The Dingoo A330 is really good – perfect for retro games
Yesterday, Parallel was filming a bunch of hardware in the games room – and left behind a Dingoo A330. I’d never really touched one until this morning (when I should have been doing work) but I’ve been really taken by it. I’ve played a lot of these kinds of handhelds in the past like the GP32 – and this definitely ranks as one of the best of its kind.
I play a lot of retro stuff in my free time – but I hate PC emulation. I sit in front of my PC all day, last thing I want to do is come home and sit in front of another one – so inevitably, I play most retro games via emulation on my Galaxy SIII. It’s not ideal, mainly because it limits the kinds of games I can comfortably play. You ever tried playing Ranger X or Thunderforce IV on a Galaxy SIII’s touch screen?! It’s not pretty.
Touch screen controls are never going to work. So you’re basically tied to playing turn-based RPGs. Fine for Advance Wars, but even then, not so great for stuff like Secret of Mana, where reactions and precision are still called on to some degree. I’m also a sucker for 16bit shmups and platformers and again, they’re just not viable on a touch screen.
So I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the Dingoo A330. It’s a decent size (almost exactly the same as an iPhone actually) and is very light. D-Pad and buttons feel nice and durable, which is a surprise for me as it’s normally the thing I hate about this kind of hardware. Likewise, the screens is surprisingly bright and clear for a device like this.
It supports a great range of emus too. You can play *deep breath* – CPS1 and CP2, NES, SNES, GBA, Mega Drive (Or Genesis, US fans 🙂 Master System, Wonderswan, Neo Geo, NeoGeo Pocket and Colecovision- which is a pretty healthy roster. It supports Mini-SD and (YES!) charges from USB.
If someone gives me another power supply to lose in my house I might have a nervous breakdown. Apparently you can also plug it into your TV, though I can’t say I’ve tried it yet, or even if I’d use it, but the option’s there, which is nice.
All in all, it’s a great unit. If, like me, you always like to have something with a good catalogue of retro content to dip in and out of from time to time – and are looking for a unit small enough to be pretty unobtrusive, then Id recommend giving this one a try.
You can pick them up from Funstock for £69.99 (that’s with free postage btw) – check out the details here, as well as more hardware detail and specs if you’re so inclined.
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