At the same price level Analogue Pocket exists (https://www.analogue.co/pocket), with two fpga cores (NES, SNES, arcade cores exist), a much higher res screen (for ultimate nerdery simulating old school Game Boy screens). Besides price, I guess they're hard to get by if stock is out.

At much lower price brackets, Anbernic et al have already been mentioned. There are kits for making your own OG Game Boy as well.

Add to this that a certain P. Luckey showing up and there is not a single upside to this device...? Sorry, but I don't get it.

I have an Anbernic RG355V, i love it. The battery is great and it plays N64/PSX games flawessly.

Missing my favorite handheld - TG16.

I just watched their YouTube video [1]

There are a tonne of alternatives for those interested in retro-gaming devices.

There is also a sub-reddit for these discussions (r/sbcgaming) [2]

Devices made by Anbernic and Miyoo are good. There is also the new Gamekiddy Pixel. These existing devices are usually available at around $50-85 and are much cheaper than ModRetro’s $199 price point.

[1] - https://youtu.be/QmA20GTr8XI

[2] - https://reddit.com/r/sbcgaming

Those do not play carts.

The FPGBC is closer to what this is trying to accomplish. Supports actual carts.

Edit: and it doesn't support Palmer Luckey

The analogue pocket, too. $20 dollars more expensive and not in stock very often but it also plays GBA games and some other consoles with an adapter.

I guess the fact that it is always out of stock proves that a market exists for this kind of stuff.

What? You don't want to fund the military industrial complex with a hand-held retro console?

Palmer Luckey founded Anduril which makes military drones.

Why would you want to play a cart, though?

And we are supposed to buy cartridges? I can't see if you can actually hack on it, so is probably closed source. At this point if I wanted something like this I would opt for a: https://www.clockworkpi.com/gameshell Not the same, sure, but certainly way better option in my opinion.

It's open-source per the founders twitter: https://x.com/palmerluckey/status/1797669089324011548?s=46

At that price point, why not buy a real gameboy?

By the way, i think the PS Vita is pretty awesome for emulation. Such great hardware!

It's starting to show it's age. Things such as charging speed and battery life are abysmal. I loved mine, it's still on firmware 3.60, but using my phone with a controller is more powerful and flexible.

Do you have a grip for phone-with-controller use that you could recommend?

I've been meaning to look into this but can't imagine that these mounting brackets that hold the phone above the controller are very ergonomic to hold for longer sessions.

There are also the "phone in the middle" style ones, but for those I'm concerned about fit with phone cases, as well as wearing my phone's port out when twisting/bending the construction while playing.

I use the GameSir T4 Cyclone Pro with a holder from AliExpress. I really prefer holding a heavier controller to holding a portable console.

It has hall effect analog sticks and analog triggers. No drift.

Here's a video example from the company with an older product: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9tZuTE9U6g

Probably update link to the announcement blog post: https://modretro.com/blogs/blog/the-future-is-retro