Now Funding (for a few hours): GKD Pro Handheld Console

I know, I know – handheld consoles that promise all the retro fun of games gone by have flooded us, and you’ve got no shortage of emulators or even re-releases to work with. Well, I have to say, the GKD Pro grabbed my attention in a way few of these have as of late.

For starters, the GKD Pro starts with that sort of classic Gameboy look, though you’ve got a much larger screen (and it’s in full color). This is just a size and layout that appeals to me, and my 80s game brain is able to grasp those controls. Then again, other systems (and games) need additional inputs – and for those, they managed to put “shoulder buttons” on the back of the metal casing, giving you those additional inputs.

Speaking of, the GKD Pro is suppose to be able to handle games from the PS1, SNES, Gameboy (Advanved and Color), generic MAME, and many others. That gets into questions of legality around those ROMS that, well, we’re just not going to touch on here.

With the GKD Pro supporting two separate memory cards (which means you can store up to 512GB), you should have no shortage of games to play as you’re whiling away the time. The 6-hour battery life is going to be more of a constraint. Then again, after 6 hours of staring at a 3.5″ screen, you should take a break.

The GKD Pro is WAY overfunded (which should be no surprise), with the campaign closing out on December 16, 2021 at 7 AM (Central time). Given we’re near the end of the campaign, earlybirds are gone, but you can still pick one up with a pledge of $149, with shipping anticipated for February 2022. game-kiddy.com / kickstarter.com