Analogue 3D is the retro console maker’s take on the Nintendo 64. For $250 it will play your old The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Banjo-Kazooie cartridges in 4K. It was supposed to arrive this year but has unfortunately been delayed until 2025.
Boutique retro console maker Analogue, which teased the console last year, is billing it as “The unmistakable Signature and Soul of the CRT. On your HDTV. In 4K.” That’s a tall order, but selling retro magic has been the company’s ethos for years, beginning with the SNES-inspired Super NT, and then the Analogue Pocket, based on the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance.
Like those systems, the Analogue 3D uses FGPA technology to recreate the N64 at the hardware level rather than relying on emulation and will be compatible with all N64 cartridges (you’ll need to own the physical games rather than use ROMs). It also includes four original controller ports for your old, tri-pronged paddles, and comes with a new operating system that should make navigating menus and taking screenshots a much breezier experience.
“Analogue has developed the first, ultimate solution to play N64 today in total fucking glory,” CEO Christopher Taber told Kotaku last year. “Despite all of the amazing love, effort and work that developers have put into the software emulation of the N64—it results in an experience that feels unjustly and wrongly aged—generally ‘off.’ Flatly not a good experience. Coupled with Original Display Modes recreating not just the video game system, but the other critical contextual pieces (analog televisions, CRTs)—it’s difficult to overstate how fucking mint Analogue 3D is.”
While $250 covers the price of the console, an 8BitDo 64 controller will be sold separately that connects wirelessly for just $40. The N64 was home to GoldenEye 007, Mario Kart 64, the original Super Smash Bros., and tons of Mario Party games. Analogue touts it as one of the best retro couch co-op consoles of all time. Hopefully the 8BitDo 64 controller can support that dream with limited lag for anyone who doesn’t have their old N64 controllers lying around, or, more likely, busted the center joysticks on them long ago.
The Analogue 3D comes in both white and black, and pre-orders will be available starting on October 21 at 11:00 a.m. ET. The company’s CEO, Christopher Taber, previously told Kotaku that since its not a limited-edition product, “we will produce to meet demand and continue to make Analogue 3D available into the foreseeable future.” It’s a shame it won’t make it out in time for the holidays, but the company says orders will start shipping out in the first quarter of 2025.
