The market for emulation handhelds has been flooded over the past few years with countless devices all doing pretty much the same thing, so it's refreshing to see a manufacturer try something a bit different.

Granted, PowKiddy's upcoming RGB20 Pro is yet another Game Boy-style portable, but we're quite taken by the fact that it will sport a transparent front panel which gives a small glimpse of its innards.

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In a statement posted to Twitter earlier this week, the creators of the popular PS3 emulator RPCS3 issued a warning to players about several "scam" PS3 emulators that have started to appear online for mobile devices.

Speaking to its followers on the social media site, RPCS3's creators reminded people that its emulator "is NOT natively available for Android or iOS and that we will NOT be porting it to these platforms" before warning people to "stay vigilant!". It also claimed that "any footage you see is either completely fake, recorded on a real console or through RPCS3 itself, and branded as something else".

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Thanks to its wide range of FPGA cores, support for physical carts and fetching Game Boy-style design, the Analogue Pocket remains one of the most popular retro-gaming handhelds on the market right now.

Taking that into account, it's not all that surprising that rival companies have copied the design for their own devices. TrimUI, for example, has just announced the Brick, a device which takes a lot of inspiration from the Pocket (thanks, Retro Handhelds).

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PlayStation emulator DuckStation is rightly regarded as one of the best ways to play PS1 games on modern hardware, primarily because it's incredibly accurate, has loads of features and offers an excellent level of performance.

However, creator stenzek has recently made some changes to how DuckStation is distributed that have caused some drama in the world of emulation.

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We dread to think what it's like to work in Anbernic's design office – those poor guys must literally get no sleep whatsoever.

The company is famous for pumping out new models on an almost monthly basis these days, and it has already shown off a vertical handheld called the RG40XX V, which we're looking to review very soon.

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Over the last few weeks, GoRetroid has gradually been revealing more information about its upcoming handhelds, the Retroid Pocket Mini & Retroid Pocket 5. However, up until now, we had very little information about when exactly the devices would go on sale, how much they would cost, and what we might expect from them in terms of available RAM and storage.

As anticipated, though, that information was just around the corner, with GoRetroid posting a tweet to social media with all of the above included.

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We recently reported on the GameBaby, a stylish-looking iPhone case which transforms your handset into a fully-fledged portable gaming system with proper physical controls.

Today, we've spotted another product which has very similar aims: the PlayCase. This 3D-printed case costs $50 and has a controller face plate which bolts onto the front of the case, offering you physical buttons to use.

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Update : In addition to updating us all on the Retroid Pocket Mini, GoRetroid has also offered a few updates on the Retroid Pocket 5 since we last posted.

Thanks to these reveals, we now know that the Pocket 5 will come in four colours (including grey, black, white, and purple), with four coloured backshells available to purchase separately to further customise your device. But that isn't all that has been shared since its initiall announcement last week.

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Bitmo Lab, a new technology brand formed by Chinese companies JSAUX and SSPAI, has shown off the GameBaby, a case for the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro Max which transforms your device into a fully-fledged portable games console.

The GameBaby is a two-part case which, when not in use, protects the sides and back of your iPhone from damage. However, you can detach the bottom section and turn it around so that its physical buttons rest on the screen.

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When we recently reviewed the MagicX XU Mini M, we noted that it was said to be running the Rockchip RK3562, a relatively new package which was introduced in 2023.

Despite this new chip, we found that higher-end emulation for systems like PSP and Saturn was rather spotty, and now we know why – it's not running the Rockchip RK3562 at all, but the older RK3326 from 2017.

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AYANEO clearly knows its audience when it comes to its 'Remake' range of hardware. A selection of products that take inspiration from past classics, it includes a Nintendo DS-style dual-screen gaming PC, a power bank shaped like a Super Nintendo and even a Game Boy-style handheld.

Today, however, we're taking a look at the Android-based AYANEO Pocket Micro, a member of the Remake line which aims to stir up nostalgic feelings about the Game Boy Micro, Nintendo's abortive attempt to create the most pocket-friendly handheld imaginable.

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The team behind the popular Steam Deck emulation offering EmuDeck has revealed that it is working on its first hardware project, dubbed EmuDeck Machine.

The venture has just launched on IndiGoGo, and offers a retro emulation mini PC (clad in a Dreamcast-style shell) running the Linux-based OS Bazzite. You'll still sign into your Steam account and get access to all of your Steam games, but you'll be able to access stuff like community-made Decky plug-ins and your ROM collection seamlessly.

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While names such as Anbernic, PowKiddy and Retroid are pretty famous in the world of handheld emulation these days, there are other companies on the fringe of the market who are starting to make themselves known, one of which is MagicX.

The company's latest handheld, the XU Mini M, is a significant release because it was promoted as showcasing the Rockchip RK3562, a chipset which hasn't been seen in one of these devices so far. However, as we've since discovered, this isn't the case.

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The trusty Rockchip RK3326 has powered a wide range of emulation handhelds over the past few years, and generally offers decent performance if you're sticking to systems like the Game Boy Advance, SNES, PC Engine and Neo Geo.

It's slowly but surely being replaced by more capable chipsets, but PowKiddy has revived it for one more ride around the track in the V10, a curious little handheld which costs just $45.

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Chinese firm Anbernic recently released the RG40XX H, a horizontally-oriented device which looks a bit like the PS Vita. Now, the company is back with another variant of the RG40XX, this time with a vertical setup.

Those of you who have been paying attention will notice that this new handheld – the RG40XX V – bears more than a passing resemblance to the AYANEO Pocket DMG, an Android-powered portable that's currently being crowdfunded.

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Sega Saturn emulator Yaba Sanshiro is now available on Apple's App Store.

It costs $4.99 to purchase; there's no free version, as is the case on Android devices.

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If you're keen on retro emulation, then you'll almost certainly have come across screen filters which add things like scanlines, bloom and screen distortion to ensure your classic games look every how you remember them, back when you played on a tiny portable CRT TV set in your bedroom.

There are countless filters to choose from now, allowing gamers to get exactly the right look – but what about audio? It goes without saying that the television sets in the '80s and '90s didn't offer the best aural experience; you'd often be saddled with low-quality mono sound.

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No, that's not Taki Udon's just-announced handheld – it's the PowKiddy V10, which we'll be reviewing ourselves soon

YouTuber and modder Taki Udon has been in the headlines a lot recently, and with good reason – he's the driving force behind a project which aims to make FPGA gaming more affordable.

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When Anbernic released the RG Cube not so long ago, it turned a few heads. The system's square display suited old-school retro games, and its Sega-style rolling D-pad looked great. The LED lights under the analogue sticks also helped the device stand out from the crowd.

Sadly, issues with quality control – including screens with excessive light bleed – have curtained some people's interest in the device, but, as is so often the case when it comes to Anbernic, you don't have to wait very long for an alternative to arrive.

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Tomohiro Kawase might not be as famous as Shigeru Miyamoto or Takashi Tezuka, but he's had quite a notable career behind the scenes during his time with the company.

His first credit with Nintendo was in 1998 on Pocket Monsters Stadium, and since then, his work has focused largely on emulators, working alongside Hideaki Shimizu.

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The LucasArts emulator DREAMM (Dos Retro-Emulation Arena for Maniac Mansion) has just hit 3.0, bringing with it a bunch of incredible improvements for those who still have access to their old game files and are looking for a great way to experience them on modern computers.

Aaron Giles, the creator of the emulator and a former LucasArts employee himself, announced the arrival of the new update on Twitter earlier this week, and it looks like he's been extremely busy behind the scenes as there are a lot of great new additions and features included within.

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PS2 emulator PCSX2 has just been updated to version 2.0, bringing with it a raft of improvements.

The update comes four years after the previous stable revision - during which time, the emulator has received over 6000 changes, passed 100 million downloads, and celebrated its 20th anniversary.

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AYANEO is making another Android-based gaming handheld – but this one has a trick up its sleeve.

The Pocket EVO is the world's first Android handheld with a 7-inch 120Hz OLED screen, according to the manufacturer. That high refresh rate should mean smoother gameplay, assuming there are enough titles to support it.

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The Nintendo GameCube has finally gotten an achievement system – but only under emulation.

It has been confirmed that the third-party achievement system RetroAchievements will be adding GameCube to its database on July 15th.

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There's really never been a better time to be a retro gamer. Thanks to digital stores, micro consoles and DIY emulation boxes, we now have access to decades of gaming content – most of which can be played on our modern-day HD televisions without having to invest in expensive custom AV cables or dust off original hardware. The appetite for vintage gaming has arguably played a huge part in this deluge of content, which means that, should you feel the urge to sample the classics of yesteryear, then it's not hyperbole to say you're practically spoilt for choice.

Of course, not all of these options are created equal. The NES Classic, for example, is the perfect entry point for casual players – it offers excellent emulation and comes with an authentic controller; another big plus is that it's created by Nintendo itself so is legally watertight and buying it allows you to reward the copyright owner of the original games (before reading on, yes this piece will indeed be talking about the shady practice of using ROMs, so if that kind of discussion brings you out in hives, we'd advise you navigate away from this page immediately). However, critics will point out that, although the emulation is superb, it's still software-based and therefore cannot be considered totally accurate – you're also limited by the fact that the NES Classic cannot be (officially) updated with new games.

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