ANBERNIC are hard at work finishing off their recently announced RG35XXSP and it’s now been shown that they are working on an upcoming handheld codenamed the RG Cube which looks to have a 1:1 display, similar to the ZPG A1 Unicorn that still has yet to release.
This information was found on the subreddit /SBCGaming, a lovely community of retro handheld enthusiasts that like to share news and leaks, we highly advise following it. And a video that was shared on YouTube showing the OS, changing of the LED sticks and more.
ANBERNIC are ruthless when it comes to handheld launches this year and this RG Cube is proof that they’re keeping a close eye on the competition. The RG Cube has not been officially announced, although the ANBERNIC team have been seen showing it off on their personal social platforms, so please take this information with a pinch of salt.
Featuring what looks like a 3.5″ – 4″ 1:1 display that could have a resolution of 720 x 720 just like the RGB20SX that we recently reviewed, or higher for that matter. It’s also showing off ANBERNIC’s LED analogue sticks which was also featured in the RG556 that launched a couple of months ago.
The form factor does indeed look comfortable and similar to that of the Neo Geo Pocket, although I would have preferred if the floating DPAD sat above the analogue stick on the left, but hey, I know some of you are weird and like it the way it is and that’s okay!
There’s very limited images of the back, but from what I can see they have gone for stacked shoulder buttons on this one, which is a delight as ANBERNIC can be hit and miss with these decisions, but the headphone jack is on-top though… oof.
Internally it is rumoured to use the T820 CPU which surprised me because that’s a semi-powerful chip offering emulation up to Dreamcast, Gamecube and a handful of PS2 games. On a 1:1 display this seems a little overkill and I hope ANBERNIC doesn’t overprice this thing because this design is best suited for older consoles that use a similar screen ratio.
In my opinion this design would me much better suited to a $99 price tag that can emulate up to Playstation 1, it doesn’t need all the bells and whistles, so we will have to wait and see what ANBERNIC ends up doing with this one.
The fact that it has the LED analogue sticks and the strong CPU makes me believe this isn’t going to be cheap putting it in an area with lots of competition with bigger screens and far better ergonomics.
I am excited about this one and I feel like ANBERNIC are starting to innovate a little even if that is copying what others are doing… just quicker. I think many gamers who enjoy playing Nintendo DS games, PICO-8 games and Game Boy games will enjoy this device, I just hope ANBERNIC price this competitively.
The ideally want customers buying this instead of the Powkiddy RGB30 because that’s its competition right now alongside the upcoming ZPG handheld, although I would like to see GoRetroid attempt something in this field.
As of now there is no official release date, nor pricing of the RG Cube, but if I had to guess this will be in the pipeline for a summer release with pre-orders going live in the next couple of months.
