Tag: Hardware
Feature What’s The Sexiest Nintendo Console Ever?
Hardware to get you hot under the collar
Throughout its many years of operation as a producer of video games and platform holder, Nintendo has created some of the most desirable objects in the history of video games. The company is renowned for making digital novelties to delight players of all ages, but it's also capable of building staggeringly...
News Say Hello To The Most Desirable (And Expensive) Game Gear Micro
Got a spare $350?
To celebrate its 60th birthday, Sega got up to all kinds of fun stuff – and that included the release of new hardware. Alongside the Astro City Mini console, the company also miniaturised its Game Boy rival, the Game Gear, releasing it in four colour variants which each came pre-loaded with different games. When we went hands-on...
News Nintendo Unveils Brand New 'Mario Red & Blue' Switch Console
Featuring Mario's iconic colours
To coincide with the launch of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury on Switch next month, Nintendo has unveiled a brand new system sporting Mario's iconic colours. The Nintendo Switch – Mario Red & Blue Edition system features a colour scheme that instantly reminds us of Mario's classic outfit. This special...
Random This Switch-Style Mini-PC Takes A Leaf Out Of Nintendo's Book
Lenovo and NEC latest device concept looks awful familiar
Lenovo and NEC have just revealed a concept mini-PC which shows just how effective Nintendo's approach with the Switch has been. Part of the LaVie range – which is a joint venture between the two firms – the LaVie Mini is a tiny portable computer with an 8-inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel...
News The PocketGo S30 Is Basically A SNES Pad That Plays Retro Games
Nintendo will be pleased
Update: A custom update is now available which solves many of the issues mentioned in this review. There's a thriving market for emulator-based handhelds these days, with factories in China pumping out new systems on what feels like a monthly basis. However, while most of these machines conform to the same basic design...
Feature Creating The Ultimate Game Boy
"I don't like anything less than perfect and I am always striving for that"
Nintendo's Game Boy family of consoles has, in total, sold around 200 million units during its lifespan, which stretched from the release of the original monochrome system in 1989 all the way up to 2005's Game Boy Micro, the final console to showcase the name. While...
Feature Nintendo Console Codenames And Product Codes
Do you know your DMGs from your DOLs?
If you happen to have any official Nintendo console or peripheral to hand, turn it over and hidden in the legalese and small print on the underside you'll find a code which typically begins with three letters. Flip over your Switch, for example, and you'll find the code HAC-001, with an extra (-01) if you've got...
News Introducing Genki: ShadowCast, The "Simplest Way" To Connect Your Switch To A Laptop
And it's already funded!
Human Things has launched a new Kickstarter campaign for a device called the Genki: ShadowCast and it's already well and truly smashed its goal of $30,000. In just hours, the team has already got more than $300,000 worth of pledges and the device itself is priced at $39 USD. So, what does this device do that's so great? It...
News SNK Confirms The "New" Neo Geo Console Is Coming Next Year
Will "bridge the needs between passionate fans and console gaming enthusiasts"
Last year, SNK announced that it was creating a new Neo Geo system, and that it would boast "a modern design and wonderful play feeling". The company – which can now count the Crown Prince
News The Revo K101 Plus GBA Clone Now Comes With Fancy New Colours, But Not Much Else
2015's best GBA clone hasn't change much in 5 years
Remember the Revo K101 Plus? We took a look at this smart little Game Boy Advance clone way back in 2015, and passed the following verdict: If you're looking for a decent GBA system but don't like the tiny form factor of the Game Boy Micro -–and can't afford the revised G
News Watch Out, Europe - Importing Consoles From The U.S. Just Got A Lot More Expensive
Could now cost you hundreds extra
If you live in Europe and were one of the few people lucky enough to have ordered an Analogue Nt Mini Noir a while back, in the past day or two you may have realised that you’re now also unlucky enough to have been hit with an enormous customs charge. FedEx, who are handling Analogue’s shipments, are currently...
Feature GBA Mod Company Creates The Game Gear Sega Should Have Released In 2020
Showing them how it's done
The Game Gear Micro was a neat little product and all, but it wasn't exactly practical – it's absolutely tiny, so playing it for longer than five minutes is an exercise in pain, and the fact that Sega only included a handful of games on each unit means you have to buy five different consoles to get the whole collection...
News Capcom's Releasing A Mini-Arcade System Packed With Mega Man And Street Fighter Games
Coming this Christmas in Japan
The craze for micro-consoles shows no signs of slowing down, with Capcom now revealing that it is about to release a mini-arcade machine packed with classic titles. Dubbed the Retro Station, this tabletop unit has an 8-inch screen and weighs 2.1 kg. It comes with the following titles: Mega Man The Power Battle Mega...
News This Powerful Portable Console Has Us Dreaming Of A Nintendo Switch Pro
Quid pro quo
Nintendo hasn't confirmed that a Switch Pro is happening, but we've certainly heard enough rumours and the company's previous track record would suggest it will inject more power into its portable line in the fullness of time. With a "Pro" model likely to include incremental improvements over the current version, the latest handheld...
Big screen entertainment that fits on your face
When it comes to television sets, bigger is usually best, but not everyone can fit a 70-inch behemoth in their living room – let alone their bedroom – so we've recently seen the rise of an alternative solution in the form of glasses which feature high-res screens that give the impression of viewing...
News Nintendo Is Releasing Three Switch Bundles In Japan Next Month
Just in time for the holiday season
Nintendo has announced it will be releasing two Switch controller bundles and a new Switch console bundle in Japan next month. All three will be available on 20th November, just in time for the holiday season. Super Mario Party Joy-Con Bundle: First, we have a Super Mario Party bundle - featuring a copy of the...
News Nintendo Is Permanently Reducing The Price Of Switch Joy-Con
Update: Now confirmed for North America
Update: Nintendo has now confirmed that the Joy-Con price drop will also come to North America. Just like Japan, the discount only applies to single Joy-Con purchases. The single Joy-Con products below will be reduced from $49.99 to $39.99 starting from 9th November. While this is a welcome change, it's worth...
News A Limited Edition Fortnite Nintendo Switch Bundle Has Been Announced For Europe
Update: Pre-order now from Nintendo UK!
Update (Mon 19th Oct, 2020 16:15 BST): The limited-edition Fortnite Switch console is now available to pre-order from the Nintendo Official UK Store ahead of its launch on 30th October. It includes a Nintendo Switch console and dock with a unique Fortnite design, exclusive Joy-Con, plus a free Wildcat Bundle...
Microsoft's Xbox 360 has been dethroned
Earlier this week, the NPD predicted the Switch would be the best-selling console this holiday season in the US. The device is apparently in high-demand - with households expected to pick up "multiple" units in the fourth quarter. Adding to this is the lack of available inventory of new PlayStation and Xbox...
PC Engine support also coming to the Analogue Pocket
Boutique hardware maker Analogue is famous for its FPGA-based system and is about to unleash the Analogue Pocket on the world, but that Game Boy-style handheld isn't the only project the company has in development right now; it's just announced that it's creating a new console which replicates the...
News Does Nintendo Have A Handheld Future Beyond The Switch? Yes, Say The Experts
"There is a market for millions who love a standalone games portable system"
The Switch is a transformative product in Nintendo's history. The hybrid console straddles the divide between domestic and portable gaming, giving players the best of both worlds – but it also marks a significant change from tradition; prior to its release, Nintendo...
News Surprise! Nintendo Says Its Next Console Is Going To Be Very Much Like Its Other Consoles
It will also arrive this century, which is nice
Nintendo has just published its Corporate Management Policy Briefing for this financial year, and included in its many pages is a reference to the company's next hardware platform. If you're expecting massive surprises at this point, then you might want to navigate away from this page. In the...
News The Animal Crossing Switch Is Getting Another Limited Restock In Australia
Will it appear elsewhere, too?
Nintendo Australia has confirmed that a new shipment of Animal Crossing Switch consoles will be launching across Australia and New Zealand next month. The console, which features Animal Crossing-inspired designs across the main unit and dock, as well as exclusive, gorgeously coloured Joy-Con, will be available from...
News New Nintendo Patent Suggests A Standalone Switch Joy-Con Could Be On The Way
A new controller for the Switch Pro?
A newly-discovered Nintendo patent suggests that the company may be planning to release a new form of Joy-Con style controller. The patent, which was originally filed in May 2018 and then registered this April, shows several images of a controller design that looks very similar to the Joy-Con found on current...
News Yep, The Switch Has Now Outsold The NES
Wii is still out in front
We ran a story earlier this month about how worldwide sales of the Nintendo Switch were in line with the mighty NES (as of 30th June) - with both sitting at 61 million. At the time, all we could go off was Nintendo's latest financial earnings report, but now we've got some additional data that appears to confirm it has...
News Nintendo Switch Was The Best-Selling Console In The US In July 2020
Switch tops the year-to-date hardware sales, too
The NPD Group has revealed various games industry sales charts for last month and 2020 so far. According to the industry analysts, Nintendo's Switch was the best-selling console for July 2020, and also remains the best-selling console hardware for the year-to-date. NPD analyst Mat Piscatella shared...
News 10 Years Ago, Tech Giant Panasonic Almost Took On The Nintendo 3DS
Update: See the machine come to life in 2020!
Update: And here's the machine in action! Original Story [Thu 11th Jun, 2020 12:00 BST]: Nintendo's stranglehold on the handheld gaming arena has remained in place since the early '90s, when it released the world-beating Game Boy console. Since then, the company has been at the forefront of the...
News The SNK Neo Geo MVSX Home Arcade Is Packed With 50 Games, Costs 500 Bucks
Coming to the States this November
Had your fill of micro-consoles based on classic gaming systems? Well, then you might want to step-up to the SNK Neo Geo MVSX Home Arcade, a tabletop system which is due to launch this November for $449.99 (or $500 with a special base, which we'll come to shortly). Developed by the Gstone Group in close...
Guide Best Nintendo Switch Controllers
Play in comfort and style
The Nintendo Switch is an incredibly versatile console, with many different controller options to suit your mood. When playing in handheld mode, nothing beats the convenience of the Joy-Con, of course, but when docked or in Tabletop mode there are a plethora of controller choices on the market these days for your...
News Analogue Is Retiring Its Amazing Nt Mini After One Final Production Run
Update: More units available tomorrow
Update: Analogue has revealed that a few more Nt Mini units are going up for pre-order tomorrow: Original Story [Fri 28th Feb, 2020 16:45 GMT]: Analogue has announced that it is retiring its Nt Mini system after one final production run. The Nt mini v2 features "a new and perfected NES cartridge slot,...
Guide Nintendo Switch Issues And Hardware Faults - How To Fix Common Switch Problems
Joy-Con drift, random disconnections and other hardware issues
The Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite are a durable pair of consoles designed to endure the rigours of home and portable gaming. For the most part, we've been very happy with reliability of our Switch hardware - our launch systems are still going strong after being slung in backpacks,...
Guide How To Fix Your Nintendo Switch When It Won't Turn On Or Charge
See if you can get her humming again
Like any electronic device, the Switch isn’t perfect in hardware or software and although issues with either are shouldn't crop up too often, they can happen. If your Switch is unresponsive and won’t turn on, or has an issue with charging, we’ve got a few solutions for you to hopefully save yourself a...
Guide How To Fix A Drifting Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Fix the Joy-Con's big brother
If your in-game character is moving when you’re not touching the left stick, or your aiming is slow or limited in one or more directions, you could well be suffering from something called ‘stick drift’ or just ‘drifting’. This is when something’s gone coco in your controller’s analogue stick, and it’s...
Guide How To Fix A Drifting Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Analog Stick
Several solutions to fix drift and put Joy back in the Con
Nintendo Switch has been a roaring success since launch and the platform holder deserves credit for delivering a console to suit multiple purposes and lifestyles. As a portable device it needs to be rugged and hard-wearing and, on the whole, Switch is a solid, durable bit of kit. That’s...
News Alt Lab's Smash Stick Kickstarter Campaign Is Now Live
Update: It's reached its goal
Update (Sat 1st Aug, 2020 13:05 BST): The $70,000 goal has been reached, stretch goals have now been unlocked. We did it! Thanks to all of you and your support, our KS campaign got fully funded in 22 hours! We couldn't have done this without all of you. This has been an incredible journey so far and this is just the...
News The FunKey S Is A Handheld Console That Fits On Your Keyring
"What is this, a handheld for ants?!"
The impossibly dinky retro handheld FunKey S is close to finishing its Kickstarter run, and has raised an impressive £124,000 so far – and it's easy to see why. This diminutive handheld system is small enough to fit onto your bunch of keys, yet it runs Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, SNES and even PlayStation...
Hands On Using Dream Glass 4K Is Like Strapping A 200-Inch TV To Your Face
And it works will any HDMI console
The notion of strapping a huge TV to your face might seem like something out of a bad sci-fi movie, but with £180,000 of crowdfunding raised so far, DreamGlass 4K isn't some ill-conceived fantasy – it's happening right now, and we've been lucky enough to get some hands-on time with a beta unit to see what all of...
News Sega's New Astro City Micro-Console Is Packed With 36 Arcade Gems
Update: Trailer and official site are live!
Update: Sega has just released the trailer shown above, as well as the official Japanese site. Original Story [Tue 7th Jul, 2020 10:15 BST]: You may have assumed that, with the release of the Mega Drive Mini and the upcoming
News Polymega Will Launch For Real This November - Or Earlier, If We're Lucky
Famicom carts could get support, too
We've been keeping our eyes on the Polymega for what feels like forever; the console aims to be the only retro gaming device you'll need, offering support for a wide range of systems, including NES, SNES, Mega Drive, Neo Geo CD and even Sony PlayStation. The project has hit a few delays over the past few years,...
News Nintendo President Apologises For Joy-Con Drift, Can't Comment Further Due To Ongoing Lawsuit
The lawsuit rages on
You've probably heard of Joy-Con 'drift' by now, right? This hardware issue causes the controller's analogue stick to register movement even when it isn't being touched, and we've seen plenty of Switch owners complain about the strange phenomenon happening to them over the past few years. Not everyone has come up against the...
News The RK2020 Is Another Chinese Handheld Which Aims To Play Absolutely Everything
NES! SNES! GBA! Dreamcast!
While it's certainly true that Nintendo rules the roost as far as dedicated handheld games consoles are concerned, the past few years have given us a host of pocket-sized consoles that rely mainly on emulation to grab your hard-earned cash. Over a decade ago we had the Gamepark GP32, then there was the GP2X, Wiz, Pandora...
Guide How To Fit An IPS Screen To Your Game Boy Advance SP
Take your GBA to the next level of brightness
The Game Boy line of consoles may be old news to Nintendo, but that doesn't mean it isn't still evolving. Fan-made modifications are appearing all of the time which help augment and improve the tech which makes these handhelds tick, and one of the latest upgrades is a new IPS screen for the Game Boy...
Guide How To Connect (And Disconnect) Wireless Nintendo Switch Controllers
Pairing wireless Joy-Con and Pro Controllers with your Nintendo Switch
If you're new to the world of Nintendo Switch, you may have found connecting wireless controllers such as the detachable Joy-Con or the official Pro Controller a bit of a faff. Pairing them in the first place is usually easy enough, but what do you do if they connect in the wrong...
News Yes, Sega's "Revolutionary" Announcement Is To Use Its Arcades As Cloud Gaming Data Centers
But is that a big enough scoop for you?
Last week, a Famitsu reporter teased a "revolutionary scoop" in this week's issue of the magazine. Initial reports stated that this could be related to a "fog gaming" system in Japan, and now the issue is available and has been properly translated, we're seeing more solid information appear. According to
News All-In-One Retro System Polymega Will Also Support "Current-Gen" Cloud Gaming Services
"Play it all through one incredible user experience"
Polymega – the all-in-one, modular retro gaming platform which will allow you to play your original NES, SNES, Mega Drive, PC Engine, PlayStation and Saturn games on a single system – has added cloud gaming support to its arsenal ahead of its official launch this year. The creators of the...
Quiz How Well Do You Know Nintendo Hardware?
Think you know Nintendo's hardware history?
Nintendo has been in the video game hardware business since the 1970s and the company has put out many very successful (and a handful of less successful) consoles in that time. But how well do you know that long line of Nintendo handheld and home consoles? It's time to test your knowledge with our little...
News Check Out This New And Improved Portable Nintendo 64
Headphone jack and built-in Expansion Pak included
A couple of months ago, we shared a video from YouTube user smackedsam that showed off a fully working, portable Nintendo 64 console design. We thought it was a pretty cool creation at the time, but this new take has taken things up a notch. Dubbed the 'Slipstream 2' by its creator, the console has...
News Introducing The Smash Stick, A Fight Stick Specially Designed For Super Smash Bros.
Coming to Kickstarter this June
As any keen Super Smash Bros. player will probably tell you, finding your preferred controller setup is half the battle when it comes to mastering the game. Some will tell you that the Pro Controller is the way to go, while others say that the GameCube controller simply can't be beat; others prefer to go for a more...
News Polymega Beta Units Are Out In The Wild, And Things Are Looking Pretty Impressive
Saturn emulation is looking solid
All-in-one retro system Polymega has taken its sweet time to get to market, but the system is expected to launch in July this year, so the wait is almost over. To ensure maximum compatibility the company behind the console announced a beta program a short time ago, giving those who had already pre-ordered the...
News Super-Rare And Supersized Pre-Nintendo Game & Watch Goes Up For Auction
Bidding has begun
An ultra-rare Game & Watch build, actually dating back to before Nintendo had its branding involved with the hardware, has been put up for auction. While Nintendo and the Game & Watch series of handhelds are practically synonymous these days, the earliest Game & Watch machines were built by North American toy company,...