As a dedicated, Game Boy-like handheld, Analogue Pocket offers plenty of self-contained fun for $219. So much fun, in fact, that I was able to write 8,000 words about it earlier this week.
Shortly after I finished that review, a box of Analogue-produced Pocket add-ons arrived at my doorstep. While its contents range from imperative to forgettable, they're all worth minding for prospective Pocket owners, as Analogue has never produced so many system-specific accessories before. Since they all return to Analogue's exclusive online store shortly after this article goes live (Tuesday, December 14, at 11 am EST, to be specific), consider this a checklist for how much to add to your frantic retro-gaming shopping cart.
Analogue Dock: Is that a Switch in your (Analogue) Pocket, or... ?
The most intriguing add-on in the system's launch window is a Pocket-specific TV dock. Its sales pitch is a combination of immediate features and teased perks for the near-future.
In the here and now, at least, this $99 add-on (mostly) turns your Pocket into a combination Super Game Boy and Game Boy Player. Pocket includes a USB Type-C port on its bottom, and Analogue Dock accepts the portable system by connecting to this port in Switch-like fashion.
Once inserted, Pocket begins sending its video signal through Dock's HDMI cable, and the results max out at 1080p resolution. Moments later, a single dot on Pocket's front face begins flashing, which confirms that the system is in controller pairing mode. Either put a gamepad in its Bluetooth sync mode or connect a gamepad via either of Dock's two USB Type-A ports, and you can expect compatible gamepads to pair. (Select 8BitDo gamepads can natively connect to Dock with their built-in 2.4 GHz protocols without any additional USB hubs plugged in, which is a nice touch if you like what 8BitDo makes. Generally, I'm a fan.)
If you're wondering: no, Analogue Pocket does not work with Switch docks, even if you remove their plastic cases and expose their USB Type-C ports. And a Switch won't work with Analogue Dock; even if it did, you'd have to completely disassemble Analogue Dock to get Switch's body to fit into the port.
Pick your preferred screen at a moment’s notice
With this basic setup in place, you can expect to run any Pocket-compatible game—GB, GBC, and GBA by default and more systems via cartridge adapters—on whatever larger, connected screen you want. The best news about Dock is its emphasis on minimal controller latency. Bluetooth connections can add an unavoidable frame or two of input lag, but Dock doesn't compound that with additional noticeable processing of any kind. If you want to play your favorite ultra-twitchy portable games on a larger screen, Dock won't get in the way.
Additionally, Dock makes it easy to run classic games on a TV screen, then pull Pocket out and test the same games in portable mode. If the Pocket-and-Dock ecosystem struggles to switch between modes with certain games, I've yet to trigger any such hiccups in dozens of tests. In either mode, games either run at their original full speeds or their original frame-rate hitches, even after repeatedly removing and replacing Pocket.
I'm a big fan of this Switch-like functionality. Plant the Pocket on Dock's Type-C connector to immediately switch live gameplay from Pocket's screen to a connected TV or to remove an in-progress game from your living room, then instantly resume the action while moving from room to room in your home.
Mostly fine gamepad use, with a couple of freak disconnects
While Analogue Pocket has arrived pretty much fully formed as a Game Boy homage, Dock feels less finished. The first sign of its incomplete status: gamepad compatibility. I was able to successfully connect quite a few gamepads via either Bluetooth, direct USB connections, built-in 2.4 GHz signals (exclusively with compatible 8BitDo gamepads), or add-on USB 2.4 GHz adapters.
But a couple haven't work properly so far, including Retro-Bit's fantastic Saturn-style USB gamepad. During my tests, these controllers appeared with a generic "USB gamepad" indicator, as if to say: Dock can tell a gamepad is connected, as opposed to some other kind of USB device, but its button mapping doesn't exist. Press any of its buttons, and nothing will happen.
Analogue has indicated that expanded gamepad support will roll out in a major "1.1" firmware update, which Analogue CEO Christopher Taber estimates will arrive in January as a downloadable patch. As in, well before this week's wave of new Analogue hardware orders is slated to ship to customers.
By then, I hope Analogue also solves a particular issue I've faced with Bluetooth controller syncing. Generally, I can expect my most recently synced BT controller to power up Dock with a single tap of its "start" button, which is swell. Nintendo Switch has an issue with third-party controllers not being able to do the same thing. But multiple times while testing Analogue, a connected BT gamepad would stop being recognized, and the most recently pressed button would remain held down. Imagine Sonic endlessly running to the right against a solid wall with no one able to stop or redirect him.
Powering the gamepad off and back on didn't fix this. Pulling Pocket out of the Dock at this point would leave the most recent gameplay image frozen on the TV, all while Pocket's portable screen and buttons began working as expected. Putting Pocket back in the dock didn't fix the frozen image. I had to power cycle Dock to return it to normal use.
I’d prefer less wiggle room
My other issue with Dock is its less-than-firm acceptance of Pocket. Unlike Nintendo's Switch dock, Analogue Dock leaves a lot of wiggle room for an inserted Pocket system—arguably because Analogue designed this connected hardware duo to look handsome. Its design language, complete with a bracing cylinder and a slight divot for Pocket to fall into, has become my favorite way to present Pocket while recharging. It reminds me of spiffy upright phone-charging setups like Google's Pixel Stand.
But Pocket can easily wiggle inside of Dock at the point of its Type-C connection. This becomes most evident when doing exactly what Analogue asks owners not to do: removing and inserting cartridges while Pocket is docked. The small instructional paper packed into every Dock recommends taking Pocket out when changing cartridges. When I ignored this advice, I found the whole thing wiggled too much for my liking. I made sure not to do so again, lest I break Dock before I finished properly testing it.
If you can imagine less-than-careful Pocket-and-Dock use at your home, particularly with kids, you should strongly consider placing Dock out of easy reach, lest you have to fake like a stuffy professor and blurt something like "Don't touch that! It is not a toy!"
Fewer filters than other Analogue home systems
My last Dock nitpick: underwhelming video mode options thus far. Based on Analogue's track record of adding adjustments and filter options to its other systems, I believe Analogue's assurance that the device will eventually receive TV-specific options that are comparable to what has come to the Mega Sg. That system, for the uninitiated, includes options for wholly arbitrary pixel resolutions, a variety of scanlines and filters, and even options for changing system-menu fonts.
Analogue Dock lacks those for the time being, and it also skips Pocket's incredibly handsome LCD filter—though I don't see that filter necessarily trickling down to Dock. Pocket's very dense display measures 615 pixels-per-inch (PPI), and that boosts its ability to draw incredibly fine lines around normal pixels to create an LCD-like effect without any apparent shimmering or uneven pixel draws. Chunkier pixels blown up on a TV would be harder to treat the same way at a standard 1080p resolution, while Dock doesn't include enough processing power to get resolutions up to a more flexible 2160p.
Still, despite a lack of blur or filter options as of press time, Dock does the crucial work of reducing apparent ghosting, blur, or shimmering effects based on uneven pixels moving across a larger screen. My preferred gaming panel is an OLED, and it accepts Dock's signal beautifully. I can't say the same about stock Super Nintendo or GameCube consoles, as equipped with Super Game Boy or Game Boy Player accessories, respectively.
Speaking of: be warned that Analogue Dock doesn't magically enable the Super Game Boy functions baked into select Game Boy cartridges. That slate of colorful around-the-screen borders and boosts to in-game palettes remains unavailable to the Analogue Pocket ecosystem, even with Dock in the mix. Analogue reps have not yet answered my questions about whether Super Game Boy functionality may be supported by Dock in a future update.
Holding out hope for Dock’s vaguely described core add-ons
Ultimately, Pocket's value as a $100 add-on hinges on a feature that isn't ready: multiplayer controller support for future console libraries. Pocket will eventually support community-developed "FPGA cores." That means someone with a third-party cartridge adapter for, say, Super Nintendo might connect that to Pocket, then get original cartridges for nonportable systems working. Additional FPGA cores would tell Pocket's unique hardware to pretend to be an SNES at this point.
Until then, however, Dock only supports one gamepad at a time, since its current compatible systems (GB, GBC, GBA, Game Gear) don't support multiplayer modes on one screen. Additionally, Dock blocks Pocket's "link cable" port, so if Pocket is docked, it can't connect to a second system for multiplayer modes like the ones found in classic Pokemon games. You'll have to play those in handheld mode.
As I mentioned in my Pocket review, I find Analogue's position on add-on cores confusing. Maybe Analogue is trying to dance around how it cannot officially support a more convenient ROM-based workaround for its systems. For now, I'm left dreaming that Pocket and Dock eventually work with something less complex than third-party cartridge adapters. I'd love for the combined hardware to serve convenient four-player modes in my favorite nonportable retro games with a mix of USB and Bluetooth connections. Among other things, that would make it a killer alternative to the open source MiSTer set-top box.
For now, though, we can't say for sure whether Dock will be so simple and magical or whether it will merely reproject Pocket's officially supported cartridge library on your favorite larger screen. The former proposition is absolutely worth $99. The latter? That's trickier to say without the range of filters and toggles I was hoping for at launch. Portable, chunky-pixel games need more love to look appropriate on a larger screen. I assume (and hope) that they'll get it.
Game Gear cartridge adapter: One way to get Sonic on a Nintendo handheld
Analogue will eventually roll out a series of portable cartridge adapters for Pocket. Only one of those adapters has launched thus far: Sega's Game Gear. While not nearly as successful as Game Boy, Sega's first dedicated handheld system had hundreds of games that ran at a Game Boy-like resolution while sporting Sega Master System-like specs.
If you'd like to relive those games on Pocket, its $30 GG adapter is a welcome option, and it runs Sega's classic carts in mostly smooth fashion. Interestingly, GG games ran at the same resolution as Game Boy, but that screen rendered its pixels in a slightly more squished, widescreen ratio. To enjoy GG games exactly as you remembered them, Pocket's GG mode scales its pixels to resemble that same ratio by default.
Just as I described with Pocket's GBA mode, this scaling works tremendously, with little in the way of apparent shimmer during moments of intense horizontal or vertical scrolling. Should you prefer less scaling and more perfectly square pixels, Pocket includes a toggle to render GG games at its full 1,600 x 1,440 resolution. Pocket also includes a GG-like vertical scanline filter by default, which perfectly emulates original GG screens thanks to Pocket's insanely dense display, though it's easy enough to disable if you'd like.
The biggest annoyance in GG mode so far is that games that ran in "Master System" mode—either because they were ported from Sega's Master System console or because they're old Master System carts connected to GG via a Master System converter—do not properly translate that home system's larger 256 x 192 pixel resolution. Analogue has indicated that it will update Pocket to better recognize such GG/MS scenarios in the future.
Additionally, Analogue does its best to reduce heft by making its GG adapter as slim as possible while still keeping carts held stably in this adapter so that they don't wiggle out midsession. It looks cool enough as a piece of wholly transparent plastic with a Pocket-like, rounded-box aesthetic. The only catch is that you'll need to remove the cartridge adapter from Pocket before swapping out GG carts, as the slot inside the adapter itself is very tight. So tight, in fact, that it'll strip stickers off of old carts if they were already peeling thanks to wear and age. Sorry, Woody Pop:
Cables for Pocket’s link port: A little too snug but otherwise nice enough
Speaking of snug fits: Analogue's range of compatible cables for the system are all, for some reason, incredibly difficult to insert into Nintendo's standard "link port" cable. Comparatively, Nintendo-produced link cables fit in Pocket's link port without issue. It's unclear why Analogue's cable-production method resulted in thicker connectors, but while they still ultimately fit in compatible hardware, get ready to shove and wiggle.
As a result, if you can score an official Nintendo link cable for cheap, you should probably do that for any multisystem multiplayer games instead of Analogue's own $16 offering. But $16 isn't a bad price if you're adding it to a bundle, and it works flawlessly, as I found in testing with friends. (Analogue Pocket also includes the same wireless data-transfer signal that is found on Game Boy Color, should you prefer that touchy, console-specific method for any reason.)
The best reason to order Analogue's link-port cables is if you have designs on connecting Pocket to a dedicated music playback system, especially if you're using music-production software like Nanoloop (which comes free as a preinstalled Analogue Pocket perk) or LSDj (which requires purchase as a standalone cart). The build quality on these additional cables is solid, even if Analogue's MIDI and analog multi-out cables are much shorter than the company's USB-out cable. They're supposed to emulate the required link-port data transfer that Game Boy music apps expect, but I'll have to circle back to determine how well they succeed.
Protection: A fine tempered-glass option, a not-so-mobile presentation case
If you want to protect Analogue Pocket, you have two official add-on options: a tempered-glass screen protector and a hard "presentation" case. The former is a custom-cut tempered-glass sticker for Pocket's screen that includes the same kinds of press-down plastic nub and cleaning wipes you find in similar kits for smartphone tempered screens. At $16, it's a reasonably priced way to make owning an Analogue Pocket easier, and its built-in Gorilla Glass panel seems up to the task of resisting breakage.
The $30 presentation case, meanwhile, is meant for home-shelf presentation, not for taking Pocket on the go. It accepts Pocket hardware by lining up with the system's backside screw holes, and when placed and sealed, it does a mild "floating" effect inside of this fully transparent case. But this case is far too rigid to be the kind of on-the-go option you toss into a bag. Without any soft pieces or foam to brace against Pocket, the case seems to leave your precious handheld system somewhat at the mercy of intense bag-bouncing physics, and this transparent case's exterior will likely get scraped upon the mildest of impacts.
Until Analogue launches a softer carrying case, I recommend using Pocket's default shipping box as an on-the-go storage solution. It includes a foam lining on one interior side to accept the shape of its buttons and screen.
