Analogue Pocket FPGA Gameboy/Color/Advance announced

[matzesu]

Its look pretty cool, and i know its not that easy to make a Gameboy/Advance Hardware Emulator, but its Price is pretty expensive,
I payd about 170 € for the Retrosix GBA Classic whit all Mods, which was pretty awesome (but eats lots of AKKU Charges),
And in about 2 Sausages (TM) whe will have the Pyra which emulates all these System and is also a whole Linux Computer..
Ok the Pyra is about 700 €, but its cabaple to to much more..

Only its lack of a GB GBA Module Slot isnt that good than this FPGA GB GBA..

 

[FelixNemis]

The way I see it all of these high quality fpga consoles have been around $200 and this one is at least 2-3 systems in one not counting adapters
I actually expected to pay more for a portable with a nice screen and battery and controls

 

[FelixNemis]

This thing finally has a pre-order and release date!
August 3 for pre-orders and shipping May next year (oof)

also cartridge adapters are now listed, $30 each which is a bit high

 

[matzesu]

I just ordered one, I wonder which shipping group I will be, hopefully the Q1 2022 ^^
There are some things that are better than on my GBA SP: Headphone Jack, Savestate Feature on a Real Gameboy Game, etc
And it’s looked interesting enough..

Let’s hope it wants get stuck at the customs ..

 

[matzesu]

There are some updates regarding the order: on Twitter, analogue said that all orders of the first day will get delivered on group 1 or 2 (Q1 , Q4 2022) , and the Email that tells which group you are will be on Monday ^^ , there are also some reports of not working Docks which needed some trouble shooting, so It might was a good idea to buy only the „Hightech Gameboy „ itself…
some early customers dit show some gameplay and it looks awesome ^^
https://twitter.com/analogue/status/1471949537774342146?s=21

 

[matzesu]

„You are in Group B, Q4 2022“
Good that I learned to wait from my Adventure whit the Pandora/Pyra ^^

 

[matzesu]

I know im in Q4 2022, but i wonder why? Do they have a Mass Production Run only once in a Year?
I miss a bit the Info Thread for every tiny part of the Produktion Progress like whe have whit the Pyra, , or is there a Analogue Pocket Boards where Analogue writes these Informations?

 

[ClockworkCoder]

Do they have a Mass Production Run only once in a Year

It's because of increasing problems with chip manufacture and distribution. Certain components have very long waiting times.

 

[levi]

Hmm, and as such I wouldn't be surprised if some of those lead times slip, and perhaps some small components they're depending on don't get made any more so a design change is needed, so a slippage from that Q4 this year* wouldn't surprise me.

* When does Q4 end anyway, is it winter 2022, which ends March 21 ish 2023, or is it Feb 2023 to April 2023, based on the tax year, or Sep 2022 to new year 2023?

 

[matzesu]

According to Twitter, the Group A will beginn to shipp the last week of March

And someone said answered on my Question whit the Customs: If its get delivered from Fedex, i will get an Invoice and they handle the Customs, but take an Extra of 12 € for the Service ^^

Not that much when you have to pay 2 € per Liter Diesel to drive to the German Custom Office in Saarbrücken (Allthough its near the Place where my Sister whit her Daughters live ^^)

 

[matzesu]

I think when i got this Thing i will make a Video, but not only Gameplay, i will also talk about the Costs you have to consider when you order it from Germany..

I just dont know if i should make it in English or in German..

 

[rygD]

Do English. I wanna watch, but I will miss most of what you say if it's in German.

 

[matzesu]

O i could make 2 Videos: English and German, but its still a few Months left until then..

 

[matzesu]

I just preparet my EverDrives for this Thing, as its now statet to be "Prepare for Shipping", allthough i dont know how long they will take, its may be a lot more work than just put it in a Cardboard Box, put the Sticker on and trow it on Tom Hanks so he can fly it whit its FedEX Plane over to Germany (and cast away).. (but then he will have a Gameboy to play, and dont need Wilson).. ,

I will use booth EverDrives, allthough there is now the Option on the GBA EverDrive to use a Gameboy Emulator, i would rather have Gameboy Games over the Gameboy Core of the FPGA.., , . and at least for the Challenge the Original Cardridges..

The Phytium was good as a Unzipp Computer for the zipped Roms of the Rompack, and i ditnt had the issue that the SD Card got stuck to the System Mount like i had some years ago..

I wonder: Which featues are now on the current Analogue Pocket Firmware? Do whe have Savestates?

 

[matzesu]

Just got the Shipping Mail, according to FedEX, the Delievery should be around Tuesday 2022-12-13..
I wonder how it will work whit the Customs, and then i will switch my Mario Challenge from Pyra Emulation to real Cardridges, even if this means that i dont have Color in Mario Land 1-3

 

[matzesu]

Should get delievered today, any suggestions what games i should try? (When i have the Cardridge, or when my EverDrives work), i will report what works and what not..
I think i can have a quick testrun this evening, and more tests on Weekend..

 

[matzesu]

Just a few impressions :
Even whit the newest firmware , at least my Everdrive GB and GBA work fine, and I Test a few of my Cardridges: the Display is quite Prestine and there are some useful feature like a Savestate System whit 128 Slots which works whit every game ..

So you get the advantages of a Emulator, but whit your physical Cardridges you got in the 90tes ^^

I don’t had an issue whit the Shoulderbuttons yet, maybe because I play guitar and my fingers can move in more angles than from an average gamer whitout music instrument background?

And you can change the Display filter on the fly, but this Analogue Pocket mode was my favored ..
I mean you dit pay 250 € and I would aspect 70 € customs fees, you want the picture to look better than on your 40 € GBA SP from the drift store..

But well it’s quite awesome, sadly I don’t have that much time this evening..

 

[matzesu]

I will post today the German Rewiew i plan this afternoon, the English Version maybe on Weekend and maybe i will have a few GB Studio Games load up then and know my Custom Fees..
It should also explain for which type of Retro Gamer this thing might be interesting, and what are the features and a size comparation whit my other Gameboys (and Pyra)..

Was much to dark yesterday evening when i unboxed this thing, but i was quite impressed..

 

[matzesu]

 

[matzesu]

When i make the English Video, i will keep the big Gameboy Game Box out of my Table as its just too big, and there is no room left for the Handheld or a proper Stand for my Tripod..
As i had one Game finished yesterday (also look at the Challenge Thread), i can tell now that the FPGA Works quite awesome: I had slowdowns on the first Level of Super Mario Land when you get the Powerstar, just like i had on a Real Gameboy

The whole feeling of the Buttons is quite realistic, and i ditnt had any issues that was caused by unprecise Buttons, just lost a few Lives due to my own not that professional Gameplay..

On this Video i also testet a few Classic NES Titles, (there where GBA Releases) on the EverDrive GBA, but just like on a real GBA they dont work on EverDrive..

There are a few things that arend that good on the Pocket:
Somethimes i had trouble whit the Layoat which i accidently changed to Super Gameboy, and only got back to my known position
the Sound Buttons are locatet too near to the Power Button,

And this Color made the Device not look good on Dark Envroiments: I had my Challenge Pictures in the Evening, the Screen look good but the Gameboy itsellf is just a black box

In other envroiments, when there is enough light, its looks awesome..