This New Retro Handheld Is Nostalgia Bait for Early-2000s Sliding Phones
Anbernic is used to playing on our nostalgia, and to be honest, that strategy seems to be working. Just last month, the company released its Anbernic RG34XXSP, which is a Game Boy Advance SP-like retro handheld that somehow crams your love for Game Boys and the GameCube into one (very affordable) gadget. My millennial lust for gaming nostalgia is tingling just thinking about it. Now, Anbernic is taking that same strategy and applying it toward another retro gadget you may not have had on your retro gaming bingo card—2000s-era sliding phones.
Anbernic's RG Slide is the company's newest handheld in a very long stream of handhelds that somehow seems to be getting longer and longer. The slide has a TPS IPS screen that comes in a 4:3 aspect ratio with a resolution of 1,280 x 960 pixels. The display, unlike my iPhone 13, supports a 120Hz refresh rate, has a contrast ratio of 1200:1, and has a max brightness of up to 500 nits. Emulation-wise, Anbernic says this sliding handheld will be able to play PS2, Wii, GameCube, and Dreamcast games at a 640 x 480 resolution. It'll also emulate PS1 and N64 games at a 320 x 240 resolution.
I think the headlining feature of this handheld isn't what it emulates or how good or bad the screen is— it's the form factor. The RG Slide, as you may have guessed from the name, has a sliding screen that pushes up to reveal two thumbsticks, a D-pad, ABXY buttons, and a start and select button in the middle. That design might be evocative of a couple of things, but for me, it has 2000s-era phones written all over it. Yes, it's also got big Xperia Play energy—Sony's gaming-centric smartphone from 2011—but my mind goes back even further to the days of sliding phones from LG or Nokia. What I would pay to slide open my LG Shine Slide one last time…
In case you were wondering, yes, the screen is also a touchscreen, so theoretically you could use touch controls to play games, but I cannot think of a single reason to actually do that given the built-in thumbsticks. You can also play in a cursed vertical orientation, which should be good for some mobile games. Speaking of mobile games, this thing also runs Android, not Linux, so if playing Genshin Impact is high on your list of priorities, the RG Slide should have you covered. There's still no information on when the RG Slide will be released or how much it will cost, but if Anbernic's previous handhelds are anything to go by, then we can expect a competitive starting price. It's no sliding phone, but maybe, just maybe, it'll scratch that same itch.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
"We must change our methods": Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai says game development has become "too time consuming and unsustainable"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Kirby and Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has spoken about the current state of game development and why he believes it is becoming "unsustainable." You rarely hear much about developers when it comes to Nintendo games, but Masahiro Sakurai is well known as a workaholic. From 2012 until 2021, he worked on Super Smash Bros. non-stop between the 3DS, Wii U, and Switch editions, in the midst of suffering from calcific tendonitis. And in the five months he had off in between finishing up with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and his then-unknown next project – which was revealed to be Kirby Air Riders in the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct – he created two-and-a-half years' worth of content for a YouTube channel. However, even Sakurai is beginning to think large-scale development is getting to be a bit wild, as we're currently in an era where it looks like developers like Naughty Dog will end up going a full console generation without a new game. Speaking to Yahoo Japan (translated via Source Gaming), Sakurai responds to a question asking what he believes the future of the gaming market holds, saying that, "To be honest, it's hard to see what the future holds. I think we've reached a point where creating large-scale games like we do now is too time consuming and unsustainable." He says developers must adapt to new ways of thinking: "I believe we are at a stage where we must change our methods, such as by using generative AI to improve work efficiency." Sakurai adds, "It seems that only companies that can adapt well to these changes will survive in the coming era." While Sakurai presents generative AI as a tool that could be used to ease game development troubles, he doesn't clarify if it's something he himself is particularly interested in using. Given how Sakurai's games typically have a ton of personal touches where you see them and think, "yep, that's a Sakurai thing," I'd be shocked if he started using the plagiarism machine. Super Smash Bros. creator says instead of making more "Americanized works," Japanese devs should "seek the uniqueness and fun of Japanese games."
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Photographer finds surreal beauty — and few humans — inside a Chinese EV factory
Depicting endless rows of uniformed workers, Edward Burtynsky's iconic images of mid-2000s Chinese factories spoke to the seemingly inexhaustible human labor behind China's economic miracle. Just two decades later, the photographer's glimpse inside an electric car plant near Shanghai presents the opposite phenomenon: a complete absence of people. 'This is a factory built by humans but run by robots,' Burtynsky said of the facility, which is owned by top Chinese automaker BYD, on a Zoom call. 'I think it's a foreshadowing of where our future is.' BYD is at the forefront of a technological revolution. Last year, the company's annual revenues surpassed American rival Tesla's for the first time as it delivered 4.27 million vehicles (the 1.76 million EVs it produced in 2024 was just short of Tesla's 1.79 million, but the Chinese company also delivered around 2.5 million hybrid vehicles). Its success is, partly, down to price: BYD's entry-level model, the Seagull, starts at around $10,000 in China, a fraction of the $32,000 Tesla charges for its least expensive offering, the Model 3. And this affordability is, partly, down to highly automated manufacturing. In 2023, Burtynsky was granted rare access to a BYD plant in Changzhou, a city about two hours' drive from Shanghai. He obtained permission through the personal connections of British architect Sir Norman Foster, who wanted a cover image for Domus, a magazine he was guest-editing about the future of various industries, including transportation. The car giant was, Burtynsky said, 'very sensitive' about what he was allowed to document. But he believes he is the first independent photographer to be granted access to one of the company's factories. 'The humans are really just there to maintain the robots and keep the programs running clean,' he said of the secretive facility, referencing so-called 'dark factories,' which are so devoid of human workers they can operate without lights. 'Of course, corporations want that. There are no unions, there's no sick pay and, as long as there's electricity being fed to (the machines), they can work 24/7.' The standout image from Burtynsky's visit, simply titled 'BYD Manufacturing Facility #2,' paints a complex picture — not only of rapid change in China but of the ripple effects being felt in supply chains and labor markets around the world. The image's 'central character,' as the Canadian photographer put it, is an unfinished vehicle on a production line. Columns and beams around it repeat and recede to a vanishing point, producing a mesmerizing symmetry. The factory possessed a 'cathedral-esque' quality, he said. Related article Aerial photos reveal hidden beauty of airports In a sense, though, the photo is the last chapter in a story unfolding thousands of miles away. The image is part of a wider body of work, called 'China in Africa,' exploring what Burtynsky considers to be the 'next stage of globalization.' Currently on show at Hong Kong's Flowers Gallery, the series contrasts BYD's spotless factory with Chinese-owned rail crossings, warehouses and apparel factories in African countries including Ethiopia. Taken together, they depict what the photographer called China's 'complete vertical integration, from supply chain to finished product.' In other words, the human labor he saw in the mid-2000s hasn't gone — it's been offshored. And BYD, which is reported to have purchased lithium mines (for battery production) and mineral rights in countries such as Brazil, typifies the model, he said. 'They have literally secured their complete supply chain,' he said. Burtynsky is best known for aerial shots of dramatic landscapes scarred by agriculture and industry, from copper mines to salt pans. Though his images often portray human overexploitation, he considers them to be 'fairly neutral.' 'I do it in a sort of deadpan aesthetic,' he said of his photographic style. 'I don't try to lean the viewer one way or the other, in terms of 'This is bad' or 'This is good.' I'm not trying to manipulate you.' His photos almost always contain some moral ambiguity. 'Without copper,' he offered, illustrating the tradeoff between environmental degradation and human progress, 'I couldn't be having this conversation with you.' His depiction of BYD's operations — and automation at large — is arguably even more paradoxical. Car manufacturing may be resource-heavy but electric vehicles could help end our dependance on fossil fuels, making the factories a symbol of environmental recovery, not damage. What's more, China may not mourn the loss of jobs that Burtynsky described as 'dehumanizing.' And he would know: Long before taking up photography full time, he worked at factories owned by car companies General Motors and Ford. 'You feel like you're part of the machine,' he recalled. 'You're just being used for your human energy because they haven't (yet) found a machine that can do what you're doing.' The enclosed mechanical worlds of his factory photos also differ from his large-scale landscapes, where nature provides the sense of scale. But what unites all of Burtynsky's work is his attempt to evoke a 'sense of wonder.' 'I'm always trying to point my camera into worlds that we're not all that familiar with, that (invite) the kind of scrutiny that a big, large format print can give you,' he added. 'You can jump in and look at the small grease stain on the floor, or some splash of oil on the side of a wall in this pristine plant. You can see these little bits of everyday noise that take it to a more grounded, humanistic level.' 'China in Africa' is currently showing at Flowers Gallery in Hong Kong; 'The Great Acceleration' is on at the International Center of Photography in New York City until September 28, 2025.
CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
Photographer finds surreal beauty — and few humans — inside a Chinese EV factory
Depicting endless rows of uniformed workers, Edward Burtynsky's iconic images of mid-2000s Chinese factories spoke to the seemingly inexhaustible human labor behind China's economic miracle. Just two decades later, the photographer's glimpse inside an electric car plant near Shanghai presents the opposite phenomenon: a complete absence of people. 'This is a factory built by humans but run by robots,' Burtynsky said of the facility, which is owned by top Chinese automaker BYD, on a Zoom call. 'I think it's a foreshadowing of where our future is.' BYD is at the forefront of a technological revolution. Last year, the company's annual revenues surpassed American rival Tesla's for the first time as it delivered 4.27 million vehicles (the 1.76 million EVs it produced in 2024 was just short of Tesla's 1.79 million, but the Chinese company also delivered around 2.5 million hybrid vehicles). Its success is, partly, down to price: BYD's entry-level model, the Seagull, starts at around $10,000 in China, a fraction of the $32,000 Tesla charges for its least expensive offering, the Model 3. And this affordability is, partly, down to highly automated manufacturing. In 2023, Burtynsky was granted rare access to a BYD plant in Changzhou, a city about two hours' drive from Shanghai. He obtained permission through the personal connections of British architect Sir Norman Foster, who wanted a cover image for Domus, a magazine he was guest-editing about the future of various industries, including transportation. The car giant was, Burtynsky said, 'very sensitive' about what he was allowed to document. But he believes he is the first independent photographer to be granted access to one of the company's factories. 'The humans are really just there to maintain the robots and keep the programs running clean,' he said of the secretive facility, referencing so-called 'dark factories,' which are so devoid of human workers they can operate without lights. 'Of course, corporations want that. There are no unions, there's no sick pay and, as long as there's electricity being fed to (the machines), they can work 24/7.' The standout image from Burtynsky's visit, simply titled 'BYD Manufacturing Facility #2,' paints a complex picture — not only of rapid change in China but of the ripple effects being felt in supply chains and labor markets around the world. The image's 'central character,' as the Canadian photographer put it, is an unfinished vehicle on a production line. Columns and beams around it repeat and recede to a vanishing point, producing a mesmerizing symmetry. The factory possessed a 'cathedral-esque' quality, he said. Related article Aerial photos reveal hidden beauty of airports In a sense, though, the photo is the last chapter in a story unfolding thousands of miles away. The image is part of a wider body of work, called 'China in Africa,' exploring what Burtynsky considers to be the 'next stage of globalization.' Currently on show at Hong Kong's Flowers Gallery, the series contrasts BYD's spotless factory with Chinese-owned rail crossings, warehouses and apparel factories in African countries including Ethiopia. Taken together, they depict what the photographer called China's 'complete vertical integration, from supply chain to finished product.' In other words, the human labor he saw in the mid-2000s hasn't gone — it's been offshored. And BYD, which is reported to have purchased lithium mines (for battery production) and mineral rights in countries such as Brazil, typifies the model, he said. 'They have literally secured their complete supply chain,' he said. Burtynsky is best known for aerial shots of dramatic landscapes scarred by agriculture and industry, from copper mines to salt pans. Though his images often portray human overexploitation, he considers them to be 'fairly neutral.' 'I do it in a sort of deadpan aesthetic,' he said of his photographic style. 'I don't try to lean the viewer one way or the other, in terms of 'This is bad' or 'This is good.' I'm not trying to manipulate you.' His photos almost always contain some moral ambiguity. 'Without copper,' he offered, illustrating the tradeoff between environmental degradation and human progress, 'I couldn't be having this conversation with you.' His depiction of BYD's operations — and automation at large — is arguably even more paradoxical. Car manufacturing may be resource-heavy but electric vehicles could help end our dependance on fossil fuels, making the factories a symbol of environmental recovery, not damage. What's more, China may not mourn the loss of jobs that Burtynsky described as 'dehumanizing.' And he would know: Long before taking up photography full time, he worked at factories owned by car companies General Motors and Ford. 'You feel like you're part of the machine,' he recalled. 'You're just being used for your human energy because they haven't (yet) found a machine that can do what you're doing.' The enclosed mechanical worlds of his factory photos also differ from his large-scale landscapes, where nature provides the sense of scale. But what unites all of Burtynsky's work is his attempt to evoke a 'sense of wonder.' 'I'm always trying to point my camera into worlds that we're not all that familiar with, that (invite) the kind of scrutiny that a big, large format print can give you,' he added. 'You can jump in and look at the small grease stain on the floor, or some splash of oil on the side of a wall in this pristine plant. You can see these little bits of everyday noise that take it to a more grounded, humanistic level.' 'China in Africa' is currently showing at Flowers Gallery in Hong Kong; 'The Great Acceleration' is on at the International Center of Photography in New York City until September 28, 2025.
