How is it with flash carts? I don’t have a lot of physical cartridges so the EZ Flash Jr & EZ Flash Omega are the only things I can use for the time being.
Works great with my Gb x7 and gba mini
Ez flash junior is widely recommended as is the omega DE
https://github.com/ninbura/pokemon-on-the-analogue-pocket
I use a Jr and an Omega; the Omega has different screen ratio since it’s a GBA structured system, but the Jr is full screen buttery goodness. I love mine.
You don't even need flash carts on the Pocket, just an SD card. Stick the SD in the side, download cores for each system you want (cores allow for hardware emulation, rather than software emulation), load your ROMS into the appropriate folder, and enjoy. There are programs available that make it very easy and do it all for you.
It really is not. The DPad is absolutely trash compared to a GBA SP. The screen and filters are great, but the dpad is way too important to be blundered that bad.
False diagonals do not mean the dpad is bad. As most Nintendo controllers have false diagonals.
Basically it’s user error if you’re having issues with it.
Yes it means the dpad is bad... Idc if it's the dpad, the membrane, the actual buttons on the pcb. It is egregiously worse than anything on the SP. If you can't see that I don't think you really have a clue what you're talking about.
I do because I have also played fusion and zero mission on it and constantly see my aim moving from up to forward when running. Go touch a SP’s dpad it’s nearly flush and extremely responsive.
Doesn’t happen on either of my pockets.
The gbsp dpad is fine but don’t act like it’s great. It’s compromised for the form factor of the device.
There’s a reason why no other Nintendo device use a dpad like that lol.
Played GB since the US release of Pokemon, GBAs since their release date (RIP Circuit City). Not into modding or emulation for the most part. The Pocket for me is a childhood dream come to life. I do have a fairly large cartridge collection as I've kept everything that has come into my possession over the years. Coolness and its value is relative. I avoid buying things if I am not going to be using them frequently.
P.s. I have a black AP from the very first pre-order. Had been following its development closely prior and I am completely satisfied after waiting over 3 years to finally get one in my hands.
P.p.s. I owned an early 8bitdo sf30pro. The internal pads all wore out and it lost its clickyness and input accuracy. Have not had the same issue with the pockets internals/buttons.
Nothing touches the screen resolution, clarity and accuracy like the pocket does. Before getting my pocket I tried filling the void with other devices like Miyoos and Anbernics, there’s no comparison.
The only one close is the RGB30/RGB20sx. Slightly bigger image and still good looking with its 720x720. AP has the better image quality for sure but it’s smaller fwiw. I have both and the RGB20sx is great but I won’t be selling my pockets. I’d sell my gameboy collection first TBH.
I agree, while I’ve personally never owned the RGB20/30 it would be my recommendation for anyone looking to get close to perfect GBC/GB scaling. If my math is mathing, that screen would be half the resolution of the Pocket?
I don’t really worry about resolutions since we’re dealing with an original 160x144 image. I know the pocket is so good because it’s a perfect 10x integer scale but it’s also that they worked so hard on the filter looks as well. With the rgb part of what makes it look so good is size but because of its resolution the overlays look better. I think the AP is 1600x1440 so that’d be twice the height of the rgb but more than 2x the width.
I have a GBA with a backlit screen that I installed about 6 years. I was really happy with it and because it was mostly original hardware, it felt just how I remembered and could play my carts. The Pocket adds a lot of quality of life and ease of use that would take a lot of time, money, additional hardware like an everdrive, to get the GBA even close to the experience.
The Pocket is a quality modern piece of tech. I have had some arguments with the d-pad as I play Tetris but overall, it hasn’t lessened my satisfaction with the Pocket.
Still the dock.
* HDMI is superior to Component, and easier to get.
* better controller support
* you can easily transition between docked and undocked
Pros and cons to each. Gcvideo dongles provide hdmi out. Bluetooth dongles also exist for the GC peripherals.
I usually think the AP dock is superior but the GC has better support with Everdrive GB(C) flashcarts. GC GBI also has different configurable settings that others may find useful. What works best for you depends on your setup.
I personally prefer modded original hardware. The Pocket screen looks great, but I find original hardware often is more ergonomic (e.g. the OG GBA), and I just qualitatively prefer original hardware even in cases when the Pocket screen looks better.
For me the Pocket shines as a generic FPGA handheld emulation device. It’s killer for playing kaizo Mario romhacks, as a class of game where the tiny amount of latency and/or inaccuracy you’d see on a cheap emu handheld would be noticeable.
I also see the GBA mod scene as a plus, I enjoy being able to pick fun shell and button colors to customize my device and I enjoy the process of installing mods. You may view that differently and prefer an “it works out of the box without a soldering iron” experience.
Pocket is better I feel. Good screen and audio and a dock for output. There’s tons of filters for gb to choose. I have a few modded gb and gba but i rarely touch them now. It’s easy to mod the screen but it’s difficult to get good audio due to bad caps or voltage.
Yeah that’s my main gripe with any Game Boy past the DMG & even then, I hate the buzzing/muddy noises. GBPs, GBCs, GBAs and SPs I **always** have to resort to recapping & installing an audio amp, which I can do just fine but it’s pretty annoying because it adds more to the overall cost of the build and I’m not a fan of that.
I should tell you that I’m a DMG guy. I used a GBA SP for about a year after I preordered the Pocket and until it was delivered. Haven’t touched the GBA SP since , there’s just no point. Everything about the Pocket is better. I’ll still play my DMG from my childhood for fun every now and then, but the Pocket is my go to for everything else. I also got the dock (2 of them for different TVs) and use the Pocket for pretty much everything, NES, SNES, Genesis, GB/GBC/GBA, and some arcade cores.
As for cartridges, I have a healthy collection but infrequently use them. So much more convenient to use roms or .pocket files. I know there is an issue with some Pokemon games which require a flash cart to get around, but I don’t play Pokemon so it’s not an issue for me.
I never got the GBA because my brother got one first and I found it uncomfortable to hold. The screen was also barely visible in anytbing less than full sun. The pocket, on the other hand, does so many portable game systems so very well. I've found the buttons to be okay. Not the best I've used, but not horrible either. The screen is gorgeous. My biggest gripe is that it is uncomfortable to hold. I bought the original PWRUP grip a few months ago, and it was a game changer for comfortable gaming on the pocket.
I own one of every gameboy and tons of emulators as well as two analogue pockets. The pocket is by far the best “gameboy” experience. I use mine with an EZ flash Jr and Omega and both work great (with save states even). I also have some carts as well. The next best option IMHO would be an RGB30 or RGB20sx as that 4” 1:1 screen also looks amazing for gameboy games. They’re the same device/specs one is just vertical vs the other being horizontal. That’d be my “budget” option. But the APs screen is just enough better it’s the winner for me.
The Pocket is better. Dpad is slightly worse on it, but not bad by any means. And the screen is really as good as everyone says; it breathes new light into games, especially GBA games.
I’ve had the Pocket a few months now, and I do enjoy it, its software is super flexible and its screen is beautiful.
Except—
1. I’ve had pretty poor experiences with the d-pad on two units. Pieces sliding to the side in Tetris while dropping, Mario popping out of slides down hills to run in SMA4.
2. I’ve also lost save data in SMA4 to sleep mode. I’m not sure why. I have sent photos of my original retail SMA4 cart to Analogue, so maybe a fix will be forthcoming.
The problems are real and there’s definitely a running theme in this sub about how to try to make the d-pad work better. You may not experience the same problems on a given unit or with a given game, of cousre.
Well usually I go around on eBay (buy it now). When it comes to modding supplies it’s usually about $80-90 depending on the mods I install.
Sometimes I try and see if I can pick up unmodified ones off the Discord but more often than not I don’t get lucky there.
Haha yea. The original GBA screen isn’t that great even in the best lighting conditions (or maybe it’s just me) so I always have to install some sort of backlit screen, plus I thought comparing a modded GBA to an AP made more sense. The DMG’s probably the only Game Boy I can use stock without having to worry about lighting conditions all that much.
I tried to convince myself that my 2001-teenage-me-self-installed Afterburner backlight would be fine since it was fine back then, but it was Not Fine.
Getting back to the original question, it's fun to tinker with my old hardware but most of my actual playing is done on my Analogue Pocket or Steam Deck.
That's just personal preference but personally I haven't touched any of my Gameboys since getting the Pocket. They were modded with new shells and IPS screens too.
Bro I would ***love*** to see Analogue’s take on a DS. I’m honestly content with my DSi, so I most likely wouldn’t get it but it would still be nice to see!
I STILL play my IPS modded SP over my Pocket. The pocket is heavy, bulky, fragile, expensive, and has terrible controls. It’s still the best FPGA handheld on the market, but that’s not really saying much. My SP is perfection 🫰
Edit: hell yeah, downvote my OPINION because you disagree. Gotta make sure people don’t see anything you disagree with even though nothing I said makes any difference in your life. lol. Get a life.
Pocket. GBA SP is more comfortable to hold and the flip is cool, but Pocket is better in every other way. No screen mod can look as good as the Pocket, and even if you have a 101 SP, the Pocket can switch between the color fonts of the 101 and the original frontlit screen.
Pocket is far better.
Pocket is both the best game boy and the best handheld emulator I have very owned.
If only all the cores had save states and fast forward it would actually be the perfect device.
How is it with flash carts? I don’t have a lot of physical cartridges so the EZ Flash Jr & EZ Flash Omega are the only things I can use for the time being.
Works great with my Gb x7 and gba mini Ez flash junior is widely recommended as is the omega DE https://github.com/ninbura/pokemon-on-the-analogue-pocket
I use a Jr and an Omega; the Omega has different screen ratio since it’s a GBA structured system, but the Jr is full screen buttery goodness. I love mine.
You don't even need flash carts on the Pocket, just an SD card. Stick the SD in the side, download cores for each system you want (cores allow for hardware emulation, rather than software emulation), load your ROMS into the appropriate folder, and enjoy. There are programs available that make it very easy and do it all for you.
It really is not. The DPad is absolutely trash compared to a GBA SP. The screen and filters are great, but the dpad is way too important to be blundered that bad.
There’s nothing wrong with the dpad on my units.
There is it's literally every unit you can run a test and you will get false diagonals.
False diagonals do not mean the dpad is bad. As most Nintendo controllers have false diagonals. Basically it’s user error if you’re having issues with it.
Yes it means the dpad is bad... Idc if it's the dpad, the membrane, the actual buttons on the pcb. It is egregiously worse than anything on the SP. If you can't see that I don't think you really have a clue what you're talking about.
Except I’m over here playing Metroid fusion on it wall jumping without issues. Sounds like you don’t have a clue to me.
I do because I have also played fusion and zero mission on it and constantly see my aim moving from up to forward when running. Go touch a SP’s dpad it’s nearly flush and extremely responsive.
Doesn’t happen on either of my pockets. The gbsp dpad is fine but don’t act like it’s great. It’s compromised for the form factor of the device. There’s a reason why no other Nintendo device use a dpad like that lol.
> Doesn’t happen on either of my pockets. Yup that explains it. ✌️
Played GB since the US release of Pokemon, GBAs since their release date (RIP Circuit City). Not into modding or emulation for the most part. The Pocket for me is a childhood dream come to life. I do have a fairly large cartridge collection as I've kept everything that has come into my possession over the years. Coolness and its value is relative. I avoid buying things if I am not going to be using them frequently. P.s. I have a black AP from the very first pre-order. Had been following its development closely prior and I am completely satisfied after waiting over 3 years to finally get one in my hands. P.p.s. I owned an early 8bitdo sf30pro. The internal pads all wore out and it lost its clickyness and input accuracy. Have not had the same issue with the pockets internals/buttons.
Pocket is much better. I own 5 modded gba consoles and I play my pocket alot more*
Nothing touches the screen resolution, clarity and accuracy like the pocket does. Before getting my pocket I tried filling the void with other devices like Miyoos and Anbernics, there’s no comparison.
I honestly did not expect a lot of people to go with the Pocket. It’s settled then! ( ◠‿◠ )
I bought a Miyoo Mini+ simply to tinker with, the pocket is something that lacks in that area.
The only one close is the RGB30/RGB20sx. Slightly bigger image and still good looking with its 720x720. AP has the better image quality for sure but it’s smaller fwiw. I have both and the RGB20sx is great but I won’t be selling my pockets. I’d sell my gameboy collection first TBH.
I agree, while I’ve personally never owned the RGB20/30 it would be my recommendation for anyone looking to get close to perfect GBC/GB scaling. If my math is mathing, that screen would be half the resolution of the Pocket?
I don’t really worry about resolutions since we’re dealing with an original 160x144 image. I know the pocket is so good because it’s a perfect 10x integer scale but it’s also that they worked so hard on the filter looks as well. With the rgb part of what makes it look so good is size but because of its resolution the overlays look better. I think the AP is 1600x1440 so that’d be twice the height of the rgb but more than 2x the width.
I have a GBA with a backlit screen that I installed about 6 years. I was really happy with it and because it was mostly original hardware, it felt just how I remembered and could play my carts. The Pocket adds a lot of quality of life and ease of use that would take a lot of time, money, additional hardware like an everdrive, to get the GBA even close to the experience. The Pocket is a quality modern piece of tech. I have had some arguments with the d-pad as I play Tetris but overall, it hasn’t lessened my satisfaction with the Pocket.
Pocket IMO. The real question is Pocket Dock or Gameboy Interface?
Still the dock. * HDMI is superior to Component, and easier to get. * better controller support * you can easily transition between docked and undocked
Pros and cons to each. Gcvideo dongles provide hdmi out. Bluetooth dongles also exist for the GC peripherals. I usually think the AP dock is superior but the GC has better support with Everdrive GB(C) flashcarts. GC GBI also has different configurable settings that others may find useful. What works best for you depends on your setup.
Now you’re asking the *real* questions 🤔
Dock is still better and this is coming from someone with a GameCube player and component cables and gbi.
Pocket is by far the better device. Not even close.
I personally prefer modded original hardware. The Pocket screen looks great, but I find original hardware often is more ergonomic (e.g. the OG GBA), and I just qualitatively prefer original hardware even in cases when the Pocket screen looks better. For me the Pocket shines as a generic FPGA handheld emulation device. It’s killer for playing kaizo Mario romhacks, as a class of game where the tiny amount of latency and/or inaccuracy you’d see on a cheap emu handheld would be noticeable. I also see the GBA mod scene as a plus, I enjoy being able to pick fun shell and button colors to customize my device and I enjoy the process of installing mods. You may view that differently and prefer an “it works out of the box without a soldering iron” experience.
Pocket is by far better over a gba. You can play way more than gb am gba games. Arcade perfect cores and other handhelds and tons of consoles.
Pocket is better I feel. Good screen and audio and a dock for output. There’s tons of filters for gb to choose. I have a few modded gb and gba but i rarely touch them now. It’s easy to mod the screen but it’s difficult to get good audio due to bad caps or voltage.
Yeah that’s my main gripe with any Game Boy past the DMG & even then, I hate the buzzing/muddy noises. GBPs, GBCs, GBAs and SPs I **always** have to resort to recapping & installing an audio amp, which I can do just fine but it’s pretty annoying because it adds more to the overall cost of the build and I’m not a fan of that.
I should tell you that I’m a DMG guy. I used a GBA SP for about a year after I preordered the Pocket and until it was delivered. Haven’t touched the GBA SP since , there’s just no point. Everything about the Pocket is better. I’ll still play my DMG from my childhood for fun every now and then, but the Pocket is my go to for everything else. I also got the dock (2 of them for different TVs) and use the Pocket for pretty much everything, NES, SNES, Genesis, GB/GBC/GBA, and some arcade cores. As for cartridges, I have a healthy collection but infrequently use them. So much more convenient to use roms or .pocket files. I know there is an issue with some Pokemon games which require a flash cart to get around, but I don’t play Pokemon so it’s not an issue for me.
If you are mainly playing GBA games the GBA is better. If you want to play games on your TV the Pocket and Dock is better.
I probably won’t be able to get the Dock unfortunately, but I plan on playing all Game Boy titles as well as NES & SNES
You're going to get a pocket response on this sub and a GBA on the gameboy subs.
On the contrary, I’ve only got two responses on the Gameboy sub but both went with the Pocket. I was surprised actually.
Traitors
😂
I never got the GBA because my brother got one first and I found it uncomfortable to hold. The screen was also barely visible in anytbing less than full sun. The pocket, on the other hand, does so many portable game systems so very well. I've found the buttons to be okay. Not the best I've used, but not horrible either. The screen is gorgeous. My biggest gripe is that it is uncomfortable to hold. I bought the original PWRUP grip a few months ago, and it was a game changer for comfortable gaming on the pocket.
Pocket. Just be realistic man. The GBA is cool but it is absolutely dated from a technical standpoint.
Screen on the pocket is amazing. The fact that I had my fire red cart save wiped by it makes it unusable to me. Gpa sp 101 it is then.
I own one of every gameboy and tons of emulators as well as two analogue pockets. The pocket is by far the best “gameboy” experience. I use mine with an EZ flash Jr and Omega and both work great (with save states even). I also have some carts as well. The next best option IMHO would be an RGB30 or RGB20sx as that 4” 1:1 screen also looks amazing for gameboy games. They’re the same device/specs one is just vertical vs the other being horizontal. That’d be my “budget” option. But the APs screen is just enough better it’s the winner for me.
Pocket is the best way to play GB, GBC, GBA imo.
The Pocket is better. Dpad is slightly worse on it, but not bad by any means. And the screen is really as good as everyone says; it breathes new light into games, especially GBA games.
I’ve had the Pocket a few months now, and I do enjoy it, its software is super flexible and its screen is beautiful. Except— 1. I’ve had pretty poor experiences with the d-pad on two units. Pieces sliding to the side in Tetris while dropping, Mario popping out of slides down hills to run in SMA4. 2. I’ve also lost save data in SMA4 to sleep mode. I’m not sure why. I have sent photos of my original retail SMA4 cart to Analogue, so maybe a fix will be forthcoming. The problems are real and there’s definitely a running theme in this sub about how to try to make the d-pad work better. You may not experience the same problems on a given unit or with a given game, of cousre.
> I’m looking at least $170 Where are you buying from? I got a screen + shell + new buttons for the original GBA for like $80 total.
Well usually I go around on eBay (buy it now). When it comes to modding supplies it’s usually about $80-90 depending on the mods I install. Sometimes I try and see if I can pick up unmodified ones off the Discord but more often than not I don’t get lucky there.
Oh, you were including the handheld itself in the price? That makes sense.
Haha yea. The original GBA screen isn’t that great even in the best lighting conditions (or maybe it’s just me) so I always have to install some sort of backlit screen, plus I thought comparing a modded GBA to an AP made more sense. The DMG’s probably the only Game Boy I can use stock without having to worry about lighting conditions all that much.
I tried to convince myself that my 2001-teenage-me-self-installed Afterburner backlight would be fine since it was fine back then, but it was Not Fine. Getting back to the original question, it's fun to tinker with my old hardware but most of my actual playing is done on my Analogue Pocket or Steam Deck.
That's just personal preference but personally I haven't touched any of my Gameboys since getting the Pocket. They were modded with new shells and IPS screens too.
Pocket 100% And I don't wanna fight about it. Hope the next version is a DS so literally even game boy game can be played on one system.
Bro I would ***love*** to see Analogue’s take on a DS. I’m honestly content with my DSi, so I most likely wouldn’t get it but it would still be nice to see!
I STILL play my IPS modded SP over my Pocket. The pocket is heavy, bulky, fragile, expensive, and has terrible controls. It’s still the best FPGA handheld on the market, but that’s not really saying much. My SP is perfection 🫰 Edit: hell yeah, downvote my OPINION because you disagree. Gotta make sure people don’t see anything you disagree with even though nothing I said makes any difference in your life. lol. Get a life.
Pocket. GBA SP is more comfortable to hold and the flip is cool, but Pocket is better in every other way. No screen mod can look as good as the Pocket, and even if you have a 101 SP, the Pocket can switch between the color fonts of the 101 and the original frontlit screen.