New breed of handheld devices with 1:1 screens, perfect for TATE shmups!

[Restart_Point]

I've been keeping an eye on three handheld emulation devices in the last year, first there was the Powkiddy RGB30, then recently there has been the ZPG Unicorn and now the Ambernic RG Cube

What's cool about these is they all have a 720p 1:1 square screen, so the screen real estate is very well utilised by tate mode games, keeping the device itself quite small and pocketable.

The ZPG Unicorn is a nice device with possibly the best-postioned and feeling Dpad according to reviews, but it's not the most powerful and it's going to be hard to get hold of from a much smaller company than Ambernic.

This guy has been doing long demos of the Cube recently. This looks to be the best one so far, with the most powerful CPU (multi-core 2.7GHz) and highest quality build, built-in Android 13 and a touch screen. Pretty cool stuff, nice for train rides etc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GorqT0le9zk


Attached picture: Ambernic RG Cube:

[Jonpachi]

I can't go back to the "claw" (one hand on the top, and one on the bottom of the device), no matter how perfect the screen and/or d-pad is.

[beer gas canister]

I play a bunch of tate shmups on an RGB30. The dpad is not the best, but I get by with the tiny joysticks. Not everybody's cup of tea but I'm a big fan

[Dochartaigh]

I play a bunch of tate shmups on an RGB30. The dpad is not the best, but I get by with the tiny joysticks. Not everybody's cup of tea but I'm a big fan

This is the exact one I've been playing on. Same thoughts about the D-Pad too (although I did buy some kapton tape to try the d-pad mod at some point).

[BloodHawk]

I picked up an RGB30 a while back as well and love the 1:1 screen for vertical games. Even standard 4:3 stuff still works well.

16:9 or anything close to that though (like PSP games) are a different story. But it really doesn't have the horsepower to play most of those anyway (usually have to have frame skip enabled for PSP games).

[Restart_Point]

For anyone using the RGB30, is it powerful enough for good Dreamcast emulation?

[beer gas canister]

For anyone using the RGB30, is it powerful enough for good Dreamcast emulation?

Not good emulation, but some games will run. I wouldn't bother. The RGB30 can reliably handle up to the 5th gen of consoles, minus hard-to-emulate systems like Saturn. For arcade, it does fine with 2D boards produced until the early 00s. For example, it runs all of the Cave 68k games, and 1 PGM game (DoJ), but starts to fail with Ketsui, and can't handle CV1000 titles at all.

There are other retro handhelds that can easily run DC games but none of them have the 1:1 screen.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

On the Anbernic RG Cube, to see it running SDOJ on Final Burn Neo emulator is great. To overcome the dreaded hand "claw" situation when playing in tate, just hook up a USB-C based gamepad to the RG Cube's sole usb-c port and play your favorite arcade stg roms in tate -- problem solved. Of course, you'll need something to prop up the RG Cube itself.

Or use a Steam Dock station that comes with a display port + usb port to hook up a dedicated gamepad.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[beer gas canister]

On the Anbernic RG Cube, to see it running SDOJ on Final Burn Neo emulator is great. To overcome the dreaded hand "claw" situation when playing in tate, just hook up a USB-C based gamepad to the RG Cube's sole usb-c port and play your favorite arcade stg roms in tate -- problem solved. Of course, you'll need something to prop up the RG Cube itself.

Or use a Steam Dock station with a display port + usb port to hook up a dedicated gamepad.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Not sure what this "claw" grip is about - there is no need to rotate the console to play tate, the because the screen aspect ratio is 1:1. It's a square display, so there's no advantage to turning the unit on its side. That's the whole appeal. A 4:3 screen would require turning, a 3:4 display would interrupt every other type of game, but a 1:1 display can do it all without workarounds. The RGB30 is notable because it was the first retro handheld to utilize a 1:1 display, and the Anbernic is a refinement. Powkiddy has a vertical oriented console with the same guts and screen as the RGB30. Another manufacturer that I can't locate at the moment is making another 1:1 device too.

The RGB30 also displays at 720p, which looks incredibly bright and crisp given its size. Here it is at 50% brightness, directly under a lamp:

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I get it now. I've got an older Anbernic handheld that allows you to tate + the ability to hook up a usb-c based gamepad (but the lcd screen isn't a 1:1 setup but a 16:9 setup instead).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[beer gas canister]

Right on. I've got an Anbernic RG351P set up with the controls rotated to the right for tate, so I can use the right stick with my left hand for movement and the face buttons for shooting. It's pretty capable, but not so comfortable. Great for TG16 and Genesis home arcade ports though. 351p has a 3:2 screen, so tiny black bars for almost everything, but the form factor is excellent.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Right on. I've got an Anbernic RG351P set up with the controls rotated to the right for tate, so I can use the right stick with my left hand for movement and the face buttons for shooting. It's pretty capable, but not so comfortable. Great for TG16 and Genesis home arcade ports though. 351p has a 3:2 screen, so tiny black bars for almost everything, but the form factor is excellent.

Yes, that's the same exact Anbernic model that I own. It's awesome to play the Cave PGM-based Ketsui & Dodonpachi II - Bee Storm arcade roms on a 351P handheld setup (with scanlines turned on for completeness).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[beer gas canister]

Agreed, I use zfast-pi and zfast-pi vertical shaders on both devices to avoid taxing the processor too badly

[Nugs]

I bought a RGB30 for this reason but found the build quality very poor and the d pad and sticks are terrible.

[Restart_Point]

There are other retro handhelds that can easily run DC games but none of them have the 1:1 screen.

That was true untl recently but the 1:1 screened ZPG Uncorn and the Ambernc RG Cube now have more than enough power for Dreamcast. These two new devces are what prompted me to start this thread.

And am also condfused about the claw comments, as this thread is about 1:1 screen devices and how they are perfect for tate without having to rotate the device or hold it in a funny position

[Jonpachi]

My bad on the claw comment. I just assumed you guys were rotating the device, and didn't get that you were playing games in letterboxed Tate on that little screen.

[Restart_Point]

This guy has just done a 2 hour stream concentrating on shmups, various DonPachi games etc. On the ZPG Unicorn and Ambernic Cube
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hJQURfvYLU

[spmbx]

These really look like first gen devices with the chunky cases and thick bezels

[Bassa-Bassa]

Surely a dumb question, but are these new machines implementing square screens just because of the existence of "tate" games?

[m.sniffles.esq]

Surely a dumb question, but are these new machines implementing square screens just because of the existence of "tate" games?

I think it has more to do with old games being ill suited for 16:9 ratios in general.

When I was getting an Anbernic for my sister as an x-mas present, I noticed that all the larger screened models were Switch clones (with identically ratio screens). Which I thought was design being opposed to function (because who cares if the screen is larger, if the games it's supposed to play won't fit without a third having to be black bars?).

I guess I wasn't the only one who thought that

[Bassa-Bassa]

It was a bit dumb in the end because I totally forgot about the freaking Gameboy. Surely this had more weight than just making a 4:3 screen for the whole rest. Awesome, in a bad way.

[Restart_Point]

Surely a dumb question, but are these new machines implementing square screens just because of the existence of "tate" games?

I think the main motivation for Ambernic etc to make these square screens is the emulation of DS and 3DS. This seems to be their main marketing hook. Why should they go through the complication of desiging a device with two screens like DS and 3DS when a square screen is just as useful and much easier to make. Both screens fit very well horizontally and use the square screen space very efficiently. All the other advantages (like vertical arcade games and shmups, Gameboy, Pico etc) are just icing on the cake