The Yinlips YDPG18 [JP] is powered by Android 2.2 and features a 5 inch touchscreen display with an 800 x 480 pixel resolution, a motion sensor, two cameras and 1080p video playback support. It also has a 1.2GHz processor, along with 512MB of RAM. It’s also got Wi-Fi, HDMI and USB built in. Unlike the real PS Vita, it only has a single analog stick, and no rear touch sensors.

As you might expect, you can’t go to your local game shop and buy PS Vita or PSP games for it, so it comes with some emulators, like NES, Gameboy, SNES, Gameboy Advance, N64 and PlayStation One, as well as Flash 10 games. And since it runs Android, you can play those games too. Style-wise it doesn’t look horrible, but I’m sure it plays like garbage compared to the real thing – though it honestly doesn’t look too shabby as an emulator from the videos below:

If you want to play with one, you can grab one from EtronixMart for just $119.99 (USD). Better do it before Sony’s lawyers shut them down.

[Kotaku via Ubergizmo via Geeky-Gadgets]

Sony has arranged for you to be able to see the PlayStation Vita first-hand between now and December 30th, while you’re out doing your holiday shopping. Below is a list of locations where you can check out Sony’s next-gen handheld in person:

• Chicago: Gurnee Mills, 6170 West Grand Ave., Gurnee, IL
• Dallas: Grapevine Mills, 3000 Grapevine Mills Parkway, Grapevine, TX
• Los Angeles: PlayStation HQ, Third Street Promenade, 1228 3rd St., Santa Monica, CA
• Atlanta: Discover Mills, 5900 Sugarloaf Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA
• Washington, DC: Potomac Mills, 2700 Potomac Mills Circle, Prince William, VA

Games on hand for the demo tour should include Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Sound Shapes and Wipeout among others.

To refresh your memory, the PS Vita offers a large 5-inch OLED touchscreen with rear touch controls, front and rear cameras, dual analog sticks, Wi-Fi (and 3G options), as well as a blazing fast CPU/GPU which provides console-quality graphics in a handheld. Early reports are that the screen on these things are really a beautiful sight. We’re all so used to the smaller 2.5 to 4 inch screens on our smartphones and earlier handhelds, so a 5-inch OLED screen sounds pretty spectacular.

The PS Vita hits stores in Japan later this week, and should be landing at U.S. retailers on February 22, 2012, priced at $249.99 (USD) for the Wi-Fi version and $299 for the Wi-Fi/3G version.

To refresh your memory, the new Sony PS Vita features a 5 inch, 16 million color 960 x 544 OLED multi-touchscreen, an ARM Cortex A9 processor, 512MB of RAM and 128MB of VRAM, and it also has two cameras.

The PS Vita will launch on February 22nd, 2012 with 11 new games available at launch. Do you still want one, or are you getting tired of waiting?

[via Kotaku]

The PlayMore handheld can play games from the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Nintendo NES/Famicom, SNES and Gameboy, GBC/GBA right out of the box. Games are played on a 2.8″ 300×240 resolution screen (or is that 320×240?) The system looks pretty nicely designed, and has both a D-Pad and analog stick, as well as small L and R shoulder buttons. It’s not clear how these are used with older console games, but I’m sure some hackers will get their hands on the PlayMore and get it emulating other systems which take advantage of these additional controls.

Not that you’re likely to use this thing as a media player, but the PlayMore also supports playback of a wide variety of audio and video file formats, and it even has a (craptastic – 0.3mp) camera built in. But you’re not buying this thing to take photos. You want to play some Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog and Donkey Kong Country, right? Well it should handle those just fine – assuming you know where to (ahem) get your hands on those game ROMs.

In terms of storage, the PlayMore has 4GB of on-board capacity, plus you can add up to 16GB with a microSD card. It’s also got an A/V out cable for hooking it up to a TV, and is charged via a standard mini-USB connector.And if you’re to believe the photo below, it’s even more fun when you’re drunk:

So now on to the best part. The PlayMore sells for just $57.88 (USD) over at ChinaVasion, so if you don’t already have a handheld retro emulator, this looks like one of the better deals out there. If you buy one, post a comment and let us know how it works for you!

This seems less about helping UMD owners and more about milking them. You may not be paying full price, but it’s still lame. You OWN the game after all. The discounted price is between £4 (~$6 USD) and £12 (~$19 USD) according to Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. Right now the UMD Passport supports about 200 games.

[via NeoGAF via Videogamer]

We will just have to wait and see, but I can’t imagine they would skip Flash altogether.

[via Siliconera via Thesixthaxis]

In Japan, you can expect the PS Vita to cost the equivalent of $390(USD) for the 3G version or $325(USD) for Wi-Fi, while the U.S. retail prices will be $299(USD) and $249(USD).

[via Andriasang and Geek]

The other bit of news from Nintendo and Capcom is regarding the “Monster Hunter 3G Special Pack”, which Monster Hunter fans will go crazy about. It includes a 3DS in white that sports a special red graphic design and of course Monster Hunter 3G.

The Monster Hunter 3G Pack will be available in Japan on December 10 for ~$274(USD).

[via TechCrunch]

That’s right, you can download the same games to both portables and play in Ad-Hoc mode. The problem right now is that there just aren’t many Ad-Hoc games available to us Yankees compared to what they have in Japan. Hopefully that will change.

However with the PS Vita being region free, we can probably expect more games that we can play worldwide. Hopefully those will be good for your PSP toting friends as well.

[via Siliconera via Geeky-Gadgets]

I wondered then if that would be a large enough price cut to woo buyers to the portable. Apparently, at least for now – the slashed price has proven to be plenty to attract buyers to the 3DS. The portable console sales have reportedly increased by 260% in the weeks since the price cut.

Nintendo sold 185,000 3DS consoles between the August 12 price cut and the end of the month according to NPD. That’s a massive increase compared to the same period in July. I can only imagine if the price cut would have been paired with some significant game launches how many consoles Nintendo might have sold.

[via Joystiq]

The Wii U’s new controller is actually quite large, and features its own 6.2-inch widescreen, along with dual analog sticks, ABXY buttons, shoulder buttons, built in gyroscope and accelerometer and a player-facing camera and microphone. It’ll also have it’s own touchscreen surface, much like a tablet.

The controller’s large screen could be used to allow multiple players to view independent content while playing against each other on the big screen, as well as to augment the on-screen experience – although I’m not sure how easy it will be to look at content on both a handheld device and on a bigger screen at the same time. I’d think I’d be drawn to look at one or the other at any given time. That said, the new controller’s screen might come in handy for things like ancillary information like inventory and ammo counts, speedometers, maps, radar screens and the like.

The Wii U console itself will offer full 1080p HD video quality, along with an HDMI output, as well as component, S-video and composite capabilities for older displays. According to Nintendo, the console will not only support next-gen games, but offer full backwards compatibility with Wii games. Games will continue to ship on some kind of optical media, and storage will come in the form of internal flash memory, but we don’t yet know how much.

While Nintendo is a long way away from showing final hardware, they did show off a bit of target/reference footage for the visual quality they’re expecting from the Wii U, and it sure looks impressive. You be the judge:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Wii U games in development include Darksiders II, Aliens Colonial Marines, Ghost Recon Online, Metro Last Light, Batman:Arkham City, and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, as well as new games from the Dirt, Assasins Creed, and Tekken franchises.

Nintendo provided no further guidance on an exact release date, only saying that the system would be available sometime in 2012, and there’s no word yet on pricing.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Kraettz is still working on a tutorial for his mod, but he did say that he used a “GBA TV Converter and a Portable Video Player with 40 GB Harddrive that records 320×240 pixels” aside from a Game Boy Advance and the camera itself. The camcorder runs on a 9-volt battery, which can power the mod for up to 50 minutes.

Here’s a sample of the retrotastic footage that the camcorder captures:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Okay that creeped me out a bit, but if this proves popular, I bet someone’s going to make a mobile app that apes this effect, if there’s not already one in existence. Keep an eye out on kraettz’ page on 8bitcollective for more updates.

[via Joystiq]

The LS-20M will capture video in 1080p and records audio in 24-bit with variable gain. The onboard screen is only 2 inches, which might make it a little difficult to see what you’re shooting. In addition to full HD, it also does 720p and 640×480. It captures everything at 30FPS.

One thing that is nice about this gadget is the high-quality 96 kHz/24-bit Linear PCM audio recording and stereo microphones on the front of the camera.

I do question the usability of the LS-20M though. There are a lot of small buttons on its face, which could get confusing, and the lens is located at the top of the device, between the microphones. I guess you’ll end up pointing this device like a remote, so I’m not sure how you can look at the screen while recording. It does support something called “Reverse Angle Recording” which allows upside-down recording, so maybe that will help. The Olympus LS-20M should be available in June for about $300 (USD).

[via CrunchGear]

They will be part of the new “Sony Tablet” brand, which is really exciting (not)! The S1 is a 9.4-inch tablet that has a strange rolled shape, which is supposed to make holding it easier. The S2 is a dual screen tablet with a pair of extra-wide 5.5-inch screen. The S1 will have a Tegra 2 processor, meaning that it will be able to play HD content. It’s got an IR port and will work well with Sony’s Bravia line of HDTVs. The screen has a 1,280×800 resolution, with 512 MB or RAM and 36 GB of storage.

On the S2, the two 1,024×480 displays can be used “together” as a large screen. Both of these new tablets focus on Sony’s Qriocity platform, which combines music, video, and other services. We’ll have to see how they compare to other tablets before judging them.

Sony hasn’t announced prices or a release date yet for the S1 and S2 tablets.

[via CrunchGear]

The new SupaBoy portable will accept Super Nintendo cartridges for play on its built-in 3.5-inch LCD screen. The handheld will have a D-pad and gameplay buttons on its face, as well as shoulder buttons. It also has ports for full-size SNES controllers and video and audio out so you can play on a TV.

IGN reports that the SupaBoy will hit this Summer, and at this point will only play U.S. cartridges. However, the prototype clearly shows a Super Famicom cart in the photo below, and the Hyperkin guys themselves say they’ve tested some Japanese carts, so I think the limitation is just NTSC, not U.S. specific. PAL gamers are out of luck for now.

The SupaBoy currently weighs in at 11.5 ounces (plus batteries and cartridge), and battery life for the handheld is expected to be around 5 to 5-1/2 hours. These specs could change in the final model, though. Expect more information over on the Hyperkin website soon.

[via Gameinformer and Video Game Museum]

The most expensive parts inside the console are the Sharp screens that are estimated to contribute $38.80 of the cost. The processor inside the machine is about $10, and the memory subsystem costs about $8.36. Other parts of the rig include the user interface with a gyroscope costing $6.81, $5.00 for a WLAN system, $4.70 for the cameras, and about $3.50 for the battery system.

The total bill of materials for the 3DS is pegged at $100.71 (USD) in parts, with labor adding another $2.54 making the total cost to build $103.25. That price doesn’t count the marketing dollars spent on the 3DS launch and advertising, but I’m going to guess Nintendo is still making some money beside what they make on games.

There are a few things to take note of with this mod. First of all its case is not actually a Game Boy Advance case, rather it’s a GBA carrying case that looks like a GBA case. Second, Hailrazer built this one for himself, so he left out a number of parts that he doesn’t really use when he plays. For example you’ll see that it doesn’t have a d-pad. It also doesn’t have a port for a second controller, or an A/V out. Check out Hailrazer’s video below for more details:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

After seeing so many portable N64 mods, I wonder if there’s any way to make the cartridge more portable, i.e. smaller as well. Check out Hailrazer’s post on ModdedbyBacteria for more details on the portable N64.

[via Engadget]

The console is still around and still crappy by most counts, but it is slightly less fetid today thanks to a new price cut. The PSP Go is now $150 (USD), which is about $100 off interesting in my book. The price drop is thought to be in preparation for the thoroughly awesome sounding PSP2/NGP to hit stores this Fall.

The $150 price also puts the PSP Go at the same price as the DSi, which is a much more interesting console by most accounts. I still don’t see the Go doing well at all in the market even at this price. I haven’t even seen the Go in my local stores; I bet we see the price plummet even further for this handheld once the NGP lands.

[via Electronista]

Similar to his portable GameCube and Dreamcast mods, the handheld PS2 runs games the old fashioned way, via the disc drive mounted at the back.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I still think the PS3 WVI is his best work, but this one is a close second. The mod doesn’t have a battery pack, so it has to be plugged in. Before you rage and rant about how dumb Techknott is for not including a battery, you should know that it’s not really his idea. Someone asked Techknott to make the handheld PS2, and specifically opted to not have a battery pack in order to lower the costs.

Unfortunately for Techknott – but fortunately for you – that douchebag customer hasn’t contacted or paid him now that the device is finished. So if you want this one of a kind device, all you have to do is drop Techknott a line on YouTube and get to haggling.

[via ModRetro via Engadget]

Created by a modder going by the moniker “Mario” (why isn’t this a portable NES, again?), this lovely looking orange handheld Atari 2600 games on its built-in 3.5-inch LCD screen. He named the handheld “Stella”, as that’s the original codename the 2600 had before it was released – it also happens to be the name of the best 2600 emulator out there. It has both a built-in joypad and a paddle controller, and can play either the built-in Flashback 2 games or original carts. It’s also got a built-in speaker, and can play for about 2 hours on its rechargeable battery pack. There’s even a 9-pin joystick port for connecting an external joystick for a second player.

Poke around in the gallery below to see how Stella came together:

Here’s a video of the Atari 2600 portable in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Thanks for that tip about the secret paddle games on the Atari Flashback 2. I’ll have to try that on mine. Great job, Mario! Hope you get working on that Nintendo next.

[via ModRetro and Ben Heck Forums]