Returning from summer break, the NPC crew discusses Microsoft and ASUS’s Xbox handheld announcement at Gamescom. They also cover the upcoming release of Silk Song, Nintendo Direct rumors, and growing concerns about Switch 2’s strategy, particularly the lack of third-party dev kits and exclusive titles. The episode closes with an exploration of wild new handhelds from Abxylute.

Also available on YouTube here.

Links and Show Notes

The Latest Portable Gaming News

• IS This an Xbox? All Your Questions Answered - ROG XBOX ALLY - YouTube
• Analogue 3D Delayed for a Fourth Time
• Another Switch 2 Nintendo Direct Is Close And It Could Be The Big One
• AYANEO KONKR Pocket FIT Elite is an Android handheld game console with premium specs and a starting price under $400
• 3DS Styled Handheld Announced As Part Of MagicX’s Roadmap
• MANGMI Air X Lands in September Starting at $79
• Abxylute plans to sell a $1699 handheld gaming PC with an 11 inch glasses-free 3D display
• abxylute 3D One Handheld
• Abxylute is working on a magnetic snap-on game controller for smartphones
• 3DS Styled Handheld Announced As Part Of MagicX’s Roadmap

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This week, Brendon and John mind the show while Federico is on vacation, covering Nintendo’s pricing changes, the latest on Retroid’s second screen accessory, the TrinketOS Android front end, Manic EMU for iOS, and more.

Also available on YouTube here.

Links and Show Notes

The Latest Portable Gaming News

• Wavelengths 2.0 A Podcast and a Patreon
• Switch and Switch 2: Tariff’s and Pricing
• Nintendo’s Switch 2 doubles first-month sales of the original The Verge “Yesterday, the White House announced that a 20 percent tariff on goods from Vietnam — where Nintendo produces its Switch 2 consoles — will begin next week. That’s double the 10 percent baseline tariffintroduced in April that Nintendo used to forecast earnings for the current fiscal year.”
• Nintendo raises the Switch 1 price from $299 to $339 The Verge
• Antank has an updated dock
• Retroid 2nd Screen
• Retroid Reveals Real-World Photos of Upcoming Dual Screen Add-On - Retro Handhelds
• Retroid Adjusts Shipping for Dual Screen Accessory, Offers Coupon - Retro Handhelds
• Android and iOS Emulation
• TrinketOS is an extremely weird and cool new Android frontend
• Manic EMU for iOS

Subscribe to NPC XL

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This week, Brendon KONKRs AYANEO’s two-day announcement-fest and is joined by John and Federico for diversions into 3DS repairs, the GPD Win 5, Gamescom, and more.

Also available on YouTube here.

Links and Show Notes

The Latest Portable Gaming News

• US Tariff Exemptions are Ending
• All of your international packages are about to get more expensive The Verge
• GPD Win 5
• GPD WIN 5, the world’s first Ryzen AI MAX 395+ Strix Halo handheld, to debut on August 1
• GPD’s monster Strix Halo handheld requires a battery ‘backpack’ or a 180W charger
• Gamescom and Silksong
• Xbox will let you play Silksong at Gamescom in August
• Xbox handheld consoles ROG Ally and Ally X preorders open during Gamescom, report says
• It’s AYANEO All the Way Down
• AYANEO Announces World’s First Android-Based Flip Dualscreen Handheld
• Retroid and ANBERNIC should be scared of this budget sub-brand
• AYANEO Launches Konkr A New Lineup of “Budget” Handhelds
• AYANEO is working on a gaming phone, mini-laptop, and a whole lot more
• AYANEO Announce Three Android Devices (And A Controller)
• Lego Game Boy
• A New Game Boy is Coming and it’s…LEGO!

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NPC XL is a weekly members-only version of NPC with extra content, available exclusively through our new Patreon for $5/month.

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This week, Brendon and John cover the ONEXSUGAR Sugar 1 dual-screen handheld, Sony’s power-saving and controller updates, and the latest ES-DE update for Android. Then John reports back on the MagicX Zero 40 homework that Brendon gave him last week.

Also available on YouTube here.

Links and Show Notes

The Latest Portable Gaming News

• ONEXSUGAR Sugar 1 goes up for preorder
• OneXSugar Playing with the first dual-screen transforming handheld
• ONEXSUGAR Sugar 1 handheld game console hits Indiegogo for $599 (Dual-screen Android handheld game console with a convertible design)
• The Kickstarter for this weird little transforming handheld just went live
• OneXSugar Officially Launches, and It Sure is Something
• Crazy New Take on Dual-Screen Gaming
• Sony’s beta controller update - power settings and multi-pairing controllers
• Sony’s new PS5 Power Saver mode sounds ideal for a PlayStation handheld The Verge
• New PS5 system update beta previews DualSense wireless controller pairing across multiple devices – PlayStation.Blog
• Sony DualSense Edge
• ES-DE Launches Version 3.3 and Adds New Fucntionality
• Also mentioned:
• Forgotten City

The MagicX Zero 40

• Magic X Zero 40 website

Subscribe to NPC XL

NPC XL is a weekly members-only version of NPC with extra content, available exclusively through our new Patreon for $5/month.

Each week on NPC XL, Federico, Brendon, and John record a special segment or deep dive about a particular topic that is released alongside the “regular” NPC episodes.

This week, Brendon and John revisit a two handhelds from the past year. Brendon explains why he loves the Ayn Odin 2 Mini even more than ever and John rediscovers the AYANEO Pocket Micro in all of its overpowered glory.

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This week, John kicks off NPC with a return to 1998, before the crew digs into 8BitDo’s new Pro 3 controller, Thunderbolt 5 eGPU enclosures and docks, TrimUI’s ponderous Smart Pro Mini, and Federico and John’s first impressions of the MagicX Zero 40.

Then, Brendon, John, and Federico bring a handheld they haven’t used in a while back to the show, and as you might expect, Federico’s choice was a bit of a surprise.

Also available on YouTube here.

Links and Show Notes

John’s Game Boy Streaming Setup

• Game Boy Camera cartridge
• Epilogue GB Operator
• OBS Studio using window capture, cropped
• Zoom set to the OBS virtual camera

Follow-Up

• JSAUX 12-in-One Dock

The Latest Portable Gaming News

• 8BitDo Pro 3
• Pro 3 Bluetooth Gamepad
• The Pro 3 is 8BitDo’s first controller with swappable buttons
• Amazon pre-orders
• Thunderbolt 5 news
• Razer Introduces Next-Generation Connectivity and Performance with New Thunderbolt™ 5 Dock and Core X V2 - Razer Newsroom
• Razer Core X V2 - Thunderbolt™ 5 eGPU Razer United States
• Razer Thunderbolt™ 5 Dock Chroma Razer United States
• The TrimUI Smart Pro Mini Patent Leaks

- [TrimUI Smart Pro Mini Patent Leaks Could This Be the Next Big Thing - Retro Handhelds](https://retrohandhelds.gg/trimui-smart-pro-mini-patent-leaks-could-this-be-the-next-big-thing/)  

Revisiting Past Handhelds

• John - New Nintendo 3DS XL
• 3DS LCD Screens TN vs IPS
• IPS vs TN, should you hunt one or not (Very long post, possibly very boring too) r3DS
• Brendon - Anbernic RG28XX
• Anbernic RG28XX
• Tip: Currently about $28 if you buy direct whereas Amazon charges close to $55.
• Federico - Game Boy Macro
• Game Boy Macro
• Examples on Etsy
• Four-button model with light bar
• Aluminum, two-button model

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This week on NPC, lots of follow up about microSD Express cards, the Switch 2 Dock, XR glasses and the dbrand Killswitch, plus Retroid’s second screen accessory, Windows handhelds, a new eGPU, and more.

Also available on YouTube here.

Links and Show Notes

The Latest Portable Gaming News

• Follow Up
• Follow up on microSD Express cards
• 1TB microSD Express from Lexar briefly showed up on Amazon for $184 but sold out now - much less than we expected.
• Meanwhile SanDisk’s 512GB card is showing August shipping dates on Amazon
• Switch 2 Dock Follow up
• Nintendo Switch 2 Travel Dock by CAD_is_my_Bane Download free STL model Printables.com
• I tested every 3rd party Nintendo Switch 2 dock so you don’t have to - Mono
• Confirmed Nintendo’s Switch 2 can work with existing docks and webcams after replacing their firmware The Verge
• XR Glasses and the Switch 2
• Hagibis 8K 60Hz USB-C to HDMI 2.1 Cable
• PeakDo 4K HDMI To USB-C Adapter
• dbrand Killswitch followup
• dbrand has fixed their Switch 2 Joy-Con grips
• Do you have this yet Brendon?
• Retroid 2nd Screen Accessory
• Retroid Shows Off 3DS Emulation with Dual Screen Add-On
• Retroid Dual Screen Add-on Demo - YouTube
• Handheld News
• Miyoo Mini Flip Announced
• MSI Claw A8 with Ryzen Z2 Extreme tested performance rival for Lunar Lake - VideoCardz.com
• Xbox ASUS ROG Ally / Ally X Prices Leaked - $700 / $1050
• Thunderbolt 5 eGPU
• [ONEXGPU Lite eGPU with Thunderbolt 5 is on the way](https://lilipu ting.com/onexgpu-lite-thunderbolt–5-egpu-is-on-the-way/)
• An Epilogue Update
• RetroAchievements and SNES later this year
• From the epilogue community on Reddit

Subscribe to NPC XL

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This week, Federico, John, and Brendon cover REDMAGIC’s Android tablet, rumors of an Ayn Odin 3, and other news before digging into the mysteries surrounding Nintendo’s Switch 2 dock.

Also available on YouTube here.

Links and Show Notes

The Latest Portable Gaming News

• Here’s a 1TB MicroSD Express card for Switch 2
• REDMAGIC Astra Gaming Tablet has a 165 Hz OLED display, Snapdragon 8 Elite, and up to 24GB RAM
• Also, This Tablet is Secretly a Powerful Gaming Console!
• AYN Odin 2 Goes Out of Stock; Is the Odin 3 Around the Corner?
• Netflix is letting go of some of its best indie games The Verge
• A GameCube dock for Switch 2

Nintendo’s Mysterious Switch 2 Dock

• How Nintendo locked down the Switch 2’s USB-C port and broke third-party docking 
• ANTANK S3 MAX TV Dock Station forNintendo Switch 2, aka the SIWIQU for Nintendo Switch 2 Dock Station 
• Antank teardown on Reddit 
• We confirmed Nintendo’s Switch 2 TV dock supports VRR — so why doesn’t it work with Switch 2 The Verge 
• Switch 2 Dock Supports HDMI 2.1 
• Viture Pro XR glasses 

- Viture Pro Mobile Dock

Subscribe to NPC XL

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Each week on NPC XL, Federico, Brendon, and John record a special segment or deep dive about a particular topic that is released alongside the “regular” NPC episodes.

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This week on NPC, John and Brendon cover Hori webcam woes, a creative new Game Boy Camera app for iOS, and dbrand’s Killswitch case troubles for the Switch 2. They also dig into the ambitious but flawed MagicX DS-style handheld, Brendon’s ongoing Tokyo Pro Controller hunt, and more.

Links and Show Notes

The Latest Portable Gaming News

• The Nintendo Switch 2 webcam compatibility mystery is solved and updates are on the way
• Using the Game Boy Camera as a Switch 2 webcam
• The Delta emulator creator made a Game Boy Camera-style app for your iPhone The Verge
  • (Not Boring) Camera
  • BitCam
• Dbrand admits it had a ‘spectacularly terrible response’ to Killswitch Joy-Con grip detachment complaints
• MagicX Targets DS Emulation with Zero 40 Specs Reveal
• The Legion Go S Z1E (SteamOS) is Excellent
• Brendon’s Mario Kart World review
  • Mario Kart World Review ALMOST the Best Mario Kart - Wavelengths

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This week, we have RG Slide pricing and penguins, along with new AYANEO news, and a cool aluminum TrimUI Brick.

Also available on YouTube here.

Links and Show Notes

The Latest Portable Gaming News

• Switch 2 Pro Controller issues?
• dbrand Killswitch for the Nintendo Switch 2
• RG Slide First Impressions, Pricing, and Penguins
• Anbernic RG Slide First Impressions: Go Bold
• Anbernic RG Slide First I mpressions: Go Bold
• MIG Flash Triggers Nintendo Banwave on Switch 2
• Switch 2’s non-Nintendo games are flopping for so many reasons
• Crowdsourced Emulation Compatibility Tracker EmuReady.com Launches
• pretty sparse site so far but promising
• AYANEO AG01 Starship Graphics Dock Review
• TrimUI Brick Hammer
• ✨ Metal Reimagined The TrimUI Brick Now in a Full-Metal Shell! Mechdiy
• TrimUI Levels Up the Brick with the All-Metal Brick Hammer
•  AYANEO Releases the Pocket S2 and Announces a Surprise

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This week on NPC, Brendon shares his first impressions of the Nintendo Switch 2 after UPS Japan comes knocking, and all three hosts cover a chaotic week of handheld news—from the RG Slide to a surprise ASUS/Xbox handheld.

Also available on YouTube here.

Links and Show Notes

The Latest Portable Gaming News

• Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller Review
• News Release Jun. 11, 2025 Nintendo Switch 2 Sells Over 3.5 Million Units Worldwide in First Four Days
• AYANEO Flip 1S DS is a dual-screen handheld gaming PC with Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
• Hands On with the New Xbox Ally Handhelds
• Anbernic RG Slide first impression appear online from reviewers

Subscribe to NPC XL

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