First Impression: Pocket Retro Game Emulator (Dingoo Digital A320)

I ordered the Pocket Retro Game Emulator from ThinkGeek 10 days ago after reading about it on a few websites. Its a small portable game system that comes with built in emulators that would play games from the Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, NeoGeo and a few other systems. Since I am a huge fan of retro gaming and since it would be a great addition to my collection, I ordered the device for $99.

The device has a built in 4GB drive so I quickly copied all my favorite games onto it and realized I still had nearly 4GB free so I copied ALL my Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo games onto it which amount to around 2000 games. I also copied a few NeoGeo games including SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos.

The device played everything I threw at it even SVC Chaos which was a huge shock. Not only that but the device also came with the appropriate cables to connect it to my TV so I could play the games there if I wanted to. Some SNES games weren’t running that perfectly for example NBA Jam was running slightly faster than it should and the sound in Donkey Kong Country was a bit strange but the device plays NHL ‘94 perfectly which alone would make the game system worth $99. The build quality isn’t that great, it feels cheap and its pretty light. I am not sure how much abuse it would take but I doubt its as durable as a Nintendo DS or PSP.

Now one thing that kinda pissed me off is the fact that ThinkGeek is marketing this device with the name “Pocket Retro Game Emulator”. In reality the system turned out to be called the Dingoo Digital A320. A quick search on eBay for the Dingoo would result in a ton of results with the device priced at around $75. So if you want to buy one that’s where I would look. Will post a more thorough review at a later date.

Note: The device also plays movies and music. Also has a built in FM tuner and an eBook reader. The battery is built in and lasts over 5 hours. In case 4GB isn’t enough the device takes SD cards.

Jun 16, 2009

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22 Comments, add your own...

1. cajie | June 16th, 2009 at 10:57 pm

“The device played everything I through at it”

correct it.
2. Mark | June 16th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

fixed
3. KTDP | June 17th, 2009 at 1:27 am

GP2x killer ?
had that thing for years …. still going strong and it has TV out /
4. .grg | June 17th, 2009 at 2:43 am

how do you get the games onto the thing?
5. Mark | June 17th, 2009 at 8:25 am

I always wanted the GP2x but never got around to getting one.

.grg: you just drag and drop the files onto it, when u connect it via standard usb to the computer it shows up as an external drive.
6. razaldo | June 17th, 2009 at 9:38 am

the 90’s just rocked!
you get snes, sega etc emulators that run on the pc
but $ 75 for something portable, thats not that bad a deal
have you tried running mk2 on it?
7. Mark | June 17th, 2009 at 9:47 am

yup the graphics look AMAZING. Baraka still kicks ass. Need to try Killer Instinct.
8. PeevishGuy | June 17th, 2009 at 9:52 am

that’s really conveninet. I would love to get this smart console. But I’m wondering if I could add more emulators to play NES, MSX, PC-Engine or Gameboy!
I still play SNES “Super Famicom” so it would be great to upload all the roms in that tiny console, and the TV-Out feature is just delightful although PSP has done that before.
9. Mark | June 17th, 2009 at 10:00 am

go to dingoo-digital.com you can see what other emulators are there. It also plays CPS1 and CPS2 cabinet games, NES and GameBoy.
10. Jan | June 17th, 2009 at 11:12 am

Huge fan of retro or stuck in the timeline?
11. Mark | June 17th, 2009 at 11:18 am

Stuck in a timeline!
12. wi-fi | June 17th, 2009 at 12:32 pm

I am getting one ..

thanks for sharing .

:)
13. wi-fi | June 17th, 2009 at 12:50 pm

dame .. its sold out

lol
14. wi-fi | June 17th, 2009 at 4:27 pm

one question ..

in the cover its white while yours are black ..

any thoughts ?
15. Mark | June 17th, 2009 at 4:28 pm

There are white and black versions. Btw they’re available on eBay dont get it from Think Geek. Its cheaper on ebay.
16. wi-fi | June 17th, 2009 at 5:17 pm

I dont trust ebay :/

I always buy things from its source .. if I dont find what I am looking for I hit amazon.

I allready placed an order .. hopefully will be avilabe by 25th this month .
17. Mark | June 17th, 2009 at 5:41 pm

ebay is safe, just buy from someone with a good history
18. Michael Wheeler | June 19th, 2009 at 1:05 pm

The 90’s called, they want their games back.
19. Roxas | June 29th, 2009 at 10:32 pm

mark you could just easy jailbreak your ipod touch/iphone 3g or 2g and download emulators and playthem
20. Savage | June 30th, 2009 at 11:23 pm

Could you please help me? I don’t know how to play NeoGeo and Genesis roms on the damn thing.

Genesis roms come in .bin and .zip format, and it doesn’t seem to play those. Same thing with Neogeo .zip files.

Thanks in advance!
21. Dale | July 30th, 2009 at 11:47 am

Does it play all the really finicky SNES games, like Crono Trigger? I’l be getting one if it can cope with the Super FX chip.
22. mbd | August 10th, 2009 at 7:41 pm

When you play NHL 94 on it, are you playing the SNES of the Genesis version? I’ve read reviews elsewhere suggesting the genesis emulator isn’t very fast

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