Analogue: The Hardware Emulators

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Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - ShiraNoMai - Jan 18th, 2023

The nostalgia gaming market is a booming business, and the "plug-and-play" dedicated console market was just prime for cashing in on that idea. It's worth noting, however, that all of those "dedicated" consoles are merely emulating the software--using basic processing power and video cards to provide enough to do the job.

Meet Analogue--the company to change all that.

Using FPGA circuitry, their hardware-emulating consoles fully allow for a total remake of the existing consoles they replicate, allowing the usage of existing, original carts. It's magic, and a beautiful way to preserve and prolong video-game history.

I own a Pocket (GameBoy) and Super NT (Super Nintendo), the latter of which I got more for the preservation of my SNES library in the event my SNES stops working (probably shouldn't have "blew" inside the cart tray, but ya know, everyone was doing it).

Anyone else hear of this company, or know anything about it?

RE: Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - Moonface - Jan 18th, 2023

I only heard of them through you and Twitch streamers who play a lot of SMW because the NT lets them play the hacks without using their PC, or at least that's the impression I got that they wanted it for.

Of the two I'd say I find the Pocket way more impressive because of how good the screen is for handheld games that never got to be on such a good screen, and they don't look like arse for it either. I wonder if they'll ever make anything for non-Nintendo systems or not. Hmm

RE: Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - ShiraNoMai - Jan 21st, 2023

For streaming (and playing) purposes, having a "real console" that can output HD/1080p resolution (without an insane set-up) as well as practically zero lag in inputs is absolutely paramount. Plus, it makes using flashcarts a breeze, which makes accessing romhacks way easier.

So far, they've made consoles for the Super Nintendo, the Sega Genesis/Mastersystem, the NEC console line (Turbografx, PC Engine), and the early Handheld era (GameBoy, GBC, GBA, Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket, etc). Not sure where they'd go from here tbh. I actually wonder if it'd be worth doing the last cart-based home console, the N64. Hmm

RE: Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - Ravenfreak - Feb 24th, 2023

As someone who already owns four Sega Genesis including the 32x and Sega CD addons, as well as a NES and SNES I don't really need these Analogue consoles. I think they are great for those who want to relive their childhood, they're easy to set up on modern tvs and are miles better than any emulation system since they use FPGA. I think it's awesome that they allow you to play Game Gear titles if you get a separate adapter, the only other way to play Game Gear titles on your tv is by emulation (which isn't as good as actual hardware imo) or modding a Game Gear. (Which you could also mod a Master System and add a Game Gear board to the console, allowing you to play GG titles on your tv. Both are not easy mods for beginners however...)

RE: Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - ShiraNoMai - Feb 25th, 2023

Yeah the accessibility of these things really makes it a must-have for those looking for the best and easiest way to relive those moments for sure. I almost wish it'd get a bigger market appeal, but even the one they have now is so demanding (pre-orders on things go out in like 10-30 minutes!)

RE: Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - Moonface - Sep 29th, 2023

They've already sold out, but I just saw that transparent limited editions of the Analogue Pocket were announced a few days ago and went on sale this morning: https://www.analogue.co/editions/pocket-transparent

I have to say they do look nice, although I wouldn't have grabbed one myself since Shira already bought an Analogue Pocket ages ago so we don't exactly need another one, and I have never used it so I wouldn't have a need to get one of my own from this run anyway. LOL

But I wanted to still share this because I thought they were pretty neat to look at at least.

RE: Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - ShiraNoMai - Oct 17th, 2023

The transparent shells are SO nice, god damn. I'm shocked how quickly these specifically went out of stock. Certainly faster than how the original Pocket did.

Well if you aren't interested in double-dipping, how about a brand new line to the Analogue line up: The Analogue 3D!

Being branded as a reimagining of the Nintendo 64, it boasts 4K resolution, original display modes, Bluetooth/2.4g support and the full range of 4 original-style controller ports! It's worth noting that it is not supporting openFPGA like the Pocket does, so only real physical carts will operate here. The only way to get around that is to get a SD-to-N64 style cart to be able to play legally-obtained ROMs.

RE: Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - Moonface - Oct 17th, 2023

Heh, I was about to post about the Analogue 3D not knowing it had been revealed yesterday. LOL

I'm curious how N64 games will look in 4K, since those textures and models are not remotely designed for such a high resolution and might scale up really badly, particularly with stuff like anti-aliasing. Hmm

RE: Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - Moonface - Jan 10th, 2024

Analogue Pocket | OS v2.0
This news was announced back on Christmas Eve but I only just saw it now, and figured I'd share it for anyone else who might have missed it.

Added custom palette support with new APGB format palettes

openFPGA

Framework version updated to 2.0
Original Display Modes support and new CRT Trinitron mode added. Pocket will automatically unlock the CRT Trinitron Original Display Mode for suitable cores that don't specify any modes. Other modes must be enabled by the core author
Cores can now have different video aspect ratios when docked

APF

Added new Host command [00B8 OS Notify: Display Mode]
Modified Host command [0090 Real-time Clock Data] to send day-of-week

Dock

Added support for 8BitDo M30 2.4G dongle
Fixed video issue with some openFPGA cores and resolutions

RE: Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - ShiraNoMai - Jan 12th, 2024

Doesn't seem to be too crazy of an update like I thought, but it is the first major one. Interested in seeing what the new color palettes are at the very least.

RE: Analogue: The Hardware Emulators - Moonface - Jan 29th, 2024

(Jan 12th, 2024, 05:07 AM)ShiraNoMai Wrote:
Interested in seeing what the new color palettes are at the very least.

If you're referring to the APGB palette support, it seems a bit limited but their developer document for it shows it's pretty easy to just put together your own color palette: https://www.analogue.co/developer/docs/custom-palettes