One of the more highly anticipated handheld gaming consoles in recent years is theAnalogue Pocket, a third-party device that promises to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games without emulation, while an adapter will allow it to run cartridges from other handheld consoles as well. Announced in August 2019, the device is scheduled to launch in May 2021 with a suggested retail price of $199.99. Unfortunately,pre-orders of the Analogue Pocketreportedly sold out within 15 minutes.
One of the afflictions vexing console launches in recent months are scalpers, who have been using bots to purchase large quantities of the newly launched PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles and then reselling them at a huge markup. That trend isn’t limited to Sony and Microsoft consoles, however, andscalpers are reselling the Analogue Pocketon sites like eBay at prices that have at times reached 500 percent of the MSRP.
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Furthermore, Analogue has been implementing protections against the use of bots on its store, which will hopefullyhinder scalpersfrom scooping up all of the Pocket handhelds when more become available. The goal is to get the device into the hands of real consumers, and any orders placed using bots will be canceled and the stock made available again for purchase. These steps will be taken not only for the Analogue Pocket but any future products launched by the company.
While a product is in its pre-order period, Analogue will also monitorresale sites like eBayin order to identify suspected scalpers and cancel the associated pre-orders. These listings will also be reported directly to eBay because it is against that site’s policies to sell an item that the vendor doesn’t actually have in its possession.
Analogue is also the manufacturer of the Mega Sg and Super Nt systems, high-definition consoles that can play Sega Genesis,NES, and Super NES games. Both of those devices are currently sold out on the Analogue store website and, while the company acknowledges that their lack of availability is frustrating, there was no mention of whether the site will eventually restock the Mega Sg or Super Nt.
