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Gaming handheld prices are out of control, except for the Steam Deck
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this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2025
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Steam Deck
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There are loads and loads of really cheap Android-based emulator handhelds. The YouTuber TechDweeb does lots of reviews of these devices. These things have effectively spawned their own retro gaming ecosystem around them.
An alternative is to pick up a used New Nintendo 3DS (New being part of the name, distinguishing it from the original 3DS which is way less powerful). This device can be hacked to run many different emulators and play thousands of games. While the screens are not as good as the best Android handhelds, the form factor is ideally suited for running DS and 3DS games (which obviously run natively on the device) while still being great for older single-screen systems (the unused touch screen is excellent for emulator controls such as pause/resume and save/load state).
Yeah, but I hate android and want to run steam natively so I can play indie games.
Where is my small Linux handheld for steam. Something not targeting the AAA games?
I believe a lot of the folks into these retro handhelds ditch the default Android system and install a community made distro specifically for running these retro emulators! TechDweeb talks about them.
In that form factor/size are the android handhelds better screens worth the trade-off of what I assume is better build quality from Nintendo (I've never used a ds so I assume the build quality is better)
I’m not sure actually. I’m into the hobby but I have only a New 3DS. I plan to get one of those handhelds at some point but I’m not there yet!
A used PS Vita would be better I feel. Similar size, and just as hackable (Emu4Vita). Except a Vita has:
The only advantage a 3DS has is that it has 3DS and DS games, but the Vita has PS Vita games, PSP games, and PSX games to its advantage.
My N3DS runs PSX games just fine via RetroArch.
The Bluetooth audio sounds really nice though.
I don’t know anything about the PSP or Vita libraries so I don’t know why I would want them. The DS and 3DS library is absolutely ginormous so that’s a big draw for me.
As for sleeping/power drain, I haven’t had too many issues since I turned the brightness down. I don’t have enough free time in a day to drain the whole battery and I plug it in to charge every night. Maybe the sleep issues with emulators have been fixed? I use RetroArch and it seems to work fine coming in and out of sleep.
What PSX games did you try? I tried Silent Hill and it was more of a sideshow than a game.
As for the power drain, I don't always have time to charge every night and that's when I see the problems. (Traveling and such)
Did you try it on a 3DS or a New 3DS? They look so similar and have such similar names that it’s easy to confuse them but the hardware difference is enormous.
Also when did you last try it? There’s been a ton of work put into the dynarec PSX core (I forget the exact name of the emulator. It’s basically an alphabet soup name) for RetroArch that’s made night and day performance improvements.
I can’t help much on the travelling bit. I’m actually surprised that a PS Vita would last multiple days of all-day gaming while travelling without being able to charge.
I have a N3DS. As for when I last tried, would have been 8 to 12 months ago max.
And the Vita doesn't has multiple days of all day gaming, it has about the same amount of play time as the 3DS, but it can be left in sleep mode for much longer. After 2-3 days of being in sleep mode (normal, not an emulator), the 3DS battery is drained and i need to recharge it. The Vita can sit for a week or 2 and barely have lost any power.
Ahhh okay. I tend to leave my N3DS turned off all the time. I only use sleep mode for short term. Maybe that’s why I don’t have an issue?
PSP had an amazing library of games that I honestly miss and am glad to see some of them coming back soon in the way of spiritual successors.
Some of the tops for me were:
Monster hunter Cladun Dj max Patapon Loco roco Final fantasy dissidia Half minute hero Lumines Patchwork hero Holy invasion of privacy badman! What did I do to deserve this? Disgeae
Some of those definitely look like weird and creative games!
I’m not too fond of the post-6 Final Fantasy games, mostly for their looks, so Dissidia doesn’t appeal to me. I do really like Final Fantasy Tactics though I can play it on my N3DS (along with FFTA and A2).
My friend has been begging me to get into the Fire Emblem series and when I do that will be a big rabbit hole. I also want to play the Phoenix Wright and Professor Layton games (which really take advantage of the DS hardware).
If you like VN style games, I'd recommend "Hotel Dusk: Room 215" and "Last Window: The Secret of Cape West". (Same genre as Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright). Both are on the DS, and each takes advantage of the hardware as well.
Hey thanks for the recs!