There has been some criticism of Analogue lately from the retro gaming community [1] for continuing to announce and release new products while they remain months behind on fulfilling orders already placed by customers. The consensus seems to be that their products are good but add 4-6 months to whenever you expect to get your order from them.<p>[1]:<a href="https://twitter.com/RetroGameCorps/status/1711847200727368033" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://twitter.com/RetroGameCorps/status/171184720072736803...</a>
The renewed interest in the N64 is very interesting considering how relatively "unpopular" it was during its lifetime. There's also not a <i>huge</i> number of great games on the system (IMHO) compared to its competitors. A top-50 list is not exactly full of all-time classics until you hit maybe the top-15.<p>The aesthetic of the console also has aged very poorly, mostly due to the incredibly tiny texture memory leading to overfiltered smudgy blurry textures all over the place.<p>My understanding of things from the MiSTER project is that the FPGA hardware used there is <i>just</i> maybe enough to be a PS1, Saturn, and N64, but just barely, and <i>maybe</i> not at all. If this was a 3D 32-bit multi-system thing with upgraded texture support, and not only CRT emulation, but also rendering upscaling, we might be talking. Some PS1 games at 1080p with upgraded textures and fixes to the texture warping problem look almost as good as early-mid stage PS2 games and sharper. Some games like the WipeOut series absolutely shine in high-res and are more playable since you aren't trying to figure out if a blob of 6 pixels at 240i is another racer or a wall.
Oooh, this is exciting. I have two Analogue pockets, and really like the device. For reference, the Analogue pitch is: frame accurate / CPU cycle accurate classic gaming device simulation using a hefty FPGA. The proposal is that this feels better / different from emulators. The pockets have some 'sugar' around simulating CRT colors and bleed for a more authentic experience.<p>All this is generally my experience with the devices. They feel very like my memory of childhood games, much more so than play in emulation. And I love it.<p>That said, the software ecosystem side of these devices feels like a near total disaster; I think it's a combination of legal concerns around copyright for ROMs, and the company's DNA. The amount of work to play, say Zelda on an Analogue Pocket, is akin to jailbreaking an Android phone, circa 2013. Lots of sdcard downloads, firmware checks, custom software tools, arcane paths through the OS software. I think they could afford to make a cleaner and easier software path.<p>At any rate, I will order an N64 capable Analogue console as soon as I can - the idea of having an N64/(PS1? Saturn?) device that will last in my house is irresistible.<p>I'm also very curious to see what they do on controllers - the N64 had a weirdo wing-shaped controller, and using other control layouts for N64 games seems tough to me. Should be fun!
The details are scant from this product release, but for those who don't know, this company makes the "Analogue Pocket," an FPGA-implemented device capable of playing most Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games. There's no emulation happening here; everything is implemented in FPGA gates built onto the hardware.<p>Looks like they're advertising a similar implementation of the n64.
Analogue makes some really cool, well-engineered products. But saying there’s “No Emulation” because it uses an FPGA is blatantly false. If it’s imitating original hardware, without being the original hardware, it’s an emulator.
This is one of those products where my first reaction is "Well, that's silly who would pay for that"<p>And then I remember how wrong I was about e.g. the candy-colored iMacs. Let's see where this goes.
IMO, clock accuracy is less important for 3D games than it was for the handful of games that made me prefer the Analogue Pocket (Mother 3 for critical hits, etc.)<p>I imagine they will be hard-pressed to garner a ton of interest over existing solutions, but if the controller is unparalleled and the CRT filters are really good, who knows.<p>I also really hope they build support for microphone emulation. I'd love to play <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_You,_Pikachu" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_You,_Pikachu</a>! again without having to secure the special hardware that came with it (have it lying around somewhere but it has not stood well to the test of time...)
I have recently bought a `Miyoo Mini Plus` for about £70 (inc taxes) and it is able to run most old console games up to PS1 just fine and the build quality is good too.<p>It is linux based and community has made an alternate OS/UI <a href="https://github.com/OnionUI/Onion">https://github.com/OnionUI/Onion</a> with custom scripts, webserver and support of many other systems etc.<p>I couldn't find the price for Analogue, but it will probably be too expensive in comparison.
3D is one area where the FPGA model of emulation doesn't seem so good. The N64 is pretty low-resolution and low-FPS compared to modern devices, which is grating in 3D even though it has a nostalgic charm in 2D.<p>Maybe it's enough to be able to buy a "new" N64 for some, but I'm skeptical it will be able to overcome the N64's flaws.