beta update #04 / the month the hours doubled

3 min read

Another month, another update - and the numbers didn't just grow, they doubled. 48 of our 116 members joined in the last month. Here's where the community stands today:

You've now tracked 2,256 different games between you, across 80 different handhelds - plus 16 original consoles, now that the catalog covers original hardware. Last update those numbers were 1,367 and 67.

Together you've logged over 5,700 hours of play across 5,780 sessions. More than 1,100 of those hours were played in the last month alone; much of the rest is lifetime history that synced in as new members connected their devices.

Most of it came in through our tracker plugins:

  • muOS: 2,517 hours across 1,402 sessions
  • Knulli: 1,085 hours across 1,170 sessions - up from 23 hours last update, mostly lifetime history from new members
  • Android: 867 hours across 1,110 sessions
  • OnionOS: 478 hours across 1,148 sessions
  • SpruceOS: 201 hours across 817 sessions
  • SteamOS: 25 hours across 27 sessions - the Decky plugin's first month on the board

Here's where those hours landed, by handheld, with the top three games on each:

  • RG35XX Pro: 1,107 hours, led by Gyakuten Kenji 2, Ace Attorney Investigations, and Valkyrie Profile
  • RG35XXH: 651 hours, led by Stardew Valley, Celeste Classic, and The Simpsons: Hit & Run
  • RG40XXV: 634 hours, led by Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Country, and Picross 2
  • Miyoo Mini Plus: 478 hours, led by Picross DS, Dragon Quest IV, and Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
  • RG35XX Plus: 449 hours, led by Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath, Digimon World 2, and Beyblade: Burst God
  • RG35XX SP: 429 hours, led by Stardew Valley, Evoland Legendary Edition, and Animal Crossing: Wild World
  • Thor: 208 hours, led by Chrono Trigger, A Link to the Past & Four Swords, and Pokémon HeartGold
  • Miyoo Flip: 180 hours, led by Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Evoland Legendary Edition, and Pokémon FireRed

(One member has also manually logged 277 hours of Switch play. We see you.)

Tetris pulled further ahead as the most-added game: 30 shelves now, up from 17 last update, with Super Mario World (23) and Disney's Aladdin (19) behind. Better still, Apotris - a homebrew Tetris clone - cracked the top five at 16 shelves. Tetris is so popular here that even its fan-made remake charts.

The collector crown finally changed hands: Dylan takes it at 238 games, with godOFslaves close behind at 227 and two-time champion RetroNick now third at 217. Five members have crossed 200 games.

WD807's farm keeps growing - now 60 sessions and 71 hours of Stardew Valley, all on the same RG35XXH - but there's a twist: c99koder connected an RG35XX SP and imported 101 hours of Stardew in one go. Across 8 farmers, the community is 211 hours deep into the valley.

And with Play History live (more below), your RetroAchievements now show up on the site too: 12,592 achievements unlocked across 31 linked accounts, with NOOTNOOOTXD out front at 3,330.

As for the archives: Star Ship (1977) is still the oldest game on anyone's shelf. Nobody dug up anything older this month. The challenge stands.

What we shipped

Play History. The biggest feature since launch: every game and device in your library now has its own page, with your full session history, play stats, review, and RetroAchievements - all at a permalink you can share. Custom devices got their first URLs ever. Find them on your profile, or through the "See all sessions" link on any play session in the feed. For a taste of what one looks like, here's Doughnutsu mastering Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! - all 54 achievements, session by session.

Clips. You can now attach short gameplay videos to your sessions, reviews, and posts - up to five minutes, hosted by us, no YouTube link required.

Smarter game matching. Synced sessions that used to arrive as unmatched ROMs get a second chance: we now match ROM hashes against the Hasheous database, and every confirmed match teaches the catalog permanently.

Sturdier syncing. RetroAchievements syncs now retry themselves when they fail, achievements refresh automatically when you visit a page, and a session-timing fix means synced sessions land with the right timestamps.

Most of the day-to-day still lives in our Discord, so come hang out: https://discord.gg/rJG24TH9JR

That's all for now. If something feels annoying, missing, or worth improving, come tell us in Discord.