This console for less than 100 dollars is what Sega would have launched this year if it had continued to make laptops

One of the reasons for the success of new handheld consoles is nostalgia. Whether with Game Boy-inspired consoles or Atari computers, it is clear that nostalgia sells and is one of the main reasons to buy one of these devices.

Thanks to the power and efficiency of modern processors, it is perfectly possible to run classic games without too many problems, and with very little battery consumption; We therefore understand that they have become a good excuse to replay classic titles, or discover them for the first time.

Now comes a console that opts for that “retro” style, while adopting more modern technologies and design. His name is Z-Pocket play bubble, and in a way, that’s what Sega’s Game Gear would have been if it had been released today; The inspiration is obvious and its creators do not hide it in the photos they have published on the Internet of the new machine.

The Game Gear was Sega’s portable console, born as alternative to Nintendo Game Boy. In its favor, it had greater power and a color screen, which allowed it to display games very similar to those of the Master System, a desktop console; something surprising, just like the accessory that allowed watching television on the console and which was in great demand to calm children during long car journeys. Of course, if these trips were long, you had to bring a pack of batteries, as the Game Gear was notorious for using them up quickly.

The Z-Pocket play bubble

RetroCN

The Z-Pocket Game Bubble solves this and other problems of the Game Gear, like size and weight, in a modernized but clearly Sega-inspired design. The basic button layout is the same, but we have access to two analog sticks in addition to the shoulder buttons, so this console is ideal for both Game Gear games and those from later consoles.

The processor used, Rockchip’s RK3566, should also be sufficient for such tasks, although it will not be sufficient for modern games. The same can be said about the screen, based on a 3.5-inch panel and a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, higher than the original Game Gear; although in return the proportion of the screen is different, so with Game Gear games there will always be black borders.

All these “material” decisions make sense when we see that the price will be less than 100 dollarsit can therefore become a good alternative if found on import pages like AliExpress.