(Photo: Analogue) Last year, Analogue announced what looked to be the ultimate way to play Nintendo, Neo Geo, and Atari retro portable games legally.
Now it's been confirmed that the Analogue Pocket handheld will open for pre-orders early next month.
The Pocket looks like a modern take on the classic Game Boy, only it's capable of so much more.
Out the box it will play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges without emulation, but with a trio of adapters (sold separately) you can also play Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket, and Atari Lynx Games.
Since the announcement, the Pocket design has been tweaked slightly and the start, select, and home buttons have all moved to the "low-center for optimal comfort."
Analogue is promising 6-10 hours of play time from the 4,300mAh battery, or over 10 hours in sleep mode.
Speaking of sleep mode, it allows you to suspend gameplay at any point and the Pocket enters a low power state, then you can pick up where you left off later on.
The 3.5-inch, 615ppi LCD display (1,600-by-1,440) is protected by 1.5mm-thick Gorilla Glass and it includes a feature called Original Display Modes.
Analogue has managed to accurately reproduce the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance displays, "quirks and all."
(Photo: Analogue) If original display modes don't sound great, don't worry, the Pocket includes a screen with 10x the resolution of the original Game Boy and promises "pro level color accuracy, dynamic range, and brightness." It also has a variable refresh rate and user-controlled 360-degree rotation.
Pre-orders for the Pocket open on Aug.
3 and the handheld will cost $199.99.
A Dock will also be offered for $99, which once the Pocket is securely slotted in allows for HDMI output, includes two USB ports for wired controllers, and Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless connectivity for wireless controllers.
In total, four controllers can be connected at once.
Other accessories include the aforementioned cartridge adapters, as well as a cable allowing multiple Pockets to be connected for multiplayer, a transparent hard case, and a fast charger.
Unfortunately, and thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the Pocket isn't going to ship until May 2021.
However, when we finally do get it, it's not just games we'll be able to play.
Analogue built a digital audio workstation called Nanoloop along with high quality MIDI and Analog sync cables for connecting up your PC, Mac, or other music hardware.
It will also be possible to create new retro games code-free thanks to a partnership with GB Studio.
Analogue has a consistently great track record for producing very high quality retro-gaming hardware.
They've already given us the Analogue Nt, the Analogue Super Nt, and the Analogue Mega Sg, and I wouldn't bet against the Pocket being another impressive addition to the company's product line.
(Photo: Analogue) Last year, Analogue announced what looked to be the ultimate way to play Nintendo, Neo Geo, and Atari retro portable games legally.
Now it's been confirmed that the Analogue Pocket handheld will open for pre-orders early next month.
The Pocket looks like a modern take on the classic Game Boy, only it's capable of so much more.
Out the box it will play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges without emulation, but with a trio of adapters (sold separately) you can also play Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket, and Atari Lynx Games.
Since the announcement, the Pocket design has been tweaked slightly and the start, select, and home buttons have all moved to the "low-center for optimal comfort."
Analogue is promising 6-10 hours of play time from the 4,300mAh battery, or over 10 hours in sleep mode.
Speaking of sleep mode, it allows you to suspend gameplay at any point and the Pocket enters a low power state, then you can pick up where you left off later on.
The 3.5-inch, 615ppi LCD display (1,600-by-1,440) is protected by 1.5mm-thick Gorilla Glass and it includes a feature called Original Display Modes.
Analogue has managed to accurately reproduce the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance displays, "quirks and all."
(Photo: Analogue) If original display modes don't sound great, don't worry, the Pocket includes a screen with 10x the resolution of the original Game Boy and promises "pro level color accuracy, dynamic range, and brightness." It also has a variable refresh rate and user-controlled 360-degree rotation.
Pre-orders for the Pocket open on Aug.
3 and the handheld will cost $199.99.
A Dock will also be offered for $99, which once the Pocket is securely slotted in allows for HDMI output, includes two USB ports for wired controllers, and Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless connectivity for wireless controllers.
In total, four controllers can be connected at once.
Other accessories include the aforementioned cartridge adapters, as well as a cable allowing multiple Pockets to be connected for multiplayer, a transparent hard case, and a fast charger.
Unfortunately, and thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the Pocket isn't going to ship until May 2021.
However, when we finally do get it, it's not just games we'll be able to play.
Analogue built a digital audio workstation called Nanoloop along with high quality MIDI and Analog sync cables for connecting up your PC, Mac, or other music hardware.
It will also be possible to create new retro games code-free thanks to a partnership with GB Studio.
Analogue has a consistently great track record for producing very high quality retro-gaming hardware.
They've already given us the Analogue Nt, the Analogue Super Nt, and the Analogue Mega Sg, and I wouldn't bet against the Pocket being another impressive addition to the company's product line.
