Analogue Pocket

It came quite suddenly. And then it didn't. I now have two fairly young children, and although I try feverishly to maintain my rigorous gaming and film schedule, it's harder and harder to reserve quality time in front of the big TV in the living room. As a result, over the past year, I've slowly started to slip into a semi-handheld mode, where my Switch and my Steam Deck have received far more love. Dredge, Gunbrella, Sea of Stars and many, many more - and these are just games I've played exclusively handheld this year.

But then it happened. I started to develop an interest in being able to put myself in a rather sudden relaxed state for maybe five minutes, even 10 minutes at a time when a sudden window appeared between the shitty nappies and insistent crying, and my aversion to social media and the whole rat race makes doomscrolling Instagram or TikTok not for me. So what do you do? I remembered that I once placed a curious item on a long-term wish list - an Analogue Pocket.

In a way, an Analogue Pocket can best be described as a luxury Game Boy. It looks like one if Nintendo chose to bring the same vertical format back in 2023, and it's equipped with a number of modern technical innovations that have been added since. For example, the screen is a full 1600x1440, a 3.5" LCD display with a saturation of 615ppi and even made of Gorilla Glass. It can automatically adjust brightness, charge with USB-C and be used on the big TV through a dock too. It's all here.

And it plays classic Game Boy, Game Boy Colour and Game Boy Advance games. "So what", you might be thinking. Chinese companies like Anbernic and Miyoo offer similar emulation-based handhelds, and that's true. But let's play around with the idea that you're not interested in emulation - you're interested in sitting with modern hardware that recreates the joy of putting physical games in the back. That's what Analogue Pocket can do. It's not emulation, it's modern hardware playing ancient software.

But even if you're playing the old Pokémon Red, you can boost the brightness, you can use the console's Sleep/Wake system to suspend the game in a Low Power state, you can switch between old and new Display Modes, and you can play with controllers and throw the game up on a larger screen. There's even multiplayer using a simple USB cable.

It's a surreal experience to say the least, using the Analogue Pocket for the first time, plugging in my ancient Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land and experiencing it sharper than ever before. Likewise, it gives me those ultra-short breaks where all I can think about is the next Mario course or a single Pokémon trainer and instantly put it down again. Furthermore, it has created a renewed desire to seek out old Game Boy games. It's pretty incredible.

Not everything is perfect, though. The relatively small size means that battery life is something like five hours if you're playing Game Boy Advance titles. And while the hardware is so inspired, the basic UI could do with a little panache, a little power.

That said, the functionality is impeccable, the buttons are responsive, the build quality is sublime, and what my Analogue Pocket has given me is currently making quite a difference to my mood during a busy day. You can also emulate via an Analogue Pocket via a microSD card, but the whole joy is to rediscover the interest in reliving your old physical games or borrowing from friends. And I'm now doing that diligently and loving it.