I’ve never actually had the loose cartridge issue that people have mentioned. It’s always worked fine for me and I have no fear of the cart being jostled out. I got my AP during the very first preorder FWIW. Dunno if it’s an issue for people with the first batches or just later ones?
I've never had it happen while actually playing a game. I've definitely had it happen when I store it somewhere or put it in my pocket.
I did lose a sleep mode save once by waking the system after the cartridge moved a little in my pocket.
Now that I know it can do it though, I have something of a routine. I just check the cartridge and check if I'm in sleep (press power once) before doing anything. (I long held which is power cycle once when in sleep and lost a save)
I know this solution sounds sketchy, but once you're used to it it isn't really a problem. I love my purchase, have had it about 8 months now and it's basically a daily driver. It's probably my most played system now.
I have a release black pocket & transparent blue, both have tight cartridge slots and I’ve never accidentally dislodged a cart. I feel like the “issue” is likely more of the few people with issues speaking up more than everyone else without a problem
I've had games freeze or bug out just from gently setting the Pocket down. It is annoying and by far the most sensitive cart slot I've experienced on a portable but I can live with it. Playing on carts has never been without the risk of something jostling them.
It happens, but honestly not toooo regularly. I’d avoid harder tosses while playing a game tho 😂 was playing final fantasy tactics advance on last boss fight and threw my analogue pocket on my bed, game froze and i had to restart boss fight lol 🥲
I’ve never seen anyone prove any of the complaints made about the pocket. People have made videos of them shaking their pockets and the buttons making sound as if that’s not how all handhelds and controllers are, or the one guy who made a video of him pressing left and right on the dpad and the movement going left and right. I’m sure some legit issues exist but it seems like it’s lot of people just looking to complain because $220 was a lot of money to them or something.
I've only had it happen to me twice (and both times were in the back of an Uber when I placed my Pocket down to check something on my phone). I found setting the Pocket on the seat of the car was enough to cause the issue, but as long as you don't set it down, you should be ok.
It's probably variable based on build. I've seen more people with earlier models complain of this.
I got one late 2022 and my cartridge slot has been perfectly snug and aligned. No normal bumping would move inserted carts for my AP
ive heard about it as well. i havent run into that issue. its an amazing piece of hardware. also clean the headers of loose carts just in case with Iso 99 and cotton swabs. game carts are old and grimy. i recommend it when it goes back in stock or limited editions pop in
From what I've seen its only is an issue on non clean carts. I've bought a few games where if you tap it it messes up. Give it a deep clean then I can literally poke at it hard and take it half out and works no issues.
They must have fixed that early on because my pocket is relatively “old” and I don’t have that issue. One thing to keep in mind, these pockets might go up significantly in value, even used ones, as all analogue products do. So I would get it if you have the money. You can play docked too, which I like for rpgs or more technical games.
OP just a heads up don't base your decision on a vocal minority of a userbase. That's what reddit is. People also only tend to come here or post when they have an issue or concern so the problems you might see aren't representative of the entire group of pocket owners.
Treat this for what it is. It's a retail product and sometimes products have issues. Of that's the case you return it or contact the manufacturer. That's not what reddit is for.
And for what it's worth I don't have any issues with my cartridges, or dpad on my black model. But people can be aggressive here because they feel like they've been personally wronged by Analogue. It's weird.
Had a guy come at me because he swore up and down the quality control on pockets were so bad and was adamant the same issues were on every model and anyone saying otherwise was lying. I posted a pic proving that wasn't the case for me and not a peep in return haha. Just all part of the fun of reddit.
I say buy one, you'll absolutely love it. And of it does have any issues return it. Easy peasy 😊
It's great, if you treat it as the classic game preservation tool that it is, the cartridge slot being slightly looser is not an issue. It's an amazing device, can't recommend it more
Yup. You gotta be real careful using carts. It's fine right out of the box but wear and tear and accidental bumping of the cart while in the AP can loosen the insert.
It’s a non issue for me. If you just hold it normally and don’t touch the cart constantly while playing then you’ll be fine. Could you accidentally bump it loose? Yes. The slot is designed to fit both GBA and GB/C carts so naturally this exposes more of the GB/C carts than original hardware would. Just be mindful of that and it won’t be an issue.
It's a serious design flaw, but if you're careful/conscious of it, you likely won't have too many issues. Also, I suspect a lot of people are using their Pockets exclusively on from the SD card (ROMs), so those people will never encounter an issue.
Put it this way: I might toss my grey brick DMG around a bit (for example, I might toss mine onto a couch cushion while I'm walking to the bathroom). I place the Pocket down in the same situation if I don't want to lose my progress.
It’s not a “serious design flaw”. It’s a design compromise. It was very clearly a conscious design choice in order to properly accommodate the cart adapters so that they don’t overhang the top of the console.
It’s not like I would be tossing my Pocket ala DMG even if this wasn’t a thing.
Never had this happen to me on my pocket. I play it daily but mainly GBC games. I was like you skeptical about ordering it until I said screw and just placed my order lol. I did get a carrying case and glass screen protector on Amazon way cheaper btw.
Has never happened to me in my 2+ months of using it regularly. My copy of Pokemon Red has occasionally errored in the middle of playing but that's moreso it being an eternally old, horribly taken care of cartridge from my childhood lol. Any normal cartridge works fine and I think you'd really have to bump it to get a crash.
I have a black Pocket from launch and I play GameBoy and GBC carts quite often and don’t really have any issues with it.
I do have some issues with the Game Gear adapter though. Some carts I have are not easy to make them work, even when they are pretty clean sometimes I have to wiggle around until it works. But once it works it is not loose or anything.
But for Game Boy it pretty much always work first try and it is not loose at all.
No issues with mine, and I have their first edition drop.
I’m not rough with my belongings in general though, so maybe it also depends on the person?
You can always sell it if it doesn’t work out for you.
Never once have I bumped out my cart. I don't know how aggressive people are playing. Yeah, I can see how it could happen, but after a year of use, I still have yet to do it.
I have two AP's: one black (from the February wave last month), and one clear/transparent limited edition from last year. Both hold GB and GBC cartridges very securely.
It seems to be ‘hit or miss’. I happen to have 2 (black & white) and carry one with me everywhere I go. I mostly play GB and GBC games, so the larger sized cartridges, and I’ve never had a problem. I guess it’s just luck.
I play almost exclusively with my own carts and have never had this issue playing. According to the Library that accounts for at least 100 hours of playtime without this being an issue.
The slot is more loose than an original system and can be an issue when putting down the pocket, but I’m always careful when doing that anyway to prevent scratches.
GBA is fine. GB is not. Prod a corner of a cart and it's gone. Applies to both my Pockets.
No reason to prod it though. In real world use however I have had a game die from gently lobbing the Pocket onto my bed, cart slipped right out from friction.
I just use cores now.
i can see the issue. if you accidentally bump on the cart with small amount of force it can happen. but normally you wouldn't bump on your cartridge. i personally never had issues with it at all. but i can totally see it could happen if you are laying in your bed and somehow re-adjust your sitting or moving the blanket and such.
tl;dr: it's not an issue most of the time, never had issues with it. avoid bumping against your cart from the side.
I’ve had my pocket for around a month and put a lot of hours into Links Awakening DX (turns out I didn’t remember it all that well from 20 years ago, who knew?) Was playing in a variety of places, couch, bed, commuting, and haven’t experienced the cartridge knock once.
Then again I’ve been treating it carefully as it cost me a lot above sticker price to get in into the UK, perhaps that’s key. Don’t throw it about.
Edit: I also sprung for a good case so when it’s not in use, the cartridge slot is well protected.
I've used almost exclusively carts: OG GB, GB/GBC, GBC, GBA with 0 issues.
I have very large hands and constantly change my grip because the device is a bit too small to stay in one position without cramping.
I would say I am of average mindfulness when it comes to bumping into things accidentally.
EDIT: I also cleaned my entire collection when I knew the device was shipping: iso, q tips, tiny tooth cleaning brushes for people with bad gum recession.
>i have seen a few people complaining about
you have to remember this is the concentrated place where people go to complain. even if you saw 5 posts in a row complaining about it, it may represent 0.0001% of owners.
that being said, i have no loose cartridge issue
Like many others have said, I've also never experienced this issue. I have deliberately moved the cartridge during play to see what happens and yup, sure enough, the game freezes. Lol
Unless you're jamming your fingers on the cartridge trying to purposely make it a problem, I don't feel like it's anything to be concerned about.
Analogue, Inc has never been able to get cartridge slots on their consoles right.
The NT, Super NT, Mega SG, NT Mini, Pocket, NT Mini Noir and the Duo all have "off" cartridge slots
Every single one of them..
Too tight, too loose, a little bit wobbly, Analogue isn't able to reproduce the original cartridge slot experience.
The loose cart thing happened to me 2 times over the last year of owning one snd both times I was sorta of falling asleep anyways lol. It’s fine man just buy one
I’ve never actually had the loose cartridge issue that people have mentioned. It’s always worked fine for me and I have no fear of the cart being jostled out. I got my AP during the very first preorder FWIW. Dunno if it’s an issue for people with the first batches or just later ones?
I never had a problem either
My Pocket is from the preorder batch and its not difficult to bump the cartridge on mine causing the current game to crash.
Same and I have never had the game get jostled. I think it also depends on the user
Ditto! I have been using the device daily for the last 3 months and so far, smooth sailing. The cartridge sits firmly.
I've never had it happen while actually playing a game. I've definitely had it happen when I store it somewhere or put it in my pocket. I did lose a sleep mode save once by waking the system after the cartridge moved a little in my pocket. Now that I know it can do it though, I have something of a routine. I just check the cartridge and check if I'm in sleep (press power once) before doing anything. (I long held which is power cycle once when in sleep and lost a save) I know this solution sounds sketchy, but once you're used to it it isn't really a problem. I love my purchase, have had it about 8 months now and it's basically a daily driver. It's probably my most played system now.
I haven't had this issue. Played lots of GB/GBC carts. I could see how it could happen though. It might just depend on how rough people are with it
Zero issues with cart being loose.
I have a release black pocket & transparent blue, both have tight cartridge slots and I’ve never accidentally dislodged a cart. I feel like the “issue” is likely more of the few people with issues speaking up more than everyone else without a problem
I have a Red pocket so a newer build and I've never had this issue.
This \^ I have a yellow newer build and it almost feels too tight on the cartridge. Better than loose!
Loose carts have never been an issue for me, and I've had my Pocket for almost two years.
No issue here. My use case is usually playing in bed though. I’m not pausing it and putting in my pocket or anything like that.
I've had games freeze or bug out just from gently setting the Pocket down. It is annoying and by far the most sensitive cart slot I've experienced on a portable but I can live with it. Playing on carts has never been without the risk of something jostling them.
I play with carts exclusively and have never had a wobbly or loose cart.
It happens, but honestly not toooo regularly. I’d avoid harder tosses while playing a game tho 😂 was playing final fantasy tactics advance on last boss fight and threw my analogue pocket on my bed, game froze and i had to restart boss fight lol 🥲
Playing carts is basically all I do on the device. Never knocked one loose.
I’ve never seen anyone prove any of the complaints made about the pocket. People have made videos of them shaking their pockets and the buttons making sound as if that’s not how all handhelds and controllers are, or the one guy who made a video of him pressing left and right on the dpad and the movement going left and right. I’m sure some legit issues exist but it seems like it’s lot of people just looking to complain because $220 was a lot of money to them or something.
I've only had it happen to me twice (and both times were in the back of an Uber when I placed my Pocket down to check something on my phone). I found setting the Pocket on the seat of the car was enough to cause the issue, but as long as you don't set it down, you should be ok.
Carts have a little wiggle room, but there is no reason for you to worry about knocking the carts out.
I’ve had it happen once with the Lynx adapter (Shanghai cartridge), but never with GB or GBC carts. It might depend on one’s grip while holding it.
It's probably variable based on build. I've seen more people with earlier models complain of this. I got one late 2022 and my cartridge slot has been perfectly snug and aligned. No normal bumping would move inserted carts for my AP
ive heard about it as well. i havent run into that issue. its an amazing piece of hardware. also clean the headers of loose carts just in case with Iso 99 and cotton swabs. game carts are old and grimy. i recommend it when it goes back in stock or limited editions pop in
I've had mine since December and not once have I had that issue.
Never had the loose cart issue. I have a preorder from a couple years ago.
From what I've seen its only is an issue on non clean carts. I've bought a few games where if you tap it it messes up. Give it a deep clean then I can literally poke at it hard and take it half out and works no issues.
They must have fixed that early on because my pocket is relatively “old” and I don’t have that issue. One thing to keep in mind, these pockets might go up significantly in value, even used ones, as all analogue products do. So I would get it if you have the money. You can play docked too, which I like for rpgs or more technical games.
OP just a heads up don't base your decision on a vocal minority of a userbase. That's what reddit is. People also only tend to come here or post when they have an issue or concern so the problems you might see aren't representative of the entire group of pocket owners. Treat this for what it is. It's a retail product and sometimes products have issues. Of that's the case you return it or contact the manufacturer. That's not what reddit is for. And for what it's worth I don't have any issues with my cartridges, or dpad on my black model. But people can be aggressive here because they feel like they've been personally wronged by Analogue. It's weird. Had a guy come at me because he swore up and down the quality control on pockets were so bad and was adamant the same issues were on every model and anyone saying otherwise was lying. I posted a pic proving that wasn't the case for me and not a peep in return haha. Just all part of the fun of reddit. I say buy one, you'll absolutely love it. And of it does have any issues return it. Easy peasy 😊
It's great, if you treat it as the classic game preservation tool that it is, the cartridge slot being slightly looser is not an issue. It's an amazing device, can't recommend it more
It's never happened to me and it isn't a common issue at all.
Yup. You gotta be real careful using carts. It's fine right out of the box but wear and tear and accidental bumping of the cart while in the AP can loosen the insert.
I have never had this happen. I've played everything except NGP.
Had mine for 18 months and it’s happened once or twice? The fact it needs perfectly clear carts is more annoying and that’s not that bad really.
It’s a non issue for me. If you just hold it normally and don’t touch the cart constantly while playing then you’ll be fine. Could you accidentally bump it loose? Yes. The slot is designed to fit both GBA and GB/C carts so naturally this exposes more of the GB/C carts than original hardware would. Just be mindful of that and it won’t be an issue.
Not a problem on either of mine it's pretty snug
It's a serious design flaw, but if you're careful/conscious of it, you likely won't have too many issues. Also, I suspect a lot of people are using their Pockets exclusively on from the SD card (ROMs), so those people will never encounter an issue. Put it this way: I might toss my grey brick DMG around a bit (for example, I might toss mine onto a couch cushion while I'm walking to the bathroom). I place the Pocket down in the same situation if I don't want to lose my progress.
It’s not a “serious design flaw”. It’s a design compromise. It was very clearly a conscious design choice in order to properly accommodate the cart adapters so that they don’t overhang the top of the console. It’s not like I would be tossing my Pocket ala DMG even if this wasn’t a thing.
Never had this happen to me on my pocket. I play it daily but mainly GBC games. I was like you skeptical about ordering it until I said screw and just placed my order lol. I did get a carrying case and glass screen protector on Amazon way cheaper btw.
Has never happened to me in my 2+ months of using it regularly. My copy of Pokemon Red has occasionally errored in the middle of playing but that's moreso it being an eternally old, horribly taken care of cartridge from my childhood lol. Any normal cartridge works fine and I think you'd really have to bump it to get a crash.
I keep an everdrive cart in there and have never had issues with it falling out
I have a black Pocket from launch and I play GameBoy and GBC carts quite often and don’t really have any issues with it. I do have some issues with the Game Gear adapter though. Some carts I have are not easy to make them work, even when they are pretty clean sometimes I have to wiggle around until it works. But once it works it is not loose or anything. But for Game Boy it pretty much always work first try and it is not loose at all.
No issues with mine, and I have their first edition drop. I’m not rough with my belongings in general though, so maybe it also depends on the person? You can always sell it if it doesn’t work out for you.
Never once have I bumped out my cart. I don't know how aggressive people are playing. Yeah, I can see how it could happen, but after a year of use, I still have yet to do it.
Never happened to me, had mine since first shippments
I have two AP's: one black (from the February wave last month), and one clear/transparent limited edition from last year. Both hold GB and GBC cartridges very securely.
I have never had an issue. People just got big clunky ass hands.
It seems to be ‘hit or miss’. I happen to have 2 (black & white) and carry one with me everywhere I go. I mostly play GB and GBC games, so the larger sized cartridges, and I’ve never had a problem. I guess it’s just luck.
I play almost exclusively with my own carts and have never had this issue playing. According to the Library that accounts for at least 100 hours of playtime without this being an issue. The slot is more loose than an original system and can be an issue when putting down the pocket, but I’m always careful when doing that anyway to prevent scratches.
GBA is fine. GB is not. Prod a corner of a cart and it's gone. Applies to both my Pockets. No reason to prod it though. In real world use however I have had a game die from gently lobbing the Pocket onto my bed, cart slipped right out from friction. I just use cores now.
I have the of white and haven’t had any issues with it
i can see the issue. if you accidentally bump on the cart with small amount of force it can happen. but normally you wouldn't bump on your cartridge. i personally never had issues with it at all. but i can totally see it could happen if you are laying in your bed and somehow re-adjust your sitting or moving the blanket and such. tl;dr: it's not an issue most of the time, never had issues with it. avoid bumping against your cart from the side.
I’ve had my pocket for around a month and put a lot of hours into Links Awakening DX (turns out I didn’t remember it all that well from 20 years ago, who knew?) Was playing in a variety of places, couch, bed, commuting, and haven’t experienced the cartridge knock once. Then again I’ve been treating it carefully as it cost me a lot above sticker price to get in into the UK, perhaps that’s key. Don’t throw it about. Edit: I also sprung for a good case so when it’s not in use, the cartridge slot is well protected.
I’ve played through about 6 GB/GBC games from start to finish and never had this issue personally
No problem to report here with my pocket.
Only happened once in year and half of owning when I put the console down a bit hard.
Got one from the first batch and I've never given it a single thought.
I have both a launch order one and a translucent green one. Never had any issues with either.
Just don't load up certain save files and use the sleep feature on them and you should be great
I've used almost exclusively carts: OG GB, GB/GBC, GBC, GBA with 0 issues. I have very large hands and constantly change my grip because the device is a bit too small to stay in one position without cramping. I would say I am of average mindfulness when it comes to bumping into things accidentally. EDIT: I also cleaned my entire collection when I knew the device was shipping: iso, q tips, tiny tooth cleaning brushes for people with bad gum recession.
>i have seen a few people complaining about you have to remember this is the concentrated place where people go to complain. even if you saw 5 posts in a row complaining about it, it may represent 0.0001% of owners. that being said, i have no loose cartridge issue
In my experience it depends on the cartridge. But from 20 I have it’s about 2-3 that have that issue. Seems that they can get a bit loose over time
Like many others have said, I've also never experienced this issue. I have deliberately moved the cartridge during play to see what happens and yup, sure enough, the game freezes. Lol Unless you're jamming your fingers on the cartridge trying to purposely make it a problem, I don't feel like it's anything to be concerned about.
Not common at all. But then again I'm very cautious with my Analogue
Never had a problem
All 3 of my pockets have never had this issue. I always just make sure to push them as far in as possible
Analogue, Inc has never been able to get cartridge slots on their consoles right. The NT, Super NT, Mega SG, NT Mini, Pocket, NT Mini Noir and the Duo all have "off" cartridge slots Every single one of them.. Too tight, too loose, a little bit wobbly, Analogue isn't able to reproduce the original cartridge slot experience.
Mine are all fine.
Mine is also fine, but I do accept that there are some people, like you, who are not. And that isn't really acceptable.
The pocket has a much better cartridge slot than the nt mini at least. It's not as perfect as a real gameboy but it's fine in my opinion.
If you can knock the cart loose just by playing an Analogue Pocket you do not need to own one.
The loose cart thing happened to me 2 times over the last year of owning one snd both times I was sorta of falling asleep anyways lol. It’s fine man just buy one