Analogue's major beta update to its handheld console, the Analogue Pocket, is finally live for users to download, and introduces much anticipated additions to the experience including Memories, Libraries, and openFPGA, Analogue's developer program.
Detailed in an announcement post from Analogue itself, the biggest inclusion to the v1.1 update is undoubtedly openFPGA, which Analogue cites as a major way for developers to preserve video game hardware. Several third-party developers have been provided with early access to openFPGA, but users will be able to sample the feature right now with a playable version of SpaceWar!, one of the earliest video games in existence.
With the Memories feature, the Analogue Pocket will now hold 128 memory slots usable by the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, & Game Gear. Effectively, they're save states that link with the system's time and date system, allowing you to capture the title, platform and date/time directly from a game cartridge. When in gameplay, you'll be able to load or delete save states by simply navigating to the option in the menu.
Finally, the Libraries feature will allow the system to capture specific details from a game cartridge, including the game title, system, developer, publisher, region and game revision, allowing users to accumulate a database from their collections. Any assets uploaded by the user can also be applied to the library. As noted by Analogue, this feature will only be applicable with authenticated game cartridges, so no bootleg knock-offs here!
Analogue isn't stopping there, either. Here's a look at the development roadmap for the months ahead:
Ongoing openFPGA Features: August
DAC support: September
Full Button Mapping: September
Library: September
Memories: September
Screenshots: September
GB Camera Image Saving: September
New Original Display Modes: October
Tracking Tools: October
Do you own an Analogue Pocket? Will you be trying out the new features? Let us know in the comments below!
[source analogue.co]
Comments 12
The new changes are great. They've really set a fantastic groundwork here, and I'm looking forward to what's to come. Save states are now also supported even on Everdrives, which is nice.
I really hope to get my hands on one of these at some point. It's pretty pricey, but features like this almost make it seem worth it to me.
Finally.. (although mine will be shipping in Q4, so just in time might be better)
Hopefully Analogue will maintain this level of openness for once. Trying to get any kind of info has been like pulling teeth.
I really wanted one but console + game gear module + shipping + taxes + customs was almost as much as a new console. So I guess I am stuck with original hardware and the steam deck
The real news here is that, thanks to the openFPGA program, the community provided their own GB/GBC/GBA cores within a few hours after the update went public. This means we can load the complete library of Game Boy games on the Pocket now.
Really disappointed it wasn’t jailbroken like literally every other Analogue product. I don’t want to have to deal with 30 year old carts or multiple dodgy flash carts.
GB/C and GBA cores are already out. And of course the response to this speedy development has been to tell the guy to get on a SNES core. Good god.
Got the firmware updated and the cores installed. The OS is ugly but everything works like a charm. Can't wait for more cores to arrive.
Finally they unlocked it, be prepared to play everything up to PS1 on this beast!
I'm just content with my RG280V for retro TBH brought a few different micro SDs different sites paying VAT cleaning off alot of foreign on the laptop then squeezed them on a 128gb card and completed a few Fantasia games on FBA ez
I'll continue to let them hold onto my money while I imagine what it's like to enjoy these updates.
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