The Analogue Pocket is undoubtably an amazing piece of gaming hardware, it is nearly perfect, but not quite. It does have a few minor flaws, for example, the universally agreed shoulder button issue. As far as DMG and GBC games go, it is pretty much optimal, but when it comes to the Gameboy Advance, it is not quite perfect.
The screen on the pocket is one of its best features, but is designed primarily in favour of the Gameboy and Gameboy Colour, which it does immaculately, scaling everything up by a factor of ten. The GBA though, does not scale up perfectly, with the only option being black borders at the top and the bottom of the screen, which kind of leaves the GBA the odd one out in the Gameboy family when it comes to the Pocket.
Don't get me wrong, GBA games still look phenomenal on the Pocket, but imagine if they got the same treatment as the DMG/GBC games, with a perfectly scaled-up display filling the screen from corner to corner?
For this to be possible, Analogue would have to commission a custom-built 2400x1600 screen to make 10x scaling work. Such a screen would be stunning and GBA games would receive the same wow factor that the current screen gives GBC games.
Hypothetically, such a screen could fit within a redesigned Pocket, with a GBA style, landscape form factor, the console would have to be slightly bigger and chunkier than the original hardware in order to accommodate the screen. Ergonomically, this would also solve the other flaw that comes with a lot of GBA (and SNES) games when played on the Pocket, the shoulder buttons.
Nice, big triggers, situated in a comfortable position would totally alleviate this issue. Combine that with a huge, corner to corner, perfectly scaled display, and you would find me desperately refreshing the Analogue store page on launch day, trying to get one into my cart before they inevitably sold out.
Would Analogue ever create such a thing, though?
I can definitely see why they would not, to commission a 2400x1600 screen would be expensive, especially for what would only be a limited edition model. On top of that, the motherboard would have to be completely redesigned in order to fit into a new form factor, as would the shell, this would also be an expensive undertaking for a limited run console. Would the profit be worth the hassle to them?
I for one, would double dip and purchase one without hesitation, as would a lot of other Pocket owners and GBA fans. Analogue would probably get away with releasing black and white versions, then later, dropping limited edition colour versions, just like the OG Pocket and they would still sell out, in my opinion, making it more than worth while.
The other reason that they might not, is the fact that the screen would be optimised towards only a single system, a consideration that they surely took into account when designing the form factor of the Pocket, swaying them towards the model we know and love.
The problem here, is that not one other system's resolution would scale up properly to fit this screen. The Wonderswan resolution of 224x144 is the only one that might be possible, most though, would have significant borders to the left and right of the display. Instead of treating this as a negative, let's put a positive spin on it.
Border Patrol
Remember the screen bezel art on arcade machines back in the day? These displayed really cool artwork from the game, explained button inputs and gave you instructions on how to play. Take that concept, mix it with a little Super Gameboy and let the community run wild.
The amazingly talented people in the openFPGA community are the reason that the Pocket is the wonder machine that it is. They tirelessly work to give us new cores, cover art and all the other bells and whistles that we Pocket owners take for granted. Screen bezels would give them a new canvas to work their magic on and show off their creativity.
These could be unique to every single playable game on the Pocket, and would not have to be just static borders. The bezels could change with each level or change as a level progressed, they could even be animated, for example, characters celebrating when you reach the end of a level or find a secret.
There are practical reasons for this function that could even improve the gameplay experience, such as showing special move inputs for the character that you are currently controlling in Street Fighter II. Games where you constantly have to go into the pause menu to check resources, could have an active border that displayed your current inventory and updated itself in real time. This is all hypothetical of course, I do not know if this would even be possible, but I would love to see it.
In summary, I would say that my heart would love to see a GBA-style Pocket, but my head says that Analogue will not release one, simply because of the hassle. Plus, all their focus is likely now on the upcoming Analogue 3D and whatever is coming next, but you never know, dreams can come true.
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