If you have been playing your new MagicX Touch Zero 40 and find yourself yearning for a more Sega focused experience, you might not have to wait much longer.
MagicX released some rendered images of their new Retro 45 over on Discord along with some Sega systems they expect to work well with it. It’s not often we see Sega focused handhelds and they are all coming at once as Retroid released a Sega influenced Pocket Classic this week as well.
Power Expectations
It’s hard to set expectation with the limited rendered images mostly showing the controls. Listing Dreamcast or even more so Sega Saturn as a system they expect to be played on this new handheld means it should have a fairly powerful processor.
The popular RK3566 can push through a good chunk of the Dreamcast catalog but it’s not really reliable when emulating Sega Saturn. The latest MagicX Zero 40 is rocking an A133P SOC with 2GB of ram, but MagicX tends to use different SOCs in their devices.
I think the CPU is a guessing game for today, but if MagicX sticks with the rate of releasing details as in the past we should have to wait long. I haven’t tested the A527 yet but have seen some out there say it can emulate Saturn pretty well.
Controls
The controls we can get from the images provided. It’s an interesting control scheme not unlike the Zero 40.
On the Retro 45 we are seeing Stacked Shoulders and Triggers. It’s nice to see a handheld not using inline triggers as they have become so common.
We also seem to be getting another handheld with a single joystick. Not unlike the Zero 40 the Retro 45 is showing a single stick located under the D-pad on the left side. It’s hard to get much more info out of the image but the D-pad is dressed up with arrows making it look like it could be 8-way.
Lastly outside of Select/Start on the Right Side of the Retro 45 there is an interesting face button configuration. It does make sense with the Retro 45 having a Sega focus but we are seeing 6 instead of the usual 4 face buttons. Outside of using as a 6 button it is also labeled to be used as an additional directional pad as well.
MagicX did mention the Retro 45 being good for N64 as well. It’s interesting because in the extra face buttons we see N and C labels.
Thoughts
I’m pretty excited that MagicX is dropping this Retro 45 handheld soon. Sega doesn’t get a ton of focus in this hobby so it’s always fun to see anytime it is.
MagicX drops some really interesting handhelds as well. They tend to focus on specific quality of life issues that can be corrected with the right design. I have no doubt (without seeing) that they will do the same here.
With micro handhelds the Zero 28 is small, feature packed and a ton of fun to play. Then with the Zero 40 we saw MagicX tackle the frustrations of DS emulation and all but eliminated them releasing a fun DS handheld outside the DS.
Prior to their last couple handhelds they were doing %h$ same thing, tackling issues they were able to solve.
I’m a huge supporter of new companies bringing more innovation into our hobby. I can’t wait to see the rest of the Retro 45 as what we see so far seems to already be tackling basic Sega emulation issues.
Have you picked up any of the previous MagicX handhelds? Are you into Sega emulation and excited to see what MagicX comes up with for the Retro 45?
(Use Code: RetroSpecd16 to save 16% at checkout with links above)
Once I learn more I’ll share it with you here.
GameOn
CellPhish
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