Analogue Pocket | Game Boy, GBC, GBA and more | Launching 2020

Hound wrote:Day one. All over this...

Hound, man, I just *knew* you'd be well up for this! Looking forward to hearing your verdict on the system once you've had a play :-) .

... 3.5" 615ppi 1600x1440 LCD panel...

That's a remarkably high resolution for a small screen; the picture could look stunningly sharp

.

I'm on the mailing list I'm getting my preorder in as soon as it becomes available!

jawafour wrote:

Analogue Pocket

Arriving "2020". $199.

Eurogamer wrote:...support for a wide range of portable gaming systems. Out of the box, the focus is on the Game Boy line full support for Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. Analogue also promises support for Sega Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color and Atari Lynx using cartridge adapters...

Eurogamer wrote: Lastly, and this is perhaps most exciting, the Pocket will include a second dedicated FPGA chip aimed at developers. Analogue specifically mentions MiSTER in its fact sheet suggesting that developers can port or create new FPGA cores specifically for this additional chip. So, in theory, this means the Pocket could support classic arcade games, early micros and other consoles. The main selection of support consoles is, of course, driven by a separate FPGA chip.

Eurogamer wrote: So, the feature set is impressive then but it's the form factor that really stands out. Featuring clean lines and a compact design, the Pocket recalls the form factor of the original Game Boy but with a much more modern aesthetic. The top half of the unit features a 3.5" 615ppi 1600x1440 LCD panel. A high-resolution panel such as this is a good choice as it can support variable resolution without introducing uneven scaling artefacts. The unit also features stereo speakers with a separate 3.5mm headphone jack, a rechargeable lithium ion battery, a micro SD card slot, a Game Boy style link cable port and a USB-C charging port.

Beyond the unit itself, Analogue is also promising a dock which will be sold separately. The dock offers HDMI output, dual USB inputs, support for Bluetooth controller and even compatibility with the Analogue DAC for those wanting to use the Pocket with a CRT television such as Sony PVM. There's a lot of potential here - especially when considering the second FPGA which could lead to console style gaming both on the go and on the couch.

Not gonna lie, that gave me a semi.

Yeah I definitely need one of these in my life, looks absolutely amazing.

Lynx? Chu Chu Rocket on GBA? Advance Wars? Just take all my money now.

If the quality of the finish is anywhere near the style shown here then i'm definitely interested. My only concern is that fake GBA games are so prevalent, it might be hard (and frustrating / anxiety inducing) to source genuine copies of some games.

I've still got a ton of my GB, GBC and GBA games so I'll probably end up getting this.

Mafro wrote:I've still got a ton of my GB, GBC and GBA games so I'll probably end up getting this.

Same, its a stunning piece of kit. It looks like the dock will be an add on released after the machine itself but the ability to play all my GameBoy games on the move and on my TV is pretty great I have to say.

I was hoping it would be an N64 but this is magnificent.

That looks absolutely gorgeous :datass:

I've still got lots of my GameBoy collection so this would work well for me. :toot:

Does Analogue stuff work exclusively with real carts or is there a way to play ROMs on these things as well?

Jenuall wrote:I've still got lots of my GameBoy collection so this would work well for me.

Does Analogue stuff work exclusively with real carts or is there a way to play ROMs on these things as well?

I've got about 20 or so GB/GBC games and another 7/8 GBA games so I've perhaps got enough to justify this.

As far as I know the other consoles they've put out worked with the Everdrive carts you can get. I see no reason this wouldn't work with the GB and GBA equivalents.

I'm already changing my mind about getting this. My only real concern being is that $199, plus customs charges, is a lot, especially with PS5 and the new Xbox on track for release next year as well.

Rax wrote:I was hoping it would be an N64 but this is magnificent.

Snap, Rax!

Cheeky Devlin wrote:...My only real concern being is that $199, plus customs charges, is a lot, especially with PS5 and the new Xbox on track for release next year as well.

Yeah, plus the dock is probably gonna be a fair extra whack. The system looks tremendous and I'd love to get one but - as you say - with new Sony / Microsoft consoles arriving later next year, I think I'll be saving up for one of them instead.

Does this do anything clever with battery saves, if such a thing is even possible, or are games like Pokemon Silver/Gold still going to be screwed over by their internal batteries being dead? I imagine they are...

jawafour wrote:
... 3.5" 615ppi 1600x1440 LCD panel...

That's a remarkably high resolution for a small screen; the picture could look stunningly sharp .

butwhy.jpg

GBA is what, 240x160? Any higher resolution than native is just pointless.

OrangeRKN wrote:Does this do anything clever with battery saves, if such a thing is even possible, or are games like Pokemon Silver/Gold still going to be screwed over by their internal batteries being dead? I imagine they are...

jawafour wrote:
... 3.5" 615ppi 1600x1440 LCD panel...

That's a remarkably high resolution for a small screen; the picture could look stunningly sharp .

butwhy.jpg

GBA is what, 240x160? Any higher resolution than native is just pointless.

Allows it to support many more devices with a range of resolutions and upscale cleanly without artefacts.

OrangeRKN wrote:Does this do anything clever with battery saves, if such a thing is even possible, or are games like Pokemon Silver/Gold still going to be screwed over by their internal batteries being dead? I imagine they are...

jawafour wrote:
... 3.5" 615ppi 1600x1440 LCD panel...

That's a remarkably high resolution for a small screen; the picture could look stunningly sharp .

butwhy.jpg

GBA is what, 240x160? Any higher resolution than native is just pointless.

Scaling and pixel density.

Obviously it benefits support for other devices, but with GB/GBA, the only reason not to play at native resolution is to counteract an ill-fitting pixel density. A higher resolution is never going to make a GBA game look better or sharper because it's pixel art with an already fixed resolution.

Not really sure what your point is here? By supporting both the GBA and GB you already need to cover more than one resolution (unless you want to window box the GB games? :dread:

) so a high resolution screen and sensible scaling is the right choice.

Going for a pixel dense screen allows for much broader device support with very good scaling options. The manufacturing market has also pretty much left low resolution screens behind by this point, it's probably easier and cheaper for them to buy these screens than it would be to buy something decent at "native" resolution.

My point is that it's not going to look any better is all!

Well, it will look better than the original GB screen that's for sure! (Although I know some are fans of the green beast :lol:

)

I'm not really a fan of any of the scaling algorithms (2xSal, hq2x, xBR etc.) that emulators offer to "smooth" out graphics but having a higher resolution screen does give options that wouldn't be available otherwise. Those hi resolution Mode 7 options that some emulators can give to SNES games now for example look amazing. Although as far as I know Analogue don't tend to offer these sorts of things on their kit?

Analogue Pocket | Game Boy, GBC, GBA and more | Launching 2020

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