Anbernic sent over their latest handheld, the RG Vita Pro. And yes, it’s clearly inspired (or “inspired”) by Sony’s beloved, if not massively successful, PS Vita.
The hardware definitely takes cues from the original design, but it’s important to address the obvious caveat upfront: this will not emulate the full PS Vita library. That isn’t a fault of the device itself, no hardware can. The limitation lies with the emulator, which is still far from a finished state. Right now, nothing is capable of running the entire Vita library reliably.
Over the past few weeks of testing, I’ve seen plenty of criticism online (especially across places like Reddit and Discord) accusing the device of being misleading or even falsely advertised. Personally, I think that’s missing the bigger picture. Expectations around Vita emulation are often unrealistic, and this handheld is simply working within the same limitations as everything else on the market.
The other major talking point is the price. At $149.99 USD, it’s sparked a fair bit of backlash. What’s interesting, though, is that this isn’t an isolated case, it just reflects a broader shift happening across the industry. Prices are rising, and many comparisons are still being made against pre–RAM crisis devices and prices, which isn’t really a fair benchmark anymore. At least, this is what I think and feel.
From my own chats with the reps and teams behind the retro handheld manufacturers, this trend is only going one way. Prices are going up, and in most cases, specs are being scaled back to compensate. It’s the reality the entire space is dealing with right now, and the RG Vita Pro feels like one of the first devices to really reflect this crappiness.
Anyway, on to the device. I love how it is dual boot (Android and Linux), on a new chip to the scene. I love how it plays and upscales PSP games, they upscale cleanly and look SO good on there.
Some Vita games play beautifully, Gravity Rush has been my obsession lately. I never played it before now and I just love how it performs. They created such a nice atmosphere in that game!
PS2/Game Cube and Switch are a stretch. Some games run okay, some won’t run well, and some won’t play at all.
If you’re curious about my review, I also interviewed some developers. Gamma who makes GammaOS, acmeplus who is behind KNULLI. This is a very detailed and long review, so if you do have interest, you can follow my usual link:
I mean, most ge preservation projects, emulators, and bootleg devices aren’t for people who already have those things, it’s for people who never owned them. If my mom wasn’t a gamer and didn’t buy a Vita, I would either have to drop hundreds of dollars to get a real one, or emulate on a device.
So yes, of course your Vita runs well. Now lets check for all the non-Vita devices for those who were toddlers/weren’t born yet?
My point was that there is a device that runs every vita game well despite the stupid claim that nothing does.
Oh come on. I don’t even know you, but I know you’re better than this kind of comment on here. It doesn’t make you appear smart. Or cool. Or funny. It makes you look like a jerk.
This was a review about a ‘retro handheld’. It is a very specific product in a pretty damn specific field. I actually thought my statement, in the context of that review, was obvious to anyone. I guess you’d prefer to get hung up on semantics. Of course the Vita plays the Vita’s entire library, do you actually think I didn’t know that? I find that incredible if so.
When looking at retro handhelds, none do. When you look at the most powerful desktop PC, none do. Were you taking that one short tiny little throwaway line literally because English is a second language to you? I can understand if so, since it is for me also. Sometimes English can be tricky that way, things you might want to take literally are not so.
If not, you’re just getting hung up on the most ridiculous little line. Don’t be like this in the future, especially here on Lemmy, this is more of a community than other places online, this trashy Discord/Reddit nastiness doesn’t belong here.
LMAO, wow. Do you need a tissue?
Man, I wish I could be as cool as you. You make it look so effortless. “Do you need a tissue?”
Dude, how do you think of these comebacks?
I wish you could be as cool as me too.
You got an icepick for the lobotomy? I’m in.