In June of 2020 I wrote an article about the Evercade by Blaze. At the time I wrote that, the Evercade was a single handheld system with a very small library of games. I was not very impressed with Evercade at the time. Of course, they have done more in the many years since I wrote that article, such as expanding their library of available games and releasing more expanded systems such as a handheld with Wi-Fi and more system storage called the EXP line, and consolized versions for your TV called the VS line.

I also bought one, meant to review it, but had my accident before I could get to it. Whoops! That being said, in the intervening years I have changed my mind about the Evercade. My main complaint was the limited library of games that it had available to it (Seriously why own Data East's catalog for a hundredth time…).

Since owning my own Evercade I have come to like it quite a bit. It's fun to collect for now and I'm looking forward to buying an Evercade Alpha, a bar top arcade version of the Evercade when I am able to get into my wheelchair since my accident. My favorite carts are the Duke Nukem Collection 1 for the exclusive Duke Nukem 1+2 remasters and the exclusive RogueCraft DX cart, a fun rogue game.

So hey, guess I was wrong so many years ago. Instead of sitting here with egg on my face I'm gonna go die for the hundredth time in RogueCraft DX. 

Recently a type of retro handheld has been flooding the market thanks primarily to predatory social media marketing campaigns. 

The R36S 'Game console' series of handhelds are by themselves not horrible handhelds. But they require some extra love that an inexperienced player may not be able to grasp. Even that, by itself, isn't the issue I have.

Heck, the issue I have isn't even with this console itself. In fact most retro handhelds may require extra love to work well primarily with flashing a new custom firmware.

No. The issue I have is that these predatory social media campaigns aren't selling a legit R36S series console. They are poor quality bootlegs that are made poorly, and do not run correctly... made with inferior cheap parts.

There's a few ways to avoid buying a bootleg. 

One is to avoid buying it on social media shops such as the ticktock shop. These are often advertised on the social media themselves. 

Another is to examine the build quality of the device. If the type on the buttons is skewed, and it feels like it might break apart in your hands, it's probably a bootleg.

Of course the old adage rings true here, if the deal is too good to be true it probably is. The bootlegs always seem to be sold for sub fifteen to ten dollar prices.

If you think you have bought a bootleg/counterfeit R36S Games console, and the shop you bought it from has return policies or buyer protection, please document the console with pictures of things such as imperfections or videos of it running poorly. You should submit the evidence you now have to the shop you bought it from, along with why you think the system is bootleg.

If the shop you purchased it from lacks such protections you will be out of luck. There may be a way to make your bootleg at least a little useable by flashing a custom firmware on it meant for the 'clone'/bootleg consoles, which you can find here: https://github.com/lcdyk0517/arkos4clone. Be sure to do so on a fresh, new, SD card!
 

Emulation. Let's talk about it. Good? Bad? Ethical? Unethical? Well this is my opinion. Emulation is important. It allows us to preserve games for the future. Some of the media games are on, such as discs, are threatening to deteriorate after time. That's first and foremost before you answer any other questions about it.

Is it good? Well yes. I believe so. As stated, it's the best way to preserve video games. It's also a good way to introduce people to retrogaming without the need for expensive original hardware. There's also ethical ways to emulate games- such as the NES games and SNES games offered with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription- without resorting to computer emulators and downloading roms.

Is it Ethical? Well it depends. As stated, many companies are starting to offer back catalog games or arcade games for sale or access. This would be ethical and paying the company for it's work. Of course, downloading roms from the internet to play on an emulator would be less so. Even older games may still be copyrighted by existing companies, while some games may no longer have a copyright holder.

Games without a copyright holder are generally considered 'abandoned' by many folks and 'okay' to emulate compared to say, games owned by say a company such as SEGA.

In the end, my original, stated opinion still stands. Emulation is important to the preservation of games.

Agree or not, I like his take.