekeeping; instead, I recommend using a SanDisk Ultra 16GB card because it is more reliable and can be found for under $10.
If you don’t want to flash a new SD card image, I will also link to a shell script that will provide most of the tweaks to your existing stock firmware.
Once custom firmware is available, I will likely NOT recommend using this guide, since updated firmware will likely improve the user experience as well as emulation performance.
This updated image will include optimized hotkeys, auto save/load for most systems, scaling, and aspect ratios, plus the ability to download new themes.
Big thanks to developers FGL82 and konsumschaf for help with dialing in the proper settings, and TheGreatCrippler for helping shrink down this image to a manageable size.

For now, I would focus on using the Linux interface for PS1 and below gameplay. The emulators on the Android OS side are much more optimized and will give you better performance across the board. Custom firmware might make Linux more performative in the future, but for now I would use Android for Nintendo DS, Dreamcast, PSP, Nintendo 64, Panasonic 3D0, Atari Jaguar, and Nintendo GameCube.

So without any further delay, let’s jump into it.

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Guides, Reviews

Turn a USB Flash Drive into a Portable Gaming Console using Batocera

August 1, 2021August 1, 2021by Russ7 Comments

The Batocera firmware lets you flash a lightweight, emulation-focused operating system onto any flash drive, hard drive, or SD card. So what if we flashed it onto a flash drive, loaded it all up, and then used that as a portable gaming “system” that could be plugged into any Windows PC? That’s what we’re going to explore in this video.

Download Batocera
Batocera wiki
Batocera Nation YouTube channel

USB flash drive
Rii USB wireless keyboard
8bitDo Pro 2 controller

Note that you can use any number of storage solutions to host your Batocera operating system, like an external HDD/SDD, and internal drive installed into your PC, or even a SD card if you have a built-in (or USB) reader.

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