Analogue Pocket Review - Your Dream Game Boy?
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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- Game Boy gaming scaled right
Footage & Review by Damien McFerran: www.nintendoli...
Narration & Edit by Zion Grassl:
/ ziondood
Music by DJ Cutman
Ballad of the Wind Fish CUTMAN Remix
Brinstar Breaks - Metroid Samus Returns Remix
Clawdaddy Beach - Feel Good Yoshi Beat
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#AnaloguePocket #GameBoy #Retro
Finally, the Game Boy has grown up, it is now the Game Man.
Why can’t there be a “GameMan Woman”
Lol! I love this!
You beat me to it
@@xp4364Because in order for there to be a Game Woman, there needs to first be a Game Girl.
Game Him/he They/Them. 😊
I finally got mine a couple days ago and I am SOOOOO happy with it. This thing is awesome and negates the desire I had to eventually pick up a modern, modded GB, GBC, and GBA. I have all of the original systems, but obviously it’s not the best way to play those games anymore. Those screens are terrible. So to have all of this functionality in this amazing high-end device with a beautiful gorgeous screen with multiple options, I can now dig out all of my old cartridges and enjoy them again the best way possible. I’m just so happy. Worth every penny. Thanks, Zion for the video as always! 💙
Got mine didnt like it ur game freezea if u accidently touch the cartrige in the back
Cant even save state or use controllers only can use 4 specific controllers which i dont like
The view angles are trash and the battery life could be better
Not gonna lie the shoulder buttons annoy me too but above all the form factor just bad a gamemboy advance design would of been better
Everyone keeps saying how gorgeous the display is and I'm so excited. Mine got lost in the mail however... :cry:
I'm hoping this is something that will be easier to acquire as time goes on. I would hate to miss out on it, but more importantly I would hate for others who don't have a million consoles like I do already to miss out on such a great device just because of limited production.
Analogue did announce that preorders are open for this one and it will be shipped in waves, instead of limited production and preorders. They still have preorders up on their website, granted you’ll be waiting till likely 2023 till you get your unit at this point.
Thank you, Drew. That's very kind. As someone who doesn't have a lot, apart from a PS2 and a Switch Lite, I really would like to get this. A virtual toast, so that we may both get what we wish.
They seem to be handling their current pre-orders far better than the ones from last year at least. They look like they're unlimited this time, if you buy it now you're definitely not getting it until 2023+ though.
@@VexAcer Wish they would give that option for the Super NT as well, but at least it's a start. Hopefully they do preorders this way for future products too.
@@NoonDragoon wait 1 year!!!!!!!!!!!! no thank you
I preordered one. What I like about it greatly out weigh what I dislike about it.
I ordered a white one literally 5 minutes after the link went live haha.
Before this I was interested in it, but the price was a bit off-putting.
However after watching all the reviews, and realizing that a modded GBA/GBASP costs almost as much, I decided to pull the trigger.
Don't know when mine will arrive though (hopefully before 2023) but I can't wait to play it !
I ordered the black one 16 minutes after it went live. The cost was off putting for me too. I also wanted a case and other accessories but I stopped myself.
If you got in within 5 mins hopefully you're in the first batch. I was 12 hours later so almost certainly 2023! lol
Does it include every single gba game?
I got the white one as well can’t wait
@@rambo_ando Here's to hoping it'll be Q1 instead of later haha
Genuinely devastated I couldn't afford one when preorders were up
They're up for pre-order now, but the current fulfilment group isn't expected to ship until 2023.
Same. I already spent my money on Christmas shopping 😕
The only thing holding me off on getting this is the form factor. These days the GBA SP form factor is a bit uncomfortable in my hands, I find the original GBA form factor much better.
From reviews I've watched, the fact that this is much larger than an SP (very similar to a thinner DMG) helps a lot.
it's about half or maybe a third as thick as the og chunky game boy, but otherwise about the same size in height and width
THANK GOD SOMEONE SAID IT JESUS I SWEAR ITS LIKE PEOPLE NOW A DAYS CANT ADMIT SOMETHING BAD ANYMORE
Hey NintendoLife crew, it would be fun to see a discussion about y’all’s Switch Year in Review stats. About how much you played this year and which games you played the most.
What is switch year in review????
Nevermind found it
This is the portable dream handheld system. I can't wait to get this!
I ordered one yesterday. They haven’t said yet which batch I’m in but I think I was fast enough for Q1 2022. In addition to playing Gameboy games, I’m really looking forward to having the adapters for the Turbo Grafx and Neo Geo Pocket. I have tons of cartridges for those and no great way to play them. For me there’s a huge value there.
Yesterday? How? They were listed as sold out still…
Neo Geo Pocket is a great system, can’t wait for that adapter. Hoping I get Q1 too, but I have no idea. Was on immediately and my order number is in the 99XXX range, so first 20,000…
@@CMDRFlyAuburn They went up for preorder again yesterday at 8am PST
Never mind!! Looks like they canceled scalper and bot orders like they said they would and freed up some supply!!! I just ordered mine too!! Woo hoo!
@@Snowcountry556 I hadn’t really looked at my order number until you mentioned it. I’m in the 96XXX range but I have no idea what that means. I was able to add it to my cart immediately at 8am and then just waited a few minutes for the checkout. I’m hoping that they send out notifications about the batches so I know. It’s a big difference between Q1 and Q4 so it would also be great if that second batch ends up being early. And totally agreed about the NGPC! Back in the day I thought that the Gameboy was for kids so I went with the Neo Geo. It wasn’t long before they discontinued it and I ended up discovering the Gameboy library anyway, but I’m really proud of my NGPC collection. It’s just really different.
Gotta admit, I freaking LOVE the way that custom GBA looks that you're constantly showing in this vid. I NEED that same case for mine!
Pre-ordered mine back in 2020, it's been dispatched and should be with me this week. Can't wait.
I really miss the days of game cartridges. It's like "The magic is inside", felt so tangible and exciting, compared to digital games. I do get them on Switch from time to time, but most of the time I go digital because of its obvious advantages.
yeah, to this day I get a little disappointed when I see that little pcb in every cartridge lol. I prefer big ole carts! lol
I think the best compromise is dumping your physical games and storing them digitally. That gives actual purpose to having a big display shelf.
Ordered mine and have just been watching videos every day on it since 😅
My biggest fear aren't even the 379 bucks I'd have to spend for the bundle I am interested in but rather the limited number of units and taxes that come on top of shipping to Europe.
Haha yeah same. But I can split the cost. Now I pay for the device and delivery cost. And the rest when it eventually arrived here in the Netherlands😂
Id pay 500 for this but i cant find games for less then rip off prices lol
Waiting for confirmation from Analogue on the estimated delivery date... Can't wait to get my hands on one of those devices. Even though I mod and sell every Game Boy model under the sun, and have a huge collection of modded and unmodded devices myself, it looks like none of them is even remotely capable of doing what the Analogue Pocket can do. I really like the look of the Game Boy Light, but actually playing on one is kind of a chore for example. As much as I love original hardware, the Pocket will probably still become my preferred method of playing most of my older games.
This is beautiful. I still have my game boy pocket the blurr makes it hard to play. I like that the analog pocket fixes that
I'm tempted to wait and see if they release one with a different screen (not sticking out) and a better game slot (not sticking out.)
Thanks for a great review. The GBA image can't be pixel perfect, though, unless it's cropped - or only takes up 90% of the width since 240 x 6 = 1440 (which is = 90% of 1600) - and 240 x 7 = 1680 (80 pixels too much) - thus 40 pixel could be cropped on each side (that's just 5-6 GBA pixels lost from the left and right side respectively).
So pixel perfect GBA scaling currently wastes 10% of the screen-width unless cropped.
If, however, Analogue had chosen 1680 x 1440 Game Boy would scale perfectly to 95% width (and 100% height) and GBA would scale perfectly to 100% width - instead of currently GBA perfectly scaled being just 90% width due to Pocket's 1600 horizontal resolution.
1680x1440 is an uncommon format and would cost prohibitively more to produce, many would prefer what they did instead of paying a lot more for the handheld. I'd rather see less of the screen used in GBA mode, I don't think anything is "wasted" here, than losing the perfect fit in GB, GBC and GG modes.
Oh, I see - I thought the current 1600x1440 panel was custom-made / just as expensive - that 1680x1440 would cost pretty much the same.
But actually I think cropping the image width a bit (it's just 5% off the GBA width - 5-6 GBA pixels at each side) is the best solution - that will also result in an even larger GBA image than both the non-perfect current scaling to 100% width as well as my 1680x1440 panel suggestion :) - currently Analogue scales GBA to the odd non-perfect 1600 x 1067.
@@DavidFilskov It's custom to a degree, but there have been 1600x1440 3'5" screens made in mass, for instance the Samsung HMD Odyssey VR headset has two. So there are likely producers that can efficiently make such screens without too much adjusting. 1680x1440 however is pretty much non-existent and would result in more waste and quite a bit of adjustment which would add a substantial cost to a relatively small batch of screens.
I'm glad they didn't do that then!
Got my preorder in. Although the $90 shipping and 2023 delivery date is a big oof. These guys need to fix their distribution.
They've always screwed people over on their shipping cost. Even with their past consoles.
I just love that I can save games on my 1st gen pokemon which the battery died in, again!
I still have some GBA carts, and my original GBA and original DS don't work anymore. This piqued my interest, but A.) the price point is steep and B.) I really don't want to wait for over a year plus just to play some of those carts on a limited basis anyway. If I really wanted to play those carts again, I think finding a refub DS lite might be the best option or buying the Virtual Console editions on the WiiU for some of those games. Speaking of the Virtual Console, it would be awesome if Nintendo Online had GB/GBC/GBA games on it. I know it was heavily rumored, but nothing has panned out yet.
I wonder how much it would cost to frankenstein a gameboy, NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube and Wii chipset together lol. Would be cool to play their catalogs with one box completely un-emulated.
I want an analogue pocket SP. I love the SP clamshell design and buttons
Maybe eventually still not old enough yet
well, ive pre-ordered one :)
That's cool! As someone who likes to collect Gameboy, GB Color and Gameboy Advance games I'm definitely keeping my eye on this one!
It bugs me that so few reviewers don't even mention one of THE biggest benefits of FPGA - Zero input lag!
Systems implemented via FPGA have no more lag than the original consoles would, only it's even less in this case as these systems have fancy scalers built in as well, meaning you'll have literally zero added lag even on modern displays!
Certainly can't say that when hooking an old console directly to a modern flat panel!
If there was a Nintendo DS equivalent, I'd pick one up in a heartbeat.
I’m sure there will be in a decade or so. Right now the DS is in that middle ground where it’s old, but not yet retro.
DS is not old enough
If I didnt already have a gba and a gamecube with gameboy player I would have bought in a heartbeat.
“The upshot of these modded systems is that you are talking about 100% original hardware too”
I get the intent of that statement. But, no.
Ordered one yesterday along with the Game Gear adapter. I didn’t get the dock because it was a bit expensive and needs more functionality for it to be worth while. Maybe Ill get it at some point.
Finally preordered one of these and have been cleaning all my games in preparation!
Really good review, although the dock isn’t compatible with the DAC at-launch unfortunately, so no CRT play for now.
Nice console but too expensive ! I prefer original console with Screen Mod IPS LCD OSD 👍
I think I get mine Friday… but have forgotten which color I ordered 😂
I really want this... but I really want it in the GBA form factor 🤔
Maybe they'll do a version 2? If not you can bet people will mod it.
GBA form factor would have been nice, but I think the battery life would take a massive hit due to less space.
@@NintendoDude888 the area needed for the cartridge slot, cart and adapters would eat up a lot of space in the middle of the rear shell. The current design allows for a large, easily replaceable battery in the bottom rear part of the shell.
I would think the GBA form factor would be better for widescreen games and since most games this supports are not they chose this formfactor. I didn't think of it so good idea, I'm sure if they do make one that handles DS technology the would flip it so you can grasp it on it's sides.
1st ever system was Purple See-Through GameBoy Color can't wait for this!
It’s crazy to me that with all the tech built in to this little piece of hardware they weren’t able to do a better job of designing the cartridge slot. That was a killer for me because the possibility of knocking the cartridge loose while playing is a huge possibility. If, and that’s a big if, they decide a version 2 of this and they fix the slot, I will pick it up.
Lots of reviews have speculated that it COULD be an issue, but I haven't seen anyone actually have problems with a cart being knocked loose. Personally, I'm not too concerned about it.
I love this thing but I'm not a fan of how Analogue I nickle and diming us with this thing. Extra money for a fast charger? Like get real!
It literally costs analogue about 80 USD to purchase the two FPGA chips alone, so that leaves 140 USD for the remaining components, custom designed parts, assembly, packaging, distribution and so on. Their end profit margin on the device itself is likely not that high. And 20 USD for a PD fast charger is not an absurd price to charge at all.
Bootlicker
This is cool but I just can't stand playing off original cartridges these days considering how many times I've had save batteries die on me mid-game
Learn to solder, and you won't have to do it for another 20 years
It has save states. You can still play the cart without replacing the battery. Wanna keep your save? Just replace the battery when you are ready and save the game from your save state.
Good luck getting one. Scalpers already ruined this one for us too.
Nah, these were actually pretty easy to get ahold of a preorder for one if you were there when the ordering went live on their website a few days ago
Spawn Wave was also saying that the carts sit in the cart slot very loosely, which is a really alarming thing to hear. It seems really strange to me that Analogue would be ok leaving the design like that instead of creating a tighter fit for the carts. It seems rather inexcusable if you ask me, as I can see the carts easily sliding out of the slot or being bumped out of it during gameplay. It seems like a rather cheap oversight for such a premium device.
Did Mario Golf and Golden Sun work? These are notorious for running very slowly under emulation.
This doesn’t emulate, so I doubt that would be an issue.
Love Ninja 5-0. still got the cartridge somewhere...
I wish Nintendo would make something like this
Having Sleep Mode take up as much power as when the device is turned on is quite strange to me... I don't get why a save state isn't made when put into sleep mode so that it can essentially use little to no power in said mode, just like the Switch. The Switch doesn't die that fast when in it's Sleep Mode.
I ordered one yesterday 1 second after it came live, can´t wait to get it in my hands.
Now I need Gameboy games :):):)
But one thing is very silly, when you insert the Game Gear adapter you can not use the L / R buttons any more, hahaha! How didn´t they think of it!?
Most likely because Game Gear only supported a couple face buttons.
Is the background music a remix of Ballad of the Windfish and where do I find it 😧
Got mine coming What metriod game is shown ?
When does it come out and planning to preorder one, they seem awesome and promising. Can't wait to hold an actual one!
People who preordered well over a year ago just got theirs. Those who immediately preordered earlier this week got placed in Group A (Q1 2022) followed by Group B (Q4 2022).
If you preorder now you'll be added to group C, which means yours won't ship until 2023.
I still love my original Gameboy consoles. Am not so mad about a light up screen. Just the original is prefect for me. I being playing since the Gameboy pocket come out in the uk. Am now 31years old. And I love Gameboy more than PlayStation consoles. But is abit ok the new Gameboy.
I'm more interested where you got that sweet clear plastic Game Boy gba :0
But what about Game & Watch and Tiger handhelds? Okay that aside it's a remarkable piece of kit and even more remarkable that it exists! Looking forward to getting my hands on one eventually! :)
or the Pokemon tomagatchi thing xD
I was thinking about getting for shiny hunting my gen 3 pokemon games. With that price i rather get 3 gb advance sp.
How you get these games thats the question if this popular the games will run out
Roms don’t run out
I know this is very niche, but for me it's a deal breaker that I cannot use it with the GC link cable.
Ideally they'd produce their own cable in the future. Seems like a huge oversight. You could still technically use an original GC link cable you'd just have to remove the plastic housing to make it fit :/
The GC Link cable does indeed work, the only issue is that the plastic from it gets in the way. If you unscrew it off then it'll connect and work properly.
Doing it that way is kinda janky though so I hope Analogue or someone else makes their own cables.
For some resaon everyone called this thing a grown up and they don't even lie
There have been a lot of surprisingly glowing reviews for this thing. Looks like a great system if I didn't still have my GBA and the games. I'm still waiting for Switch to have GameBoy and GameBoy Advance games.
I'd get this anyway because of the dock. Analogue is gonna give it DAC compatibility, do I'll be able to use it with the awesome CRT I just bought.
Pre-ordered mine but might cancel if I'm not Q1 2022 😟
I think the GBA form factor is so much better. 12:17 Love the docked mode.
Yes gba ff is amazing
What a cool device, I wish it would have accepted ROMS in addition to cartridges, and that it would have additional cores for NES, SNES and Megadrive.
Those will probably come with mods down the line.
It will definitely accept roms soon.
A “jailbreak” firmware has been released for every single Analogue system.
It’s very clear Analogue makes this firmware themselves and releases it through a 3rd party.
It has an SD card slot, which analogue claims is only for the occasional firmware update, but we all know what it's really gonna be for.
it has an sd card slot so I'm sure somebody will figure it out sooner or later. and since it plays GBA and Game Gear that basically unlocks everything from 16-bit on down (SNES, NES, Gen, MSX), it already does TG16 (with the future adapter). There will be many mods in the future to be sure.
The loose cartridge issue deflated any interest
If it's just a USB C hub, could you connect it just with a USB C cable? or a switch dock?
It is not just a USB C hub so no, you need the actual analogue dock to be able to make it output over hdmi.
Ugh, I hate that I have to wait a year+ if I order now. I just wanna go to a store and pick it up. :(
I need to wait until 2023 to have mine shipped :(
The only thinf holding me off on getting this is the fact: they don't ship to Brazil
When I read the title I get confused between Game Boy and Analogue Pocket to the point I read it as "Analoy Pocket"
If you were okay with software emulation on your phone then this isn't for you. Everyone is aware you can do this. You aren't the target demographic here. This is mostly for collectors to play their original cartridges using FPGA hardware emulation.
No its for anyone who wants one.
@@dafirelive I said its mostly targeted toward collectors. Obviously anyone is free to buy it if they are interested in it lol. For example I know chiptune artists are excited for it.
I'm a huge fan of both. I'll emulate where it's convenient, but I'll also use original hardware where it's convenient, or if it offers better features. This will finally give the EverDrives I bought last year some actual use. I also bought the dock and a DAC adapter so I can use it on the awesome CRT I bought _just_ for this.
I still have my DS and GBA SP so I don't NEED this but do want this...
I'm never gonna get this. But good for those who secured one. 😷
oh boy Nintendo life that good favorite Nintendo gameboy yeah that good way to playing.
I see you, Spider-Man 👀
My favorite game boy is my Z flip 3.
If you tap the cartridge lighly the games glitch out, DO NOT BUY this model, wait for a revision
I’m curious if the cartridge will fly out if you shake it. Sometimes when people get frustrated when playing a GB game, they will shake the Gameboy while playing.
If you shake it, you break it.
So tempting
Chip shortage... not to mention what's happening with Taiwan the past year, where most chips come from.
at 1:52 what gameboy light is that?? or is that a custom shell?
It is the Tezuka Osamu World Shop limited edition. There is this one in the video and another that is clear with Astro boy head on the front rather than the group of characters the red one has. Be prepared for price shock if planning on looking up to buy.
Resold units will probably cost £500+
I’ve seen units sell (not just listed, but sold) for $800 on eBay.
It's nice to have the champagne of handhelds, but this doesn't really solve the bigger underlying problem; legally buying the classic games you would play on this thing (Metroids, Shantae, that one Dragonball game) is TOO FRIGGIN' EXPENSIVE. No fault of theirs but until that gets resolved, this feels a bit pointless.
At your own risk? Is there something about usb-c charging standards you guys don't understand or what....
I watched Digital Foundry's review of it. Apparently it has audio issues with Shantae and prpb some other games.
@Dany Henriquez the audio issues seemed more to me like increased audio quality, but it's definitely a preference thing.
Note it cannot run GB games in Super Game Boy mode. That means no high color mode in Pokemon Red/Blue or improved sound/image in games like DK '94.
It probably can if/when Analogue choose to add that emulation.
But you can run cartridges like everdrives with homebrew versions of those games ;-)
Does it save for games with dead batteries?
When the update adding save states or 'memories' as they've dubbed it then yes, you could save and load using those instead of relying on the internal save of the cartridge. However, in-game saves will not work for dmg/color games if the battery is dead regardless of the future update.
This looks like a great device and I do want one, but it should be stated that FPGA is still emulation and it is a huge misconception that it is somehow inherently more accurate. That is simply not the case.
yikes at the 5 hour for full charge
Not for the poor. 220euro is to expensive
all my emolator devices runned to fast and the broke fast the lost realy fast pixels and the button broke fast
Can you do couch co-op on this?
What would be couch co-op in the case of gameboy games?
One player using the dock while another player connects a 2nd gameboy using a link cable? Or do you just mean connecting multiple controllers that all act as player 1 and you just take turns?
@@ians_parks yeah multiple controllers while the gameboy is docked. Can ya do that with this thing?
@@internetexplorer9492 Yes. You can connect multiple controllers at once. 4 bluetooth controllers, 2 2.4 GHz wireless controllers, and 2 usb wired controllers.
Yes, it even works with original GBC, GBA (SP & Micro), but not original GB
@@ians_parks sweet! do you guys know what games you can play with 2 players?
This is soooooo cool
Why isn’t anyone showcasing the white model? It shows the fingerprints less and the screen is distinct from the housing. White is the way to go with this one tbh.
❤️
Hardly much to get excited about if most of us can't afford one anyway. Pointless. Dream on people.
Pretty good!
Neat
👍
Very costy. I will buy a comptuer.
@@swastika6383 If you have fast smartphone ok. My will frameskip so...
Does it come with games installed already?
No
Analogue pocket is probably a nostalgia trip for a lot of people not for me though I never touched a gameboy in my entire life
Thank you for letting us know
Me too. I'm slightly tempted. I wonder if my PSP would do the same... Most likely yes.
@@samedz3966 i’ve never seen such a comeback
More like Game Man