The Analogue Pocket looks like the ultimate Game Boy (and Game Gear, and Lynx, and Neo Geo).
Analogue
When first introduced last year, the Analogue Pocket promised to be an incredible retro game player, and maybe the best Game Boy ever made. It was supposed to arrive in 2020. Now that date has pushed back to 2021, which is a bummer for anyone hoping for more gaming distractions indoors this year — but pre-orders are opening up on Aug. 3. The launch delay to May 2021 was “due to the unfortunate global state of affairs and supply chain challenges outside of our control,” Analogue said in its press release today.
Analogue’s earlier gaming hardware that’s finessed for retro platforms, like the Super NT, have been excellent devices for people who have the actual original cartridges. The Analogue Pocket isn’t for ROMs. Instead, the handheld will play original Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance cartridges, and have a variety of adapters to play Sega Game Gear, Atari Lynx and Neo Geo Pocket / Neo Geo Pocket Color cartridges, too.
The dock connects to a TV or controllers.
Analogue
The color-screened handheld has a 3.5-inch, 1,600×1,400 LCD display, a MicroSD card slot for data saves, a rechargeable battery and USB-C power. It also has a dock that connects to TVs in 1080p, with HDMI, and four-controller support through two USB ports, Bluetooth, or 2.4GHz wireless. Even crazier, the handheld will double as a musical tool via a sequencer/synthesizer program called Nanoloop, and will support game creation with a GB Studio software program that works with the Pocket (that’s what the MicroSD card slot is for).
It’s hard to think ahead nearly another year for what seems to be a perfected retro player, but if you’re curious, the handheld costs $200, plus $100 for the dock.