mcc, 6 months ago

Updates on agg23's general-purpose RISCV core for Analogue Pocket https://twitter.com/iam_agg/status/1723042566235455636

mcc, 6 months ago

Soon the Analogue Pocket will be able to run "Software"

jason, 6 months ago

@mcc part of me wants to be resentful that this neat retro games device that is difficult to get is being used to do things done better by almost anything else but…

Ok no I’ll admit it I’m resentful (I like my Playdate but god help me get an analog pocket)

mcc, 6 months ago

@jason Theoretically, we should be able to backport agg23's core to run on the MiSTer, or on $40 fpga cores with HDMI outputs they sell on AliExpress.

mcc, 6 months ago

@jason Also, incidentally, my goal with agg23's core is to be able to construct single-code-base Rust programs that can run either on the Pocket, or in a .exe, or in a browser window in wasm.

jason, 6 months ago

@mcc frankly none of this would be problem if they acted like normal people and let me put my name in line to purchase when the time comes instead of this limited edition sneakerhead bullshit they seem to do

mcc, 6 months ago

@jason They were in that state for most of this year… I think if you put yourself on the "notify me when in stock" list for the white or black pocket you will at minimum get an email when they go back to the "you can get in line to purchase one" state.

I wish they communicated better but I think manufacturing things is just pretty hard.

jason, 6 months ago

@mcc well no, I mean I am interested in it for its purpose, not for hacking and home brew, is the thing.

mcc, 6 months ago

@jason Oh. Well, I hope you are able to purchase one then.

They're not really that expensive! They're just very supply constrained. (And they have very expensive shipping outside the US…)

By the way, just checking: Have you considered an Anbernic? It will be better for a lot of things, and buggier for some things.

jason, 6 months ago

@mcc no, I hadn’t heard of that, I’ll check.

It feels like a large drain on my concentration to have to check these things, though.

I ordered a playdate and didn’t get it for two years. I had completely forgotten about it when it showed up. But I also didn’t feel shitty having to compete with people for it during those two years.

But that other device looks neat too. My kid would love to have a portable with retro games easily available so the pocket’s versatility is attractive.

mcc, 6 months ago

@jason Anbernic is some Chinese company that just pumps out a different ARM handheld packed with emulators every month. You can just pick a random one on Amazon and the ones listed on Amazon go down to like, $50 or below. They're all roughly the same so you can just pick the one you like the form factor of. We got one and it was quite nice. It was unreliable at the stuff the Pocket does well (HDMI) and reliable at the stuff the Pocket is iffy at (community cores can be imperfectly accurate)

tsalvo, 6 months ago

@mcc RISCV core would be amazing, and would open up the Pocket to so many other applications. Maybe Uxn would be much easier to get fully up and running that way!

mcc, 6 months ago

@tsalvo I think a dedicated core could potentially be faster than the riscv with development, but it will definitely be worth a try

tsalvo, 6 months ago

@mcc yeah good point! Definitely worth it to keep going with the current approach to see how it goes