How to Get Started in Handheld Gaming with Retro Game Corps

Summary

Podcast Title: The Besties
Hosts: Chris Plante, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Russ Frushtick
Episode: How to Get Started in Handheld Gaming with Retro Game Corps
Release Date: January 17, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Besties, the hosts welcome Russ Crandall from Retro Game Corps, a prominent figure in the retro gaming handheld community. The conversation kicks off with a humorous exchange about emulators and Pokémon sprites, setting a relaxed and engaging tone for the episode.

Notable Quote:

• Griffin: “[00:05] ... when's he gonna get here? He's late, and it's really embarrassing.”
• Chris: “[00:10] ... His car.”

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Getting Started in Handheld Gaming

The hosts dive into the core topic: how to begin with handheld gaming. Russ Crandall shares his extensive knowledge on choosing the right handheld device based on budget and performance needs.

Key Points:

• Budget Considerations: Russ emphasizes evaluating your budget to select a device that offers the best value within your price range. He suggests starting with more affordable options before moving to higher-end models.

• Device Recommendations:

  • Trim UI Brick: Priced around $50-60, it's highlighted for its high-resolution screen (768p) and capability to play up to Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast games.
    • Russ Crandall: “[07:32] ... it's now one called the Trim UI Brick. And so this one looks a lot like the Miyoo Mini, but smaller, with a really high-resolution screen.”
  • Retroid Pocket 5: Positioned in the $200 range, suitable for more demanding games.
  • Odin II: A higher-end option around $300, offering superior performance comparable to a high-powered smartphone.

Notable Quote:

• Russ Crandall: “[06:30] ... it's probably going to be pretty magical on its own and then just kind of go from there.”

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Emulation and Legal Challenges

The discussion shifts to the complexities of emulation, including legal concerns and platform-specific challenges.

Key Points:

• Legal Considerations: Russ addresses the delicate balance between emulation and piracy, advocating for legality by providing guides on ripping ROMs from original cartridges.

  • Russ Crandall: “[11:49] ... I assume you already have those games. And so I don't, don't kind of get into that thing.”

• YouTube Strikes: Russ shares his experience with YouTube strikes due to emulation content, highlighting the ongoing challenges content creators face.

  • Russ Crandall: “[13:29] ... I got two strikes on my channel ... And just since then, I haven't really shown any Nintendo at all on my channel.”

• Platform Differences: A detailed comparison between Linux and Android for emulation, with Russ favoring Linux for its stability and ease of use.

  • Russ Crandall: “[24:37] ... Linux, you can just take that thing offline and you'll never have to worry about it again.”

Notable Quote:

• Russ Crandall: “[25:03] ... Android, you feel like you need constant tweaking... Whereas Linux... is just way more stable.”

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Balancing Tinkering and Gameplay

The hosts explore the dichotomy between those who enjoy tinkering with their devices and those who primarily want to play games.

Key Points:

• Audience Segmentation: Russ acknowledges the split between newcomers who need detailed setup guides and experienced users who seek in-depth technical discussions.

  • Russ Crandall: “[20:20] ... my videos are always geared towards the newcomer ... but there are also those who are already in the scene.”

• Content Creation Challenges: The rapid release of new devices makes it difficult for Russ to keep up, leading to a backlog of reviews and guides.

  • Russ Crandall: “[20:59] ... my big kind of regret is that they come out so fast that I don't get enough time to really live with each one.”

Notable Quote:

• Russ Crandall: “[22:18] ... I was a linguist in the military, so not like a grunt or anything, you know. And that attention to detail just completely carries over to my videos too.”

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Review of the New Indiana Jones Game

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to reviewing the new Indiana Jones game developed by Bethesda. The hosts express their admiration for the game's fidelity to the character and its engaging gameplay mechanics.

Key Points:

• Voice Acting and Performance: Troy Baker's portrayal of Indiana Jones is highly praised for its authenticity and depth.

  • Griffin: “[32:13] ... starting with Troy Baker's performance as Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones is genuinely one of the most impressive, I think, like VO performances I've ever seen.”

• Gameplay Mechanics: The game blends exploration with melee combat, reminiscent of the Chronicles of Riddick game.

  • Griffin: “[34:04] ... it's a first person exploration and brawling game ... similar to Chronicles of Riddick.”

• Stealth vs. Combat: The hosts discuss the game's approach to stealth, noting both its innovative elements and some frustrations.

  • Griffin: “[44:48] ... I just like going around as Indiana Jones. Like, it feels pretty cool and sometimes you'll find something that helps, but for the most part, it's just exploring for exploring's sake.”

Notable Quote:

• Chris: “[33:00] ... there's a tiny one second cinematic where he kind of looks at the guys he's fighting, gives him a little like smirk, like. And it... feels like exactly right.”

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Recommendations and Honorable Mentions

Towards the end of the episode, the hosts share additional recommendations for games, shows, and tools that their listeners might find interesting.

Key Points:

• Games:

  • Balatro: A card game with a unique playstyle.
    • Russ Crandall: “[48:32] ... time management great for not like sinking an entire night on just playing Balatro.”
  • Final Fantasy 16: Highlighted for its accessibility and engaging mechanics.
    • Russ Crandall: “[53:29] ... it's just so casually minded, which you wouldn't expect from Final Fantasy.”

• Shows and Movies:

  • The Circle France Season 1: Recommended for its strategic gameplay elements.
    • Griffin: “[48:14] ... Circle season one of Circle France was highly recommended.”
  • Y2K (Comedy): A horror-comedy set against a robot apocalypse backdrop.
    • Chris: “[51:22] ... it's a sort of horror comedy, heavier on the comedy ... It's very well done, it's very funny and it's really smart.”

• Development Tools:

  • Godot and GDQuest Course: Griffin discusses his experience learning game development with Godot.
    • Griffin: “[49:08] ... it's very logically designed and a lot of it really makes sense.”

Notable Quote:

• Griffin: “[49:04] ... Godot is totally open source, free to download, and lots of games are made in Godot.”

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Conclusion

The episode wraps up with a recap of the discussed topics, reinforcing the key takeaways for listeners interested in entering the handheld gaming space. The hosts also tease future episodes, including an upcoming discussion on Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Key Points:

• Recap of Handheld Recommendations: Trim UI Brick, Retroid Pocket 5, Odin II.
• Game and Show Mentions: Indiana Jones, Balatro, Final Fantasy 16, The Circle France Season 1, Y2K.
• Future Topics: Upcoming episode on Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Notable Quote:

• Griffin: “[58:18] ... it's coming out on Switch and it's a very good platforming game. So I'm excited to check that out.”

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Final Thoughts

This episode of The Besties offers a thorough exploration of handheld gaming, providing valuable insights for both newcomers and seasoned enthusiasts. From device recommendations and emulation challenges to in-depth game reviews and personal experiences, Russ Crandall brings a wealth of knowledge to the discussion. The engaging dialogue, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps, ensures that listeners gain a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered.

For more detailed guides and reviews, listeners are encouraged to visit Russ Crandall's YouTube channel, Retro Game Corps.

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Additional Resources:

• Russ Crandall's YouTube Channel: Retro Game Corps
• Rocket Money Promo Mentioned at [03:20]: Rocketmoney.combesties

Transcript

[Griffin]

I'm so glad that Russ from Retro gamecore is joining us this week because.

[Chris]

Yeah, when's he gonna get here? He's late, and it's really embarrassing. His car.

[Griffin]

He's on island time. But the real. The problem I'm having with all my emus, and I don't know if it's a bug or a virus or glitch, but in all my Pokemon games, all of the Pokemon sprites are nude. Like, they're all nude and naked and anatomically, like, really, really detailed. And I don't know, like, whether I need to get a new device. You're making a face, Russ Fresh Dick and I do need to be clear.

[Russ McElroy]

Oh, well, I'm making a face just because, traditionally speaking, Pokemon are always nude, as far as I'm aware. Except unless you're talking about, like, throw or one of those Hitmonchan kind of wears clothes, but largely speaking, they're always nude.

[Griffin]

That's true. Do you think?

[Russ McElroy]

So you're saying they've reached another layer to it?

[Griffin]

I'm saying that you see Pikachu's genitals, and I'm wondering if I get the retroid pocket five.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah.

[Griffin]

Is that not gonna be a featured.

[Russ McElroy]

Or are you gonna see it maybe more enhanced?

[Griffin]

If I get the Odin II Mini Pro, are the genitals gonna be more. Are they gonna be gone? Are they gonna be detailed? I don't know.

[Chris]

Russ, if you can't stop drooling, I would ask that you turn off your camera. And that's both Russes, by the way, for the record. All Russes.

[Russ McElroy]

You know, I could be Russ, too. This episode. It's fine.

[Chris]

No, listen. That was a great cold open.

[Russ McElroy]

We did it. We did.

[Chris]

My name is Russ McElroy, and I know the best game of the week.

[Griffin]

My name is Russ McElroy, and I know the best game of the week.

[Russ McElroy]

My name is Russ Froschik. I know the best game of the week.

[Russ Crandall]

My name is Russ Crandall, and I know the best handheld of the week.

[Chris]

Welcome to Rust City, a blasted land where Griffin and I are the only survivors in a world of Russes. This is the Besties. It's a video game club. And just by listening, you have become a member. This week, we are going to be speaking with Russ Crandall, Russ Freshstick. Chris Plant's not here, so you have to tell me about Russ Crandall.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah. So, Russ Crandall. We've all. I think people know Russ as Russ from Retro Game Corps, and we've all used his very detailed analysis and setup guides on YouTube because he's done such a good job in that space, such that I think he has become the Mr. Beast of retro gaming handhelds. Is that fair to say?

[Chris]

Wow. High praise.

[Griffin]

Huge for you, I bet.

[Russ McElroy]

Without all the baggage. Just the good stuff. Welcome aboard. We wanted to bring you in because we've been talking about this stuff for a while and we have so many questions and the readers have so many questions. So I'm very excited. What should we be snacking on? What should we be drinking?

[Chris]

That was an incredibly long introduction. And now we are going to take a commercial break after your absolute soliloquy. We'll be right back.

[Russ McElroy]

Russ, before we get started, what should we be snacking on and what should we be drinking?

[Chris]

Wait, I have a better question for Russ that is going to tell us a lot more about him as a person. Russ, when you are setting up a new emulator, do you have a game or a game on each console that you're like, gotta fire it. Like, gotta do it. That's gotta be the first one I fire up for me whenever I set up a new emulator. The only one I have consistent is if it's PlayStation, you know, I'm playing Blasto.

[Griffin]

If it's NES, Blasto for the benchmarks for sure.

[Chris]

If it's NES, I'm playing Rescue the embassy mission is what I'm firing up there. What about you? Do you have any standards?

[Russ Crandall]

Man, my stuff is so boring. So I basically in the moment I get a handheld, I'm just testing it already. And so I just like. So for Super Nintendo, it's Mega Man X because of the bars. Yeah, exactly. It'll show pixel distortion, like really quickly. And so.

[Griffin]

Wait, really? Why?

[Russ Crandall]

So on the left side, if you think about Mega Man's life bar, it'll be like perfect little pills all across the. But only if your screen is balanced. And so you need like a high resolution or something that's a good integer scale to it.

[Chris]

So it's like one of those crappy pattern thing. It's like almost like a test pattern that you can use to adjust. Oh, cool.

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, exactly. And so I'll always fire that up and be like, ah, is this good screen or not? And then. Then I can usually figure that out.

[Chris]

Do you have trouble just playing video games?

[Russ Crandall]

Oh, man, I don't play anything. I just test games. You know what I mean? Like, I never sit down and be like, hey, let's play Mario World for the hundredth time. It's Always like, ah, you know, what can I do to make this screen look better? Or, oh, the audio's off. Let me see what I can do.

[Russ McElroy]

You know, even when you're traveling, you're not like, whipping out the latest whatever and playing something.

[Russ Crandall]

No, I'm usually sleeping or reading.

[Griffin]

Reading.

[Chris]

Reading sports books You've created prison. Hunting. Hunting animals with his bare hands. I do two things. Neither of them are play video games.

[Russ McElroy]

Russ, we brought you on specifically because I think there are a lot of people and you have been a great ambassador and an introduction to this space. I think there are a lot of people that are very intimidated by. You know, we're talking about a lot of Chinese handhelds from manufacturers that no one's ever heard of before. I mean, we have, but that's only thanks in part to you. I feel like a lot of people don't know how to get into it, and I sort of wanted to, like, add a baseline if you're side just slightly interested in this space. What is, like, step one?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, you know, it's hard because I think Chris mentioned it really well in his written review earlier last week. It was basically, all of these things are magical in their own way. It's just finding the right magical one for you, and it's really hard. You know, I've got some roundups on my channel and stuff, but even then, within a month, the story changes all the time.

[Russ McElroy]

Right.

[Russ Crandall]

That's the big thing I've noticed. And so my advice is really just like, look at your budget. Like, say it's going to be like the price of, like, a modern game, so 60, 70 bucks, and then see. See what's available at that price point, and it's probably going to be pretty magical on its own and then just kind of go from there.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah, the first one you get, regardless of whether it's quote good or not, is always kind of magical. I remember it was an RG351M.

[Chris]

Oh, the RG351M. I still have a poster of it. We all remember our first.

[Griffin]

My advice for getting into this scene is always just go to the mall. Look for a kiosk where someone is selling an 801nes box. Definitely unlicensed. They're gonna have some art that's like glass cut glass that you shine a laser light through. You can pick up one of those if you want. It's not necessary for the emulation, but you can't go wrong with a mall kiosk retro box.

[Russ McElroy]

You mentioned the price point, Russ. At that like a console game price point. Where are you currently at in your, like this is the thing to buy because I feel like at that price point or maybe a little lower for a long time it was the Miyoo Mini.

[Griffin]

Yeah.

[Russ McElroy]

Plus I guess I feel like it's not there anymore.

[Russ Crandall]

Right.

[Russ McElroy]

Is that fair to say?

[Russ Crandall]

A very recent replacement, but for me it's now one called the Trim UI Brick. And so this one looks a lot like the Miyoo Mini, but smaller, but a really high resolution screen. I think it's like 768p. You know, all these are using like, you know, recycled like phone parts and stuff. So all the resolutions and stuff are always crazy. But this one's like super crisp and clear, about 50, 60 bucks and can play a lot more. So you can play, you know, up to a good amount of like Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast, which the Miyoo Mini plus could not do. And so that's been my one. It's like a really solid small handheld. Just kind of throw in your pocket.

[Russ McElroy]

And that's running Linux as well?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, it's just running Linux and there's a bunch of, you know, custom firmwares and all that stuff, which is a whole nother world, you know. But that's like my big one. And then the other one would be like the Anbernic 3 RG35XXSP.

[Russ McElroy]

Terrible name. It just rolls right off the top.

[Chris]

Which one?

[Russ Crandall]

RG35XXSP.

[Chris]

Did you say it looks like a Game Boy Advance?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah. So it looks like a Game Boy.

[Chris]

Wait. Yeah. You're a professional and you're recommending the 3.00x SP because all of us real ones know that the 4000x3P is going to be the one to wait for. I'm sorry, there is.

[Russ McElroy]

There is actually a 4001, as I'm sure Russ is running through his head.

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah.

[Chris]

Is there. It is this weird gray area though. Tell me if, if my read on this is wrong. Russ is like, it feels like they never want to be so strongly branded as to be easily sueable. So it's like kind of a moving target. Like, I don't know, it's kind of like a jumble in names and numbers.

[Griffin]

It's impossible to know what this thing does for Anbernic. I have to assume it's just that they are releasing so many of these that they could not possibly create like a marketing team large enough and productive enough to come up with like original memorable names for every device they released.

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, part of it too is that they, they just created their own nomenclature because there are so many. So the numbers mean something. So 3, 5 means 3.5-inch screen. The xx is a specific, it's referenced to a specific chipset. And then they have other things. P means like plastic, M means metal. And so they just can't come up with that many names. There's just not enough names in the English language and so they have to come up with nomenclature.

[Chris]

What's the race still? Like what are, what are, what is being chased the most actively in this space in this sort of like portable arms race in terms of like what size? Yeah, size, price, power, cost. Like what is the, what's the, what is everybody chasing?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, there's like two main tiers. There's the cheap under $100 one and then there's like the 200ish dollar one like the retroid pocket five. And so the cheaper ones are just really trying to get to that impulse buy category where they're looking at just something that reminds you of the old days and that you're just going to pick it up on a whim. And then the more expensive ones are really targeting basically GameCube and PS2 performance and like an OLED display, all those kind of things trying to bring in that generation.

[Russ McElroy]

Do you have insight into how big Anbernic would need to get before they were like maybe we shouldn't ship ROMs on these SD cards when we sell them?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, I don't have any insight but they, it's, it's weird because they, you know, their domestic market is much bigger than their overseas market. Right. They're really making this as an afterthought for the rest of us. And yeah, I don't know how much bigger they need to be. I know that they've been dropping listings on Amazon like pulling them because they'd be getting in trouble and stuff. Miu, same thing.

[Chris]

So how do you for yourself, for us? I feel like everybody has to kind of answer these, these questions on your own. But like obviously the conversation of like emulation is always kind of like in tandem with the piracy conversation. I always find myself kind of torn and I did when I was setting up. I'm always find myself when I set up one of these, like surprised at how far caught up, you know, the technology is. And like I really struggle because I cannot find a rational argument why you should not download a ROM of an Atari game that is absolutely unpurchasable for you in any planet. But on the flip side, there's A game released this week that you know is that you could also find the same way. How do you, how do you. And that feels like I definitely have like a yuckiness line that is a pretty moving target. Like how do you, how do you sort of like navigate that. Those waters for yourself?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, so for me I try to make everything available so I have like guides on how to like rip roms, you know, from an original cartridge and stuff like that for those who really want to kind of keep it very clean. And then for everyone else I basically just start at the moment where I assume you already have those games. And so I don't, don't kind of get into that thing and you know, try to jump on one end or the other. But for current games, like. So there's a, there's a tool called portmaster which is available on most of these Linux handhelds that allows you to basically run certain Steam games directly on your device by pulling your Steam files and putting them in a certain folder and whatnot. All totally legit and legal. It's just basically porting it over. Right. And some of these companies will actually ship with those on there, although with the commercial things like Celeste or Balatro. And for me that's like totally crossing a line. So I always call that out if I ever see that in review. And then also, you know, make guides and links to that other portmaster thing where you can just do that yourself. Buy the game on Steam, grab those files, throw it on there. And so there's kind of a middle ground there, but with emulation. Yeah, it's one of those where I show people the tools and to be honest, there's not a lot of interest in that. Not a lot of people really care about that. Those are like my worst performing videos.

[Russ McElroy]

In terms of what the tools to rip physical carpet cartridge.

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, those, those things bomb.

[Chris]

But I mean I don't need to, I don't need to rip it myself. Right. I know I have a copy of Rescue the Embassy Mission somewhere. I own it. It's. My dad got it for me for my birthday. I know I own it. I didn't get sell it.

[Russ McElroy]

I guess that brings me to the other point and I don't know how comfortable you are talking about it, but obviously there was the issue with YouTube strikes, Nintendo and you had to alter the way you do stuff. Where, where does that sort of sit at the moment?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, that was rough. So I got two strikes on my channel and the first strike was literally me showing how to do that thing. To legitimately dump your game onto a file and then play it somewhere else. But it was a Switch game, and I think they were pretty sensitive about that. So I got a YouTube strike, and then they were just kind of targeting my channel. And the next time I showed a Nintendo game, which was for the Wii U, totally different system, got another strike. And so that was rough. Those strikes are now expired, so I'm good. And just since then, I haven't really shown any Nintendo at all on my channel. So it's been about three months. I've been slowly testing the waters by showing a little bit in a couple.

[Russ McElroy]

I was going to say, I think I saw a little bit in a recent video.

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah. And that's me. Yeah. I'm just testing the waters to see what is the threshold. It's not like they ever talk to me. They just threw those strikes. So I want to kind of figure out, like, if I can show Mario 64. I want to show it.

[Chris]

Mm, that makes sense. That explains why the Retroid starter guide I was just watching didn't explain to me how to set up nestskull for the 30th time. And I still still need the guide. When you're doing a guide video, I still need the guide to find. Is there part of you that just.

[Griffin]

Wants to be like, just get nesticult. Like, you know how to. You know how to just get retroarch, and then you fucking know how to do this. Come on.

[Russ Crandall]

It is hard to go over the basics every time. Like, for example, last year, The Retroid Pocket 4 came out, and then the Odin came out, and they came out very quickly. And so what I did is I did the Odin guide first, and then I used the same footage in my Retroid Pocket guide because it's the same thing. It's an Android device. People got mad about that. They're like, I can't believe you're so lazy, Russ. And I'm like, come on, it's the same thing. So, yeah, from now on, I'm just doing a single guide every time, and it takes several days just to make one guide.

[Griffin]

Was that the ODIN 2 that came out? And then there was also the Pro and also the Portal. It seems like last year was kind of crazy for.

[Russ Crandall]

So they had Odin ii, the Odin II mini, and then the Odin II portals now coming out.

[Griffin]

And then retroid released the Pocket 4 and the Pocket 5. It feels like those two are sort of in direct competition. And I remember when the Odin first came out, I got the Odin Pro, and I really enjoyed that. I played PlayStation 2 games and it was like the first emulator that I was able to like really play PS2 games on like a handheld. But it seems like Retroid sort of the pendulum has swung back in the other direction a bit and Now Retroid Pocket 5 is able to do a lot more than the sort of previous generation was. Is that sort of your read on things or. Cause those two sort of occupy that higher end space.

[Russ Crandall]

Right. I would say that the Retroid is always focused on kind of that middle tier, you know, like getting up to potentially PS2 and then the Odin 2 is kind of overkill. Like basically anything you can play on Android is going to play on that. It's basically like a high powered phone. And so it's interesting because these two companies, it's speculated that they both have the same parent company. And so they're just kind of trying to hit two different targets but also undercutting one another. But yeah, I would say the retroid is like $200 space, whereas the Odin's of $300 space.

[Griffin]

Oh, is okay. I didn't realize it was.

[Russ McElroy]

It's wild to me that we don't know that they have the same. Whether they have the same parent company or not. That is insane to me.

[Chris]

Yeah. But like I can see why they're probably. Hey, Russ, can you tilt your camera to show us the huge pile of discarded handhelds that you can. I figure there's a corner somewhere.

[Russ McElroy]

Anyway, gonna show up at your house and say, this is, this is a site that needs to be cleaned up. There's so much rage.

[Russ Crandall]

Oh, man, I have, I, I limit myself to 200 devices at any given time. Like that's, that's what I keep on hand for.

[Griffin]

I can't tell if you're joking or not because that number is so high it feels like a joke.

[Russ Crandall]

That's true. So everything else I give away to like other YouTubers or you know, that kind of stuff. So I try to get those out of the house, but I keep two.

[Russ McElroy]

Do you have a spreadsheet? How are you tracking that number?

[Russ Crandall]

It just in my head, like, I'll count 200 cubbies. All right, let's go and see what needs to go. And so, yeah, around 200.

[Russ McElroy]

Are your neighbors appreciating the benefit as well? They getting some of these.

[Russ Crandall]

So like friends and stuff? Yeah, like Christmas, like, hey, here's a bunch of handhelds and all stuff.

[Chris]

Russ shows up at your door 2:00 in the morning. Pow, pow, pow. Hey, listen, Good news for you, bad news for me. I'm up to 201. I got a fully crook. It's like smoking. It's so full of nasty roms.

[Russ McElroy]

I had a question about Flip Flip devices. You mentioned the 3.5xx SP earlier and we have a new one, the Miyu Flip which just came out.

[Griffin]

Oh, I don't.

[Russ McElroy]

You haven't put out the review yet? You put out an Impressions video as of today. I don't know when the review is going to go up. Do you think there's anyone that could ever come up with a flip device that would sustain like long term use without essentially falling apart?

[Russ Crandall]

No, I don't think so. I mean these guys, they don't have that same engineering team as Nintendo and even Nintendo stuff bricks, you know, like the DS gets cracked and all that stuff. So yeah, I don't. I don't see that happening. And it's just a matter of when with each of these and it's always been that way. I will say that they're getting smart and not doing as many translucent or transparent colors because those are brittle. The plastic is brittle on those and those will crack more easily. Yeah, there's just. There's nothing you can fix about that. I think it's just time the worst.

[Griffin]

I haven't. I've been out of the this scene for a while. It was very much a like Covid hobby sort of situation. But I was doing shell swaps for a Game Boy color or building a metal, switching a GBASP into a single metal case. So it had sort of that DMG form factor. And doing that with the Game Boy Advance SP was the biggest pain in the ass of any. Because they tuck little ribbon cables up in that little. I don't know what they make the little bolts that they secure the hinge of the SP with but it's like it's unobtainium. It is like such a pain in the ass to crack one of those apart and not shatter it into a million pieces.

[Russ McElroy]

Is there a device in particular that's like a real pain in the ass to work with?

[Russ Crandall]

Russ, those SP ones are really bad, like the clamshell ones because of that ribbon cable. Like Griff was just saying, like it's bad. It's weird because it's a trade off because those are so fun to take around. Because a clamshell protects itself. It protects the screen and the buttons. You can just throw it in a bag and so. But that's the one that's going to break the fastest so it's just a catch 22 Russ for yourself.

[Chris]

When you're looking at these, the different systems, do you have a sense in your head of an audience that is just focused on tinkering? Like, you're talking about someone who is just like a tinkerer who is not necessarily interested in playing the games? Do you sense like a bifurcation in the audience where there are people who just want to like fool around with these things and get to understand the works? And then there's this segment that just wants to set up their thing so they can play the games. Do you sense that, like sort of split?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, totally. Like, so my videos are always geared towards the newcomer because I'm just like, you know, if you're just stumbling on this, let's, let's start from scratch every time. But there are those guys who are just, they're, they're in the scene, you know, they're just, they're heavy into Reddit and discord and whatnot. So I make videos for them on the side as well. Back, hey, here's the setup I'm using right now, and it'll be like a 20 minute video and just kind of talking through the details of that kind of stuff. And I also think that sometimes those newcomers will graduate into those other guys too. And so I kind of try to bridge that gap as well.

[Russ McElroy]

Is it kind of a bummer that because of the speed of the releases, like, are you still seeing traffic from older videos or does that stuff kind of just fade away?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, there's still, especially in like the outside of the Western world, you know, especially down like South America and whatnot. A lot of these devices will get really cheap and then people pick up on them, you know, a year or two later, and so they're still getting some good traction. My, my big kind of regret is that they come out so fast that I don't get enough time to really live with each one, you know, I'm just moving on to the next one. And so I missed the old days of 2020 when I only had like one handheld and I made 20 videos about it, you know, and it's just impossible at this point to keep up. Instead, I've got a stack of things to review.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah, it does seem exhausting. Quite honestly, I'm kind of baffled that you're able to keep up the pace. You don't feel like you're hitting a wall soon, like this is still bringing you joy or is it getting a little old?

[Russ Crandall]

For me, it's. It's a service to others, you know, So I just think about, you know, anytime I make a video like, who. Who's this going to benefit? And how can I make that easy for them? And so I don't even think about it along the lines of like, oh, I'm not having fun with this device. It's more about how can I make sure that I unlock the fun for everybody else, so.

[Russ McElroy]

Right. But I guess I'm going to ask that again. Are you having fun in the production of these videos? Not so much the playing them.

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah.

[Russ McElroy]

But it does seem like a grind. As useful as they are to people.

[Russ Crandall]

I don't mind that. I. So I, you know, I'm a retired military, so I'm used to doing crappy things for a living, you know, so I don't really mind that at all.

[Griffin]

Like, and how does that, how does this compare to military, would you say?

[Russ Crandall]

You know, it's, it's actually very similar because attention to detail is super important. And I was a linguist in the military, so not like a grunt or anything, you know. And I was a master chief for most of my career as well. And so I was in the higher ranks working on policies and, you know, that stuff like that. And so that attention to detail just completely carries over to my videos too. So it's really important thing for me.

[Russ McElroy]

You mentioned the Brick as the, like, lower tier recommendation currently. Would you say it's the Retro Pocket 5 for the higher tier?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, that's the mid tier for me. So it's like kind of three tiers where I would say, you know, Brick is like the good one. And the Mew flip is really getting there too. Like, I'm really.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah, I'm very excited about that one particularly.

[Russ Crandall]

And then, yeah, the retroid pocket 5 and kind of that $200 tier, PS2 tier, you know, and then for the beyond, if you're just going nuts, then that would be like the Odin 2. Or at that point I just say get a Steam deck because the price point is kind of bridging that. And so it's like you might as well also play PC games at the same time.

[Griffin]

Are you anticipating, like Steam os, the release of Steam OS really just blowing this whole sort of niche, like wide open again. Because it seems to me like everything's going to kind of change when you can legally and somewhat effortlessly put Steam on one of these things.

[Russ Crandall]

It really depends on the architecture. So something like a Retroid or whatever that's not going to be able to run steamos unless they make an ARM version. Right, because there's ARM vs X86. I do see SteamOS being still kind of niche because you're going to have to flash it yourself onto whatever, like the Rog Ally or whatever, you're still going to have to do that extra effort to actually install it onto your device. So I don't see it really breaking the mainstream. Except for that new Lenovo device that's coming out that's actually going to have it already on it. And if they put that in Best Buy, that's going to be a big thing. You know, that's one thing about Steam Deck is you have to actually order it yourself. There's a bit effort there, but if you can walk by and be like, holy crap, that's a SteamOS device, then that's really compelling to me.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah, that area in particular, the, like, Linux to Android divide is really where I get hung up. Because in my experience, it has seemed that once you set up a Linux device with a custom firmware and it's all done, it kind of does its own thing. And Android, I feel, is like constant tweaking and adjusting power perimeters and shit like that. And my patience goes out the window.

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, yeah, totally.

[Chris]

Every time I end up in an Android menu, I feel like I want to get out of it as quickly as possible. Just take me to some other ui, please.

[Russ Crandall]

You're basically putting lipstick on a pig, right? Like, you're just taking this, like, house of cards and stacking a bunch of emulators on top, then throwing a front end to hide all of it, and then hoping that all these updates and whatnot are not going to break what you have set up right then and there. Whereas Linux, you can just take that thing offline and you'll never have to worry about it again.

[Griffin]

Yeah.

[Russ McElroy]

Does anyone. Is anyone getting close to, like, solving the Android problem? Like, is Retroid's front end coming close or not really?

[Russ Crandall]

No, no one's there. I mean, we now have Emulation Station Desktop Edition, which is a nice, really robust front end. We now have that on Android. But even then that's an effort barrier because you got to join their page because they won't list it on the Play Store because it asks for too many permissions. And so they have to join their Patreon for one month only. Then you'll get the code to be able to download it. And that's, again, you're just putting layers of effort into the setup process. So none of it's easy, none of it's Simple. I prefer the Linux stuff like the Miyoo Mini where you just buy that thing and it already works pretty well and you can update it later if you want to.

[Chris]

Is there any sense that these the people that are making the platforms will ever come up with tools that make easier migration, stuff like that? So where it's not always a huge pain to switch from one to the other.

[Russ Crandall]

No, I don't see that happening. I mean so you guys might be familiar with Mudeck, which is like the emulation setup guide for Steam Deck. That developer made something for Android where you basically plug it into a Windows computer and then it will download all this stuff and then transfer it over for you. But even then he's taking all these disparate parts, you know, like all these different emulator apps that are made by different people, putting it all together with all their set of rules, plus all of the layers of security that Android keeps popping on everything. I don't ever see this being an easy task on Android in particular.

[Russ McElroy]

Last question for me, who do you think is currently winning the custom firmware race on Linux? There's a number of options you got, what is it? Null E&MUOS and a few different ones. What do you think is doing it best?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, I really like what Nuuly is doing which is basically Batocera, very emulation style, station focused operating system. It's been working for a while, it's a Linux based one. But then I also am a huge champion of one called minui which is a minimized like text based operating system. I really love that one because that's the one I actually put on for friends, you know, like I'm going to give them a device, I'm going to put Menu I on it because you cannot break it. And that's the biggest thing for me and it is limited, it basically only caps out at basically PlayStation 1. But for those, you know, if I'm giving it to a casual friend, they just want to play Dr. Mario and so it's like a perfect setup for.

[Russ McElroy]

Them if you're just as like a friend gift. What do you think the A30 is like a good like eh, I don't care, it's 30 bucks or whatever it is. Is that like a good starting point?

[Russ Crandall]

I honestly think the clamshells, like this meal flip in particular is probably going to be the best one because that clamshell thing, it's like hey, when you're done with the game, just close it. That's all you have to do, you know and that's such an easy thing to just convey to anybody.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah, the last time I gave someone a gift, I put like sticky labels on the back, like hold start and select to exit the game and shit like that. It's fucking insane. So that's a good point.

[Chris]

But if they ever become easy to use, then we won't need Russ. So we need to stay complicated and a pain. You don't want to make yourself obsolete. Self obsolescence.

[Russ McElroy]

Russ, any closing thoughts before we get over to Indiana Jones?

[Russ Crandall]

No, that's it. I think that, you know, the biggest thing is just check out, you know, my channel or other channels and kind of, if you see a form factor that really kind of jives with you, you know, keep going, investigate a little bit more. And it's under $100 is really the place to go to maybe not jump right into a retroid pocket 5, maybe get your feet wet with something else instead.

[Griffin]

Especially because it's an Android device and it's kind of a pain in the. I would definitely, definitely recommend price not being like the first concern. I would say get an. Get a device that is famously easier to set up because that is the worst thing is buying one of these and then getting it and feeling like, oh, shit, I don't know. I don't know how to get this.

[Chris]

Here's a quick question. Just we were talking about the Odin 2, and I noticed, I was looking at the video that you had on it is over a year old now, October 2023. Do you have a sense of a pace of these devices? If I'm thinking about making the jump into one, is there a pace at which these are getting released? Do I maybe want to hold out for ODIN 3 at this point?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah. So it really comes down to the chip set. So, for example, Anbernic releases a new device every three to four weeks. It is all the time. But they use the same chips for the most, really a form factor thing at that point. But when you're looking for a generational leap of the chip, then it's usually every year and a half or so, you'll see a big jump. So the Odin 2 portal, which is coming out basically this or next month, has the same chip as that original Odin 2. It's just a different form factor. It's really about, you know, what really appeals to you in terms of the power and then the form factor.

[Russ McElroy]

All right, take a quick break and we're going to talk a little bit about Indiana Jones, which we didn't get to talk about. In December because of timing.

[Chris]

And then. So we'll be right back. Let's take a break.

[Griffin]

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[Russ McElroy]

Indiana Jones. Yeah, let's do it.

[Chris]

Okay. Indiana Jones is a new game from Bethesda from a lot of the people who worked on Wolfenstein Games and they've got this new Indiana Jones game which if this is a comparison that was immediate to me and a lot of other people, but maybe has missed a generation. And it's not unlike Chronicles of Riddick. It is a first person, I guess you'd say like a first person exploration and brawling game. I wouldn't say it's a first person shooter. I wouldn't say. But that is about where I'd put it. And that's similar to Chronicles of Ridic, which if you've never played, it was about basically a big prison break and you are like sneaking around through a prison with whatever sort of like hand to hand combat weapons you can scrounge up. It's really good. It was like really surprisingly kind of shocked everybody how enjoyable it was. And this is kind of similar to that for me. I feel like where I'm really kind of surprised by how closely they've Sort of like captured. What the. A really good version of an Indiana Jones game might. Might be.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah.

[Griffin]

I mean, starting with Troy Baker's performance as Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones is genuinely one of the most impressive, I think, like VO performances I've ever seen in a video game or animated feature or anything. It is you really. He really gets lost in it and just constantly you will forget like, oh, that's not actually. That's not Harrison Ford. Cause he sounds like. But he also brings his own thing to it. It's not like a. An impressionist that you hired for a birthday party. Like he sells it in a way that is. I think if you had asked me before the game came out, I would have probably assumed it was like an impossible needle to thread.

[Russ McElroy]

He fucking. There's a moment where you're like climbing up a rope or whatever and the grunt that he makes is a Harrison Ford grunt. And I have no fucking clue how you do that.

[Chris]

What really impresses me, honestly. And this is a credit to the technology too, I think. And not just Troy Baker, but like there are tiny like micro expressions that he does that carry over. Like, for example, there is an upgrade you can get where if you get beat up, you can. And you get knocked out, you can grab your hat and put your hat back on and then you're back in the fight, you get another chance to do it. But when you put your hat back on every time there's like this tiny one second cinematic where he kind of looks at the guys he's fighting, gives him a little like smirk, like. And it, it's, it's every time it's so small and specific, but it feels like. Exactly. Right.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah. Ross, I know you got into it a bit. What was your initial reaction?

[Russ Crandall]

You know, I played the Riddick game back in the day, but then also the Darkness is the same. Starbreeze Studios from back in the day.

[Griffin]

Sure.

[Russ Crandall]

And I, I found that that one is a really close analogy because, you know you have like those snake whips in that one.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah.

[Russ Crandall]

You're playing like melee and that's very similar to holding the whip as Indiana Jones. So very similar. And even the vignetting that happens when you go into stealth mode, like super close. And so apparently a lot of really figure that out. But yeah, I really enjoy it.

[Russ McElroy]

Apparently a lot of the developers actually were from Starbreeze and they came over and joined the studio, so. So it's machine games, right? Is that is the right machine games is they made Wolfenstein most recently.

[Griffin]

And yeah, it is truly, it is wild to me how often I feel like this game bucks like modern sort of game design and world design convention in order to present an authentic sort of like globetrotting Indiana Jones esque experience. It doesn't feel. I feel like this game would have been tarnished greatly if it had felt more like a video game at times instead of feeling like a quest to raid tombs. The first thing you do really as Indiana Jones is you go through the scene of a break in at a museum and you have to go and pick up relics off the ground and identify their nation of origin and put them back in their display cases and it's so boring. But it's also cool that you are history archaeology professor Indiana Jones cleaning up a mess. And that's the first thing you do as you're sort of introduction. Well, I guess the introduction to the game is the introduction to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[Chris]

Yeah. And it's also a lot of good performances in it. There's a priest, Enrico Colantoni plays from Veronica Mars and just shoot me.

[Russ McElroy]

Oh, I didn't know that's who that was.

[Chris]

Yeah, it's wild, right? It's like really wow.

[Griffin]

I know, right?

[Chris]

It's really impressive. I had to look it up because I was like who is this? And it's him. He does great. He's killer. He's really good on English teacher too, if you guys haven't. Anyway, we'll save it for honorable mentions.

[Griffin]

It's not like. I guess the point I'm trying to make is it's not like Dishonored where you have superpowers and you can.

[Chris]

Right.

[Griffin]

So zoom around. It's like if you see a building and you know there's a thing up in there, getting to it is going to be kind of slow by most game standards and like sort of unspectacular. But he's like a guy, he's a human being man, who likes history. And you really feel like the game is going to great pains to not make it feel like he is an action hero. Which is like the thing with Indiana Jones is that he gets his ass kicked sometimes and he gets hurt and he's not invincible.

[Chris]

Yeah, it's, it's, it's interesting because I feel like, I feel like you're absolutely right. And I feel like it was so such a really like smart and like way of envisioning Indiana Jones. And here's, here's. And the. I played it, I started playing it the first day it came out and I'm still playing it. I'll check back in on it, and I'll play for, like, another hour or so. And it's like, I so respect it. And this is probably just a comment on me, maybe, but, like, I. Because the power curve has to be tamped down in such a way where, like, you.

[Russ McElroy]

It almost has to be flat. Like, practically up flat.

[Chris]

Yeah. I mean, like, I'm trying to be generous. Like, yeah, 100%, man. There is no point. Which he's gonna be like, yeah, with two whips, I can really get some.

[Griffin]

Stuff done right now. I can double jump, right?

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah.

[Chris]

It's not gonna happen. And. And I will admit there's a part of me that's, like, as cool as the things are, sometimes the, like, the feeling that I'm, like, progressing or it really, like, everything you do has to be, like, really, really fun. And nothing can feel like grunt work because the rewards for doing it aren't good enough. Right. So it, like, it has to be really engaging. And I have found myself, for whatever reasons, just, like, pretty easily distracted while. While playing Indiana Jones. That's what I would say.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah. What was your. What do you think, Russ? Have you noticed any of that?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, for me, it's. I found myself stumbling into the progression of the game where I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I'm just kind of poking around, pushing on things, and then all of a sudden it works, and then I'm moving on the next part. But that's very much Indiana Jones, right? Because he's like that, too. He just stumbles into success. And so that. That has actually been something I've really noticed. Like, I'm in Egypt right now. I just got dropped into the map, and I have no idea where I'm going. And that's exactly what he would be doing if he was there to enjoy that realism.

[Chris]

It's very. Yeah, I really enjoy a lot of freedom, too. Just to pile on that. When they give you a new environment, they'll kind of let you, like, walk around, see which. Which does add to that immersion.

[Griffin]

And it's like, I think they incentivize exploration in a way that is, like, really quite smart. Mostly, like, I think it is fun when you find, like, a little puzzle and you're like, oh, okay, I'm gonna do a little. I'm gonna do this little puzzle. And the reward is, like, you know, whatever adventure points that you could spend to unlock little perks that you find in these books scattered all around. But those perks are not like, huge. It's like when you hit somebody with a candlestick, it breaks after three hits instead of two. It's like very, very, very small stuff.

[Chris]

It is great that when you find those ones, like, just wait till I find a candlestick, then you guys are in big trouble.

[Griffin]

But I don't know. I just like exploring. One of the first big areas you get dropped into is Vatican City. And it's humongous. And there is so much stuff to poke around and find. And it goes against sort of my nature as what I like from games, which is, like, heavy progression hooks and carrots and sticks. And this game doesn't really do a lot of that. I just like going around as Indiana Jones. Like, it feels pretty cool and sometimes you'll find something that helps, but for the most part, it's just exploring for exploring sake.

[Russ McElroy]

It also has, I think I can't think of a game that has done melee combat better than this game.

[Chris]

It's fun, cool. Like, it feels. It's very well animated. It looks very natural.

[Russ McElroy]

And just the like, oh, I got spotted. I'm holding a vase. I'm gonna throw the vase in his general direction and hope for the best and then just charge him. That is like, such an encapsulation of what Indiana Jones is, I will say.

[Griffin]

And this soundbite, I hope doesn't get pulled out of the context of this show. I wish that they just hadn't put dogs in the game.

[Chris]

Yes.

[Griffin]

Because clearly they were trying to be sensitive to the fact that, you know, there's fascists all over the Vatican and some of them have dogs that will attack you if you get too close to kind of like, mix up the sort of, like, stealth stuff. But if a dog gets too close to you, it'll jump and bite you and you have to push him off. But you can't harm the dog. You can only crack your bullwhip to scare it and cow it sort of to the ground where it will just kind of sit for an idle animation of about 10 seconds before it gets back up and tries to bite you again. It's so hard. And it's such an insane contrivance where if a Nazi rolls up on you, you can punch him 10 times in the face and then he's done. You don't have to worry about him anymore. But if you see a dog, it's like this infinitely regenerated.

[Chris]

And it is also a wild. The implication is also insane. Like, the implications. Like, well, yeah, you can snuff that out. It's just a human life, but that's a puppers. Like you don't want to kill the.

[Griffin]

Puppies, which like I understand why they did that.

[Chris]

I'm sorry. Don't put dogs in the game. It's like the whole thing's wild, man. But yeah, it is, it is. It's not like I don't stay down. The fact that they come back and they're like, well, fuck you there.

[Griffin]

I'm not like hungering for dog violence. Just don't put the dog in the game if you're going to make it an invincible, unkillable sort of monster.

[Chris]

It is funny though, we're kind of bumping up against is like part of this game I do feel like is you can meet it. I think you meet it a little bit of the way with role playing. There's just like, you know, you have a pistol and every once in a while I will get frustrated enough to like walk up to some Nazis like, hey, I'm not actually a priest, pop.

[Russ McElroy]

Pop, pop, pop, pop.

[Chris]

And I'll walk in. And the Vatican does have a very thorough response plan for any college professors that walk into the Vatican to do that. But it is like I didn't even fire a shot. I mean I really, until several hours in, I didn't even use the gun. Like I forget I have it.

[Griffin]

I will press a button trying to pull out a biscotti to eat it and I'll draw a revolver and be like, what the fuck?

[Chris]

You made it. Actually kind of. I'm at a point now where there's a lot more like well armed Nazis. And it makes it's a little less like I don't really want it to turn into that. Like I really don't want to get into a bunch of gunfights. But it's. I'm feeling like more pressed that way the more guys I run into with like automatic, automatic weapons.

[Griffin]

Well, that was what was so great about Riddick, right? Is like in Riddick, if you find a sharp toothbrush, it's like, fuck yeah. It's like pulling the master sword. Because like what you have available to you is so limited and, and yeah, I think it gets a little bit less special. But it's also like, I think that also accurately reflects the Indiana Jones movies where he is not a gun toting guy. He will use a gun sometimes, but most of the time it's punching and whipping with some gun mixed in for seasoning.

[Chris]

He often uses his whip when he could probably reach with his hand. There's like Switches where he's like, all right, all right, just settle down. Just stay on your tiptoes.

[Russ Crandall]

Where.

[Russ McElroy]

Where do you fall, Russ? Are you like fully in? You're gonna actually finish it or you think this is more or less what you've played?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, I'm gonna finish it. I'm. I'm. Yeah, I don't know where I'm at in terms of progression. Probably 30% through the game and I'm enjoying it. I. I wish it wasn't so stealthy, you know, I feel like Indiana Jones wouldn't stealth as much. He would spend more time bonking people on the head. Like you can do. Right. But I usually devolve into fisticuffs anyway. Like, I just. I'm not good enough at sneaking around that I get caught and then I just beat everyone up and then move on to the next thing, which is.

[Chris]

Surprisingly an effective strategy to just like get a wrench and go start hitting people.

[Griffin]

It just feels wrong. It feels wrong, Mike. I feel like games that dabble in stealth are usually do so pretty wrong headedly and that, like, if you're gonna have stealth in your game, like have a lot of stealth stuff, like you get a costume, you get a disguise to appear as like a priest while you're at the Vatican. Let me beat up a Nazi and take his clothes so I can go in like the restricted areas. Like, give me some other tools.

[Russ McElroy]

Well, you do get a fascist outfit also in the Vatican, so there's that, I guess. It's not a Nazi outfit. I know you want to. You personally want a Nazi outfit.

[Griffin]

That's cool, Russ. That's cool.

[Russ McElroy]

I do, like, for one thing on the stealth thing, like we've talked about a little bit about Dishonored, which is a game I absolutely love, but if you get spotted and Dishonored, you're reloading that save. I certainly have like save scum my way through those games. And if you get spotted in this by like a crowd with weapons, you can legit run away. And the way the AI is programmed, like it's possible to get like escape without having to reload a save. And that is awesome. I wish more games would do that.

[Griffin]

Yeah. Unless they have a dog with them who will pursue you till you are dead and there is nothing you can do about it. It cool. Why do you think Microsoft buried it?

[Russ McElroy]

I don't know that they.

[Griffin]

It's an insane time of year. I don't think you have to be particularly well versed in the industry to know that releasing a game A couple weeks before Christmas is sort of a death.

[Chris]

This is my best guess. And Russ, you're smarter about like very smart industry stuff than I am. My best guess would be Microsoft wanted to release it so they could say they released it in 2024.

[Russ McElroy]

That was my thinking as well. I think it's a fiscal financial thing because you're right. Like, yeah, right after the game awards, everyone's on vacation. I mean, they. I think they also view this as a game pass game more than anything else, even though it is earlier.

[Chris]

I mean, they probably could have, but I feel like. I bet it was coming in really hot and they didn't want to wait another delay, another game pushed out of this year. I think they want to be able to say this came out this year we released.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah, I will say it doesn't feel like it came in hot. It feels pretty fucking smooth. Like not buggy runs well. Gorgeous on PC. Looks pretty.

[Griffin]

They released it in a way that a company would usually release a game that they were trying to put at the, you know, Friday, Friday at 4:55pm like, skip the news cycle. Sort of really taking out the trash, as they call it. And that is not Disney. This game's fucking good, man.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah, I thought it was really great and it does give me hope for the other stuff they have in development. We have a lot of, like, Xbox games that should, in theory come out this year. Yeah, avowed. And maybe Fable, who knows? So cool. Maybe this. This is an upswing.

[Griffin]

Do we want to do honorable mentions?

[Russ McElroy]

Sure.

[Chris]

Yeah.

[Russ McElroy]

I'll start. I've been playing a game called Balatro. It's a card game. I want to mention Balatro. I mentioned this on the the Resties, which is a Patreon only thing, but I wanted to share it with the wider audience because I think it's important. I came up with a rule for playing Balatro on my phone and I couldn't recommend it more highly to everyone else out there. I cannot start a new run of Balatro when I'm in my house. So if I'm on the subway, Interesting. A waiting room or anything, I can start a new run. I can start as many runs as I want. Second, in my house, I can continue and finish the run that I'm currently on. I can't start a new one. Two things it does. One, time management great for not like sinking an entire night on just playing Balatro. And two, it makes me play the game in a really interesting way where I know that I can't start a new run. So I'm going to make the fucking best that I can out of this run, which I think is very true to the roguelike.

[Griffin]

Is there a daily challenge mode of Balatron? Cause it seems like that would be hot.

[Russ McElroy]

It does seem like there would be. I know they're working on a content update this year and it wouldn't surprise me if. I mean, they already have seating as an option and that's the hardest part of that. Sure. So it seems like they would add it, but currently I think they just have the set challenges. So that was my Balatro Pro tip for everyone.

[Griffin]

Wow. Excellent. I want to recommend the circle France Season 1. We were jonesing to watch the Circle. There's a bunch of international seasons on Netflix I looked up. What's the good one? Circle season one of Circle France was highly recommended. Watched it. Good shit. If you enjoy that show, it hits hard. Everybody plays hard and strategic from day one and it's a very, very entertaining watch.

[Russ McElroy]

I want to know if Russ is a reality guy. Reality TV guy.

[Russ Crandall]

Not at all.

[Russ McElroy]

That does not surprise me.

[Griffin]

I also have been messing around and taking a beginner course in Godot, which is a game development platform.

[Russ McElroy]

That's cool.

[Griffin]

I did sort of a similar thing back when I was still at Polygon with GameMaker Studio 2, which had a sort of visual programming, dragging blocks sort of programming method, which was very accessible to me at the time. And I really enjoyed. And I don't know, I've been kind of. I really enjoyed doing that. But I wanted to sort of check out this other thing and Godot is totally open source, free to download, and lots of games are made in Godot. I can't think of any off the top of my head.

[Russ McElroy]

Yeah. So Halls of Torment.

[Griffin]

Yes, that's the one that I was.

[Russ McElroy]

Just playing the Golden Idol games. Made in Godot. There are a lot of titles there.

[Griffin]

It's very interesting. I'm not going to get like super deep into it, but it is very logically designed and a lot of it really makes sense. And the programming language that it works in is sort of designed to be very readable and very user friendly. And all of like, anything I know from coding is from doing codecademy courses on Python or whatever. And I'm finding it's like sort of fairly easy to follow. So I don't have any designs on like making a big game or anything like that. But I. I don't know. It's very satisfying to like have a challenge of, like, make it so that when you click this Treasure chest. It opens up and then like figuring out the like nine things you have to do in order to actually make that happen. I find that very puzzly and satisfying in a way. And it's free. So the course is not free, but the, the Godot software is.

[Russ McElroy]

What's the course program that you're doing?

[Griffin]

It's GDQuest, which I think is associated with some of the dev team on Godot. They have a few different ones. There's a free one that teaches you the basics of the coding language, the programming language. But the one I'm taking now is something. I forget how much it cost. It wasn't crazy, but it just walks you through making basically a 2D, very, very simple game. So it's very cool.

[Chris]

Cool. I wanted to recommend a comedy called Y2K. It is made by Kyle Mooney and it is a sort of horror. Not really a horror, sort of like a horror comedy, heavier on the comedy that is sort of like Imagine Can't Hardly Wait or one of those like teen coming of age comedies. But set against the backdrop of Y2K, in a world where Y2K was as bad as it could possibly be. And all of our computers and phones and all of our technology at the time rose up to try to. To kill us. And that is like the. The premise of the movie is like you have four, five kids that are being like trying to escape this like robot apocalypse. The joy of the thing is really like. It is so evocative of the time period, if you are of a certain age where like you are getting the references and hearing the references. I think that you will really get a lot out of it and enjoy it and get. It's silly, it's not super scary. It's not like, doesn't have a lot of like huge points to make. But for people who, you know, were teens at that time, it is. It feels like kind of a love letter. And we, Sid and I both really, really enjoyed it. It fe. It was just very pleasant to see and it felt very nostalgic. So we liked it a lot. I know it has gotten some negative reviews. I think that if you are not someone who's gonna enjoy the sort of references this is doing and not just references because it's not like referential humor. But it is very much of a time and of a place. If you don't click with that, I could see how you wouldn't love the rest of it. But I really enjoyed it.

[Russ McElroy]

It's interesting cause the other movie of his that I saw, which was Brigsby Bear is like so referential to the 80s and like 80s TV. And it's interesting to see him tackling a different genre. I didn't know this was his movie.

[Chris]

Yeah, it's really, really. It's very well done, it's very funny and it's really smart, I think, and well worth watching.

[Russ McElroy]

Russell, you got anything?

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah. This one might seem kind of predictable, but I've been playing a game and It's Final Fantasy 16, which I think, you know, it's kind of last year's news. Right. But what I've really learned about it, I just recently picked it up because it finally is on PC and it was finally at a good price, like 40 bucks or something. And it is a perfect casual dad game, I think, when it comes to just playing an rpg, because there's a couple factors to it, but one is that you can use these runes or trinkets, whatever they call them, to basically just spam one button to do all the cool special moves so you don't have to memorize all the button configurations and stuff. So. So you really just mash on X and you can just do these amazing feats. And if you don't care about the mechanics of it, it actually is really satisfying. And the other part is they have these pause context menus, so you can pause any scene and it'll show all the characters and the references and you can go and read up a little bit more about it.

[Griffin]

I do like that a lot.

[Russ Crandall]

Yeah, it's been really good for me and just kind of like, because I only have 20, 30 minutes a day and not every day consistently to really play games and relax and whatnot. And that's the one I keep going to because it's just so casually minded, which you wouldn't expect from Final Fantasy. You would think you have to get immersed and kind of like live in it. And this is one of those where you can just jump back in whenever and you can just mash that X button and you're right back at it.

[Russ McElroy]

And what's cool is by 2030 you should be done with it. And then another Final Fantasy game should be coming out right around the.

[Chris]

Russ, you were telling me that you streamed that on your coffee maker, right? You set up the buttons so the grind is jump and.

[Griffin]

Yeah.

[Russ McElroy]

Was that running on Android 13?

[Chris]

The copy makers now let's get serious though, for a second. Are you taking care of your hands? Is that something you're thinking about a lot?

[Russ Crandall]

Oh, my gosh, it is something I do think about a lot. Like the way that I hold my hands in particular for filming is not a very natural position, but it looks good on screen and it hurts after time. So I got to take breaks and stuff. This is kind of back. Back of the scene knowledge stuff.

[Chris]

But yeah, you've ever seen. I really do a first person shooter that zoomed out to show from third person. You'll often see the hands like that because they want it to look normal on the screen. But it's really just hands chopping through the air. That.

[Russ Crandall]

That's right.

[Russ McElroy]

We doing mannies. What are we doing? Keeping the hands clean.

[Russ Crandall]

I take breaks and give my hands rest, you know, and I'll kind of space all that stuff out to make sure. Because it starts to hurt.

[Chris]

Moisturizing at least. Moisturizing.

[Griffin]

Gotta be. No moisturizing.

[Russ Crandall]

I don't have to do any of that stuff. I live in Hawaii. It's like, you know, it's humid here all the time. So I don't have to deal with any of that crap.

[Chris]

You think that now you're still a young man, you better be sleeping in gloves. Lotion filled gloves. You want to still be doing this in 2080, right? You still want to be Russ, thank you so much. Again, where is the best place for people to find your work?

[Russ Crandall]

So my YouTube channel, Retro Game Corps. C O R P S like Marine Corps. That's the place to start.

[Russ McElroy]

All right, I guess I'll recap the stuff we talked about. We talked about quite a bit. A few recommendations. On the low end entry point, Russ mentioned the Trim UI brick, which is a new handheld in the 70ish dollar range. There's also the Retroid Pocket 5 which is in like the 200ish dollar range. And then on the high end we have the Odin 2, which is around $300 and probably is going to change by the time we this episode publish this episode on Friday. We also talked about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which is on Game Pass and Steam and everything else. Fun fact, the if you're playing on Xbox and then you switch for some reason over to Steam, the save file carries over. You can actually connect the save file, which is awesome. I've only seen that with Microsoft and Microsoft stuff.

[Griffin]

So yeah, that was cool to see.

[Russ McElroy]

We also talked about my very handy Balatro Pro tip for not ruining your life. We talked about Final Fantasy 16. We talked about the Circle France Edition Season 1 and a Godot game making course that Griffin has taken called GD Quest. And Justin talked about the movie Y2K from Kyle Mooney.

[Griffin]

Thanks, Chris.

[Russ McElroy]

You're welcome.

[Griffin]

Welcome to sue that we also have.

[Russ McElroy]

Some patrons I want to thank. Thank you to the following patrons. Thank you to all the patrons. But specifically today we're gonna thank Jason, Christian Dovahkin, birth name and Harrison. Oh, Harrison.

[Chris]

Who knows, could be him or it.

[Griffin]

Could be Troy again trying to frickin trick us.

[Russ McElroy]

Thank you to all the patrons for backing us. We have more exclusive content behind the wall. We have the rest eats episodes, bracket episodes every month. All sorts of great stuff there. So please subscribe.

[Griffin]

They're being patreon.com thebesties Correct.

[Russ McElroy]

Correct. What are we doing next week?

[Chris]

How would I have any way of.

[Griffin]

Knowing that next week we're gonna be doing I'm so glad you asked for us. It's gonna be Donkey Kong country returns.

[Russ McElroy]

And it's the second time it has returned, which is just confusing. So it's, it's. But it's coming out on Switch and, and it's a very good platforming game. So I'm excited to check that out.

[Chris]

Gonna be going ape.

[Griffin]

That's good, Juice. Yeah, that's good, man.

[Russ McElroy]

You did it. You did it. Russ, thank you so much for joining us. Go over to the retro Game Corps YouTube channel. Good stuff coming out every week.

[Russ Crandall]

Thanks for having me. This is really awesome. I'm honored to be on here.

[Chris]

Just an hour of happiness. That's gonna do it for us for this week. Until next time for all the besties, be sure to join us again next week of the besties because should the world's best friends pick the world's best games.

[Griffin]

Besties.