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Analogue's metal NES returns as a $499 special edition
If you're kicking yourself for missing out on Analogue's metallic NES on steroids, the Nt Mini, you're in luck -- provided you have the cash. Analogue has opened pre-orders for the Nt Mini Noir Edition, a final run of the console that comes in a gunmetal finish with gold-hued ports, a refined NES cartridge slot, an updated 8BitDo wireless controller and a refreshed user interface. Throw in existing Nt Mini touches like HDMI out and this might be the ultimate way to play NES (and Famicom) games without resorting to emulators.
Hyperdub will release new music exclusively on a Sega Genesis cartridge
Many artists and labels are constantly exploring different methods through which to release their music beyond streaming and CDs. Some have sold USB drives featuring their tunes over the last decade or so. However, there haven't been too many instances I can think of where a selection of tracks will only be available on a Sega Genesis cartridge.
Analogue's $200 Pocket could be the ultimate retro gaming portable
In just eight years, Analogue has transformed itself from a maker of wildly expensive bespoke Neo Geo consoles to a retro gaming giant. Capitalizing on the buzz around Nintendo's Classic Mini NES and the following mini console craze, the Seattle-based company has created premium high-definition consoles based on the NES, SNES and Genesis, all of which have been extremely well received. Today, it's announcing its most ambitious project to date: the Analogue Pocket.
Analogue’s DAC lets gamers play their throwback consoles on CRT TVs
When you hear the term "DAC," you probably think of the gadgets that audiophiles use to convert digital audio data to headphone-compatible signals. Analogue's DAC, though, converts digital video data to analog signals, allowing gamers to play retro HDMI consoles (such as Analogue's own Mega Sg) on CRT TVs and analog video monitors.
The Analogue Mega SG wins the retro gaming console war
There's never been a better time to be a retro video game enthusiast. Playing old video games on modern screens used to require elaborate cabling and detailed electronics knowledge, or you would have to wade into dodgy ROM sites and tinker with confusing emulators. Today, however, we are blessed with a panoply of options, led by Nintendo's "classic" mini-consoles. But the premium, top-of-the-line retro console maker remains the hipsterish British-American company, Analogue. Analogue's Super NT, a Super Nintendo (SNES) hardware emulator released last year, was a revitalization of the SNES library ready to plug and play (and upscale) to modern HD televisions with a graphical fidelity unmatched by even Nintendo's own offerings. But the Super NT was just the tip of the retro spear, because, as any '90s kid will tell you, some console wars never die. And sure enough, Analogue has just released their take on the other dominant console of the 16-bit era: the Sega Genesis. Analogue's Mega SG is a beautiful little piece of hardware that does for the Genesis/Sega CD/Master System library what the Super NT did for the Super Nintendo -- and is the better value proposition of the two.
Analogue’s mini-Genesis will include an unreleased game from 1994
If you needed another reason to consider buying Analogue's Mega SG console, you might just have one: the chance to play Hardcore, a 1994 Sega Genesis game that was previewed but never published. After 25 years in the dark, Hardcore will see the light of day, now that Analogue has chosen to bundle the game with its upcoming hardware.
Analogue's Mega Sg sounds like the ultimate Sega Genesis
Analogue, the retro console manufacturer behind the Nt Mini and Super Nt, excellent modern NES and SNES reproductions, is now bringing back a seminal '90s rival. The company has announced the Mega Sg, a Sega Genesis, Mega Drive and Master System recreation that can play over 2,180 classic cartridges. Unlike other retro console clones, Analogue, as its name suggests, doesn't use emulation methods. Rather, the company opts to use an Altera Cyclone V FPGA chip to ensure 100 percent compatibility -- and so that games can be played exactly how they were intended. It's not the exact chip used in the Genesis, but using an FPGA chip that runs off HDL (hardware description language), it can essentially be any other chip. It's a solution that bypasses emulation through an operating system, to connect and speak directly between game cartridge and motherboard.
In search of pixel perfection with the Analogue Super NT
The 16-bit aesthetic is the new vinyl. It taps into a growing vein of '90s nostalgia, and it also reflects a longing for a tactile past world that just predates full-scale digitization. Fat, colorful sprites represent an era when technology was still analog and full of exciting possibilities. The Super Nintendo is as much an emblem of this retro near-futurism as it is a game machine. But boy, is it also a great game machine. Hence, nostalgia for the Super Nintendo is currently at its absolute peak. There are half a dozen or so clone consoles on the market and advanced emulators such as Higan that run with near-cycle perfection on high-end PCs. Then there's Nintendo's own incredibly popular SNES Mini. In short, there is no shortage of ways to play these classic games right now. All options have their strengths and drawbacks, but Analogue's new Super NT retro console easily blows them all out of the water, delivering sprites with pixel-perfect accuracy, zero lag and considerable polish.
The Analogue Super Nt is Nintendo's SNES Classic for grown-ups
Just as the NES Classic Edition broke ground before the SNES Classic, Analogue is also following up on Nintendo's wallet-grab on our childhood memories with another premium, no-compromise mini console that plays the gaming carts of yesteryear, and solves some of our issues with the official miniature SNES. This is all, however, for a premium price. Naturally.
The Analogue Nt Mini wants to be the last NES you'll ever buy
Trying to play an NES cartridge on Nintendo's original, 30-year-old hardware can be an exercise in frustration. The console's ancient composite cables offer terrible image quality on modern televisions, and getting games to actually run is a ballet of reseating, jostling and, of course, blowing on game cartridges. Nintendo's own NES Classic Edition and the Wii U and 3DS virtual consoles offer refuge for the casual gamer's nostalgic yearnings, but collectors looking for an authentic, cartridge-based retro gaming experience have long suffered under the dark shadow of compromise. Is it better to play on the original, but unreliable, hardware, or an NES clone plagued with compatibility issues? With the Analogue Nt Mini, you may not have to tolerate either -- but at $449, Analogue's compromise-free Nintendo doesn't come cheap.
Analogue's beautiful, aluminum NES gets a smaller spin-off
The NES Classic is equal parts neat and limited -- after all, it has the correct look, but can't be expanded beyond the 30 games built into it and won't play nice with existing NES controllers. Cheap? Sure, though it's maybe not the tiny retro machine fans have been hoping for. That's where the makers of the custom-built Analogue Nt come in: they've built a smaller, less expensive version of the console called the Nt mini that's set to ship in January 2017.
Adapter brings your own wireless gamepads to the NES
Wireless gamepads for the NES are nothing new (just ask anyone who bought an Akklaim Double Player), but what if you had your pick of controllers? Analogue and 8Bitdo want to make that happen. Their newly launched Retro Receiver lets you use a host of wire-free gamepads with Nintendo's classic console. You'll get the most authentic-feeling experience if you use one of 8Bitdo's peripherals, but the real party trick comes when you bring modern controllers into the fray -- you can use a Wii remote, a Wii U Pro Controller or even Sony's DualShock 3 or 4. Retro Receiver sells for $20, so it might be worth a go if you're determined to play some old-school Legend of Zelda without stringing an original controller across the room.
Moog cuts the bull, reveals Minitaur analogue synth
What's that noise? The sound of a thousand synth-lovers' hearts melting. Why? Because the godfather of bass, Moog, has just raised the muleta on its forthcoming analogue Minitaur bass synth.
