Analogue's Next FPGA Console Will Bring Nintendo 64 Into The Modern Era
Hardware developer Analogue is back with another console to add to its line of products. The company has just announced the Analogue 3D, a new system for experiencing Nintendo 64 games. However, it is not a one-to-one copy of the original console and instead brings modern upgrades such as 4K resolution support. It will also feature wireless Bluetooth and 2.4g internet connectivity.
There are dozens of retro-themed consoles on the market that can play classic games. However, Analogue's approach to retro gaming is different than most. In an effort to preserve video game hardware, the upcoming Analogue 3D runs on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) hardware that does not emulate software. Instead, the system will run on the Analogue OS to emulate the original hardware. This means it can run games straight from the original cartridges, giving you a reason to dust off your old N64 collection. And because it does not have a region lock, users can play games from every region, including Japan. It also brings a few other features that help to give off the illusion that you are back-stomping Goombas in the 90s.
Analogue wants this console to look good on modern displays
The Analogue 3D will notably support the N64's original display modes. It also claims to be able to recreate how games looked on CRTs and PVMs. This is a big deal for some people, as these old games were not designed for modern-day displays, resulting in the image coming out funky on some games.
Analogue has yet to reveal the look of the upcoming console. However, we can take a peek at the company's previous consoles to make an educated guess. The Mega Sg and the Nintendo Nt, which are now both discontinued, mimic their respective original design for old-school gamers to recognize the respective console while also looking different enough to avoid a lawsuit. There are multiple versions of every Analogue console that feature different colors and sometimes even glow-in-the-dark features, so we can expect the Analogue 3D to get the same treatment.
The previous Analogue consoles featured controllers that looked almost identical to the classics. However, the teased image on the reveal page for the Analogue 3D features a controller that is different than the N64 controller. The biggest change is exchanging the middle thumb stick and handle for a modern controller shape. It will be interesting to see Analogue's solution for playing games that require the middle thumb stick with this controller.