The Analogue Pocket will be getting its own operating system when it launches later this year.
The multi-video-game-system portable handheld from retro console manufacturer Analogue will come with Analogue OS, which the company calls a “definitive, scholarly operating system” that allows users to “explore, discover, and play through all of video game history.”
The minimal-looking operating system’s big feature is its ‘Library’, which has a huge database built from the ground up by Analogue, “system by system, game by game, region by region, developer by developer, publisher by publisher, revision by revision”.
Introducing Analogue OS.
Analogue OS is the start of something big. At its heart, Analogue OS is purpose built for exploring and celebrating all of video game history. Designed to be the definitive, scholarly operating system for playing and experiencing the entire medium. pic.twitter.com/1YOvgij2V6
— Analogue (@analogue) October 16, 2021
What this means is players can pull in box art or title screens for games that they’re playing, and the Pocket will be able to instantly read physical cartridges to identify the exact version of the game.
Another major feature is ‘Memories’, which allows for a game’s state to be captured, saved and loaded directly from a cartridge, and even shared with other players.
Analogue also said that Analogue OS is just the beginning, and all future Analogue products will be built with the OS.
*Analogue Pocket does not play copyrighted rom files, or dump game cartridges. It plays legacy game cartridges directly via the cartridge slot. To play a game in Library you will need to insert the game cartridge to play it. pic.twitter.com/FiHOhUhgma
— Analogue (@analogue) October 16, 2021
However, the company makes a distinction between preserving video game history and piracy. At the end of its lengthy Twitter thread, it adds, “Analogue Pocket does not play copyrighted rom files, or dump game cartridges. It plays legacy game cartridges directly via the cartridge slot. To play a game in Library you will need to insert the game cartridge to play it.”
On its website, it also clarifies that the Pocket “does not operate utilising any bios files from any other entities. Analogue designs all hardware.”
The Analogue Pocket was delayed from its May 2021 release date to October, although its new release date is tentatively this December.
Elsewhere, Mojang has announced that both Minecraft Java and Bedrock Editions are coming to Xbox Game Pass.
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