AYN recently got in touch with me, asking if I’d like to review the AYN Thor in an article, and…naturally I said ‘yes’. I’ve been super excited, seeing that there’s a new boom in DS retro handhelds, hoping that this might mean a viable alternative to the older genuine Nintendo hardware.
I’ll just give you a tldr here:
For me, this really is the alternative. There are some caveats, but they’re so few, and those it does have really don’t affect me much. This can handle all the consoles I need, I’ve been enjoying Wind Waker HD, MGS 2, Mario Odyssey and so many DS and 3DS games (Metroid: Samus Returns has been a blast!)
Regardless, this is a handheld I recommend if you can afford the higher price point!
I don’t miss the crab claw pain trying to play with anything in the DS form factor and that d-pad placement looks rancid.
Does it have a HDMI port to connect to a TV? Since it’s Android, I suppose pairing a new controller would be easy, so stuff you emulate from home consoles can be played with 2-4 people
The next DS we wanted but never got. Seems cool!
Hol up, DS is now old enough to be considered retro‽
Why does my back hurt so much? Unrelated I’m sure.
Better lie down for this fact: 3DS is considered retro.
2011 is not retro, dammit!
14 years ago, man.
Edit: I fogor how to count
Was N64 retro in 2010.
Bruh. The GameCube was practically retro in 2010
Review Sample? You’re an influencer now :P
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Super super cool. I don’t have a need for this since I have a nice modded 3ds lite, but the youtube on one screen and gaming on the other is absolutely sick. The screen size and color depth looks great too.
Does it have an SD card slot? I didn’t see it on their site but I assume so.
It does, yes! I’m running all my ROMs from a Samsung SD card on there.
I wish it (or something similar) had a cellular modem for calls/sms. I would love to replace my phone with something like this, even if it’s a bit large
…That’s an N-Gage.
Relegate all the telephony stuff to a smartwatch/earbuds pair and that would be great.
I’m really interested in getting my hands on one of these. Really wander if it’s better than my Flip 2. For DS games it’s a clear winner but I also got a DS for 50 bucks refurbished. The screen looks legit!
SBC gaming and Emulator handhelds have rekindles my zest for gaming. Mainstream consoles are dull and uninspired monetization machines while PCs are overrun with GPU fetishists and Steam cultists.
Neat! Can it run WiiU games as well?
Yes, but the WiiU emu on android isn’t that great, and you’d be better off using a switch emu, as the best wiiu games were ported to switch anyway.
Wait, it runs Android? One one hand ewww, on the other ooo F-droid store!
Exactly this!
CEMU on Android is still very new to the scene, so some things work and some don’t. I’d consider it just an added bonus (like Wind Waker!) when things work!
I didnt read your article (I did goto their page on the device) but I was wondering to anyone that did, did they disclose what type of sticks they use. For this price if its not hall effect and we get drift (even tho I am sure they would give us better access to the sticks and we could map a custom dead zone to fix it) I would be upset.
never mind I just saw in the buying text (not the specs area) ‘hall sticks’. Sorry for being a dolt.
Glad you found the info!
For a handy stats sheet, this was included too:
This looks really cool. This is what the DS should have been when it came out. Or at the very least the 3DS. I’m about to check this out.
This is an ad.
For fuck’s sake.
Go and look at my post history on Lemmy. I’m more than established on here, as I am on Mastodon. I’m not a ad, this wasn’t a paid review. They sent me the device and had no idea what I’d write about it. If it was terrible, I’d have said so. That’s…how this works. In the case of the AYN Thor, it’s just genuinely a VERY good handheld. I stand by what I’ve written. You would too, if you got one.
I loathe that you don’t know me, didn’t check my history with Lemmy, and just called me a paid shill. Fucking shitty.
As to reviewing this handheld and liking it. Its like if you got sent a Steam Deck, and gave it a good review…would you consider that an ad? A product which holds up to scrutiny? My findings seem to be pretty in-line with others who have reviewed the device.
Ugh.
I would consider them giving you the device for free to be putting their finger on the scale at the very least.
Yes, also ad for your blog.
This is not ‘my’ blog. Its my friend’s: Gardiner Bryant. I contribute there because I love gaming and I love writing.
Should we start removing all links from this community, do you think? Because sharing links to sites (by your own ‘logic’) are just ads. Right?
tbf, I kinda can’t blame anyone for being critical of a review of a niche product. We live in a capitalistic influencer hellscape. We are post authenticity. Everything is a grift, everything is a hustle, everyone is a paid sponsor. Modern subversive advertising has made everyone suspicious of anyone who boasts a company or product.
