GuliKit is offering modern handheld gamers a way to feel safe and snug in a piece of retro gaming history. The company’s new docking station is an all-in-one kit for supporting the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, and more, and it’s all packaged in something that looks very similar to the old Super Nintendo console.
The company has not offered much in the way of details for its new docking station unveiled during Gamescom, but images show that it has the same gray and purple colors as the old SNES, including the sliding switches on the top panel. It’s unclear if the switches actually do anything, but behind them in what would be the cartridge slot slides back to reveal a docking port with two vents facing out.
The rear panel includes USB-C and AC adapter ports, plus a LAN, HDMI, and three USB ports. Valve’s own Steam Deck Docking Station doesn’t contain many more bells and whistles than that, though the USB-C wire is hard connected to the base. A Steam Deck’s USB-C connection point is located on the top of the device. The same is true with the Asus ROG Ally.
As for the Switch, that device is meant to plug directly into the Switch Dock, nestled in so that it shields the screen. In a Twitter post, GuliKit said that Switches will need to be laid upside down in the SNES-like cradle ostensibly so a cable can access the proprietary charging port. We reached out to GuliKit to see if the kit will come with any cables in the box, and we’ll update this story if we hear anything more.
Essentially, the dock seems like it should support and charge any kind of handheld console with a standardized connection port, which could be any number of devices like the Razer Edge. The company is advertising that the dock should also work with Ayaneo devices such as the Ayaneo Geek.
Just this week, Ayaneo announced it’s releasing its new Android-based device with the Ayaneo Pocket S. The device is being powered on one of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon G-Series processor, specifically the Snapdragon G3x Gen2. Just like the switch, the Pocket S’s charging port is on the bottom of the device, meaning you’ll have to flip it upside down to give it more juice while in the cradle.
GuliKit has seen success in the past with its Switch peripherals, such as its Joy-Con repair kits to remediate stick drift. The company’s anti-drift technology was also present in its KingKong Pro 2 controller released last year which we found outperformed Nintendo’s similar controller option.
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