ANBERNIC just dropped a trailer for the RG DS Plus, a sequel to the RG DS they released last year. There’s a lot to unpack from the video such as the single analog stick, the softened design, new colourways (pink, metallic blue(?), and black), new(?) OS, and the funny final reveal of a capacitive stylus.
My first thought was THEY CAN’T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS, especially because I just bought a RG DS earlier this year. But then I remembered that the Plus is probably a slight upgrade and you still likely won’t get amazing performance on 3DS games (if any performance at all until we know what the chipset is) and if you’re in the market for a handheld that plays non-DS systems, you have a plethora of better options.
I’m trying not to read too much into a 87 second trailer because I’m not a YouTuber so I’ll leave it there but I will say it’s sad that the video production value will probably be greater than the stock device performance. Happy to be proved wrong though (but it is ANBERNIC)!
Update: So we have specs now:
- Processor: Rockchip RK3568
- RAM: 1GB
- Storage: MicroSD only (Notably no eMMC)
- Screens: Dual 4.3-inch (1024×768; 4× integer scale)
This has put people into two camps of thought
- the downgrades make it a hard pass
- well actually, the downgrades mean nothing and they’re doing a great job of keeping the costs low for you to primarily play DS games
And to that I say, firstly, Anbernic doesn’t need your free PR. The company’s reputation for making cheap products with underpowered specs precedes itself and it makes plenty of money already.
Also, look at the trailer. Anbernic is promoting a new product with a name that implies a software upgrade and they want more new customers who see the 3DS market and go “yikes, what’s the alternative?” so when they see a shiny new pink/black/metallic blue DS-looking thing that plays DS games and other retro games if they want and is allegedly going to be under $100, they’ll say “bargain!” and buy it.
Splaining the business decisions of Anbernic to Anbernic customers is a fool’s errand. People are either gonna buy it anyway or not but Anbernic will make the money and move onto the next console in 6 months or so. Will we ever get a RG DS Pro? Maybe, who knows? This is Anbernic’s world and we all just live in it (unless you live on planet AYN Thor). We may even get a 3DS clone that barely plays 3DS games. Only time will tell.