You Can Now Play NES Games On The Analogue Pocket

I’ve never heard of it, but it looks fun. Not sure if I really need it, thanks to NSO, but maybe.😅

It's disappointing to me that Analogue machines went from a way to experience the original (cartridge) games as accurately as possible on modern televisions to just another way for people to illegally play downloaded ROMs.

Good news this.. the pocket is really came alive after the 1.1 update, after 6 months of people whining.. (and me waiting, i am in the Q4 line)... now the Pocket is showing its promise

Although Nintendo life.

• Tiny? It's the same size as a GB.. there are GB emulating device as big as a keychain
• the review on TE is your original review, but updated with an 1.1 paragraph, but i can see you giving some attention to your baby sister

@HCK, in a way i get your point, but I did increase my physical collection in anticipation of the pocket, to have the original experience, and for travelling as @rupeeclock said is a bit unsecure in a way... For me it's a really different device than the GPD XD already own..

@Hck
I mean, they still do that just fine, don‘t they? Analogue machines don‘t come with these emulators included so I‘d argue it‘s still your own choice.

@Hck Fun Fact: You can install a custom kernel to the NES & SNES classics and transfer the ROMs to PC.

Probably the closest we will get to "legal" Nintendo ROMs sadly.

Every time I see this and every new bit of information about it makes me consider purchasing it and then I remember how uncomfortable I find the GBC... I with they'd based the design on the GBA instead

@Hck how is that the Analogue Pocket's fault? People play illegal ROMs on all console.

@Bu1ld0g You can also transfer them from Wii, Wii U and 3DS. Or you can even copy your physical games yourself.

My Analogue Pocket gets better every week.

@Hck They've had jailbreaks since day 1. Hasn't detracted from any of the aspects that you're talking about. It's only enhanced these systems.

They're also fully optional and don't even need to be installed for the occasional individual that doesn't appreciate added features. Features that I'd like to add don't even necessarily equate to piracy.

I play my own rom dumps for instance on my Super Nt. It was very cool going through my collection, backing up my own games, and preserving my old save files. Hardly piracy when I now play those files via my Super Nt's SD card thanks to the jailbreak firmware.

Ahhhh!! the analogue pickpocket.

@prismt I would go one further and dam the thing to hell.

Do you not realise how much that stuff I have in the loft would be worth!

Nice. I don't think I'm going to mess with one of these though as I want to get a good portable PS2 emulator so it'll be a Steam Deck or some form like that.

Nice system for sure. Maybe they'll make a more upgraded one eventually but from what I understand there's some pretty heavy ram limitations in this one. Could be mistaken as I'm no expert on emulation.

At this point NES games being listed as 'played illegally' is very odd to me. I bought so many of these as a kid, and technically you cannot buy any of them now that wouldn't be on the secondary market. Once a game isn't made for purchase, it is fair game to me. NSO is just a rental service and doesn't have a tenth of the games that actually came out on NES. While I don't emulate much these days thanks to NSO, I have zero issues with others doing so since you just cannot buy these anymore. Same with SNES, Genesis, etc. I'd even throw PS3 in that category now too. Heck, most of Nintendo's old catalogs fall into this as well since they will be shutting down their eshop for 3DS/DS.

@Hck I myself own tons of NES and Famicom carts and still couldn't care at this point how other people are obtaining the games.

Does this include an addon for using the cartridges or is this just for ROMs? Always liked that analogue tried to replace aging physical systems for people with physical games.

If it's easy to mod and store games on an micro SD I'd buy it.

I grew up playing the nes but can’t quite place the game on the left

@Gofixmeaplate According to a response on that Twitter post, it is Micro Mages by Morphcat Games. Not one that came out during the NES era by the look of it, so your good knowledge is still intact

@Hck It's disappointing that people still think that the only way to play a ROM is illegally.

@Gofixmeaplate Micro mages, from 2019!

@Hck They're still as accurate with the ROMs, provided the games don't require addon chips. The very same people who designed these consoles are the ones who open them up to play downloaded ROMs, this was always their intention but they can't outright say it.

@Duffman92 These aren't emulators, to be clear. The Pocket included the extra FPGA core so that things like this could be done.

But yeah, who cares what someone else is using it for? It's nobody's business.

@sword_9mm It's not emulation, and no FPGA cores have been created yet that can go beyond the Neo Geo, no matter what the RAM size. You can certainly find a device that can emulate a PS2 on the go, but you will have all of the limitations that come with emulation when it comes to input latency and truly accurate reproduction of the games.

Honestly, FPGA doesn't need to ever go beyond where it is now. 3D games age poorly as it is, so those early 3D generation games are better off being remastered for modern systems.

@Ryu_Niiyama Analogue's first console is an NES. This will not accept NES cartridges and I can't imagine adding that as an NES cartridge is bigger than the entire handheld.

@AstraeaV Adding cores to this is now as simple as running a single script that grabs every core available and puts them on your SD card. Boot the system, run those cores, and you're done. Technically, there isn't any modding or jailbreaking needed as these cores run under an FPGA development application built into the system.

Has anyone figured out what the best carrying case for the Analogue Pocket is?

@Hordak Literally any carrying case made for a 3DS fits the Pocket perfectly.

@Hck would you rather old games that aren't even sold anymore be lost forever

@Shredderlovespizza exactly , I bought the SNES mini & put as many SNES/NES ROMs on it as I want don't feel guilty about it at all lol

@dew12333 the people that would spend a tonne of money on old cartridges aren't the same people that would just download the rom lol

@Iconoclysm

I know what fpga's do. I don't care about all that.

If I were to limit to 16 bit era stuff this thing is fantastic from the reviews but I don't care about full perfect timings/etc. I don't play professionally so no biggie to use emulation for me.

Still emulation, no matter what the marketing hype says. Hardware emulation is still emulation. Anyway, it's cool to finally have the openfpga project but a shame about that form factor on the Pocket, lousy 8bitdo dpad, and limp trigger buttons. A modded original GBA+everdrive is still the best way to play those games. For everything else there's a hundred portable retro devices out there that play nes and SNES games with better form factors, better buttons & other features like save states plus emulation up to the PS1. The Pocket has a beautiful screen but otherwise is way overrated, even with these ported cores in mind.

@sword_9mm I think it's a mistake to assume you'd want FPGA's advantages just to play "professionally". These older games are typically built for twitch reflexes, pixel perfect jump timings, are more difficult, and in some cases made around hitting the limits of the CPU to slow down (shooters especially).

It's definitely a feel thing, if you played any of these games on original hardware then played them with emulation, you'd feel the sluggishness of it. Some games are practically unplayable.

@Coalescence FPGA isn't even popular enough for marketing hype yet. It's not emulation as there is no emulation layer, this is 1:1 logical recreation, not emulation. Hardware emulation would be a chip designed to create an emulation layer, not a chip designed to replicate the logic of the original chip. Something along the lines of a video decoder - not what the FPGA is doing.

And literally none of those software emulation portables can replicate these games respectably enough to compare. For the pocket to be overrated, you'd first have to rate it beyond what it is, which I don't see anyone doing.

@Iconoclysm

For me I've not yet come across it but again; I've never been all that into things like that.

Contra plays just fine to me on an emulator compared to a Nes sitting by the TV. Mario World the same, etc.

The games you are probably thinking of I never got into anyway. Maybe something like Mega Man which I thoroughly detested from day 1.

So nah; I'm good with emulation. YMMV of course.

@sword_9mm Yeah, I can totally understand being fine with emulation - just that FPGA lends itself to a different game type more than it does for someone looking to be super serious about games. Games that require reaction time would primarily be fighting games, shooters, some platformers, but not everything. Nintendo's stuff tends to be more forgiving because it was already polished to death and can handle a few ms here or there of input lag.

So how come comments can be removed for talking about and endorsing emulation, but at the same time, articles can be written endorsing it or at least endorsing methods of emulating?

@ThePizzaCheese
"You can also transfer them from Wii, Wii U and 3DS. Or you can even copy your physical games yourself."

Yeah, I mentioned the classics as they are the most recent system unless you have a OG Switch. Though I don't believe you can extract ROMs from the NSO wrapper.

I dumped all my physical discs to ISO/CHD years ago and put them in storage.

I would gladly pay for a SNES/NES collection of ROMs similar to the Genesis Classics on Steam, but I can't see Nintendo ever doing that sadly

What's even the point of playing SNES on this? There are much cheaper devices if you want to emulate. The point of Analogue Pocket is to play the original carts.

You could basically play NES games on literally anything nowadays, I say it had to do more for me to invest in buying it. If Analogue want my money they need to make a redesign of this handheld in the form of the original GBA or Game Gear style layout and not the vertical one.

@Switch_Pro The point is to play videogames on it and have fun.

@Hordak I heard good things about the Peli 1040 (Pelican 1040 in the US). You want to have foam in it as well. But otherwise, any case for the original Gameboy would probably fit.

@Bu1ld0g Oh right, I always forget how old the Wii U actually is lol. Still seems new to me ha.

I'm pretty sure people have managed to extract from Switch NSO, but I'd imagine the legality is different, due to being a subscription.

@ThePizzaCheese It being a subscription makes it easier for Nintendo to control if they did release them on PC. Sometimes I wonder if Ninty just hate money?

@Would_you_kindly Agreed, I am 46 and have bought so many of these games over and over and I am not doing it any longer. I do have Nintendo Online, but I also emulate a lot. I lost my 3DS to old age and now have my games emulated as I had all digital and getting that restored is so hard with Nintendo that it was easier to just emulate the few games I really wanted to play again. Have zero regrets.

@Switch_Pro It's really not the point of the Pocket...which is why it has a developer studio built into it. One of the major selling points of this console was the additional FPGA for development. Having a cartridge in this scenario is really pointless anyway, the ROM is not being emulated.

@Strumpan It's not the size of the original gameboy, it's identical in side to a closed 3DS XL.

@Iconoclysm Well, the widths are roughly the same for all three, but the length of the AP is about the same as the GB, but a centimeter shorter than the 3ds xl, whereas the thickness of the AP is about the same as the 3ds xl, but a centimeter thinner than the GB. So, sure, a Gameboy case might be too thick, but I know many people use them for the AP. And since the 3ds xl is longer than the AP, I suppose such a case would also work.

@Bu1ld0g Nah, what Nintendo wants is the ecosystem. It's about the experience.

From Nintendo's perspective the entire Switch platform is the product they sell, not the games. Selling games on PC is simply not the product they want to offer, and doing so, they feel, would hurt the "Nintendo experience" which would ultimately hurt brand value.