Analogue Pocket is the best thing since sliced bread!
It may have been 11 months from ordering to receiving the Analogue Pocket and let me tell you all that it was totally worth the wait!
With so many handhelds on the market emulating classic systems of yesteryear, we honestly didn’t know what we were missing until the Analogue Pocket came along! The FPGA-based system (OpenFPGA) feels like playing on the original hardware, and this is where the Pocket shines – far superior to the myriad PDAs on the market that use software emulation to play our favorite old video games. Comparing FPGA to software emulation is like comparing a Formula 1 race car to a Totoya Camry racing in Monaco – both will get you to the finish line, but one will get you there much faster (and in style).
By now you would have realized that we are fans of our new gadget from Analogue. Yes, the wait was excruciating at times, but we’re glad we stuck it out as it’s now our choice for portable gaming. We were very impressed with the quality and premium feel of the Pocket (and its packaging), on par with Apple Inc. – yes, it’s so good!
The Analogue Pocket looks and feels like premium electronics – which it is – but it’s the components that make it impressive. The Pocket is designed around a 3.5-inch, 615 ppi, LCD, which is the first in its class. With a resolution of 1600 x 1440, the Pocket is 10 times the resolution of the original Game Boy. The display is made of Gorilla® Glass with professional color accuracy, dynamic range and brightness. We’d argue that the Analogue Pocket is the best portable gaming rig out there, bar none.
But wait, there’s more to this awesome kit! This Analogue product is not only designed for gaming, but also for creating music! Pocket has a built-in digital audio station called Nanoloop. It’s a synthesizer and a sequencer. Designed for music creation and live performance. Sounds of shape, stretching and transformation. Embrace the music or play and sculpt live – you too can become a chiptune master! You can also connect the Pocket to your Mac, PC or other hardware using MIDI & Sync cables.
Remember how we said wait, because there’s more? Well, this device has more, that’s what makes it impressive. If you love game development, then you’ll be pleased to know that you can turn your game ideas into reality with no programming knowledge using GB Studio! GB Studio is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop retro game creator that lets you create proprietary .pocket files and then run them from the SD card.
A docking station is a must-have accessory for the Analogue Pocket!
Pocket’s pièce de résistance is that it is designed for FPGA development. Analogue has added a second dedicated FPGA just for developers who can design and port their own cores. With access to Analogue’s proprietary hardware and scalers, this opens up a platform for developers to create amazing features within the system.
At the time of writing, there have been quite a few kernels built specifically for the Pocket, from classic game consoles like the Atari 2600/7800 and Odyssey 2, to the Master System, NES, SNES, Mega Drive, and everything in between. Getting these cores and customizing them has never been easier – we used RetroDriven’s Pocket Updater to do all the hard work like finding the right cores, downloading and configuring them. If you’re a masochist, you can go and find the individual cores and configure them, or you can make it easier for yourself by bookmarking the OpenFPGA Cores Inventory site.
Welcome to the family
Updating kernels on the Pocket is easy with RetroDriven’s Pocket Updater tool
Flexibility, power and top-notch components are what set the Analogue Pocket apart from other portable systems. The fact that it is FPGA based is a complete game changer – pun intended. Thanks to a thriving developer community, we’re starting to see what this machine is capable of. The future looks bright for the Pocket indeed, and that’s what we’re saying as we await the arrival of our PC-Engine, Neo Geo Pocket and Atari Lynx adapters! Paired with the Analogue Pocket dock, it’s truly the best thing in the world of video games since sliced bread.
Specifications – Pocket:
- Compatible with Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance game cartridges (and Game Gear, PC-Engine, Atari Lynx and Neo Geo Pocket via separate adapters)
- 3.5 inch LCD screen. The resolution is 1600×1440. 615 pixels per inch
- Rotate the display 360° (Tate mode)
- Variable display refresh
- 4300 mAh lithium-ion battery (6-10 hours of play and 10+ hours of sleep)
- All buttons are displayed/reconfigured
- Stereo speakers
- micro SD card slot
- USB-C charging
- Link port in original style (yay, link action!)
- 3.5 mm output for headphones
Specifications – docking station:
- HDMI 1080p output
- Bluetooth and 2.4g support for wireless controllers
- 2 USB inputs for wired controllers
- Support up to 4 players (4p Bluetooth, 2p 2.4g, 2p wired USB)
- DAC Compatibility (Fast)
- The Power Dock turns on from the controller