17 Jul 2024

I bought a GameSir G8 Galileo and a Peladn WI-6 mini PC

Filed under: gaming | tech

A few weeks ago, my son got a new Nintendo Switch — OLED Model Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Edition. While it looked amazing and incredibly enticing, I realised that getting an OLED model wasn’t the best idea. For my son, his old one was on the way out. I just wanted it because it was a shiny cool thing and I knew that the “Switch 2” was just around the corner.

So I decided to make two different purchases for less than the cost of the OLED Switch:

1. I bought a GameSir G8 Galileo mobile controller
2. I bought a Peladn WI-6 mini PC

The GameSir G8 Galileo^{(affiliate link)} is a controller that allows you to play games as if it was a handheld device, with real buttons and analog sticks. I still had my old Pixel 5 lying around and put some emulators and games onto it and I’ve loved the experience so far. The main reason for getting it was that it replaced my desire for an OLED Switch, given that it had an OLED screen itself and the potential to play games on a variety of different platforms, from NES to Switch (allegedly!!!)

And for my next trick, I gave into my magpie instincts and got a mini PC. I’ve seen them promoted by some YouTubers I watch (looking at you, Retro Games Corps!) and while the price of the suped up PCs was out of reach, I was intrigued by the models under £200. And that’s when I found the Peladn WI-6^{(affiliate link)}, specifically the model with an Intel N95 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. This the RAM and storage matched my MacBook Air so I knew I could get a superior gaming experience, even beyond the Pixel 5 in some cases.

I only got it yesterday so I can’t give a full review but so far, it’s been awesome. I have it plugged into my TV so I can play emulators or PC games that aren’t super intensive (my son will want to play Fortnite and he might have to find out the hard way).

Am I going through a mid-life crisis? I think the real question is ‘if I was, would this be the worst representation of that?’ Yeah, I’m not in a great place right now but this is a small outlay in the grander scheme of things. I want to get more into gaming and while I have a lot of different devices to do this with now (maybe I’ll write about those too…), I have options and I don’t mind sharing save files between them to get games finished.

The GameSir G8 Galileo is the mobile option with its premium feel and it’s effectively a multifacted, Switch Lite-sized Switch OLED. The Peladn WI-6 is a mini gaming PC but primarily for emulation and Football Manager. As a kid, I wondered about so many games and how cool they’d be to play. These two devices help me answer those questions.