Analogue Pocket: Talk About a Glow Up

Pre-Orders, 1-2 year waits, and a lot of anticipation for a vertical handheld that does something different. No, I’m not talking about the Playdate and its wonderful crank (though I am still waiting-please Panic). I’m talking about the Analogue Pocket, and its glorious feeling of status. What some people (not me, unfortunately) call the peak of premium handhelds, has finally released some new news today, along with a new variation to their handheld. 

First things first-the Pocket. The Analogue Pocket is an FPGA based handheld announced all the way back in October 2019, and eventually came to be released in December 2021. In it, it features dual Altera Cyclone FPGA chips (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), and a cartridge slot that could support Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance. As well as a number of other systems through the use of sold separately cartridge adapters. All of this behind a glorious 1600×1440 3.5 inch display (10 times the resolution of an original Gameboy) and a 4300 mAh battery that supports fast charging. 

All of that hardware came at the cost of time, and money. That price being $220, and that time being almost 2 years. Well for 99.9% of Analogue Pocket preorders according to Analogue’s Twitter. But alongside that announcement came another to discuss the Analogue Pocket limited edition. Green glow in the dark. 

Let me first say, I love glow in the dark anything, and Analogue releasing this handheld gets my heart racing, though that might also be the double-grilled cheese I had. As expected this device is Limited edition, and as with many limited edition comes at an increased cost of $250. Though that might not be as bad, as Analogue also announced they reduced domestic shipping by 30-50% and included insurance for free on all orders.

Orders for the Glow in the Dark Analogue Pocket will be dropping on September 1st at 8am PST or 10am EST in limited quantities. The best part? They claim that the device will be shipping as soon as September 5th. Just four measly days later (looking a lot better than 2 years in my opinion). So, what do you think? Are you going to pick on up yourself? Personally, I’m really hoping for a Pocket Advance with a 3:2 screen. But for those looking to up their Gameboy… Game; this could be the ticket to reliving their glow in the dark Gameboy Color dreams.

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