The Anbernic “Cube” just became Official

You know it’s a day that ends in “Y” when you wake up to a promo video from Anbernic for a new handheld. Today was one of those days with Anbernic making offical the anticipated“Cube”. We’ve got some new info about the handheld so let’s take a look.

Anbernic is getting ready to tip there toes into the 4” 1:1 aspect scene. Ever since the release of the RGB30 last year manufacturers seem to have woken up to the fact that 1:1 handhelds answer a burning question in retro gaming… “how do we get rid of those letterboxes on the screen”? That’s not saying every system is or is near to 1:1 but a lot of the classic systems are. Do I need to mention Pico8 again or have we overplayed it at this point? Pico8 aside (no official Android support) let’s visit some of the systems that take advantage of this.

If one of these sparks memories of when you had hopes and believed in dreams coming true you are the target customer for the Anbernic Cube. Before I start listing systems it should be known that analog systems don’t output video in an aspect ratio as scan lines don’t create geometry (different article for a day I feel like mathing). Instead we will go over systems that arguably benefit from 1:1 as they are/near a square if there was a ratio to go by.

Gameboy and Game Gear will be the closest at 1.11:1. GB Color, Neo Geo Pocket Color and Supervision are right there as well. The GP2, Gizmodo and Nintendo DS at a 1.33:1 all fit nicely onto this type of screen. Some other 4:3 systems will be visually appealing to most running an 8:7 aspect ratio. Sorry no good tricks for more modern 16:9 consoles.

There is a lot of burning questions around this handheld. One shouldn’t be performance as it will have the SOC of the previously released Anbernic RG556. The RG556 was launched as a competitor to the Retroid Pocket 4 Pro but more resembles performance expectations to the Retroid Pocket 3+. Granted the RG556 is far more comfortable than either and definitely my choice when I have one.

If you are interested in the specs they are picture above. The should be inline with the ZPG Uniorn that is operating on a G99 SOC. We could see some interesting differences on where the handhelds pull from for their graphics. Lots of emulators want raw power and will push right through. A good example is the Ayn Odin 2.

The most puzzling thing is how they are going to pice the Cube. They can either undercut the popular RG556 using the same SOC or price to compete with the ZPG Unicorn. I think pricing to the Unicorn is a terrible idea and if they are going to Undercut the RG556 they better make it compatibly worth it or this will become another handheld lost in time before delivery.

It’s awesome we are getting information from Anbernic flowing so freely right now. If they take a page from Ayn with the Odin2 mini launch we will be seeing orders next week. I think that’s unlikely as they don’t play in the same space…yet!

What do you think about the Anbernic Cube?

I’ll update you as I know more.

GameOn