Analogue Pocket

Kidchameleon

This looks crazy,


Handheld FPGA system that runs Lynx, Game Gear, Gameboy, GBA, NEo Geo Pocket.


https://www.analogue.co/pocket/

K.O.Kiki

I only wish they had made it in GBA-style - much comfier for adult hands.

Kidchameleon

Hmm maybe they will, I dont think Analogue have ever done a hardware revision though? For me, classic Gameboy style wins, although I'm not sure how that would feel when playing Game Gear / Lynx etc.

Retr0gamer

I much prefer this style. Been using the old GBC lately and my hands don't go numb using it.

Think this machine looks absolutely gorgeous.

Andrew76

sugarman wrote: »

Looks the business, I just hope the prices aren't crazy.

EDIT: $199 ... probably €250ish all in. Pricey enough.

And that’s before shipping too. Wonder how much the optional dock will also cost. It does looking gorgeous though.

Retr0gamer

Optional Dock has no release date so don't expect it at launch.

Really would love one of these myself.

o1s1n

Have to say, I'm usually fairly meh about their products, but this is a really gorgeous bit of design. Would be lovely to have a handheld that takes all of the Gameboy carts in one.

Price doesn't seem too mental either.

Retr0gamer

They usually charge very high shipping so you'll have to take that into account.

Just read the mini NT is no longer produced and going for insane prices on ebay so going to jump on this as I love handheld gaming and this will be a nice replacement to my dying Game Gear.

o1s1n

Thought I'd look that up, you're right;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Analogue-NT-Mini-Silver-New-/303262355248?hash=item469bd84f30%3Ag%3AhCAAAOSwm4tdX%7EcL&nma=true&si=UPo3T5tjNx5QoeREx38YMZwtouI%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Lunacy.

Retr0gamer

I just read Jeremy Parish saying the prices were crazy.... didn't realise how crazy!!

Inviere

Looks like a quality bit of kit to be fair. I wasn't aware there were FPGA solutions for the 32bit GBA, very nice. The dock is a lovely touch too. I'd be of the ilk though that prefers the original GBA styling over the DMG styling, but sure, what ya gonna do

Relikk

Retr0gamer wrote: »

They usually charge very high shipping so you'll have to take that into account.

All of their gear ships from the States, as well. You'll have customs on top of that.

o1s1n

Relikk wrote: »

All of their gear ships from the States, as well. You'll have customs on top of that.

Might get away without it. I've only ever been hit by customs once in years and years of importing stuff from the US.

megaten

Tempted but I don't think I actually have many carts at this stage, and chunk of the one Is have are probably counterfeit. Emulations good enough for me really.

Inviere

megaten wrote: »

Emulations good enough for me really.

Take byuu's (Higan author, cycle accurate Snes emulator) word for it. Here's a Reddit post he made speaking about Kevin Horton, lead developer of the Super NT

I [byuu] consider its lead developer, Kevin Horton, a friend. We work together and share information. I'm in the credits on the Super Nt device for a reason: emulation is built on the shoulders of giants. The Super Nt is possible in part by higan, which was possible in part by Snes9X, etc. And indeed, the relationship is mutually beneficial: findings from Kevin have already made their way into higan.

I think it's great to have these newer dedicated FPGA devices, making retrogaming more accessible than ever, in very accurate and pleasing ways too. Personally, what keeps me away from them is, not wanting to go back to having several different devices sitting under the tv. If I was that way inclined, I'd just go the whole hog and have original hardware being fed into an OSSC instead.

The day somebody comes out with a 'one for all' design, that will play roms from Atari 2600 up to maybe PS1/N64 with a monster FPGA at its core, then I'll probably bite. PS1 and N64 are a LONG way away in FPGA terms though. I know you can load on modded firmware to some of these consoles, to enable different platforms etc, but it's all a bit finnicky with different addon adapters for different carts, cd addons for cd's etc. Just get rid of all that, let it play roms, and away we go (ps, yar!) ALL Retro carts are sold second hand these days, so the days of supporting developers/publishers by buying carts are long gone. I won't lose much sleep over some NES roms moving around the interwebs. I imagine companies don't want to attract the wrong attention by making a 'rom only' device, as it could be seen to eat into the upsurge in digital sales these old games might enjoy. I don't really accept though that a downloaded rom is a lost sale.

CiDeRmAn

I would challenge your suggestion that these devices make retrogaming more accessible.
At the prices they are retailing at they are surely the epitome of a console of the privileged.
I mean, why go buying a Super Nintendo for €50 when you can spend four times as much instead?
I get that it is all sorts of accurate but it is the most expensive solution for playing the odd game of Mario Kart

Relikk

o1s1n wrote: »

Might get away without it. I've only ever been hit by customs once in years and years of importing stuff from the US.

From sellers on eBay or businesses? As far as I'm aware, Analogue always declare the retail price of the item and you'll get charged customs for it. I've heard of it happening to a few people in Europe over the years when they've bought NT Mini's, Super NT's and Mega SG's.

If anyone is planning on buying anything from Analogue, be prepared.

McDermotX

Aye.......got stung with the Super NT, but avoided the duty with the Mega SG. But everything was above board declaration-wise, just a fortunate hap instance the second time.

Ultimately, you should factor the extra expense if prepared to buy from them.

Might sit out the Pocket for a while though just to see how it shapes up as the possibility of imported cores does interest me somewhat.

Retr0gamer

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I would challenge your suggestion that these devices make retrogaming more accessible.
At the prices they are retailing at they are surely the epitome of a console of the privileged.
I mean, why go buying a Super Nintendo for €50 when you can spend four times as much instead?
I get that it is all sorts of accurate but it is the most expensive solution for playing the odd game of Mario Kart

It's more that the work on these FPGA cores means there will be an accurate way to play these machines well into the future when the last SNES has committed Hari Kari due to leaky capacitors. There will also always be a way to hook them up to a modern display.

It's also handy to have an all in one device to play all your handheld games on.

o1s1n

Relikk wrote: »

From sellers on eBay or businesses? As far as I'm aware, Analogue always declare the retail price of the item and you'll get charged customs for it. I've heard of it happening to a few people in Europe over the years when they've bought NT Mini's, Super NT's and Mega SG's.

If anyone is planning on buying anything from Analogue, be prepared.

Combo of both. Had something come in last week from a retailer with a $130 value declared on the front of it and didn't have to pay anything.

Actually funnily enough, the time I was hit with VAT charges (probably about 10 years ago now, maybe a little longer) was for something I bought from a private seller on ebay.

I sent on a screenshot of the ebay auction with my bid to customs as they didn't believe the value noted on the front of the box. Think I may have included one of my earlier, sub €30 euro bids in the screenshot though...

Final charge? big fat Zero. :pac:

Inviere

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I would challenge your suggestion that these devices make retrogaming more accessible.
At the prices they are retailing at they are surely the epitome of a console of the privileged.
I mean, why go buying a Super Nintendo for €50 when you can spend four times as much instead?
I get that it is all sorts of accurate but it is the most expensive solution for playing the odd game of Mario Kart

You could buy a Snes for €50, and throw an old rf lead into a 49" 4K display....not really a pleasant thing to see or look at. So if you're comparing a proper experience, pound for pound, you'd need to factor in the cost of a Snes, good quality interconnects, properly working controllers, and a high quality external scaler...that's what's fighting against a Super NT. I've excluded a CRT as the for the majority, it just isn't practical to have one these days (unfortunately).

I guess what I meant was, for anyone serious about enjoying retrogaming in as close-to-original a manner as you can get, with some modern compromises, the FPGA consoles are a nice pick up and play solution. If someone wants a pixelated mess, as quickly and cheaply as possible, they're not going to be interested in these products.

o1s1n

I think the difference of opinions here comes down to the interpretation of the word 'accessible'.

Inviere seems to mean ease of use and upscaling whereas Cidey is interpreting it as a cost of entry.

Both would be right imo. Analogue consoles, as much as I cannot stand their artisan wankery marketing are definitely great when it comes to simplicity of plugging a console into a TV and away you go. They are being marketed as high end though and not exactly accessible to those other then hardcore committed fans.

As an item, IMO their importance hasn't really kicked into effect yet given that most Super Nintendos/Megadrives etc are still ticking away nicely. They'll definitely make a bit impact in the future.

Inviere

Oh they're pricey for sure, but yeah your right - that's what I mean. For anyone serious about getting into retro gaming, they've two options:

1) Original hardware, quality interconnects, working/original controllers, and an external scaler. There's probably a bit of a learning curve here in terms of what display outputs work with scalers, rgb, svideo, hdmi, av, ettc. There's also learning how to interconnect everything, and cable it all correctly.

2) An FPGA console, buy it, plug it in, use it.

Pound for pound, there's probably not a huge gulf between both price wise, with everything factored in. I myself feel though that everything that can be handled by an FPGA, is emulated perfectly* anyway, so these consoles don't really do it for me. I do value their existence though, and they definitely have a place as a valid option.

*ok perfectly might not be truly perfect in the sense of binary accuracy, but for everyday 99.99% of times, when playing 16bit and below, there's very very little outside of specific tech demos that catches modern emulators out.

Inviere

Just to add, in terms of accessibility in the sense of affordability, obviously the 'Mini' consoles are there. FPGA consoles are very different beasts though, and can't be compared. Those Mini consoles are very limited in terms of power, and are absolutely monstered by more powerful devices.

Retr0gamer

Does binary accuracy even mean anything when we are talking about consoles that can't even do floating point calculations?

McFly85

https://twitter.com/analogue/status/1289218239373795329?s=21

Pre orders start next Monday at 4pm Irish time. Definitely looking forward to this!

McDermotX

Sold out in less than 10mins apparently, though they will be reopening down the line you'd expect given the lead ahead.

Of course, there are always chancers

CiDeRmAn

Missed it... damn time with family...

Retr0gamer

Set my alarm and ordered mine. No issues with the site surprisingly. Can't wait to get screwed by customs.

McDermotX

Massive issues being reported all over their twitter ever since alright.

Set a reminder for myself as I was travelling down to Kerry. Took a minute, ordered a black and a white with a couple of accessories...........convincing myself it was money set aside to justify it........with no issues.

Will be a while, but expect fine things.

Dr Bob

McDermotX wrote: »

Massive issues being reported all over their twitter ever since alright.

Set a reminder for myself as I was travelling down to Kerry. Took a minute, ordered a black and a white with a couple of accessories...........convincing myself it was money set aside to justify it........with no issues.

Will be a while, but expect fine things.

You got lucky , from what I'm seeing online it was mainly scalpers that managed to get in and get them.