- The Analogue 3D plays all your favorite N64 games in glorious 4K.
- Low-level FPGA-based emulation offers a genuine retro gaming experience, with all the niceties of a modern OS.
- 8bitDo worked with Analogue to create an N64-style Bluetooth controller that pairs perfectly with the console.
When you’re looking to scratch that retro-gaming itch, it doesn’t take long to realize that not all available options are created equal. You could fire up a video game emulator, sure, but isn’t that experience a bit hollow — to say nothing of the controls never feeling quite right? Or you could dig that old console out of storage and spend the next week trying to find a TV that will take its composite video input. Increasingly, the gap between these extremes is being filled by new, dedicated hardware using high-speed FPGA chips to emulate that console at a low, super-accurate level. And right now, Analogue is showing off its latest creation along those lines: a modern version of the Nintendo 64 called the Analogue 3D.
Analogue’s been building new hardware capable of playing retro games for years now, tackling systems like the Game Boy and TurboGrafx-16. Last fall, the company announced that its next effort would run N64 games, and now, a solid year later, we’re getting our first look at how it’s come together.