Damo

@DestructoDisk A few points:

"It's a portable that plays cartridges made for handhelds"

Judging from the amount of traffic we get on our OpenFPGA core guide for the Pocket, I'd argue a LOT of people are using their Pockets to play ROMs. I have a massive collection of physical carts but I see the benefit of being able to load a bunch of ROMs onto an SD card and avoid having to carry around physical games.

Also, your use of term 'hack' is misleading here; there's no hacking required to make use of OpenFPGA - it's baked into the Analogue Pocket firmware. All you're doing is loading in new FPGA cores and then loading ROMs. The Pocket was always designed with this in mind, just as it was designed to play original media.

"There is currently not an FPGA complex enough to do 3D game systems. It's not a software emulation handheld."

There are PS1, Saturn and N64 FPGA cores on MiSTer already.

"I think it's pretty clear that Analogue only creates and sells FPGA consoles, and caters to the FPGA niche."

While you're correct in that the FPGA and software emulation sectors are different, the end goal is the same: to play retro games. Given that the RGB30 has the same aspect ratio display as the Pocket (one of the big selling points for me personally), the comparison is fair, IMO.

@ChromaticDracula It has HDMI out

@samuelvictor Thanks for the feedback, and you're right, it would help for us to stagger content when we can. However, TE and NL are, despite being part of the same network, independent in terms of editorial, so this isn't always possible. There's bound to be some crossover at points, but we try our best to avoid it.

Also, the lack of comments on here compared to NL isn't anything to do with us posting similar stuff, though - NL gets over 10 times the traffic of TE

We're always listening, though, and I appreciate you having the site's interests at heart! Spreading the word (either via word of mouth or online) is the best way to help the site grow

@samuelvictor The sites are separate, and always will be - even though we do often cross-post content across both.

The 'angle' of the NL story was different to this one, too, even though it's based on the same interview.

Just as NL, Push Square and Pure Xbox often post the same story from three different angles, there's sadly no way for us to avoid this kind of issue unless we only had one site – which might cause more harm than good!

@KingMike I've noted that in the text, just in case anyone thinks it's a straight sequel. And yeah, the MD / Genesis game doesn't get enough love!

@-wc- I can only imagine that it was somehow cheaper to license just a single title from SNK for this, rather than the whole series? It is odd, for sure!

@Daggot We probably need a 'best Time Crisis games' list, to be honest

@Daggot CIB (Complete in Box) Sunday pieces are intended to show off games in their packaging, they're not meant to be in-depth features.

@user0 I'm the main retro writer in the whole network (and the editor of Time Extension, a retro site). It stands to reason that if we ever cover anything by any retro-focused company, it will be me writing it. We've covered 8BitDo, Hyperkin and Retro-Bit with far more regularity than we have RetroSix.

@MysticX The impact of the crash was indeed fairly localised to the US, but, when you consider that it was perhaps the biggest market for console games at that point, I guess it was quite a big deal. Here in the UK, home computers like the Spectrum were already filling the void and in Japan, the Famicom launched in 1983 and we all know how that went

@RupeeClock There's zero issue with the cartridge slot, IMO. You can tap GB carts quite aggressively during gameplay, and nothing happens. I've been using mine since 2021 and haven't had a single instance of the issue you're describing.

@tektite_captain The rubber is indeed dirty-looking on the sticks, which is a little annoying. That's just the way they look sadly.

@Sketcz I have the physical version of Troy and I have a modded 360... might have to investigate, as I've only ever played it in Japanese

@WoottWinds I've added Unicorn to the list, I can't believe I forgot that! Will look into the others as well, once I've had a chance to play them.

Ditto for the Side Story games, @AJB83 - I've always heard bad things about them, though?

@gojiguy It does work, but you'll need the 8BitDo USB Adapter 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrhdRTDuTeY

@Knirau11 Don't know how I missed BoF4! Added!

@Andee Game Focus was amazing! Such a shame when that closed down.

@BionicDodo Fixed! 😅

@Scooby-Doo You're very welcome - thanks for the kind words!

@Scooby-Doo Yep! I got all of my Japanese PlayStation, Saturn, N64 and Dreamcast stuff from there. They even used to install mod chips on consoles so you could play imports!

@-wc- That's the Japanese title.

@BulkSlash I believe AyaSpace 2.0 can be installed on any of the older handhelds.

@ralphdibny All of them will be available second-hand - this is only talking about digital re-releases / remasters, etc

@Uncharted2007 That's my pride and joy!

@Chrysologus A lot of highly desirable games are anything but affordable these days - and that's not really the point of this study. Games should be preserved in a way that means you don't have to always resort to finding original hardware / software.

@killroy10 I've added Towers II - you've actually reminded me that there's an Enhanced edition available this year, so I might need to revisit that myself!

@killroy10 This list isn't set in stone; I'll look into those (excellent) suggestions and might expand the list in the future - thanks!

@Mario500 Google translated from the original Japanese site

@TransmitHim I have to admit that made me chuckle!

@mrfield Wow, really? That's just down the road from me. Wish I'd have known!

@JohnnyMind Fixed! Thanks!

@-wc- You're not kidding. It feels like yesterday that I ordered a Japanese copy of this from Lik-Sang and immediately got a telling-off from my girlfriend (now my wife) because it amounted to a whole week's wages at the time (I was only working in a toy store!)

@Delwynden You know, the SNES game gets a bad rap (and I include myself in that, I wrote the Nintendo Life review) but I have a massive soft spot for it. Because I was so starved of LotR content back in the 1990s I played it in spite of its many failings, but it still charms me to this day. The music, in particular, is wonderful, and I love how it uses the 1978 movie characters (that film was basically my introduction to Tolkien).

@sabreman64 It works on Wii

@themightyant This might be the interview you're thinking of? https://www.timeextension.com/features/the-making-of-mean-machines-the-magazine-that-sold-console-gaming-to-the-uk

We had individual interviews with the MM staff on the MMA, and I also did a piece for Retro Gamer magazine about 15 years ago where I spoke to all of the usual suspects, too.

@themightyant That site was how myself and Darren met each other! Sadly we took it down a few years back because the traffic couldn't justify the hosting costs, but it will always be an important stepping stone for me; without it, I wouldn't have met Darren, we wouldn't have done VC Reviews and we wouldn't have joined up with Ant (the founder of Nintendo Life)... my life would have been totally different without the MM Archive!

@-wc- My point is that the 'Nintendo problem' could, depending on the age of the person, be a 'PlayStation' or 'Xbox' problem. Basically, what is popular at any given time (or with a certain generation) tends to be what people remember years down the line (this could be applied to literally any medium, as well).

This piece isn't trying to frame an argument, either; it's presenting a topic of discussion.

@-wc- Ahem.

"Of course, this theory could equally apply to the PlayStation or Xbox generation; both Sony and Microsoft have enjoyed periods of extraordinary commercial and critical success, creating legions of fans who will only ever view history through a blue or green lens"

It's right there, my dude

@romanista The point is that there were more PS1 owners than N64 owners, so selling 3 million is easier on a platform where there are more potential players. Of course, that also means the competition is higher, but the point still stands, I feel.

@Hikingguy I might need to add The Horde, what a game!

@KingMike I have owned both the NA and Japanese versions of Populous, I always wondered why Sega published it in Japan! And you're quite right on the hardware register, I've updated the text

@Yarrdave Well, would you look at that. I've updated the review and included a credit to your good self!

@Viewtifu1 Really? I couldn't get it working on my Switch (or the PS5 / Xbox One) but I will try that later on and update this review if it works!

@-wc- The first wave of Bluetooth pads it did were literally exactly the same as the NES / SNES pads, the only thing missing was the Nintendo logo. With its more recent pads, 8BitDo has shifted to simply mimicking designs rather than using them wholesale.

@Hydra_Spectre They also make Shadowrun on the SNES, so it's not all bad!

@smoreon Monster Lair and Dragon's Trap are on the Anniversary Collection, though? Annoyingly, they released two collections...

https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/wonder-boy-anniversary-collection

@Blofse Yes it does, I mention that in the review

@Diogmites That's actually @AntDickens in the photos, I was behind the camera

@Serpenterror You can turn the lights off.

@AllieKitsune This is the first time it has been made available in physical form, we've updated the post to make this more clear.