Analogue Update: Duo ($250; Ships 2023) and Pocket ($200; Ships 2023) Available for Preorder

[cartman | 195]

Yeah i've said it before i still don't know what this Pocket console does. Why you wouldn't want to play on a GBC, on a GBA, when there's no issue about needing a CRT-TV or input lag solutions, none of it.

I only really see value in the screen quality. But those issues are not hard to mitigate on a GBC/GBA really you just make sure to position yourself against your lamp.

Also the NT, Super NT and Mega SG still offer the original controller inputs. Pocket doesn't.

[a3quit4s | 4,102]

9 minutes ago, cartman said:

Yeah i've said it before i still don't know what this Pocket console does. Why you wouldn't want to play on a GBC, on a GBA, when there's no issue about needing a CRT-TV or input lag solutions, none of it.

I only really see value in the screen quality. But those issues are not hard to mitigate on a GBC/GBA really you just make sure to position yourself against your lamp.

Also the NT, Super NT and Mega SG still offer the original controller inputs. Pocket doesn't.

You know pocket is also capable of emulating a bunch of other systems via OpenFPGA right? You can pretty much replace all your retro consoles with this. If emulation isn’t your thing you can also get the adapter set to use a bunch of other physical games. But if you aren’t interested knowing fully what it’s capable of, you aren’t the target customer. Neither am I, I like my physical media way too much. I’ve had two of them and, while impressive, ended up using them as trade bait for other things. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by a3quit4s

[Rhuno | 107]

2 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

You know pocket is also capable of emulating a bunch of other systems via OpenFPGA right? 

This. I ordered one yesterday. I'm not big on handhelds in general and I don't really want to start collecting them. That said, there are some that I enjoy and the pocket looks like a nice way to play those games. The OpenFPGA also makes it a great way to take games from a variety of consoles on the road.

[cartman | 195]

8 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

You know pocket is also capable of emulating a bunch of other systems via OpenFPGA right? You can pretty much replace all your retro consoles with this. If emulation isn’t your thing you can also get the adapter set to use a bunch of other physical games. But if you aren’t interested knowing fully what it’s capable of, you aren’t the target customer. Neither am I, I like my physical media way too much. I’ve had two of them and, while impressive, ended up using them as trade bait for other things. 

Yeah but you still can't replace an original controller. With consoles though, since they never were portable and if you want a game to be portable it might make some sense. 

No i am not the target customer.

[cartman | 195]

8 minutes ago, Rhuno said:

This. I ordered one yesterday. I'm not big on handhelds in general and I don't really want to start collecting them. That said, there are some that I enjoy and the pocket looks like a nice way to play those games. The OpenFPGA also makes it a great way to take games from a variety of consoles on the road.

GBA Everdrive Mini couldn't hold GB-GBC games if i'm not mistaken. In that case you'd need 1 Everdrive GB and 1 Everdrive GBA flashcart respectively and then you could run it all on a GBA/SP console. There would be no collecting.

[Rhuno | 107]

4 minutes ago, cartman said:

GBA Everdrive Mini couldn't hold GB-GBC games if i'm not mistaken. In that case you'd need 1 Everdrive GB and 1 Everdrive GBA flashcart respectively and then you could run it all on a GBA/SP console. There would be no collecting.

This is true, but in the end I'd have to buy the everdrive, GB console, an ips screen mod and then either do the mod myself or pay for install; I'd probably end up near, or higher, than the cost of the pocket. And at the end of the day, it still wouldn't be able to play everything the pocket can.

I did go back and forth on the decision though. I may pick up a gameboy eventually and customize the daylights out of it. It just sounds like a fun little project. But that's a ways down the road; it's not a priority for me.

[OptOut | 8,889]

1 hour ago, cartman said:

just make sure to position yourself against your lamp.

Bro is straight trippin. 

[cartman | 195]

1 hour ago, Rhuno said:

This is true, but in the end I'd have to buy the everdrive, GB console, an ips screen mod and then either do the mod myself or pay for install; I'd probably end up near, or higher, than the cost of the pocket. And at the end of the day, it still wouldn't be able to play everything the pocket can.

I did go back and forth on the decision though. I may pick up a gameboy eventually and customize the daylights out of it. It just sounds like a fun little project. But that's a ways down the road; it's not a priority for me.

Everdrive GBA 114$ Everdrive GB 79$. A GBA you could probably get for 15-20$ somewhere. You don't really need the IPS mod, it's just more convenient not really a must.

No you wouldn't be able to play everything. I'm talking about the Game Boy experience.

[cartman | 195]

39 minutes ago, OptOut said:

Bro is straight trippin. 

The lamp hangs above and the person is under it

[Brickman | 3,993]

The GBA is definitely a perfectly fine solution.

I love my GBA, but I find myself grabbing the Pocket over it. The screen on the Pocket looks amazing and the form factor for me feels a lot more comfortable for long play sessions vs the GBA. Those two things make it worth it for me.

If someone has a GBA and a GBA player they have to weigh up if the money is worth it if they only want to play Gameboy games. Personally for me it definitely was. 

If you plan to use it for more than Gameboy then buying the Pocket is a no brainer. The adapters plus emulator support for old consoles make it hard to beat.

[a3quit4s | 4,102]

I wish the pocket had the GBA form factor. The GB/GBC form factor is uncomfortable to hold. I know they make grips but it would have been better. 

[avatar! | 1,819]

Interesting...

 

[a3quit4s | 4,102]

8 minutes ago, avatar! said:

Interesting...

 

Does this support the same cores as the Pocket without any code changes? Does anyone know? I would assume if it uses the same Cyclone chip that would be a possibility, no?

[Tanooki | 4,936]

On 12/3/2023 at 8:29 PM, avatar! said:

I saw people complaining about Analogue no longer producing NES, SNES, Genesis systems. That said, there are some pretty good alternatives to those Analogue systems which are also very well priced. However, I don't ever recall seeing any systems similar to Pocket nor their Duo -- are there any such systems? I know there are tons of systems that have the games on ROM, but are there are any real alternatives to Pocket or Duo that actually play the cartridges?

I don't pop up daily here anymore and you already wrote within the last day that response I was going to give, but yeah on the handheld side for $80 combined for the kit and shell/outer bits you have that FPGBC for all things 8bit gameboy and that covers that if you're just into carts and not cores with the pocket.  I intend to get one eventually, want to see firmware updates about the speed come to reality first.

But outside of the AVS for NES, what do you think is a good alternative for the SNES and Genesis at this rate that run carts in an HDMI format without some moderate to pretty poor baggage?  The last of the atgames (2nd gen android) mini genesis they did was on point using genesis gx plus as a core, and SNES has...SupaboyS but that's not HDMI even if it's otherwise accurate.  I haven't seen anythine come to fill the void on those 2 systems, seems negligent of them to drop them.

 

@a3quit4s That uses no cores.  It's a pure DMG+CGB FPGA, that's it.  Cart only.  Think of it like that weirdo chinese GB Boy Color handheld, but doesn't suck.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

19 hours ago, a3quit4s said:

Does this support the same cores as the Pocket without any code changes? Does anyone know? I would assume if it uses the same Cyclone chip that would be a possibility, no?

Idk if @Tanooki ended up ordering one or not but he made a thread about these. Might Wana post in there. I think they've been sold out shortly after launch. 

[Tanooki | 4,936]

I held off due to the timing issue of it not matching the GBC clock rate off by quite a few seconds after not too long a period.  The speed it is off is wider than the issue speed runners and sensitive types get fussy over with the SuperGB.  I knew it was easily updated with firmware upgrades so I was going to wait.  I will order it, when it's in better shape for accurate speeds.

[avatar! | 1,819]

16 hours ago, Tanooki said:

But outside of the AVS for NES, what do you think is a good alternative for the SNES and Genesis at this rate that run carts in an HDMI format without some moderate to pretty poor baggage? 

Retro-Bit -- for the price I think it's amazing. I've heard some people say the music isn't always perfect, and some other minor problems. But, for $60 you get a Retro-Bit that plays NES and SNES cartridges. Or, for $600 you can get an Analogue Noir -- if you're lucky, most likely it will be substantially more. For someone that's into hard-core gaming, I'd say get the Analogue. For most anyone else Retro-Bit does the job perfectly.

[a3quit4s | 4,102]

Just got tracking for my Duo! Being sent UPS!

 

[TDIRunner | 2,742]

12 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

Just got tracking for my Duo! Being sent UPS!

 

I got mine too.

[Jicsan | 589]

Reviews are starting to hit YouTube today.

 

[avatar! | 1,819]

Does the Analogue Duo support the Everdrive?

[RH | 4,914]

14 minutes ago, avatar! said:

Does the Analogue Duo support the Everdrive?

According to Joe Redifer (of that Game Sack review), yes it does but you have to unscrew the cover (and expose the chips) to get it to fit in the thing.

Edited December 11, 2023 by RH

[avatar! | 1,819]

 

[cartman | 195]

21 hours ago, Jicsan said:

Reviews are starting to hit YouTube today.

 

The PCE has a much smaller community than NES/SNES who knows when all games are going to work without irregularities.

Edited December 12, 2023 by cartman

[RH | 4,914]

I've watched most of the reviews so far because even though I don't have an interest in the device, I am interested in seeing how well Analogue did with this device (especially with an N64 clone coming at some point) plus watching multiple reviews of an item that you're not interested in helps you get an unbiased baseline on how these various reviewers respond.

Anyway, what surprises me about this console is that it was deemed worth the investment to begin with.  There's nothing wrong with PCE, but it's so niche and the fact that the Everdrive doesn't fit into it without modification is a real deal breaker.

I mean, how many TG-16/PCE collectors out there will want this?  Maybe I'm wrong but I feel part of the appeal for a unit like this is that it can get you as close as possible to actual hardware that's not aged and dying, but it can make games accessible so long as you can use flash carts.  This device seems to have a very limited pool of buyers without supporting the Everdrive easily.

I mean, as Joe pointed out, you can take the top off, but IMHO, I'm not going to play a system where my +$200 memory card has to stick out exposed and easily damageable.