When high-end console maker Analogue opened up pre-orders for its beautiful Game Boy-inspired handheld, Pocket, the portable sold out almost instantly. The $199.99 device, which plays Neo Geo Pocket Color, Atari Lynx, and Sega Game Gear games in addition to multiple generations of Game Boy titles, was highly coveted but in short supply. People who didn’t secure a pre-order for the Analogue Pocket were, to put it lightly, bummed.
But Analogue said in an update Monday that it plans to make (and sell) more Pocket handhelds, and stressed that the all-in-one portable was never intended to be a limited-edition item. Analogue wants to make more, but pointed to supply issues caused by the “current global state of affairs”— aka the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“More Pockets will be available for purchase in 2021,” Analogue said. “With all things considered, we will be doing our best to keep Pocket in stock in 2021.” The company suggested signing up for a stock notification at its online store.
Additionally, Analogue said it’s taking “careful action to address bots” and scalpers who are reselling pre-orders for its devices on sites like eBay.
“Analogue will be implementing robust bot protection on the Analogue Store,” the company said. “This should significantly protect against bots during product launches on the Analogue Store and make sure real users can purchase Analogue products. All orders placed using bots will be cancelled and their inventory will be allocated to real users.”
The company said it also plans to monitor resale websites, like eBay, for sellers scalping their own pre-orders. Analogue plans to report scalpers and cancel any pre-orders found to be listed for resale.
Analogue announced Pocket in the fall of 2019. The Analogue Pocket plays Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges out of the box, and can play games from other portable systems with cartridge adapters. The handheld was originally slated for release in 2020, but was delayed to May 2021 before pre-orders went live.
