👋 Hello and welcome to the Friday roundup edition of The Memory Core! Yesterday was filled with new game announcements, including a new Mega Man game, but this newsletter is for old games, so that’s the last I’ll mention that.

There are only a few weeks left before the holidays arrive, but there’s still plenty of emulation and handheld news to share. I’ve also got several Pokémon ROM hacks to check out, so scroll to the end for those.

Let’s get to it!

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Handheld highlights

📱 AYANEO finally revealed its upcoming gaming phone, which is called the Pocket PLAY. It brings back the sliding design (and name) of the Xperia Play, but mixed with the Pocket S2’s aesthetic. No word on pricing, specs, or availability, but the Kickstarter pre-launch page is live so you can follow there for notifications. [Kickstarter]

👟 As a quick note, a rep for AYANEO confirmed to me that the company will still use Indiegogo for other campaigns, despite the absolute chaos the new platform has caused for shipments. This is the first time AYANEO is using Kickstarter, so I’m curious to see how it goes.

👍 ANBERNIC continued to tease the RG 477V, releasing the full specs in a video this week. Of course, we already knew the specs from the name of the device, but it did confirm that it will come in 8+128GB and 12+256GB variants. I’m actually pretty excited about this one, and I expect pricing and availability to be revealed sometime in the next week. [YouTube]

2️⃣ Speaking of ANBERNIC, it released an update for the RG DS that (mostly) fixed screen desync and refresh rate issues in the retail version, which started shipping earlier this week. Despite its faults, I’ve been enjoying the RG DS, and if you want to play DS games on a budget, it’s now great for that. [ANBERNIC]

💸 Another quick note: An ANBERNIC rep confirmed that the price of the RG DS has been permanently reduced to $94.99 ($5 cheaper), provided the cost of materials doesn’t increase. I’m not sure whether this indicates poor sales due to the scathing initial reviews, but it’s great news for anyone who regrets cancelling their pre-order. P.S. I may have a short RG DS review coming early next week.

🆕 Abxylute released a surprise budget device called the Abxylute E1. It’s essentially a mild redesign of a different budget handheld called the Game Console RX6H, but with new internals and software. At just $69 with free shipping, it could be yet another compelling budget handheld released in 2025. [Abxylute]

👖 Just this morning, MANGMI teased a new handheld called the Pocket Max. The AIR X was a great budget device (read my review), and this one appears to be larger and more powerful. It's rumored to have a 7-inch screen and a Snapdragon 865, but the price will be the deciding factor here. [Discord]

FPGA Focus

🌈 Analogue succeeded in pissing off its customers even more by releasing some seriously sick new limited “funtastic” colorways for the Analogue 3D on Wednesday. As expected, they sold out immediately, but you can still get the 8BitDo 64 controller in matching colors. Everything about this console’s release has sucked for consumers, even if the product itself is actually pretty neat. [Analogue] [8BitDo]

🙌 The MiSTer FPGA PSX core received a small update, fixing some audio issues and enabling a new “old” GPU mode to improve compatibility in a few games. Just Update All to get the latest version on whatever MiSTer hardware you’re using. [Metal Game Solid]

The Emulator Report

🛰️ The emulation frontend NeoStation has been making great progress, and it now supports the PS2 emulators PCSX2 (PC/Linux) and NetherSX2 (Android). That includes both launcher functionality and cloud save syncs, which is impressive for an app that’s technically still in alpha. [Discord]

🍈 MelonDS has a new hardware renderer in the works. The goal is to fix some of the limitations of the current OpenGL renderer, which does some weird things when upscaling 3D graphics. The developer explains how it all ties back to hardware limitations in the original console, so check out the post if you’d like to learn more. [Reddit]

Retro archives

🏆 In case you missed it, this week I interviewed Scott Breen, the founder of RetroAchievements. He discussed everything from the origins of the platform to the recent controversy surrounding Pokémon Clover, so check it out if you’re invested in the ecosystem. [The Memory Core]

❄️ Speaking of Pokémon ROM hacks, I have two new Pokémon projects to share with you this week, starting with Pokémon Frozen Spirit. It’s technically not a ROM hack, since it was built from the ground up in Unity, but it attempts to recreate the art style of the DS games in the best possible way. The first trailer dropped this week, so check it out at the link. [YouTube]

🌹 Next up is a Pokémon ROM hack you can actually play, albeit only as a demo. Pokémon Rose Gold is an NDS hack of HeartGold that adds a new region, Generations 1-9, and challenging bosses. It’s relatively short at just 1.5-2 hours, so it can be completed in an afternoon. [PokeCommunity]

🦊 StarFox 64 has now been ported to the Sega Dreamcast. This is an incredible achievement, but it’s made even more impressive thanks to a new tool that makes it easy to upload your legally acquired N64 ROM into your browser, then automatically generate a CDI or ISO file without having to compile anything manually. It’s as easy as patching a file for a ROM hack, making it much, much more accessible. [X] [StarFox 64 Builder for Dreamcast]

🍾 There’s a new NES game coming out in 2026, and it’s even coming in an original NES cartridge! Xcavator is a game by Chris Oberth that never managed to land a publishing deal, but thanks to the efforts of the Video Game History Foundation and Mega Cat Studios, it’s now been posthumously completed and prepared for release. There’s some major sticker shock, but 100% of the profits go to the VGHF, so it’s all for a good cause. [iam8bit]

🔰 Finally, a new indie sim game was announced that really captured my attention. ReStory Chill Electronic Repairs puts you in charge of an electronics repair shop in early 2000s Japan, disassembling various gadgets, fixing them, and returning them to paying customers. It’s planned for release in 2026, and you can wishlist it now on Steam. [Steam]