There is an unfixable issue with RetroidPocketMini that causes some graphical effects of the simulation game to not work properly. RetroHandhelds reported that Retroid, the Chinese company that makes the Pocket Mini, announced on Discord that it would accept returns for the device, but only for a limited time period from March 8 to March 14, and only to 200 users living outside of China.
Earlier this week, the outlet reported that Retroid admitted it was unable to fix an issue that affects the way the screen displays the scanline and pixel grid shaders used to make classic simulation games look like they were played on a CRT monitor. RetroHandhelds writes: "These effects can appear as "misaligned scan lines, uneven pixels, or slightly distorted images."
Partial screenshot of Retroid announcement.
In a message this morning, Retroid said that conducting the return campaign would be a "large and costly undertaking" and that it expected there would be "a large number of return requests unrelated to screen issues." Retroid also mentioned that it requires customers to pay return shipping costs and promises to reimburse them. Finally, the company also said it will provide all Pocket Mini owners with a "$10 stackable coupon" that can be used to purchase two future handheld game consoles.
As Russ of the RetroGameCorps YouTube channel pointed out in a post on Reddit, Retroid, as a small company, now faces the difficult situation of having to pay expensive shipping for returns. But that doesn't change the fact that many gamers who buy this $199 handheld specifically for playing retro games are left with a device with an impressive display that sucks at some of the oldest emulation tricks.