Are you feeling nostalgic for classic games from the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Sega Master System, and Game Gear? Soon you'll be able to relive them with PocketSprite, the world's smallest handheld console. With a size similar to a keychain, this device can emulate games from those beloved '90s handhelds.
Nostalgia is still going strong. Just as Nintendo spoiled us with the NES Classic Edition and Super NES Classic Edition, a new alternative now arrives with PocketSprite, the world's smallest handheld console, capable of emulating games from the Game Boy and Game Gear, among several other handhelds. Measuring 55 x 32 x 14 mm, this portable features a small OLED screen, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a rechargeable battery, and a built-in speaker. Inside, it packs a dual-core ESP32 processor running at 240 MHz with 520 KB of RAM. All these components make it far more powerful than the original Game Boy, which had a 4.19 MHz processor and 16 KB of memory.
With built-in emulators, PocketSprite can play games from the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Sega Master System, and Game Gear, but the device is also open source, so in theory, you can load whatever you want (assuming you have the coding skills to make it work). When adding ROMs, PocketSprite creates a local Wi-Fi network, which you connect to with a computer, allowing users to easily upload games to their devices through a web interface.
The PocketSprite is sold in two versions: a fully assembled model and the Hacker Edition, a DIY kit you can assemble yourself. The developers of this handheld have launched a crowdfunding campaign via Crowd Supply, where they quickly surpassed the initial goal of $20,000 to begin mass production. The company intends to ship pre-orders on April 15 of this year, which is a good sign that production is going well (though it could also mean the opposite – hopefully not), so if you're interested in owning your own PocketSprite, the early bird price starts at $45.
Official site: PocketSprite
