After a full year's worth of teases, the retro hardware makers at Analogue have just fully lifted the veil on the Analogue 3D, a new console that lets you play Nintendo 64 games on a modern TV with all the bells and whistles you could possibly hope for.
Analogue 3D pre-orders are set to go live on October 21 at 8am PDT / 11am EDT / 4pm BST for $250. The company has not yet announced when these consoles will begin shipping, and historically Analogue products have suffered from both limited pre-order and lengthy wait times for those orders to be fulfilled. But Analogue has delivered many of the best retro game consoles you can buy today, and if this device meets the company's previous standards it should be well worth the wait.
Like previous Analogue products, the 3D makes use of field-programmable gate array - or FPGA - chips to replicate the functions of the original console down to the hardware level. Analogue's assertion that this is not emulation has always been a controversial semantic topic among retro gaming enthusiasts, but FPGA tech offers some key advantages over a software emulator you might load up on your phone, PC, or other devices, notably including minimal input lag.
The Analogue 3D promises the "first 100% compatible recreation of an N64," with full compatibility across the system's entire library. You can just plug in any original N64 cartridge and go. The console outputs a 4K video signal via HDMI, and Analogue promises settings letting you replicate the "soul of the CRT" on a modern display.
"Analogue 3D's Original Display Modes are meticulously reproduced, virtually indistinguishable recreations of CRT displays," the official website promises. "Capturing the warmth, depth, and texture in every frame. The soft glow of phosphor and vibrant colors unite with immersive scanlines and shadow masks."
That's some very flowery marketing for what amounts to CRT filters, but Analogue's history suggests that these will be damn good CRT filters. The portable Analogue Pocket - arguably the best gaming handheld retro enthusiasts can grab - showed the company's attention to visual detail by replicating old screen tech down to the individual subpixels retro handhelds used to create their images. I'd be surprised if the Analogue 3D did anything less.
I still keep an N64 hooked up to a high-end CRT for my 64-bit gaming needs, and while I didn't think Analogue would be able to tempt me into 4K retro gaming, I have to admit the Analogue 3D is causing me to waver. I'll probably end up restraining myself from pre-ordering the console itself in the end, but I don't know that I'll have the same restraint with the new controllers.
The 8BitDo N64 controller accurately recreates the button layout and weird analog stick gate of the original console, but instead of the bizarre three-pronged layout we've been making fun of for years this controller looks like it was made for human hands. The pad is bluetooth so it'll be compatible with devices other than the Analogue 3D - including the Switch - and if 8BitDo follows the tradition of its other retro controllers by releasing an adapter that lets you connect to an OG N64, I'm absolutely copping one.
Check out our list of the best N64 games for 24 straight bangers alongside International Superstar Soccer '98 for proof these games were ranked by 12DOVE's UK contingent.
