Category: Tater News

📰 New article from TorrentFreak

Premier League Targets Dozens of Pirate Streaming Sites through Cloudflare Subpoena

https://torrentfreak.com/premier-league-targets-dozens-of-pirate-streaming-sites-through-cloudflare-subpoena/

The Premier League isn’t just chasing fans with pirated streams—it’s going after the invisible middlemen behind them.

Football fans might think they’re just clicking a link to watch Manchester City live for free, but behind every sketchy stream is a web of redirect chains, CDN tricks, and anonymized hosting—courtesy of services like Cloudflare. And now, the PL is turning up the heat.

In a bold legal move, the league filed for a DMCA subpoena in California, demanding Cloudflare hand over identities of operators behind 20+ pirate sites like dooball345.com and yallalshoot.com. These aren’t just random blogs—they’re slick operations using m3u8 playlists, tokenized streams, and layered redirects to serve live matches to millions. One site? Three domain hops before you even see the feed.

Cloudflare doesn’t host the piracy—it just hides where it’s hosted. So the PL is asking: Who’s really pulling the strings? Payment info, IP logs, email addresses—all on the table. Even if some operators use fake data, the financial trail could lead somewhere.

This isn’t about stopping one site. It’s about dismantling the whole ecosystem—one subpoena at a time. And if they find even one operator with a real address and credit card? That’s the kind of win that makes piracy less “free” and more… risky.

Bottom line: If you’re watching illegally, someone’s getting paid. The PL wants to know who.

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

JarPlay Brings J2ME Emulation to the iPhone and iPad

https://retrohandhelds.gg/jarplay-brings-j2me-emulation-to-the-iphone-and-ipad/

Remember when your phone could only do calls, texts, and Doom RPG? Yeah, those were the days. Now, thanks to JarPlay, you can relive them—on your iPhone.

Launched quietly on the App Store, JarPlay is a J2ME emulator that lets you run early-2000s Java mobile games like Harry Potter 7, Asphalt 4, and even lost gems like the Tony Hawk mobile series. No bundled games—you bring your own .jar files—but it’s got slick on-screen keypads, controller support, and optional visual filters to make your old games look like they’re still stuck in 2003. The free version works fine; $3.99 unlocks unlimited imports, skins, and shaders—no ads, no tracking. Just pure nostalgia.

Not everything runs perfectly—N.O.V.A.? Nope. Gangstar Rio? Barely. But for the dozens of forgotten mobile classics that vanished when Java died, this is a miracle. Think of it as digital archaeology with a touch screen.

In an age where games vanish when servers shut down, JarPlay is quietly saving gaming’s forgotten past—one .jar file at a time.

Now if only we could emulate that Nokia ringer…

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

AYANEO Releases Screen Details and a Kickstarter Page for the Pocket Play

https://retrohandhelds.gg/ayaneo-releases-screen-details-and-a-kickstarter-page-for-the-pocket-play/

Meet the AYANEO Pocket Play: a gaming phone that looks like your childhood Xperia Play’s cooler, more ambitious cousin.

Forget punch-hole cameras—AYANEO went full retro-futurist with a clean, bezel-heavy 6.8″ OLED screen (165Hz, because why not?) and a slide-out physical control panel. Yes, you read that right. No thumb-stick fatigue here. Just pure tactile bliss for gamers who miss the days of buttons you could actually feel.

It’s not just a phone with game mode turned up—it’s a handheld in disguise. Competitors like the ROG Phone and RedMagic might have higher refresh rates or pixel counts, but none offer a built-in D-pad. That’s the secret sauce.

No price tag yet. No confirmed Snapdragon 8 Elite (though we’re betting $700+). And the Kickstarter page? Still in “coming soon” purgatory. But if AYANEO’s track record is any indicator, this’ll be a premium, love-it-or-hate-it device—with a cult following already forming.

Keep your eyes peeled. 2026 might just be the year gaming phones got a soul again. 🎮

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Lost NES RPG Resurfaces In Seven Minute Video

https://retrohandhelds.gg/lost-nes-rpg-resurfaces-in-seven-minute-video/

Remember when you lost your favorite toy and spent years wondering what happened to it? Well, imagine that—but it’s a video game… and it’s 30 years old.

Meet Indy The Magical Kid, a lost NES RPG that vanished in 1993 after being 90% done. Promos flew, fans dreamed, and then—poof. Corporate silence. A single ROM auctioned for $9,600 in 2019? The buyer swore it’d stay hidden. Game over, right?

Not quite.

A grainy, seven-minute VHS gameplay video just dropped on YouTube. No title screen. No story. Just pixelated magic, wild enemy designs, and the faint hum of 90s hope. And get this—it’s official. The original devs gave permission. Not just footage—they’ve got concept art, soundtracks, even doujinshi (yes, fan comics made by the devs). They’re crowdfunding a full-color book to resurrect this ghost of gaming history.

This isn’t just nostalgia. It’s archaeology with heart. A game that never got to see the light of day? Now it’s getting a second life—on paper, in print, and in the hands of those who never stopped wondering: What if Indy had been real?

Spoiler: It was. And now, so are we.

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Dolphin Release 2512 Brings Latency Improvements, Better Frame Pacing, and More

https://retrohandhelds.gg/dolphin-release-2512-brings-latency-improvements-better-frame-pacing-and-more/

Just when you thought Dolphin couldn’t get any smoother—boom—Release 2512 drops like a Christmas present wrapped in optimized code.

The big wins? Rush Frame Insertion and Smooth Frame Presentation. Think of them as cheat codes for latency. RFI sneaks frames out faster without breaking your favorite games (looking at you, Star Wars: Rogue Leader), slashing input lag by ~10ms. Pair it with IPXFB, and you’re beating real GameCube hardware in responsiveness. Meanwhile, SFP fixes janky frame pacing—perfect for Twilight Princess fans who hate stuttery cutscenes. All while adding just 1-2ms of delay. That’s not a feature—it’s a miracle.

Android users, don’t panic—these aren’t live yet… but they’re coming. The fact that Dolphin’s dev team is even building this for mobile says everything: the future of handheld emulation isn’t just playable—it’s fluid.

Also? New default controller profiles, reset-to-default settings (thank you, sanity), and even BBA networking between Dolphin instances on one PC. It’s like a holiday gift card for every emulator nerd.

Bottom line: If you’re playing GC/Wii on anything but a CRT, Dolphin just made your life 10% more magical. And yes—we’re already waiting for Release 2513.

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

OneXSugar Wallet is First Android Handheld with a Foldable Screen

https://retrohandhelds.gg/onexsugar-wallet-is-first-android-handheld-with-a-foldable-screen/

Meet the OneXSugar Wallet — the handheld that folds like a romance novel and plays games like it’s trying to impress your ex.

Yep, it’s real. A single, 8-inch foldable OLED screen that collapses into a clamshell form, complete with D-pad, two analog sticks, and four extra buttons. No dual screens here — just one glorious, bendy display that promises big-screen nostalgia in your pocket. Think DS on a yoga mat.

The design’s clever: no gaping crease like the Surface Duo, so your snacks won’t get trapped in the hinge. But here’s the kicker — foldable screens are still fragile, expensive, and prone to drama (looking at you, early Galaxy Z Folds). And if OneXSugar’s past pricing is any hint? You’ll be paying for the tech with your firstborn.

Is it perfect for DS emulation? Probably not — it’s too wide. But is it the most audacious handheld since the Gizmondo? Absolutely.

No price, no release date. Just a folding dream and a lot of questions. But hey — if you’re gonna gamble on future-gadgets, at least make it glamorous.

Who’s pre-ordering? (We’ll be the ones nervously holding it like a live grenade.)

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Game Over: Mattel’s Hyperscan “Console”

https://retrohandhelds.gg/game-over-mattels-hyperscan-console/

Mattel’s HyperScan: The console that tried to turn video games into a trading card game… and failed spectacularly.

In 2006, while the PS3 and Wii were about to revolutionize gaming, Mattel dropped a black-and-red brick called the HyperScan—a device that required you to scan plastic cards to play. Yes, really. IntelliCards, they called them. Think Pokémon cards… if they also randomly erased your progress when placed near a speaker.

The tech was janky. Cards got wiped by magnets. Games loaded slower than dial-up. And to actually play the X-Men game? You had to buy booster packs like it was a CCG. Spoiler: the standalone TV version? No scanner. No characters. Just a sad, flat box with one button.

Only five games ever released. Retailers slashed prices to $9.99—then gave up and sent the rest to tech purgatory, next to the Barcode Battler.

Funny thing? Mattel wasn’t wrong. They just arrived 10 years too early. Skylanders, Amiibo, Disney Infinity—all proved physical-to-digital was a winner. But the HyperScan? It was less “visionary,” more “what if we made a Tamagotchi play Street Fighter?”

A cautionary tale for innovators: being ahead of your time doesn’t help if your tech can’t even read a card.

📰 New article from RetroRGB

Interview With VGHF’s Frank Cifaldi

https://retrorgb.com/interview-with-vghfs-frank-cifaldi.html

Let’s be real—most “lost” video games don’t just vanish into the void. They get buried in old hard drives, forgotten server rooms, or worse: a landfill in New Jersey. Enter Frank Cifaldi and the Video Game History Foundation, the unsung heroes of digital archaeology.

They don’t just dig up ROMs—they resurrect entire ecosystems. Think: 100+ Sega Channel games recovered from decaying tapes, the NES Origin documentary that feels like a time machine, and yes—they’re rebuilding Sega VR in modern VR. (Yes, that thing was real. And yes, it was terrifying.)

This isn’t nostalgia porn. It’s preservation as rebellion. Every dumped cartridge, every restored demo, every restored ad is a middle finger to corporate amnesia and format obsolescence. And it’s messy, expensive work—requiring old hardware, duct tape, and pure obsession.

If you’ve ever cried over a missing level or wondered why your favorite game “just disappeared,” this is the crew keeping those ghosts alive. Their digital library? It’s the Smithsonian of your childhood. And it needs your help.

Support them. Watch their docs. Download a ROM (legally, please). Let’s not lose another pixel to time.

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Retro Handhelds Weekly: Retroid Pocket 6, KTR2, Xbox FSE on Legion Go 2, and Much More

https://retrohandhelds.gg/retro-handhelds-weekly-edition-79/

Hey there, retro fanatics—your weekly dose of handheld hype is here, and it’s wild.

This week felt like a toy store exploded in a tech lab. Retroid Pocket 6? Finally, real photos. KTR2 just dropped pre-sales in China—finally, a new player besides Anbernic and AYANEO. And MANGMI’s Pocket Max? Powered by the Snapdragon 865. Yes, that’s a 2019 chip… but hey, if it runs PS2, who’s complaining?

Meanwhile, software got a major glow-up. Xbox FSE just landed on the Legion Go 2—no more hacky workarounds! Dolphin emulator added RetroAchievements support (because who doesn’t want bragging rights?), and ePSXe—yes, that ancient 2015 relic—got its first update in ten years. CHD files? Done. The past is alive, folks.

And let’s not forget the weirdest gift of all: Tiger’s R-Zone. A red LCD strapped to your face in 1995? Yep, that was “VR.” We laughed then. We laugh now. But we still keep one in a drawer. For science.

Meanwhile, the Odin 3 and AYANEO Pocket Ace got deep dives, ASUS ROG Ally got a budget-friendly nudge to $490, and someone made a PICO-8 emulator for iOS. We’re not worthy.

The retro handheld scene isn’t slowing down—it’s accelerating like a SNES cart with a bad battery. Grab your coffee, check the deals, and don’t forget: if it runs Doom or Donkey Kong Country, it’s a miracle. And we love miracles.

— Your friendly neighborhood retro nerd 🕹️☕

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

KTR2 Could Shake Up the $100 to $200 Handheld Market

https://retrohandhelds.gg/ktr2-could-shake-up-the-100-to-200-handheld-market/

Hold onto your joysticks—China’s got a new contender in the $150 handheld wars, and it’s not Anbernic or AYANEO this time. Enter the KTR2, KT Pocket’s surprise upgrade to the KTR1S, and it’s packing some serious juice for the price.

We’re talking magnesium alloy builds, 4G connectivity (yes, cellular on a retro handheld), and—biggest win—active cooling with a fan. That’s rare at this price point, and if it actually works well, it could be a game-changer for long gaming sessions without thermal throttling. And yep, it’s powered by the fresh-from-2024 MediaTek Dimensity 7300, making it the first handheld to use it. Sneaky smart.

Pricing? Starting at just $142 for the Wi-Fi model, with 8GB/256GB hitting $199—right in the sweet spot between budget bots and premium beasts. It’s going head-to-head with the MANGMI Air X, Retroid Pocket G2, and AYANEO Pocket Air Mini. All good options… but the KTR2’s fan + 4G combo could be the secret sauce.

The real question? When does it land stateside? If KT Pocket pulls off global shipping without a price hike, this might just shake up the whole market. Watch this space—retro gaming’s about to get a lot more interesting.