Thanks to the current pandemic, more of us are relying on online retailers than ever, and whilst we can't always use traditional retailers, scalping has gotten worse. Between recent drama surrounding the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S launches, Switch supply problems and even McDonalds happy meals, nothing is safe from greedy resellers.
The Analogue Pocket has seen similar supply issues too, going up for pre-order in August 2020 before selling out in several minutes. Offering an FPGA-based setup, it can play over 2,780 Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games, and has become highly sought after.
As fans patiently await the second flood of Pocket pre-orders, Analogue confirmed its supply chain had been impacted by the global pandemic, releasing a new announcement earlier today:
The current global state of affairs has resulted in consequences that have affected the worldwide supply chain and this has temporarily slowed our ability to keep many of our products in stock (Super Nt, Mega Sg) and reduced production capacity for Pocket. We are aware that many users are frustrated that Pocket pre-orders sold out quickly and both Super Nt and Mega Sg are currently unavailable.
Pocket is not a Limited Edition product. See below for a description of all terminology Analogue products are presented in. More Pockets will be available for purchase in 2021. With all things considered, we will be doing our best to keep Pocket in stock in 2021. Please sign up for a Stock Notification at analogue.co/store and you will be sent an email when Pocket will be available to purchase.
Bear with us during these unusual times and know that we're doing our best to get everything in stock or available for pre-order as soon as possible.
Within this announcement, Analogue outlined measures it is taking to tackle scalpers and bots. Without specifying the exact technology used, the announcement simply confirmed it will be implementing "robust bot protection" to prevent bots from making purchases, and cancelling those orders which do slip through.
As for scalpers, Analogue plans to actively monitor resale websites like eBay, reporting any pre-order listings it spots. How effective this will be is another matter, but considering widespread frustrations with these resellers, it's reassuring Analogue is taking these steps.
[source engadget.com, via support.analogue.co]
Comments 39
Never managed to get ahold of one of these, think I should get it or stick to my SP?
I am thinking of buying it and all the adaptors. Just a tick under $450 (USD $445) for everything. Of course, that is just a dream right now.
Looks really nice. However with the ongoing stock problems I recommend checking out the guys at RetroSix. Their refurbished Game Boy hardware is amazing. I think Nintendo Life covered them in an earlier article maybe.
I'll stick with my RG351M
And here I was, hoping they would send teams of assassins to rid the world of scalpers forever. This is very underwhelming.
I'd really like one of these and I'm impressed they're putting so much effort into thwarting scalpers.
For now, I'm worried about the sort of customs charges I'd have to pay to get one, so I'm going to wait and see what happens with the first wave.
I’m interested in getting one, but I’m not going to stress about it.
Scalping is a very annoying problem because there aren't many effective ways of dealing with it that don't also inconvenience the average consumer or hurt the producer.
I find scalpers extremely frustrating. Companies should just quit the limited edition idiocy, but that will never happen. Blessed capitalism.
@Arehexes
Got an RG351P myself and it's fantastic for Game Boy Color and Advance games.
But I won't lie that the Analogue Pocket isn't really tempting, but I need to check reviews for the thing.
I'm just waiting for the Anbernic RG351V to be released, there won't be any supply problems with that.
This release is taking so long I forgot it was coming. I nabbed a pre-order during those few minutes they were available, but am glad to hear more are coming. Seriously, it all comes down to being online during the right three to four minutes? That's no way to buy a console
I don't understand why online stores don't just add CAPTCHA to their checkout process.
I would happily click on a few pictures of bikes to have a fairer shot at getting an item.
I’d rather just buy a modded original GBA with the V2 backlit screen
Exactly what legal ground does this company have to report people offering preorders of their product?
@hypercoyote Ebay has a policy against selling preorders. Anyone can Report a listing that is for a preorder item.
@AlphaElite
Unfortunately, CAPTCHA can be defeated by paying for a service where people just manually solve CAPTCHA challenges all day long.
The challenge is just forwarded to someone idly solving them, and the bot takes the solution and submits that.
Just Google "captcha solving jobs" and you'll see what I mean.
I've been surprised at how difficult it has been for Analogue to produce stock for their consoles. I'm not sure how manufacturing works but there are so many emulator handhelds being cranked out of China that it can't be too hard to get a machine printed in large quantities. I suspect that that simply isn't Analogue's objective. They always want their products to be in short supply to keep demand high. I don't see that changing unless they get some real competition - someone else making high quality FPGA machines.
This is all well and good, but would like an update on when they are releasing. The last time I heard is a release window of March to May
@TeamRocket47
It's a matter of preference really. If you've got a good SP with a good screen and you're happy with it, it might be enough for you.
Even if your SP is not in good shape - there's a lot of mod kits available now - you can reshell it and give it an IPS screen (and a flash cart if you want). Doing all of that is probably a lot cheaper than this and it might cover everything you want. I've got a nice SP and that will probably always be my walking-around gameboy.
But I have ordered a Pocket. For me, it's because I'm interested in everything else it can do - I think it has a second fpga just for homebrew developers to play with; I'd really like to see what comes from that. And I'm interested in the adapters - I've got a some pc engine games here and I want to get into other handhelds too. It's expensive (especially buying separate adapters and accessories) - that's the main thing going against it. But, I expect it to be good quality based on what they've done before.
But it really depends on what you want. If you just need a nice gameboy for DMG, GBC and GBA, a nice SP might be better.
@niner Really? They clearly don't enforce that policy 😂 There are literally hundreds of listings that say "Pre-order" in the title.
@niner the others can be cranked out easily for other consoles as their main goal is quantity and not quality. I have bought many retro consoles like what you described.
They are not the best quality/have QC issues and some games play poorly if at all. Analogue is about quality over quantity and use FPGA chips which those cheap retro consoles don’t use at all. So all games work perfectly.
@Splodge you are correct it has two FPGA for home brew and has the chip tune mode for people to compose music with a legitimate built in audio out.
I'm going to get one at some point, but it's not like super necessary or anything. I'd just like to replace my SP, the battery life isn't that great anymore and it's the frontlit model.
Companies battling against bots and scalpers is a good start.
@mike_intv I’m with you on that 😕
@Steven_the_2nd I'm sure you're right. I love my RG351P but I know it's nowhere near the quality of the Analogue Pocket that I've got preordered. I also own the Super NT and couldn't be more happy or more impressed with its quality.
@TeamRocket47 If you have some tinkering skill, I've got my eye on this thing. Might be up your alley, too:
https://www.boxypixel.com/
I'm honestly surprised this site hasn't talked about this thing yet. Look at the GBA SP Unhinged.
NINJA APPROVED
@niner yeah there are some that love, but the Pocket will be my first Analogue console. I want a Mega SG and Super NT but will wait until I can get one from them and not from scalpers
You know who I think thinks scalpers are "Very fine people?" Donald Trump. He would've praised them for going into business for themselves, then quitting their existing jobs!
DS Lite all the way
I managed to snag one during the initial pre-orders, but wow has it been a while since then. Really hope they don't have to delay the release date for the first run again.
As for subsequent runs, I hope they make enough that everyone who wants one can get one. Is there any reason that they can't just do an open pre-order and make them to order (like a lot of Limited Run's releases these days)? I know it would take a while before pre-orders could be fulfilled if they did it that way (certainly longer than it takes LRG to print cartridges/disks and cases), but it seems like it would solve the demand/supply issues.
It’s a neat device but I can’t see GBA screen size anymore.
Things need to have DSiXL or PSP sized screens for my eyesight now.
Easiest way to stop scalepers would be for people to stop buying stuff off of them for inflated prices.
@Mr-Fuggles777 scalpers with ps5 said “we’re buying them and selling them on for those who can’t buy them as it’s limited” if they didn’t buy them in the first place we all would have one. But I agree with you though
I’m glad they’ll monitor scalpers as Sony didn’t for PS5. Would be great to see in stores soon
I've been dropping lots of money on retro carts and consoles and their mods. I just recently bought a DS, Gameboy Advance, and original DMG. I've already modded my GBA with an IPS screen and new shell. I have a mod kit coming for the DMG in the next few days because I'm a sucker for that green color palette. Plus I've spent a dollar or 100 on some classic games. Now I am reminded of this little guy and now I want this... I totally forgot about the Pocket... ugh... This is the one that has the ability to dock to the TV too right? Crap... That's sort of a big deal for me...
I just want one because it can be docked. Finally I can beat my handheld games.
You can buy super modded gameboys that look just as good as these with usb charging and fancy new screens online that people have built themselves. I had my Gameboy Colour done and it has a backlit ips lcd screen and a glass screen cover, its rechargable has an updated speaker so i don't need one of these really.
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