📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Sega’s New Mini Cabs Are Here to Destroy Your Shelf Space

https://retrohandhelds.gg/segas-new-mini-cabs-are-here-to-destroy-your-shelf-space/

Let’s be real: your bookshelf is already a graveyard of “just one more” retro gadgets. And now Sega and My Arcade are dropping mini arcade cabinets—yes, actual tiny OutRun booths with steering wheels—and your willpower just checked out.

These aren’t just cute souvenirs. They’re authentic little time machines: marquee lights, side art, even custom control layouts that make you feel like you’re 12 again, quarters in hand, dodging trucks in a neon-drenched arcade. And if you’ve got one? You’ll need three more. Golden Axe? Check. After Burner? Obviously. Space Harrier? Don’t even ask.

They’re playable, yes—but their real power is visual. Picture this: your desk transformed into a 1992 arcade corner, complete with glowing logos and the faint smell of stale popcorn. Productivity? Gone. Nostalgia? Peak.

If your shelves are already groaning under the weight of NES Classics and PixelJunk monsters… this is the final straw. Or the ultimate flex. Depends on your bank account.

Bottom line: You don’t need it. But you’ll buy it. And you’ll love every second of the regret. 🎮💸

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

GameStop Closing Hundreds Of Locations, Again

https://retrohandhelds.gg/gamestop-closing-hundreds-of-locations-again/

GameStop’s aisles are going quiet—again.

Remember when you’d stroll into GameStop on a Friday night, smell the old cartridges, and haggle over a used copy of Skyrim? Yeah. That’s becoming a nostalgic footnote. In 2025, GameStop axed nearly 600 U.S. stores. This January? Another 300–400 are vanishing, with employees getting little warning and shelves emptied into warehouses.

The official line? “Store portfolio optimization.” The real story? CEO Ryan Cohen’s $35 billion stock option dream hinges on slashing costs—and physical locations are low-hanging fruit. Even if it means turning GameStop from a community hangout into a corporate spreadsheet.

For most of us, this isn’t life-changing. We’ve been buying games digitally or on Amazon for years. But in small towns and suburbs? The local GameStop was often the only place to browse physical games, trade in your old console, or find that obscure PS2 gem. Now? If you want a used copy of Metroid Prime, you’re probably driving an hour—or scrolling through eBay.

The end of an era isn’t loud. It’s just… closed.

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

AYN Issues a Massive Thor Update

https://retrohandhelds.gg/ayn-issues-a-massive-thor-update/

Let’s be real: if your handheld’s update notes include “anti-image retention for OLED panels,” you’re not just buying a device—you’re adopting a pet that needs therapy.

AYN just dropped a massive OTA update for the Thor, and it’s packed with goodies: better bass EQ, smarter fan control, third-party launcher support (finally!), and—yes—that all-important OLED “don’t burn my screen” mode. Pro tip: after installing, let your Thor die completely before recharging. Apparently, the update messes with battery math like a toddler with a calculator.

But here’s the kicker: while Batch 2 orders are finally shipping (yay!), Batch 3 is coming… at a higher price. RAM costs spiked, so Early Bird pricing is dead. Lite and Base models jump $10; Pro and Max? +$20. No ship dates yet for Batch 3, but if you’ve been waiting? Now’s the time to pounce—while stock lasts.

This isn’t just a firmware update. It’s a warning shot: if RAM keeps climbing, your next handheld might come with a “memory tax” sticker. And we all know who pays for those… us.

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Budget Beatdown: Mangmi Air X vs. AYANEO Pocket Air Mini

https://retrohandhelds.gg/mangmi-air-x-vs-ayaneo-pocket-air-mini/

Let’s be real: for under $100, you’re not buying a gaming console—you’re buying a tiny, pocket-sized miracle. And yet, here we are, comparing the Mangmi Air X and AYANEO Pocket Air Mini like they’re rival superheroes in a retro-action flick.

The Mangmi Air X? Big screen (1080p IPS!), bigger battery, and it feels lighter even though it’s heavier. It crushes PSP and Wii games with ease—plus, it doesn’t scream “budget” when you hold it. The AYANEO Pocket Air Mini? Slimmer, denser, and oddly premium-feeling—like a mini RG CubeXX with a personality disorder. Its buttons? Mushy. Its sticks? Tiny. But its 4:3 screen is perfect for N64 and PS1, and it outperforms the Air X on heavier titles like Rogue Galaxy.

Here’s the twist: Air X wins on screen quality, Pocket Air Mini wins on raw power. One’s a sleek all-rounder; the other’s a 4:3 specialist with ghosting issues and squishy buttons. And yet—both run everything from GBA to GameCube with surprising grace.

So which to buy? If you want one device, go Pocket Air Mini—it does more. But if you’re the type who owns two Game Boys… just get both. At this price? You’re not paying for perfection—you’re paying for joy. And that’s priceless.

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Retro Handhelds Deals of the Week

https://retrohandhelds.gg/retro-handhelds-deals-of-the-week/

Retro Handhelds Are Having a Moment (And Your Wallet Can Thank Us Later)

Let’s be real: if you’ve ever stared at a $100 handheld emulator and sighed, “I can’t afford this,” — we see you. And guess what? This week, everyone can.

AliExpress is dropping coupon bombs like it’s Black Friday in July. Codes like USWS07 (get $7 off $49+) and RHH25 ($25 off $209) are making Anbernic and PowKiddy handhelds cheaper than your last Amazon impulse buy. The RG35XXSP? $70. The TrimUI Brick Hammer? Under $80. Even the Miyoo Mini Flip is now under $60. Your pocket-sized nostalgia has never looked this affordable.

And it’s not just handhelds — x86 beasts like the ASUS ROG Ally are now $499 (down from $600), and mini PCs? You can grab a full Windows machine for under $230. Need storage? A 1TB SanDisk SSD just dropped to $170. Even controllers are on sale: the 8BitDo Pro 3? $59. The Razer Kishi Ultra? Half price.

Meanwhile, Epic Games is giving away Bloons TD 6 (yes, the monkey-tower-defense game), and Humble Bundle has nine retro-themed bundles waiting. Your Switch is jealous.

Bottom line? If you’ve been waiting to go full retro nerd — now’s the time. Your fingers (and your bank account) will thank you. 🕹️💸

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

How To Upgrade Your ASUS ROG Xbox Ally Internal Storage

https://retrohandhelds.gg/how-to-upgrade-your-asus-rog-xbox-ally-internal-storage/

You bought a 1TB SSD for $30 in 2025? Congrats—you’re basically a time traveler who beat inflation.

ASUS ROG Xbox Ally owners, listen up: upgrading your internal storage is stupidly easy. No proprietary screws, no glue traps—just three tiny Phillips screws, four longer ones (one doesn’t fully unscrew—don’t panic), and a gentle pry tool. The real villain? That ribbon cable connecting the screen. Yank it too hard, and you’ll be weeping into your spare controller. (Yes, I speak from experience.)

Disconnect the battery first—yes, really. Don’t be that guy trying to swap drives while the power’s still live. Then pop out the old SSD, slap in your $30 Lexar (or whatever trusted 2280/2230 PCIe drive you’ve hoarded), reattach the ribbon like a nervous librarian handling a first edition, and reboot.

Here’s the magic trick: Hold Volume Down + Power to enter BIOS, fire up Asus Cloud Recovery, and let it reinstall Windows clean. In ~40 minutes, you’ve got a fresh Ally with twice the storage—and zero regrets.

Bonus: You now have more space for games than your ex has excuses. Upgrade wisely. 🎮💾

📰 New article from TorrentFreak

Court Orders Porkbun and Other Registrars to Hand Over PornXP Domains to Aylo

https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-porkbun-and-other-registrars-to-hand-over-pornxp-domains-to-aylo/

Let’s talk about the internet’s most stubborn porn site—and how a court just got really serious about shutting it down.

Aylo (yes, the company behind Pornhub) spent years chasing Alex Abdullaev, a guy in Kyrgyzstan who ran PornXP—a site sucking up 17 million monthly visitors and, Aylo claims, costing them $172M/month in lost subs. When they couldn’t serve him in person? They went full legal ninja: sued, won a $30M default judgment… then got cut down to $10.2M because, hey, not every visitor was gonna pay.

But the real win? Seizing the domains. Or so they thought.

Enter Porkbun, a U.S.-based domain registrar that said: “Nice order… but it only says ‘registries.’ We’re registrars. Not our problem.” Cue courtroom drama. Turns out, in internet land, registrars (who sell domains) and registries (who run the backend) are two different beasts—and the court’s first order accidentally left registrars off the hook.

Aylo didn’t blink. They came back with an amended order, naming Porkbun, NameSilo, and others directly. Judge Settle signed it. Now they’re being forced to hand over control to EuroDNS, who’ll hand it to Aylo.

Some foreign domains (.eu, .me) still live—courts can’t reach them easily. But the U.S.-based ones? Going dark soon.

Turns out, taking down a porn site isn’t about just blocking videos. It’s about who owns the web address… and who’s legally forced to give it up.

📰 New article from RetroRGB

Sega Merch On Amazon

https://retrorgb.com/sega-merch-on-amazon.html

Sega just dropped official merch on Amazon—t-shirts, hoodies, hats, the whole retro vibe—but hold up… where’s Sonic?

Yeah, you read that right. The blue blur is MIA from the lineup. No Tails. No Knuckles. Just a whole lot of Dreamcast logos, Genesis controllers, and… uh… what even is that abstract “SEGA” wordmark on the hoodie? It looks like someone dragged a font through Photoshop and called it “design.”

Don’t get me wrong—some stuff’s kinda cute. That Genesis water bottle? Solid. But half the shirts look like they were made by an AI that only knows “retro = pixels + 90s font.” And no, I don’t have fashion sense. But even I know a shirt shouldn’t make you look like a walking Sega logo poster from 1994.

If you’re hunting for merch that actually feels like it was made by fans, not a corporate focus group… skip Amazon. Head over to Ariel’s shop at ArtisticPixels305.com—where the art has soul, not just a license plate.

And yeah, I’m getting the water bottle. For science.

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Retro Handhelds Weekly: AYANEO Saga Continues, CES 2026, MiniLoong Pocket 1, and More

https://retrohandhelds.gg/retro-handhelds-weekly-edition-81/

Retro Handhelds Weekly: AYANEO’s Bag Game Is Strong (And So Are the Bugs)

Let’s be real: if your handheld company sends you a free branded sling bag just for buying two devices, you’re either loved… or deeply confused. AYANEO’s latest move—mailing Thor + Odin 3 owners a chic little sling—is the kind of “wait, they remembered?” gesture that makes you forgive them for shipping a device with a 37% battery life.

Meanwhile, the Pocket DMG just got a yellow version. Because why stop at one limited edition when you can flood the market with pastel variants? (We’re not mad. We’re just… emotionally invested.)

On the software front, dArkOS quietly dropped like a Linux ninja—bringing Debian to old Rockchip chips. Suddenly, your 2023-era MiniLoong Pocket 1 doesn’t feel like a brick. It feels… potential.

CES 2026 delivered surprises too: Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 is getting a SteamOS version (finally!), and GameSir unveiled a controller shaped like a taco. Yes, really. GameSir Pocket Taco. $35. For portrait gaming. We have no regrets.

And don’t sleep on Henriko Magnifico’s 4K Zelda textures. He’s not a man—he’s a force of nature with a texture pack and a mission.

The retro handheld scene isn’t slowing down. It’s just getting weirder. And we’re here for it. 🎮💛

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Game Over: Bally Astrocade

https://retrohandhelds.gg/game-over-bally-astrocade/

The Bally Astrocade wasn’t just ahead of its time—it was way ahead, like a sports car with no wheels and a half-baked owner’s manual.

In 1977, Bally dropped a console that could spit out smooth sprites and color-packed graphics while the Atari 2600 was still figuring out how to make a paddle turn. It had BASIC programming, RAM upgrades, and even cassette storage—basically a home computer pretending to be a game console. And yet… no one could find it. Bally didn’t know how to sell it, retailers were baffled, and the name kept changing like a confused toddler at a costume party.

Then came the glitches. Units overheated. Memory failed mid-game. Peripherals vanished like socks in a dryer. By the time Astrovision took over, the video game crash was knocking on the door—and the Astrocade showed up with a “Nope” sign taped to its forehead.

Still. The Incredible Wizard. Bally Pin. Glorious, pixel-perfect gems buried under corporate chaos. Today, collectors treat it like a relic from an alternate universe where things worked out… just not this one.

It didn’t win. But it sure looked amazing losing. 🕹️💀