If you’re looking for another way to play your oldNintendo 64games, you might be in luck. Third-party hardware companyAnaloguehas just announced a new console, the Analogue 3D, which promises Nintendo 64 games in 4K, playing titles from any region.
Unlike other methods of playing Nintendo 64 games in higher quality, it won’t use software emulation, instead opting for FPGA, or “physical emulation”. Analogue has pulled this off with its previous consoles without being sued byNintendo, so it’s possible that it will avoid the company’s ire here too.
On the website, Analogue promises a “reimagining of the N64”, with 4K resolution. It describes itself as, “The first and only aftermarket solution supporting 100% compatility [sic] in every region. USA, EU & JP.”
Since it doesn’t use software emulation to play its Nintendo 64 games, it might evade the expected cease and desist from Nintendo. The company doesn’t have anything similar on the market itself right now, outside of making some Nintendo 64 games available as digital re-releases on theNintendo Switch. Analogue has also successfully shipped consoles that run games released for the Game Boy, Sega Mega Drive and more in the past, so it seems to know what it’s doing in this market.
The Analogue 3D doesn’t have a specific release date just yet outside of a 2024 window, nor do we know how much it will retail for at launch. We can’t even get a good look at the console in the promotional images that have been shared so far. From what we can see, however, it’s going for a very different design to the original Nintendo 64, something far more modern and sleek.
If you are interested in picking one yourself, you can pop your email down to be notified when more news becomes available. So far, it seems like there’s a fair amount of interest, so there are at least a few of us hopeful that the difference between FPGA and typical software emulation will be enough to help Analogue out of any legal issues with Nintendo. Fingers crossed, the Analogue 3D will be a bit kinder on our wallets than having to purchase old cartridges for our Nintendo 64s too, making it worth the price of admission.
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