Headline RePLAY – 1.16.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Kid Icarus suffers from an identity crisis and Retrobit introduces the Retroduo Portable!


It’s a story of dueling covers— one from the East, another for the West and it’s all about how each side  sees Kid Icarus. 

Apparently the Japanese imagines Kid Icarus as determined, but smiling angel. Here in the West? Kid Icarus has the look of wanting to punt a kitten: the smile is replaced with a scowl and the pink sunset is omitted altogether.

This isn’t the first time Nintendo changed box art for Western audiences either. The company has a history of it, the most recent example being Kirby Mass Attack where the pink fluff ball’s many emotions were reduced to just angry Kirby.

*Source: Tiny Cartridge


CES 2012 showed off a lot of handheld contenders like the PlayStation Vita and Razer’s Project Fiona. But some of us old codgers still enjoy our nostalgia, and Retrobit’s Retroduo Portable fits the bill— a handheld console that can play both SNES and NES games.

According to Endgadget, the Retroduo Portable can run SNES games with a compatible pin-connector slot atop. To run NES games, however, requires an included RetroPort adapter attached.

However, Endgadget couldn’t help but notice how the handheld is littered with small issues. The Retroduo Portable ran SNES games well, except NES games were “haunted” with intermittent scan-lines.

And running NES games means that the combined length of the adapter and a NES cartridge “makes the device slightly unwieldy.”

Finally, Endgadget reported the Retroduo Portable’s face buttons “feel a bit loose” and the 3.5 inch screen appears “washed out” and “overblown” when viewed straight-on.

At $90 with a slew of accessories though, the Retroduo Portable isn’t a bad bargain, especially when the alternatives are emulators, homebrew consoles or building your own hybrid device.

*Source:  Endgadget

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