Analogue's revival of the GameBoy through its own hardware is happening soon. The company announced today the date when pre-orders go live as well as additional details. If you haven't heard of the Analogue Pocket, know that it is a handheld that plays Game Boy, Game Boy Color & Game Boy Advance cartridges. With adapters, it is also able to play game carts from other handheld systems such as the Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color and Atari Lynx.

Sold separately is the Analogue Dock which supports up to 4 controllers and allows controller connection via Bluetooth, 2.4g and wired USB. (you read that right, it supports 2.4g in addition to Bluetooth).

Custom games can also be created for the Pocket with GB Studio without prior programming knowledge. Games created with GB Studio are generated in the proprietary .pocket files and are playable off the SD card. Additionally, with its Nanoloop digital audio workstation, owners of the Pocket can also create their own music.

Pre-orders open on August 3rd, with the Analogue Pocket price at $199.99 and the Analogue Dock at an additional $99.99.

Pre-order link
SOURCE: GBAtemp Inbox

 

[Goku1992A]

If this was 2004 prior to mainstream emulators this would be a good deal. 2020 ehh I guess this will be a novelty device. I personally prefer my phone to play but many people may want that "realistic/nostalgic" feel.

 

[JFizDaWiz]

[redacted]

 

[eyeliner]

This is cool, but very niche. Who actually would use this over a hacked vita or 3ds?

Dumb people.

 

[phalk]

Nice, but 200 dollars? Nah.

 

[Kioku]

A modded GBA can pretty easily end up costing about that much, depending on how all out you go with it, and still not have the functionality this thing offers. I'm definitely gonna try for a preorder.

Hey, look. Someone with some sense. The price seems high, but it's not like it's some half assed emulation device. It has a purpose. It's a niche, sure. Doesn't mean they're asking too much.

 

[mituzora]

I think it's well designed, Also, I'd gladly pay for something real over emulation. sure emulation is fine, but if possible, I'd rather experience an accurate experience over an emulated one. Plus like other Analogue systems, I bet you anything this will get expanded functionality making it better in the future.

I wish I had the money to pick up this, alongside the other Analogue systems (Super NT and Sega SG)

 

[osaka35]

It'll be worth it if the screen and lighting are perfection. I'd have prefered the gba v1 form factor, this is maybe a bit tiny for my preferences, but still. All comes down to accuracy, button quality, screen quality, and brightness quality.

 

[tfocosta]

A modded GBA can pretty easily end up costing about that much, depending on how all out you go with it, and still not have the functionality this thing offers. I'm definitely gonna try for a preorder.

If you DIY, it's definitely less. But it depends on what you are up to and are looking for.

Let us know if it's worth it then!

 

[cashboxz01]

The base console price is fair, but all the upsells crap are a ripoff.

• The cables/fast charger and all cables can be found on Ali/Amazon for a fraction of the cost
• There's nothing special about those cart adapters, and they can easily be cloned
• As long as the dock doesn't have it's own FPGA in it, that dock isn't worth any more than $20 to the end consumer

Personally speaking, I see no point of this other than form factor, as I bought an IPS v2 GBC with custom UV printed shell and have an everdrive clone. I can easily transfer save files to my retropie via samba when I want to play on a TV.

Even better than the this or my GBC is my Vita which has an OLED display and games just look so much better on it.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I think it's well designed, Also, I'd gladly pay for something real over emulation. sure emulation is fine, but if possible, I'd rather experience an accurate experience over an emulated one. Plus like other Analogue systems, I bet you anything this will get expanded functionality making it better in the future.

I wish I had the money to pick up this, alongside the other Analogue systems (Super NT and Sega SG)

Software emulation for GB/GBC/GBA is dammn near perfect. FPGA is also emulation btw but hardware based. Get an OLED Vita, and I can guarantee you'll have a better experience than this at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee]

Someone buy me four!
Two for collecting (1 white 1 black). Two for playing (1 white 1 black).

 

[WiiHomebrew+Snes]

Meh, for that much I'd get the super NT. If I wanted a niche handheld I'd get the playdate. Anybody remember that?

 

[mituzora]

The base console price is fair, but all the upsells crap are a ripoff.

• The cables/fast charger and all cables can be found on Ali/Amazon for a fraction of the cost
• There's nothing special about those cart adapters, and they can easily be cloned
• As long as the dock doesn't have it's own FPGA in it, that dock isn't worth any more than $20 to the end consumer

Personally speaking, I see no point of this other than form factor, as I bought an IPS v2 GBC with custom UV printed shell and have an everdrive clone. I can easily transfer save files to my retropie via samba when I want to play on a TV.

Even better than the this or my GBC is my Vita which has an OLED display and games just look so much better on it.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


Software emulation for GB/GBC/GBA is dammn near perfect. FPGA is also emulation btw but hardware based. Get an OLED Vita, and I can guarantee you'll have a better experience than this at a fraction of the cost.

I have an OLED vita, and I don't have a good time with emulation on it. I have several devices that I can emulate the GB/GBC/whatever on, but I would rather have something that can play physical hardware without software-based emulation, and the biggie; accept real cartridges(and not rip the ROM and play it on an emulator, looking at you hyperkin)

 

[Essasetic]

There seems to be quite a few people in this thread who don't understand what this device is for and why the price is so high.

This is a FPGA system that is 1:1 with original hardware. This isn't emulation. If you don't care about this then this handheld device likely isn't targeted for you.

It's for the people who want 1:1 accuracy with original hardware in the games that they play and don't mind paying a premium for it.

 

[cashboxz01]

If this was 2004 prior to mainstream emulators this would be a good deal. 2020 ehh I guess this will be a novelty device. I personally prefer my phone to play but many people may want that "realistic/nostalgic" feel.

Phones are terrible for emulation of anything but turn-based RPG's. Even playing Mario is horrific with buttons on display. There's several cheap $30 devices made specifically for GBC emulation. Even a PSP is pretty cheap and can do the job.

 

[mituzora]

There seems to be quite a few people in this thread who don't understand what this device is for and why the price is so high.

This is a FPGA system that is 1:1 with original hardware. This isn't emulation. If you don't care about this then this handheld device likely isn't targeted for you.

It's for the people who want 1:1 accuracy with original hardware in the games that they play and don't mind paying a premium for it.

On top of that, if you break it down, 200 bucks ain't even that much money, it's the same price as the switch lite, which is more locked down than this thing, also has worse battery life than what Analogue is claiming. If you get the dock its the same as the switch, so Yeah, I think it's worth it

 

[phalk]

On top of that, if you break it down, 200 bucks ain't even that much money, it's the same price as the switch lite, which is more locked down than this thing, also has worse battery life than what Analogue is claiming. If you get the dock its the same as the switch, so Yeah, I think it's worth it

Yeah, of course, you can also play switch games on it. ¬¬

 

[stl1988]

I don't want to make game boy games. I want to make original Analogue Pocket games.
GB Studio is just a Game Boy game maker. (I say just, but it is actually a nice and advanced tool for people who don't want to code, but do want to make game boy games)

There is a second FPGA built in "just for developers to develop & port their own cores".
So GB Studio is not the only way to make games for Analogue Pocket. However, for this FPGA developement, you have to sign up on a special site.

 

[mituzora]

Yeah, of course, you can also play switch games on it. ¬¬

That's besides the point LMAO

Nah, In all seriousness, I get that you can pay 200 bucks and get a switch lite, but you only get software for the switch, this thing can play games from ALL of the gameboy family (without repurchasing them on some sort of Emulation implementation) and plenty of others, and that's not to say that the other FPGA can't be used for some super impressive stuff.

Yeah, it can't play switch games, but it can sure play a massive library(or libraries if you will) that doesn't even come close to the amount of games. it also isn't a hardware "perfect" solution to playing said libraries either

 

[Pokemon_Tea_Sea_Jee]

If this was 2004 prior to mainstream emulators this would be a good deal. 2020 ehh I guess this will be a novelty device. I personally prefer my phone to play but many people may want that "realistic/nostalgic" feel.

They need to change the concave buttons for convex + slash the price to customers in half. They still have to keep the materials and quality, everything else of the device the same.

 

[darksweet]

NO emulation where the heck will i get the cartridge in this time and age...