Playdate OS 3.0 is here!

Regular readers will know I'm a big fan of Panic's little yellow Playdate machine, it's well made, fun to play with a huge library of games.

Well version 3.0 of the operating system has now been released which makes it even better and easier to use.  The main new feature is that your games are now organised into folders : All Games, Alphabetical, Recently Played, Season 1, Season 2 (if you purchased this), Catalog, Sideloaded and System.  This makes finding your required game a lot quicker and easier rather than scrolling through a long list previously.  It's also possible to add your own folders so if you want to create a folder for a specific genre of game that could be done.

I'm hugely impressed with this new version of the operating system, it makes the Playdate way more user friendly and the new version is fast and responsive, great job Panic!

This eBay Gameboy Advance SP seller really is awesome!

I've always loved the GameBoy Advance SP so was excited when I discovered an eBay seller who goes by the username of 'domaniacal'.  This seller provides custom made GBA SPs using a variety of different shells and colour schemes.  As you can see from the photos I chose a glow in the dark Metroid themed device and, as I'm a big fan of the Kirby series, a pink Kirby themed device.  You have to wait an average of about 3 weeks to receive your SP as the seller orders the shell and buttons but what sets this seller apart from the rest is firstly the fact that when the build is completed they send you photos of the completed build and of the machine working so you know exactly what you're getting before it's shipped and secondly it's the superb quality of the machines they make, they really are excellent!  Each machine comes with a fully backlit screen offering an amazing 15 levels of brightness and the machines look and feel really premium.  Also each machine comes with a matching storage box to keep it in, another nice touch.

I was even able to pay a bit extra and purchase an EZ Flash Omega Definitive Edition flash cart loaded with pretty much every GBA game so it was ready to go straight out of the box!

The last thing which really impressed me was when they were building the Kirby SP they changed the colour of the power light to pink to match the colour of the shell, it really is little touches like that which make this seller so awesome!

If like me you're a fan of the GBA SP and are looking for a well made, high quality custom built device you really can't go wrong with domaniacal on eBay!

OneX Sugar 1 Review - quite the transformation!

2025 is becoming the year of Android dual screen handhelds with the recent releases of the Ayn Thor and the AyaNeo Pocket DS, but hold on, there's another device and this one is unusual, unique and highly ingenious, the OneX Sugar 1.

What makes this device unique is that it can be used as either a single screen or dual screen Android device, it does this via a series of very strong magnets on the screens and controllers and a second small screen tucked away on the back of the device.  To transform to a dual screen device you simply detach the two controller sections from the magnets, flip them up, release the small screen from behind the machine, attach the controllers to that and hey presto you have a dual screen device ready for DS, 3DS and Wii U games!  A magnetic d-pad is also included which can be attached to whichever side it's required.  The Sugar 1 really is a very clever piece of design!

Another thing to mention is that, as you can see from the above photo it comes in one of the best looking and premium carry cases I've seen.  My case was included as I was an 'early bird' backer on Indiegogo but otherwise it has to be purchased separately and it's absolutely worth it.

The build quality of the Sugar 1 is excellent, the magnets are strong and both screens are OLED providing a bright, sharp and vivid image.  And thanks to it's Snapdragon Gen3 processor it's extremely powerful able to play pretty much anything you can throw at it with virtually no issues.

The only issue I had was that a small amount of tinkering in the settings was required for some GameCube titles on the Dolphin emulator but apart from that everything ran flawlessly.

With regards to Nintendo DS, both the Drastic and MelonDS emulators can be used, both of these require a small bit of tinkering in the settings to get dual screen support to work, however instructions can be found on YouTube and online for doing this, once set up though DS games look and play really well and on the Drastic emulator it's even possible to increase the resolution so they look even better.

Since I own a 3DS and an extensive library of titles I've not tried 3DS emulation but from what I've read online I believe this to be excellent as well.

Wii U emulation is provided by the Cemu emulator, this is still in it's early stages on Android so performance will vary from game to game, I've only so far tried one title, 007 : Legends and couldn't get beyond the title screen but I understand there are quite a few Wii U titles which do play and play well.

To sum up this is a comfortable to hold, well made, powerful dual screen Android handheld and I absolutely love it!

Tennis Elbow 4 - best tennis game ever!

Many years ago on my desktop PC I discovered a really fun little tennis game called Tennis Elbow so was quite excited recently to have discovered on Steam the latest version Tennis Elbow 4 and having played with it for a few weeks now it is without a doubt the best tennis game I've ever played!

High praise indeed I hear you say but there are quite a few good reasons why.  When you first load the game you get fictional courts and logos and pretend player names but that isn't the end of the story and this is what sets TE4 apart from other tennis games.  There are free modifications available from within the game, the main two being xe4 and Scoreboards by Stef, the former changes all the courts to the actual real life venues including all the Grand Slam venues complete with the correct sponsor logos on the court, it really does feel like you're actually at Roland Garros or the US Open!  It also changes the mens and womens player lists to real players.  The second modification offers the actual score graphics for each tournament so if you're playing a WTA tour event you have the latest WTA graphics which again adds a great degree of realism.  You're even provided with the TV broadcast logos including Eurosport and Sky Sports in the top right corner of the screen, another nice touch.

A huge selection of tournaments are available once the mods have been added, all the grand slam tournaments are there along with every ATP and WTA tour event, the Billie Jean King Cup, Davis Cup, United Cup, WTA and ATP finals and even the Olympics.  Although I should mention that the BJK Cup, Davis Cup and the finals you have to qualify for through another tournament first.

Gameplay wise the game also shines, serving is easy and a wide variety of shots are available.

This has now taken over from Tiebreak on the PS5 as my go-to favourite tennis game, the level of detail and realism really is outstanding, thanks to the mods it's about as close to the real thing as you'll ever get!  A really wonderful experience and thoroughly recommended for tennis gaming fans.

Playdate Season Two has been excellent so far!

Regular readers will already be aware what a huge fan I am of Panic's little yellow Playdate crank operated handheld and at the end of May they released a second season of games.

To explain when you purchase a Playdate you get included 24 Season 1 games which are automatically downloaded to your device at the rate of 2 per week for 12 weeks.  I have the full collection and apart from a couple of duds most are quality titles so had high hopes for season 2 which was released at the end of last month.

And I'm pleased to say that four weeks in I've not been disappointed! There's only been one dud so far, a rather pointless title called CatchaDiablos which appears to consist of simply drawing circles to supposedly catch some critters on the screen however as yet I've not been able to get close enough to them by drawing said circles so am just finding the whole title rather tedious and boring, although there is an impressions video on YouTube from the excellent Destination Playdate channel so maybe that will tell me what I'm doing wrong!

It works on the same principle as Season 1 although this time there are 12 games released at 2 per week for 6 weeks, and so far we've a remake of the Shadowgate RPG, a platformer, a music rhythm game (I do love a good rhythm game!), a point and click adventure game, a motorbike racer, an archeology themed digging game and a shoot-em-up, not too shabby so far!

I look forward to seeing what the remaining four titles have to offer, but highly recommended thus far!

Steam is now my favourite gaming platform!

I write about this as there are quite a few remakes of classic retro games available such as Asteroids and Missile Command so think that makes it worthy of inclusion.  For some time now I've been a keen user of the Steam platform and it has now become my favourite gaming platform which I find my self using more and more, here's why.....

- There are literally hundreds of indie, retro and AAA titles available many at really cheap prices so it's an affordable way to build up a collection

- Many of the indie games in particular are really high quality and a lot of fun to play, I've discovered some absolute gems since I started using the platform

- I've now amassed around 50 games for Steam with loads more saved in my Wishlist to be released later this year

- The integration with SteamOS on my Steam Deck is superb and I can also use an excellent Steam standalone app on my Asus ROG Ally with cloud syncing between the two machines

- Many of the Steam titles are pretty small and quick downloads unless you're buying something like Assassin's Creed Shadows

- Most indie titles provide regular updates to keep them running the best that they can be

I really love Steam as a gaming platform, so if you want an affordable way of building a gaming library you really can't go wrong with Steam!

Oh dear, MCM Comicon/EGX is back at Excel - don't go!

I was extremely disappointed to see last week the return of a joint MCM Comicon/EGX event at London's Excel at the end of October.  I went to the first joint event last year (see previous post) and it was awful, about 98% Comicon and 2% EGX, pretty much nothing to do with gaming at all and row upon row of Sunday market stalls selling stuff with little/nothing to do with gaming.

To be honest I'm pretty certain that this year will be more of the same and any EGX fans looking for a good gaming day out are going to come away feeling disappointed and let down.

EGX's website currently has this paragraph which is the biggest load of lies I've ever read - it says it's a celebration of all things gaming (it isn't), it says 'don't miss the chance to play the latest games' (you can't because there aren't any), 'get hands-on with the latest hardware' (again you can't because there isn't any).

Unless I see some evidence over the next couple of months that this year's event will be an improvement (which I seriously doubt it will be) I will not be wasting my money on a ticket and I will not be going and I urge all EGX fans to do the same as the only way the show's organisers will get the message is if people vote with their feet and wallets and don't go leaving half empty halls.

Also in my opinion Excel is a terrible venue, it doesn't handle crowds well, it takes 15 minutes to walk from the hall to Custom House station and there aren't enough toilets and what toilets there are you have to go down two flights of stairs to and queue up for.  I'd much rather the event was moved to Olympia, it's a better venue and easier to get to.

PLEASE GAMING FANS, SAVE YOUR MONEY, STAY AT HOME, DON'T GO!  YOU'LL BE DISAPPOINTED!   YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!