After being teased exactly one year ago, Analogue has announced a pre-order date and more information about their latest product: an FPGA-based Nintendo 64 clone console known as the Analogue 3D. If you’ve got $250 USD burning a hole in your pocket and the time to test your luck on October 21st, 8:00AM PDT, then you too can enjoy Goldeneye 007 in glorious 4K! Just be sure to budget extra for a controller and Analogue’s… ample shipping costs, and be prepared for that Q1 2025 shipping date to get nudged around a little.
For those of you just tuning in, Analogue is a company that specializes in releasing clones of retro gaming consoles with features that target the Hi-Fi crowd, like 1080p HDMI output and granular control over the way that sound chips are emulated. Some platforms they’ve tackled in the past include the NES, SNES, Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, and the entire line of Game Boy hardware. While Analogue got their start back in 2011 by repackaging and modifying original console hardware, they set themselves apart from the other clone hardware manufacturers of the time when they released the Nt Mini; a NES clone built on a kind of chip called a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). While FPGAs are not the only way to experience accurate and enjoyable reproductions of older video game platforms, they certainly have their merits and have cemented themselves as a crucial technology in the effort to preserve retro gaming.
Analogue are building on their legacy by tackling the Nintendo 64 with their latest hardware platform: the Analogue 3D. As a way to experience the Nintendo 64 library, it offers a few features that certainly advocate for it:
* 4K (Read: UHD) scaling and variable refresh rate support.
* Built in Expansion Pak support.
* Compatibility with physical games and accessories from every region.
* Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support.
* Filters that simulate the look of playing on a CRT display.
Although it is certainly true that more flexible and/or performant alternatives to Analogue’s product line exist—especially considering that the Analogue 3D won’t be supporting the same OpenFPGA cores that the Analogue Pocket does—but if you’re the kind of person who wants to just play N64 games on a modern television with as little fuss as possible then an Analogue 3D might represent a solid value proposition to you. Acquiring an N64 with an Expansion Pak and a decent scaler or HDMI mod is going to cost roughly that much and still might come up short in a few categories.
That said, if you’re at all interested in Analogue’s products I would recommend exercising a healthy amount of skepticism regarding both their advertising and their release schedules. Just to cite one example, Analogue’s DAC—a product that allows Analogue’s consoles to output analog video for older televisions—appears to have been orphaned despite its broken functionality and being advertised as product that would support Analogue’s future consoles. I have also been deeply frustrated by Analogue’s sluggish firmware release schedule, which will often go years between updates in spite of substantial issues.
Once again, pre-orders for the Analogue 3D will open on October 21st at 8:00AM PDT. The console retails for $250, not including a controller or shipping costs.