Retro console maker, Analogue, has turned its attention to Nintendo 64. The company behind Analogue Pocket announced that a reimagined Nintendo 64 will hit the market sometime in 2024. The first thing that piqued my interest when I saw the story was the mention that the upcoming console will offer 4K resolution.
Nintendo 64 was one of the consoles I enjoyed growing up. The idea of bringing the console back fills me with nostalgia. What I found most fascinating was that Analogue mentioned that the upcoming console will not use any form of emulation.
Designed using a special hardware chip called FPGA (field-programmable gate array), the console will only play original Nintendo 64 cartridges which users will be required to insert into the cartridge slot. In other words, it will not play copyrighted ROM files. Sadly, I’m not sure I will find the Nintendo 64 cartridges I piled up back then.
The company also mentioned that the new console will come with “Original Display Modes featuring reference quality recreations of specific CRTs and PVMs” that will satiate purists. In addition to that, the console will come with four controller ports and Bluetooth support.
Analogue teased that it will be “the first and only aftermarket solution supporting 100% compatibility in every region,” including Japan, Europe, and the United States. Another interesting feature of the upcoming console is wireless Bluetooth and 2.4G.
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Analogue did not disclose the price of the upcoming console. However, previous retro projects by the company have been sold between $200 and $250. I don’t expect the price of the Nintendo 64 to be less than that.
The company’s previous projects sold out quickly. Therefore, if you want to be the first to know when the console becomes available, submit your email address here.
Why Analogue’s projects should be encouraged
The Nintendo 64 was first nicknamed Project Reality, and then, Ultra 64, before it was released in Japan in June 1996. Later in September of the same year, the console was launched in North America. It became available in Europe in March of the following year.
Nintendo 64 is regarded as the first real foray into polygonal graphics. Its Super FX chip led to a handful of polygonal games on the SNES. It was also the first console that sort of standardized an analog controller and one of the first to have four controller ports which allowed up to four players—what has transitioned to online multiplayer today.
Analogue has previously rebirth retro consoles like NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis, allowing players to enjoy old cartridges with modern visuals. However, their Nintendo 64 project is considered the most ambitious yet because the console is difficult to emulate. Nintendo struggled to get it right. Nevertheless, Analogue believes it should not be a problem, thanks to the use of FPGA technology.
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The founder Christopher Taber said the company has been working on Analogue 3D for the last three years. “This is one that nobody thought was possible,” he said.
According to the Video Game History Foundation, 87% of classic video games have been lost over time. The group noted that video games should be preserved for both entertainment and study. If we allow classic video games to go extinct, it would be hard to teach future generations about their existence—and even learn from them.
While some people still have game cartridges lying around their homes, they often don’t have the consoles to play them anymore. Through the re-creation of retro consoles, Analogue is helping to keep classic games on people’s screens so that they are not forgotten.
Would you purchase a revamped Nintendo 64 if it becomes available? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
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