Analogue Pocket pre-orders sold out within minutes, and of course scalpers are taking advantage

One of the most exciting consoles coming this year isn’t the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X. Who needs bleeding edge graphical powerhouse machines when you’ve got handheld consoles that already have a library of established excellence? That’s the idea behind the Analogue Pocket, which finally went on sale yesterday.

And within eight minutes, was completely sold out.

Priced at $199.99, or roughly our entire national budget depending on which direction the wind is blowing at any given time, the Analogue Pocket is a retro enthusiast’s dream console: It looks sleek, has a 1600×1440 display and it supports the carts from Nintendo’s Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance library. Heck, you can even grab an adaptor that’ll allow you to play Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color, and Atari Lynx cartridges. That’s a lot of nostalgic potential right there.

If you tried to pre-order one yesterday, you were shit out of luck and most likely doomed to a web-page that would load shipping estimations unto eternity, or it’d simply crash. The hype was real, people wanted the console and of course those lucky few who managed to grab one of the extremely limited pre-orders decided to make a quick buck in the process as well:

The Analogue Pocket is still very much in stock! pic.twitter.com/F4KwwIiuW7

— HD Retrovision (@HDRetrovision) August 3, 2020

I’d also like to point out that even former Green Street Hooligan Elijah Wood couldn’t get his hands on an Analogue Pocket, although I’m certain the potential of having a Hollywood icon rave about your product will result in the actor being informed that the company found a spare console in the back. That’s business for you!

somehow lost mine whilst waiting for shipping to load. now they’re all sold out. ?

— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) August 3, 2020

I’m still on the fence about adopting one of these consoles, which exist as a retro novelty. I’m used to paying thrice for a game, with the way that Nintendo handles emulation on its handhelds, but the idea of a dedicated device that I can physically load ye olde games into is stupidly appealing to me for some reason. More stock will eventually arrive when this crapshow of a virus outbreak is eventually routed and manufacturing returns to its pre-pandemic days.

I’m happy to wait. Or maybe spend some cash on one of Analogue’s other retro consoles, such as the amazing Mega SG with which to get my rose-tinted kicks of yesteryear.

Last Updated: August 4, 2020