BS2
Or bootleg PS2, if you will. Yep, more
hardware – this time it’s a thoroughly
enticing bit of kit: a handheld PlayStation 2
made in small batches by Chinese sellers.
What makes it different from your usual
batch of retro gaming handhelds is that
it isn’t powered by an onboard Raspberry
Pi, a device running Android, or anything
of the like. Nope, it’s actual PS2 hardware,
chopped up to fit inside a handheld
case, and with some custom PCBs made
to make it all play nicely together. Is it
official? Absolutely not. Does that matter
to me? Good golly gosh, no. The PS2 is
still relatively difficult to emulate – as in,
you won’t find any portable devices that
can do it justice – so the chance to have a
pocket PS2, even if my pockets need to be
massive to carry it, is intensely tempting.
OK, so there are some legal grey areas to
navigate, given it has no physical disc driveand the original console only used physical
media – none of this digital malarkey – so
you’ll have to make your own peace on
that. Honestly, the only thing holding me
back from picking one up is the price, with
units costing around £460 each. Let’s...
stick to those £50 Android devices for
now, yeah?Mini delay
The PC Engine Core Grafx Mini (or
TurboGrafx-16 Mini in the States)
has been delayed owing to ongoing
concerns surrounding the COVID-19
(coronavirus) outbreak. The virus’
impact on manufacturing and shipping
facilities in China is the main issue that
has caused the delay, and at the time
of writing Konami hasn’t announced
any revised release date for the mini
console. As with most things related to
the outbreak, it’s understandable, and
Dreamy for the best. We can wait a bit longer.
Continuing the hardware-y theme of
this issue’s BC, I’ve had my gaze drawn
to this little beauty: the Dreamcase, a
replacement shell for the Dreamcast,
made out of metal and looking
surprisingly sleek. The one downer,
aside from the £115 price (not including
postage), is that it’s only compatible with
units using the GDEMU ODE, so anyone
with an original GD-ROM drive is out
of luck. Still, those with the money and
the means can have a look on either
Beharbros or TR Fight Stick’s sites for the
new shell.wfmag.cc \ 65Backwards compatibleRetro