Before the days of foldable phones we just had slabs of aluminum, glass, or plastic. On rare occasion we would see a company try doing something different, like Essential did by releasing the PH-1 with Titanium and Ceramic. But even fewer companies tried to think outside the box.

However, you have to go back even further to find anything that really stands out, and that's when we find Sony. The Xperia Play was clearly designed as a gaming handheld that could make phone calls. Turning the phone sideways and pushing the screen up revealed a built-in controller, not all that different from the PSP Go.

Fast forward to now, and it seems that AYANEO is set on bringing back that iconic design with its first phone.

AYANEO Slide

The announcement came at the end of an almost 4-hour livestream, where AYANEO CEO Arthur Zhang laid out the company's roadmap for the upcoming year. This included introducing a slew of new handhelds, such as the AYANEO Pocket DS, and some "value" gaming handhelds coming via the KONKR brand.

But Zhang had "One More Thing" to share, and that's the company's desire to release a phone. Unlike practically everything that was announced, we didn't actually get to see what this phone would look like. However, when looking at the promotional materials, it doesn't take long to see that's what AYANEO hopes to launch.

Why now?

Many have pondered why no other company has tried releasing a similar phone to the Xperia Play over the years. Simply put, it was because they couldn't, as Sony owned the patent for this design. The patent was filed back in 2011 for a term of "14 Years" and is described as "the ornamental design for a keypad for a mobile phone..."

Well, 14 years have passed, and Sony's patent has officially expired as of June 21, 2025. And wouldn't you believe it, the day of the patent's expiration, the Anbernic RG Slide was released.

As the name implies, this is a gaming handheld with a sliding mechanism that keeps a built-in controller tucked away. As someone who never used an Xperia Play much, but adored my T-Mobile G2, I was quickly reminded of why I loved the G2 so much. And before you run to the comments, no, I never owned a T-Mobile Sidekick.

Nevertheless, with Sony's patent having expired, it could mean we begin seeing an influx of similar devices, whether it be phones or gaming handhelds.

Potential pitfalls

AYANEO has a steep hill to climb if it wants to release a modern sliding phone. Even in a vacuum, it's no small feat for a company to launch its first phone, even if said company already has experience releasing gaming handheld consoles.

Companies have come and gone, simply because it's practically impossible to break the Apple and Samsung chains of the world. Not to mention the regulatory hurdles AYANEO will have to overcome, at least if it plans to release a phone here in the U.S.

The current economic situation isn't doing AYANEO any favors either, as the Duty-Free De Minimis Exemption is set to be suspended as of August 29. As a result, what would have already likely been an expensive device will now be even more expensive.

For example, Nintendo announced price increases for the original Switch family of gaming handhelds. This is on top of price increases that have already been taking place, as companies now have to account for the added costs of shipping to the U.S.

A glimmer of light

Unlike other "start-ups" that would want to try and cash in on the sliding phone, AYANEO already has a sizable head start. It already has the manufacturing process in place for such an endeavor, considering that it's been releasing gaming handhelds for just over five years.

Beyond that, AYANEO also already has an agreement in place with Qualcomm. The original AYANEO Pocket S was the first handheld to make use of the Snapdragon G3x Gen 2. And that just so happens to be the same chip AYANEO will be relying on with its upcoming Pocket DS.

Earlier this year, AYANEO the Pocket S2 and Pocket S2 Pro were announced in conjunction with Qualcomm's introduction of the Snapdragon G3 Gen 3. So either this is the chip that the potential AYANEO Slide will be powered by, or the two companies are already working together on something else.

What I'm hoping for

For me, the dream scenario would be for AYANEO to release its sliding phone while making use of whatever the latest flagship Qualcomm chip is. Currently, that would be the Snapdragon 8 Elite, but the Snapdragon Summit is scheduled to take place on September 23.

This is where we'll likely learn about Qualcomm's next-gen flagship chip, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2. It would serve as a mighty fine opportunity for AYANEO to get some more publicity and brand recognition before launching a phone. However, I'm on the fence about whether AYANEO will actually be involved in any of the announcements.

Another potential scenario is that AYANEO could instead lean on the current Snapdragon 8 Elite. Doing so would likely mean cheaper processors, which would (hopefully) result in a less-expensive phone. But, if AYANEO's recent "Strategy Sharing Session" is anything to go by, there's no telling what the company is really up to.

Despite being such a big cheerleader for foldable phones, my infatuation with the form factor is largely focused on book-style foldables. There's just something about the idea of having both a phone and tablet with me wherever I go that makes me swoon. That being said, I do understand the appeal of flip phones, like the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Moto Razr Ultra.

However, I have to admit that with the two aforementioned flip phones, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't at least considering one. Until recently, the last time that I had spent any meaningful time with a flip phone was the Vivo X Flip, and before that, it was the Galaxy Z Flip 3.

Leading up to Galaxy Unpacked, I've been messing around with the Galaxy Z Flip 6 off and on, trying to see if a flip phone would supplant a foldable for me. Unlike some of my counterparts here at Android Central, I don't think that's in the cards for the near future. But I did happen to find one particular use case that keeps drawing me in.

Growing up, my handheld gaming experience was limited to a Game Boy Color, which ended up getting lost while on a family vacation. After that, I had a brief stint with the Nintendo DS before moving on to the PSP and then the PS Vita. That's to say that I never messed around with a Game Boy Advance or the SP variant.

And that's where the idea of a flip phone comes, as I've entrenched myself in the world of gaming handhelds. Last year, Anbernic released the RG35XXSP, and the Miyoo Flip arrived right around the end of December. In 2025, even more clamshells have been added to my collection, with the Retroid Pocket Flip 2, Anbernic RG34XXSP, and, more recently, Powkiddy V90S arriving on my doorstep.

If you can't tell by now, I have a bit of an affinity for clamshell handhelds at the moment. With the exception of the Pocket Flip 2, the others are all custom Linux-based devices, which is great for the early days of consoles, but not so much with anything more modern. So while I was using the Flip 6, it dawned on me to see if I could replace all of those with a clamshell that was much more powerful.

The obvious benefit to a clamshell is that it's more compact, as you can just slide it in and out of your pocket with ease. Not only that, but there's less of a chance of messing up the screen as you just close it when you're done using it. I know this wasn't always the case with flip phones, but the hinge technology has vastly improved to the point that it's not really too much of a concern for most.

And while there are customization options with those Linux handhelds, your options are fairly limited when compared to Android, even with custom firmware options. With that in mind, I set out to try and turn the Galaxy Z Flip 6 into an ultimate Game Boy Advance SP.

It all starts with finding the right emulator, and thankfully, there is no shortage of those on Android. For Game Boy Advance alone, these are just a few of the options available:

• Pizza Boy A
• RetroArch
• My Boy!
• GBA.emu

While there are a few more, I really only stick to two, swapping back and forth between Pizza Boy A and RetroArch. You might be wondering why, and the answer's pretty straightforward — Pizza Boy on the main screen, RetroArch on the Cover Screen. I've even gone so far as to set RetroArch as my default "lock screen" shortcut for when the Flip 6 is closed.

And the fun doesn't stop there, as you can actually apply various skins from Pizza Boy, making the Flip 6 look even more like a Game Boy Advance SP. With a lot of research, a little bit of time, and a smidge of patience, I've practically turned the Z Flip 6 into the ultimate gaming clamshell.

Unfortunately, there is just one problem with this setup — touchscreen controls are awful. If it's anything more than playing a puzzle game, Balatro, or for testing emulators, I usually won't actually play games using the touchscreen. Instead, I had to get a bit creative, as there aren't too many solutions. Thankfully, I have a 3D printer, so it was just a matter of finding something similar to what I had in mind.

After finding the print, less than an hour later, I could ditch the touchscreen controls. Admittedly, this isn't the perfect solution, as I'd prefer something that would use capacitive buttons to interact with the screen, thus providing something more portable. That might be something I explore down the line, but it wasn't really necessary at the time.

With this 3D print, I just slot the Z Flip 6 in and attach a set of Joy Cons. Or, if you have third-party Joy Cons that support Bluetooth, those would work just fine too. No matter what you end up with, it's still going to be more enjoyable than tapping on the screen.

Once the dust had settled a bit on this project, I found myself rather torn, but ultimately decided to stick with the Galaxy Fold 7 as my main phone. That said, with the Flip 7 now available, I've been keeping a close watch on deals for either the Galaxy Z Flip 6 or one of the latest Moto Razr phones. If I play my cards right, there's a decent chance I'll end up making a more permanent decision, even if it means teaching myself how to create 3D prints and adding yet another phone to my daily carry.

Do you remember the days of needing to go to the store to pick up a game guide because you couldn't figure out how to beat it? Yeah, that still happens to me, except I don't have to go to the store, as the answer is just a Google search away. But I'm not always playing games on my computer, and even if I'm playing a handheld connected to the internet, I don't want to sift through a bunch of links that may or may not have what I'm looking for.

Last month, the Anbernic RG557 was released, and a recent update introduced "Anbernic AI." Essentially, it's a chatbot that resides on your gaming handheld, designed to provide answers and even translations. After a bit of digging, I found that it's reliant on either Deepseek or Alibaba's Qwen LLMs. That doesn't leave me feeling great, but it got me wondering if I could just make one myself.

With tools like Gemini Gems and ChatGPT GPTs, I set out trying to replicate what Anbernic did, but using AI chatbots that I trust a bit more and trying to get them working on the handheld. It didn't quite work out how I had hoped, but fortunately, that's where NotebookLM came to my rescue.

My failed attempts

No, I didn't use Gemini to build a website or even an app. Instead, I decided now would be a good time to create a Gemini Gem. These were introduced last year, with Google describing them as being "your custom AI experts."

My original idea was that I'd be able to create a Gem and then, when I needed some help or had a question, I could talk to it using Gemini Live. With the recent addition of screen recording, it seems like a no-brainer, as I don't have to try and describe what I'm seeing, I can just show Gemini. Or so I thought.

Unfortunately, you can't yet use Gems with Gemini Live, which is a bummer. Instead, you're stuck with "regular" Gemini for the time being, and while it's fine, I liked the idea of having a Gemini experience dedicated to gaming.

Initially, this is where the story would've ended, as I was able to get Gemini running on my aforementioned RG557. However, curiosity got the better of me, so I wanted to see if the same thing could be achieved with ChatGPT. The app won't run on the RG557, as it's technically rooted, despite having a locked bootloader, and there is no current way around this hurdle.

Naturally, the next thing I did was fire up the ChatGPT app on the Galaxy Z Fold 6. After a bit of poking around, I found that OpenAI offers a similar feature to Gemini Live, and it even told me it would share some lore about the Star Wars universe when I opened KOTOR II.

Sadly, it's the same story as Gemini, as you aren't able to use the "Live" experience with created GPTs. Hopefully, this won't be the case forever, as it would be nice to see the feature parity between Gemini and ChatGPT continue.

NotebookLM to the rescue

Then came along another tangentially related idea. Google has been super-charging NotebookLM, but it's one of those tools that I always seem to forget about. There are a few projects that I have in which NotebookLM could be useful for me, but first, I was curious about how it would do as a gaming encyclopedia of sorts.

There are limitations with NotebookLM, as you can upload only 50 "sources" to one notebook. However, thanks to being subscribed to Google One AI Pro, I'm able to add 300 sources. I say "only" because the idea is to source and upload strategy guides for a variety of retro games.

Needless to say, there are many more than 300 out there, so I opted to take a different approach. Instead, I decided to create notebooks based on the series of games, meaning I'll have one for Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Fallout, and so on.

Thanks to the gaming community, a lot of those old Nintendo Power and Prima strategy guides have been archived. It was simply a matter of sourcing, downloading, and uploading them all to NotebookLM.

However, there was the small problem that many of these old strategy guides are stored in either a CBR or CBZ format. This is no good, as NotebookLM only recognizes PDF, TXT, Markdown, or Audio files when uploading. On the bright side, some quick research revealed that you can convert those CBR or CBZ files to PDF using Calibre. And it's much faster than trying to use any of the "free" online conversion tools.

With that out of the way, I started uploading a few files and then just waited for that to finish. You'd be surprised at how large some of these PDF files can be, and NotebookLM has a size limit of 200MB per file, so keep that in mind.

A little while later, I had a one-stop shop for resources pertaining to a few of the Super Mario games that I've played over the years. Now, whenever I can't remember how to get past Bowser, I can just pull up NotebookLM and ask.

I know that this took a bit of a left turn, considering my original goal, but the overall point is to demonstrate that AI tools can be useful in ways you might not have considered. I don't even know where the idea to create these guides came from, but I'm sure glad it came to me.

No, you aren't able to use it while you're playing like you can with Gemini or ChatGPT. But I have to wonder whether that functionality will be implemented in the near future. I'd really love it if there were a way to create a Gem or GPT that could be used with Gemini Live, but used NotebookLM as the source.

Nevertheless, who knows what these companies are going to bring next? Maybe something else will come along that takes all of this to the next level, and we just don't know it yet.

In the olden times, I used to chase after the most powerful devices I could get my hands on. That's still the case in some instances, but not when it comes to new Android gaming handhelds that are released.

There are a few reasons why you don't see gaming handhelds being released with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, or even last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The most obvious reason is cost, as these chips are simply more expensive, which would put some handhelds even further out of reach.

Another reason has everything to do with compatibility, as not every developer rushes out to buy a device with the latest chip. More often than not, it'll be months before an emulator is updated to provide any kind of SoC-specific optimizations. That's where Linux comes in to save the day.

Compatibility is key to emulation

I'm not a developer, but I have to imagine that even if a new chip were built on the same fab as the previous-gen, that won't necessarily be the case with a new GPU. Not to mention if it's an entirely new platform, as was the case with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which moved to a 3nm process down from the 4nm process of the 8 Gen 3.

This means that your best bet for performance, stability, and compatibility is a device powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. As luck would have it, a trio of Android handhelds rely on this chip, and they just got an upgrade I never actually expected.

Before proceeding, let me reiterate that I'm not a developer, so I can't explain the ins and outs with great detail. With that out of the way, let's talk about the latest build of ROCKNIX and how it's now available on the AYN Odin 2, Odin 2 Mini, and Odin 2 Portal.

Linux comes to Android handhelds

First, ROCKNIX is a Linux-based custom firmware that is flashed onto a microSD card. Once that's done, there's another file called the "Linux Loader ABL" that needs to be flashed onto the device, which makes it possible to "boot" from the microSD card instead of the internal storage. It might sound daunting, but it's really not that bad if you carefully follow the steps.

From there, it's a matter of inserting the microSD card, restarting to the bootloader, and selecting "Boot to Alt Source." A few minutes later, and you now have a gaming handheld running Linux as opposed to Android.

You might be wondering if there's actually any reason you'd want to do this, besides appealing to your inner tinkerer. To which I would respond with, "Yes, and in fact, there are several."

Arguably, the most exciting, for me at least, is the ability to play Xbox games on Android. And no, I don't mean with the help of Winlator or Xbox Cloud Gaming. I mean that you actually emulate Xbox games on these handhelds using the popular Xemu emulator.

Earlier this year, you could have included PS3 emulation through RPCS3. However, that's no longer as much of a hurdle thanks to RPCSX-UI-Android. But for what it's worth, RPCS3 is also available on ROCKNIX, so you don't have to go back and forth between it and Android for PS3 games.

The other major reason in favor of ROCKNIX, again for me, is PortMaster support. This is a platform that's been available on many retro handhelds, as practically all of those are reliant on custom firmware that is based on Linux.

PortMaster is incredible

But what is PortMaster?

According to the website, it's described as being "a simple GUI tool designed to facilitate the downloading and installation of game ports for Linux handheld devices." Basically, it boils down to being a way for you to download, install, and update games that were originally released for Linux or Windows on Linux-based gaming handhelds.

Think of it like a version of the Play Store, but just for a lot of older games that weren't previously available on handhelds or phones. At the time of this writing, PortMaster surpassed the 1,000 title mark, currently with 1,051 games available.

There are games that you can just download right away and start playing, such as Apotris, a Tetris-like game. But there are also games that require a bit more to get them working, as you'll need to own an original copy of the game in order to transfer certain files.

Once those files are in place, it's off to the races! Some of the most popular games include Stardew Valley, Half-Life, GTA: Vice City, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, and Balatro. A few of those games have already been ported to Android and are available on the Play Store. However, there are a few other games that you either won't find anywhere else, or are an absolute pain to try and set up.

Exciting times are here, with the right devices

All of this might seem pointless to some, as you can do the majority of this with Android. Plus, you have the benefit of installing multiple emulators, along with Winlator and Switch emulation. Two things that aren't natively available with ROCKNIX.

But if you have one of these handhelds and the time to tinker, I recommend just taking ROCKNIX for a spin. And if you don't like it, no harm, no foul, as the firmware is installed onto the microSD card and doesn't do anything to the Android system. Just turn off the device, take out the card, and boot back into Android without a hitch.

I do hope for a day when Android handhelds get the most powerful processor, complete with Linux and custom driver support. Unfortunately, I don't think that will come to fruition, but if there's one thing the emulation community has proven, it's that anything is possible.

I'm an absolute sucker for new hardware, especially if it's paired with something else new and shiny, such as a recently launched processor. That same passion has trickled beyond the confines of phones, tablets, and Chromebooks and into the world of dedicated gaming handhelds. They come in all shapes and sizes, with varying levels of emulation power and form factors.

While I've written about why I prefer using gaming handhelds over my phone, recent events have, ahem, affected the market. Even Linux-driven handhelds that were once cheap are seeing price increases that don't exactly justify a recommendation. With that in mind, I figured now would be a great time to revisit emulation and gaming on your phone.

Obviously, you'll want a controller

If we're going to go all out, you'll need one more piece before turning your phone into a mobile gaming station. Gone are the days when we had to only rely on console controllers, as there are so many different phone controllers, it's enough to make your head spin.

With so many options, it can be difficult to actually make a decision on what to get, so you'll want to figure out the features and options that you want. If you don't care about bulk or have a device with a larger screen, then the GameSir G8 Plus is my first recommendation. It relies on Bluetooth, but can be expanded to fit the 14.6-inch Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, without much hassle.

Do you need something that is more compact? Check out the ASUS ROG Tessen, which is one that I keep in my bag whenever I'm going to be away from home for more than just a day or two. It connects via USB-C, offers passthrough charging, and features programmable rear paddle buttons.

More recently, I've fallen back in love with the Backbone One, but more specifically, the Xbox Edition. It's not quite as ergonomic as the others, but it simply looks awesome, and I like the way that the buttons feel. That being said, I'm definitely keen on checking out the new Backbone One Pro, which was just recently announced and has a few unique tricks up its sleeve.

What if you're on a budget or just don't want to spend a bunch of money on a phone controller? There are plenty of options there, too, starting with just getting a phone clip for your DualSense or Xbox controller. Until fairly recently, the only options we had were to clip onto the controller on one end and phones on the other. However, we're starting to see more magnetic mounts, which is excellent.

But if you like the idea of having a dedicated controller for your phone, then something like the budget-friendly GameSir X5 Lite will be up your alley. It's priced at just $35, connects via USB-C, and is designed to work with devices like the iPad Mini, with its 8.3-inch display.

Don't sleep on the Play Store, specifically, Play Pass

I've been pretty critical about the Play Store when it comes to how it functions as a central place to discover and download new apps on Android. However, I don't share that same sentiment in regards to games, even if the top charts are overflowing with "Gacha" games. Thankfully, I very rarely ever actually look at the top charts, and it's all thanks to Google Play Pass.

It helps that there's a dedicated tab at the bottom of the app, which lets me avoid the wasteland of regular Play Store games. That's not to say that every game available through Play Pass is a banger. But I will say that if Google separated it out of my Google One plan, I'd add another monthly subscription to my bills.

Seriously, Play Pass includes Stardew Valley, Dead Cells, Terraria, and Thimbleweed Park, just to name a few. If I were to buy just those four games, it'd cost me almost $30. Which just so happens to be what it costs to sign up for Play Pass for an entire year. Plus, if you have Verizon, there's a chance that you can get six months for free, and you didn't even know it.

Play PC, Xbox, and PS5 games on your phone

Before getting to my favorite part, what if you're a console or PC gamer, and want to be able to play from anywhere? There are actually quite a few options, starting off with the obvious ones like Xbox Cloud Gaming, PlayStation Plus Premium, and Amazon Luna. While dedicated first-party apps are available for those services, you might want to take XBPlay or chiaki-ng for a spin, as I've found these to offer much better experiences.

From there, we have the likes of GeForce Now and Boosteroid, which tie into multiple platforms and make your games accessible over the cloud. GeForce Now is another one of those subscriptions that you'll have to rip from me, as I've been signed up for as long as I can remember. It's been the best cloud gaming service that I've ever used, and quickly filled the void left when Stadia was retired.

While I have no plans to ditch my GeForce Now subscription, there is another solution that has been slowly becoming a favorite of mine. Apollo and Artemis are community-built forks for Moonlight and Sunshine. Basically, think of it like GeForce Now, but with ALL of your games. Instead of relying on NVIDIA's servers, which do have various restraints, Apollo and Artemis have no limitations, as you can install and manage everything.

Get the right emulators

Now for the fun part — emulation. Even the best budget phones are more capable than you might think. For example, the Snapdragon 865, which is now more than five years old, is still capable of emulating Switch and PS3 games on Android. That's probably more of an outlier than a rule, but it still proves my point.

When it comes to the emulators that make all of this possible, there are a couple of different routes to take. The first of which is to download a separate emulator for each console that you want to play. However, that can be annoying and cumbersome on a good day, so it's not really something that I'd recommend.

Instead, I've compiled a list of the various emulators that I would recommend, starting with RetroArch. This single app can handle all the way up to PS2, and includes a bunch of extra features such as built-in shader support and the ability to rack up your RetroAchievements. Another great aspect of RetroArch is that it can run on basically anything besides a literal potato, but even then, you might find some luck.

You'll also notice that I've listed a few options for different consoles. Much of this can simply be attributed to some emulators working better with certain processors and devices than others. It's really just about doing a bit of trial runs to see what doesn't work while having alternatives if you need them.

Turn your phone into a console

It's great that you have all of your games, streaming apps, and emulators downloaded. But even if you throw everything into one folder, it doesn't really give you that true gaming experience. That's where launchers come into play, of which I rotate between three different ones.

ES-DE is the Android version of the popular EmulationStation launcher available on x86 devices. It includes support for more than 150 different systems and makes it easy to scrape your games to show the artwork and download different themes based on your style.

Console Launcher is a newcomer to my arsenal, but I've been using it on and off for the six months or so. While ES-DE might seem a bit more polished, Console Launcher feels better suited for Android, designed for the platform from the ground up. There are a bunch of features, including a dedicated "Samsung DeX" mode, which avoids any potential issues faced by Samsung's limitations on launchers.

Although this isn't the definitive list, the last one that I've primarily used is Daijisho. It has most, if not all, of the same features as the other two but simply offers a different design. Like ES-DE or Console Launcher, there are a variety of themes that you can download and apply if you want to change things up.

Don't underestimate what your phone can do

As I said before, you don't need a dedicated gaming handheld just to play games on the go. The phone in your pocket is more than capable of playing thousands upon thousands of games. And that includes those who want to dip their toes into the world of emulation, provided that you understand the potential limitations.

Nevertheless, I hope this has helped give you some sense of direction as to how you can set up a phone or tablet to become the mobile gaming beast that it's capable of being. It'll definitely take a bit of time to get everything set up, but that hard work will pay off when you can just turn on your phone and start playing.

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For years, the word "emulation" has been synonymous with "piracy." It doesn't help when you have bad actors leaking games before they're even released, only for others to livestream those same games, while telling people how to also illegally obtain the necessary files.

But for me, retro gaming and emulation are so much more than just seeing someone try and "stick it to the man." This is a topic that I could probably write enough to fill a short novel, but I won't be doing that here. Instead, I picked four reasons why being able to play a game from 1985 in 2025 is so important to me.

Re-living the past

Admittedly, I didn't really dive deep into gaming until about 10 years ago or so. I would go through phases when I was addicted to heading over to a friend's house with my Xbox to have a Halo LAN party. Which later transformed into playing Call of Duty with friends for countless hours. But for the most part, I just enjoyed going outside, touching grass, and playing sports.

To this day, there's nothing quite like being able to fire up Super Mario Bros. for the millionth time or Link's Awakening DX on one of my retro gaming handhelds. And if I'm in a particularly foul mood, there's always The Lion King for the Sega Genesis, which I've still never actually beaten.

It's crazy to think about the number of classic games that are now just a couple of taps away. There are literally thousands upon thousands of games that can be stored and played from the slab of glass in your pocket. Of course, it doesn't feel exactly the same compared to playing on the original hardware. But there are things you can do to replicate the feeling of a CRT, as long as you're willing to spend some time tinkering.

Discover all new experiences

Throughout the years, my family primarily stuck to Nintendo and Microsoft, with a bit of Sega thrown in the middle. The first Sony console any of us had was a PSP, and then later a PS Vita. Because of that, the only time I ever could play anything PlayStation was if I were to head over to a friend's house.

There are even some Nintendo consoles that I missed out on, such as the 3DS, GameCube, Wii, and Wii U. There are a whole lot of incredible games that I didn't get to enjoy firsthand. But now, all it takes is a few taps on my phone, and I'm piloting an X-wing alongside Luke Skywalker as part of Rogue Squadron.

Thanks to emulation, I'm able to dive into the library of PS1, PS2, and PS3 games that I never had the chance to play before. And until recently, PS3 emulation on Android was thought to be a pipe dream. That's no longer the case courtesy of RPCS3-Android, which has been merged into a newer RPCSX project.

If you had told me that I would be able to play PS3 games on a smartphone with an almost 8-inch screen that folds in half, I would've thought you lost your marbles. But that's exactly what I'm able to do, and it's just absolutely mind-boggling and incredible.

Pushing devices to the limit

Whenever I get my hands on a new Android device, one of the first things I do after the initial setup process is load up a few emulators and ROMs. Switch is usually first, as that gives me a pretty good idea of what to expect right out of the box. But that's only part of the fun.

For example, say you picked up something like the AYN Odin 2 or AYANEO Pocket S, and your favorite Switch game isn't running as smoothly as you'd have expected. Well, before giving up the goose entirely, there's actually quite a bit of tinkering that you can do.

To start, play around with the different settings and options that are built into the emulator you're using. The most common culprits are changing the Accuracy Level, turning off VSync, making sure that Docked Mode is enabled, etc. If you go through everything and only see marginal improvements, you're still not out of luck.

That's where Turnip drivers come into play, as these are custom-tuned drivers for the built-in GPU on your device. The problem here is that just because a new driver is available, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will actually resolve your issue. So I always recommend trying out a bunch of different drivers until the game is running the way you hoped.

Even then, there are limitations, as Turnip drivers are only compatible with Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered devices. When it comes to MediaTek, Exynos, or Tensor, then you're relying on a Mali GPU, and emulators won't even let you try to use a Turnip driver with a Mali GPU. Which means, what you see is what you get.

One more thing

In years past, the above reasons served their collective purpose as to why I've been enamored with retro gaming and emulation. However, something rather special happened almost a year and a half ago. At the time of this writing, it's been almost 450 days since I became a father.

He doesn't care one way or another about the teether in the shape of the NES controller, other than the fact that it makes his mouth feel better. Nor does he care about the Fisher Price controller that lights up and plays music, other than that it makes noise.

But more recently, he'll come and crawl up next to me on the couch while I'm playing some Pokémon Ruby on my RG35XX SP or Wind Waker on the Retroid Pocket Flip 2. Sure, part of it's the vibrant colors that draw him in, but he also just seems genuinely interested in whatever's happening.

To that end, while I don't want him to grow up any faster (seriously, how has it been 14+ months already?), I also can't wait to introduce him to some of the games that I played. But instead of being huddled around the family CRT, we can sit back and enjoy games on TVs that are much larger, much thinner, and won't have to worry about neck pain.

For the record, I've already started mentally planning how I'll get everything set up. But knowing me, I'll go through a million ideas first, only to figure out a way to connect a handheld, Raspberry Pi, or my phone to a CRT TV.