Handheld consoles

[Willo40]

I had a table version of one of those, I also got bored fairly quickly and sold it on. The old arcade games were very simple repetitive games though, old console games are a bit more engaging, nostalgic too if there’s games on there that you loved playing back in the day.

Yea true, for the money they are worth a punt i guess

 

[Brookie.]

OK - it's great. Lovely weight to it, button action is spot on, screen is lovely. Good selection of games pre-built too.

@jenic if you want something that will definitely be here in time for your trip I'd get one. As sad in the previous comment, mine came next day and they're selling for more second hand on eBay than that site!

 

[Rich..]

Yea true, for the money they are worth a punt i guess

Nothing to lose really, as @Brookie. said, if you don’t like it you can just sell it on and get your money back.

 

[Rich..]

OK - it's great. Lovely weight to it, button action is spot on, screen is lovely. Good selection of games pre-built too.

@jenic if you want something that will definitely be here in time for your trip I'd get one. As sad in the previous comment, mine came next day and they're selling for more second hand on eBay than that site!

If you want to mess have a look at garlic os, i think I’m going to start with adding more games first then maybe change the os

 

[Gally]

Very cool, i'm considering a switch lite for my son's 6th birthday in October. He doesn't get tech really so want to introduce him to gaming rather than ipad nonsense.

Might pick one of these up and see what he thinks, some basic games to start with. Used to love playing psp also, was a really good handheld.

 

[Brookie.]

If you want to mess have a look at garlic os, i think I’m going to start with adding more games first then maybe change the os

This should be perfect for me!

As mentioned before, my current collection of consoles/games is quite the library 😂 .

This is spot on for throwing in my bag for the train or trips away!

 

[Brookie.]

Very cool, i'm considering a switch lite for my son's 6th birthday in October. He doesn't get tech really so want to introduce him to gaming rather than ipad nonsense.

Might pick one of these up and see what he thinks, some basic games to start with. Used to love playing psp also, was a really good handheld.

Switch Lite is perfect for your son at that age - huge range of age appropriate games.

If you want any advice give me a shout.

 

[Sir Nancy Flowers]

Very cool, i'm considering a switch lite for my son's 6th birthday in October. He doesn't get tech really so want to introduce him to gaming rather than ipad nonsense.

Might pick one of these up and see what he thinks, some basic games to start with. Used to love playing psp also, was a really good handheld.

In our house we have both a switch and switch lite. The wife has the full blown version and, tbh, its way better.

Yeah, the dock and removeable controllers are a big plus for playing with others on the TV etc. However, the biggest thing I notice is the battery life and speed of the console when playing games. If we play a game like Civilization (our main go-to), her game and turns load almost twice as quickly!

The singular downside of the full blown thing is the weight, its definitely heavier. Its also ever so slightly bigger.

Depending on budget and if its his first venture into a game console, id stretch to the full switch if you can

 

[Gally]

Thanks Brookie, we gave him a shot of my nieces Switch in handheld mode at xmas and he lovd a couple of games, took to it easy enough.

 

[Brookie.]

In our house we have both a switch and switch lite. The wife has the full blown version and, tbh, its way better.

Yeah, the dock and removeable controllers are a big plus for playing with others on the TV etc. However, the biggest thing I notice is the battery life and speed of the console when playing games. If we play a game like Civilization (our main go-to), her game and turns load almost twice as quickly!

The singular downside of the full blown thing is the weight, its definitely heavier. Its also ever so slightly bigger.

Depending on budget and if its his first venture into a game console, id stretch to the full switch if you can

I won't embarrass myself by telling you how many we have of each at the moment

For a 6 year old, a Lite is perfect. Kids are always on the move and definitely the 'tablet' era now. For the games a 6 year old would play a Lite is plenty fast enough & more. The weight I would say is a bonus for that age - the Lite is as the name suggests, nice and light.

@Gally - best thing you can do is to look on FB Marketplace etc. A lot of kids get them, pick them up a couple of times and get bored. I've had about 30 this year as new in box to sell on for profit for around half the RRP of a new console.

 

[Gally]

In our house we have both a switch and switch lite. The wife has the full blown version and, tbh, its way better.

Yeah, the dock and removeable controllers are a big plus for playing with others on the TV etc. However, the biggest thing I notice is the battery life and speed of the console when playing games. If we play a game like Civilization (our main go-to), her game and turns load almost twice as quickly!

The singular downside of the full blown thing is the weight, its definitely heavier. Its also ever so slightly bigger.

Depending on budget and if its his first venture into a game console, id stretch to the full switch if you can

My daughter had a switch years ago, it was enjoyable but she wanted to sell it as she didn't use it. I like it, played a lot of rocket league.

I'll give it some thought, I would probably prefer the standard model as he can use it on the tv as an actual controller and play games together like you say.

 

[Rich..]

I won't embarrass myself by telling you how many we have of each at the moment

For a 6 year old, a Lite is perfect. Kids are always on the move and definitely the 'tablet' era now. For the games a 6 year old would play a Lite is plenty fast enough & more. The weight I would say is a bonus for that age - the Lite is as the name suggests, nice and light.

@Gally - best thing you can do is to look on FB Marketplace etc. A lot of kids get them, pick them up a couple of times and get bored. I've had about 30 this year as new in box to sell on for profit for around half the RRP of a new console.

30 in less than 2 weeks!

 

[Brookie.]

30 in less than 2 weeks!

It's still that time of year. Keep doing it at work too

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

OK - it's great. Lovely weight to it, button action is spot on, screen is lovely. Good selection of games pre-built too.

@jenic if you want something that will definitely be here in time for your trip I'd get one. As sad in the previous comment, mine came next day and they're selling for more second hand on eBay than that site!

What's on it ?

Ive fancied something like a Gameboy for a while but they're ancient now.

This sounds amazing....

 

[_Tom]

One of my mates has just bought a Powkiddy which looks to be pretty good!

POWKIDDY RGB20S Handheld Game Console New Retro Game Players Open Source System 3.5-Inch 4:3 IPS Screen Children's Toy Gifts - AliExpress 44

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

It has pretty much every computer game I've ever played through my youth on it.

 

[Brookie.]

What's on it ?

Ive fancied something like a Gameboy for a while but they're ancient now.

This sounds amazing....

Here's your library. Silly amount in each folder!

 

[Brookie.]

So @TheEvilGiraffe as per photos...

PS1
All your arcade games
Gameboy - all variations (DMG, Color, Advance, SP etc)
NES
SNES
Master System
Mega Drive
Gamegear
PC
etc etc

 

[Gally]

I won't embarrass myself by telling you how many we have of each at the moment

For a 6 year old, a Lite is perfect. Kids are always on the move and definitely the 'tablet' era now. For the games a 6 year old would play a Lite is plenty fast enough & more. The weight I would say is a bonus for that age - the Lite is as the name suggests, nice and light.

@Gally - best thing you can do is to look on FB Marketplace etc. A lot of kids get them, pick them up a couple of times and get bored. I've had about 30 this year as new in box to sell on for profit for around half the RRP of a new console.

I would always buy off FB or Gumtree and throw out some offers see what bites, ended up with so many bargains over the years. Bought an iPad mini last time for pennies in the grand scheme. Few lowballs to some desperado or some stolen merch!

 

[jenic]

How you getting on with this @Brookie. ?

I never bought anything and thinking of just going for what you went with afterall, I like the form factor for a pocket gaming machine.

 

[Brookie.]

How you getting on with this @Brookie. ?

I never bought anything and thinking of just going for what you went with afterall, I like the form factor for a pocket gaming machine.

Love it mate. Use it daily.

Get some funny looks on the train but hey-ho. Really satisfying weight and button feel - for the money it's class!

 

[jenic]

Love it mate. Use it daily.

Get some funny looks on the train but hey-ho. Really satisfying weight and button feel - for the money it's class!

That's good, stuck an order in last night 😂

Have yo gone over to garlic os too? I've also ordered myself a couple of SD cards to do that.

 

[Brookie.]

That's good, stuck an order in last night 😂

Have yo gone over to garlic os too? I've also ordered myself a couple of SD cards to do that.

For the first time in a long time I've left this be & not meddled. There's plenty to keep me going! You'll love it.

 

[Flat Eric]

My mate has picked something similar up of Ali express and let me borrow it to have a go over next few weeks.
He only paid 25 quid or so for it too.
It's got N64 games on too but not tested any out yet.

I'm tempted to order one myself

R36S Retro Handheld Video Game Console Linux System 3.5-inch IPS Screen Portable Handheld Video Player 64GB 15000 Games - AliExpress 44

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[CrippsCorner]

Why not just get Delta though? Unless you specially want a standalone device? With Delta though you can stream to TV and use PS/Xbox controllers, all for free...

 

[ChrisR]

I’ve not looked at Delta before, what devices can it emulate?

 

[Flat Eric]

Why not just get Delta though? Unless you specially want a standalone device? With Delta though you can stream to TV and use PS/Xbox controllers, all for free...

I don't really enjoy playing the old handheld games on tv to be honest.
It's mainly to play old Game boy titles more than anything else.

The stuff I'd play on the tv I'd run through the emulators on the Nintendo Switch (N64 games mostly)

 

[charltjr]

For £25 all in I just ordered one of the R36S things from AliExpress. They're selling for more on eBay so if I don't like it.... meh.....

 

[Flat Eric]

For £25 all in I just ordered one of the R36S things from AliExpress. They're selling for more on eBay so if I don't like it.... meh.....

That's what I've ordered too however mine came to 28 quid all in with the taxes.
The prices are all over the place 🤣

From reading online, there's a few things you need to do before cracking on with it. One of them being transferring things onto a proper micro sd card because the cheap ones they include are prone to mess up. And other thing is to update to the latest operating system as well. Few guides online though which look helpful.

I think from reading the Anbernic one which others have got on here are a better quality product but for the price of this, it's not a bad buy.

 

[Scrooge]

Are there any with decent Dreamcast, original Xbox and N65 games?

 

[charltjr]

That's what I've ordered too however mine came to 28 quid all in with the taxes.
The prices are all over the place 🤣

From reading online, there's a few things you need to do before cracking on with it. One of them being transferring things onto a proper micro sd card because the cheap ones they include are prone to mess up. And other thing is to update to the latest operating system as well. Few guides online though which look helpful.

I think from reading the Anbernic one which others have got on here are a better quality product but for the price of this, it's not a bad buy.

Thanks, useful to know. I have some decent SD cards kicking about so I’ll be sure to do that.

 

[CrippsCorner]

I’ve not looked at Delta before, what devices can it emulate?

Anything Nintendo, I've played multiplayer Goldeneye & Mario Kart 64 on my TV with the kids (you can use PS or Xbox controllers via Bluetooth)

It's just bloody simple with screen mirroring... one button press on the iPhone and and boom it's on the big screen

There's a PlayStation emulator too but I've not tried it yet.

 

[ChrisR]

Ah wondered if it did arcade stuff as well

 

[Flat Eric]

Are there any with decent Dreamcast, original Xbox and N65 games?

Xbox games aren't available on the one I've got (r36s) but it does run dreamcast and N64 games
However some of the N64 games run a bit iffy so I wouldn't say it would be same experience as the real thing.

I've not tried any dream cast games yet though. I never played a dream cast in all honesty back in the day

EDIT

This is the list of preloaded dream cast games

 

[mace¬]

What would be the best options for handhelds that would have access to xbox game pass? Is that even possible?

Alternatively, for a 4 year old is the Nintendo Online any good? Assume that is Nintendo's equivalent to Game Pass?

Reason is I just want a free library of games he can play instead of having to spend money on games that he might play for 5 minutes

 

[Crazylegs]

Early LCD Valve steam deck can be had for cheap now?

 

[Adamm.]

For gamepass stuff you could maybe try an older mobile phone with a controller attachment and remote play or something. Steam deck would be the other obvious choice but might be overkill for a 4 year old tbh. Nintendo online didn't seem worth it imo we got the switch some games can be had cheap then you get a few free to play games like Fortnite etc but if you're looking for a catalogue of games I'm not sure Nintendo is your best bet.

If you have an old phone laying about already my original suggestion could be worth a shot as a cheaper alternative.

 

[Crazylegs]

Second iteration of the Razer Kishi may do the job.

 

[The Psychedelic Socialist]

Kindle Fire Kids

Nothing AAA but loads of variety and it includes books and TV stuff as well as part of the subscription along with an foamy rubber protective case.

 

[Gally]

What would be the best options for handhelds that would have access to xbox game pass? Is that even possible?

Alternatively, for a 4 year old is the Nintendo Online any good? Assume that is Nintendo's equivalent to Game Pass?

Reason is I just want a free library of games he can play instead of having to spend money on games that he might play for 5 minutes

Nintendo online isn't like game pass, it's the old games you get to play! Which is awesome but not free games.

You get some good deals on the nintendo games, I only really buy physical games. He can always sell later, they hold value.

Not sure on the handheld stuff, haven't actually dipped my toe in, the switch is very good, the oled would have made a great media consumption device but alas not says nintendo!

 

[mace¬]

Going to have a think, I like the idea of the Nintendo but the way he goes through games on Games pass then I don't want to be buying one a week to keep him interested and then having to resale.

Game Pass is perfect but I think Steam Deck would be overkill for him.