A new FPGA handheld dubbed the Multisystem 2 Pocket has surfaced, built through a collaboration between Heber, an electronics manufacturer, and The Retro Collective, a British retro content creator and retro museum. A substantial public update landed this week, pulling the previously low-profile project into the view of arcade and retro gaming enthusiasts.
The “Pocket” branding places the device firmly within the growing portable-FPGA market. Heber is taking the lead on hardware and electronics manufacturing, while The Retro Collective brings a recognizable community presence through its retro museum and content work in the United Kingdom. Together, the two are positioning the Multisystem 2 Pocket as a serious entry for fans who want chip-level reproduction of classic systems in a handheld shell. That pairing, one partner with production know-how and another with a community-facing brand, gives the project a foundation that smaller hobbyist FPGA builds have often gone without.
Why an FPGA Handheld Matters to Retro Fans
Field-Programmable Gate Array hardware reconstructs vintage circuitry on reconfigurable silicon rather than interpreting it through software. For arcade and console collectors, this approach has long been treated as the accuracy benchmark, recreating the inner workings of classic arcade boards, home computers, and consoles down to the timing that defined them, without many of the quirks introduced by emulators.
The MiSTer open-source platform did the heavy lifting in popularizing FPGA retro recreation, turning what was once a niche hobbyist setup into a mainstream option for enthusiasts chasing hardware-accurate play. Portable FPGA handhelds are a more recent branch of that family tree, packaging the same accuracy into a pocket-sized form factor for players who want arcade-correct behavior on the go.
What Comes Next
The recent update suggests a project moving past the earliest prototype stage, although full specifications, supported cores, pricing, and a release window have yet to be confirmed publicly. Retro arcade and gaming enthusiasts will want to keep an eye on RetroArcade’s news section as the Multisystem 2 Pocket continues to take shape.
Source: Retro Dodo