The Analogue Pocket promises to be a grown-up Game Boy. The same size as the classic console, it runs the same games on modern tech, most notably an updated screen.
It can play games from every single Game Boy variant, and there are plans for adapters for other systems in the future.
In short, it’s a retro gamer’s dream. Check out the video review if it sounds like something you might be interested in.
And, same as every other piece gaming console this year (PS5, anyone?), the Analogue Pocket is already reselling for 2-3x its retail price of $220.
Turning this into a story, what if the world’s best retro gamer works at a mall in middle America? He gets his hand on the must-have Analogue Pocket and sets the high score on numerous games.
But, there’s no path towards any reasonable income. These are old games, after all. So, the retro gamer toils away at his retail job. We see the mall’s relationships and learn about his crush, a cashier at Sears he doesn’t have the nerve to talk to.
The power goes out during a snowstorm. That’s fine; he’ll play his games and get paid. Until the custodian, his friend, asks for his help. In the back, they try and restart the power.
The gamer gets shocked in the process. Then, he wakes up twenty years in the past, when the games he plays are cutting edge.
All of his old friends are replaced by similar versions in the past. Once people learn about his gaming skills, he becomes the most popular person in the mall, even dating the Sears cashier (similar to the one he liked before).
Then, when gaming companies find out about the guy who can beat every game with a high score, he gets a sponsorship, becoming the first professional gamer.
All his dreams are coming true. Except, there’s no internet. No cell phones. And he misses his family.
The gamer tells the custodian what happened, explaining the coming technology and the importance of Apple. Then, the custodian helps the gamer return to the future by knocking out the power and turning it back on while the gamer touches it.
The gamer wakes up and realizes it all happened in the blink of an eye. His original friend, in modern times, shakes him awake.
With his newfound confidence, the gamer talks to the cashier before going back to work. Then, an old man comes in and asks for the gamer. He’s wearing the same necklace the gamer gave to the custodian years ago, and the gamer realizes it’s the same man years later.
Then, he becomes the world’s first sponsored retro gamer.
