Even someone who never played a video game can see and feel a difference between, say, an Analogue Pocket and some generic SBC inside a Game Boy-esqe chassis. This same person, or you apparantly and me, will not automatically be willing to pay extra for that. It’s boutique.

People who’d also by hardware by Analogue.

Then you’re not in the target group.

Ads are fine when hosting a service. Just use an unobtrusive provider (like Carbon for tech ads).