Analogue, the gaming company known for products such as the Analogue Pocket which lets you play the physical Game Boy games you already own, is revitalizing another retro console with the Analogue 3D. Announced this week, the Analogue 3D will give longtime Nintendo fans a new way to play their collections of Nintendo 64 games on the original cartridges without any kind of emulation whatsoever. The Analogue 3D isn’t fully available just yet, but you’ll be able to preorder it starting on October 21st.
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The Analogue 3D will come in either black or white versions to start with and will be compatible with 100% of the Nintendo 64 library, a first for Analogue’s products which sometimes have exceptions in regards to compatibility with old cartridges. It’s region-free as well which means that if you’ve got Nintendo 64 games you’ve collected from a different country, you should have no problem playing those on the Analogue 3D, too.
As Nintendo fans can see from the first look at the Analogue 3D shown above, it’s looking to stay as close to the Nintendo 64 experience as possible save for the controller which lacks the iconic look of the Nintendo peripheral. Analogue calls the Analogue 3D a “milestone in video game preservation” given that it’s usable with every Nintendo 64 game ever.
Analogue products are not typically cheap, however, and the same is true for the Analogue 3D. It’s going to be priced at $249.99 when preorders open on October 21st at 8 a.m. PT which isn’t a terrible price is you’re already accustomed to Analogue (the Analogue Pocket is $219, for example), but you’re still basically buying a new console. The controller shown above is the 8BitDo 64 Controller which costs $39.99 and is not included in an Analogue 3D purchase, but you can plug your existing Nintendo 64 controllers into the Analogue 3D, too, which will probably be the preferred route anyway for any Nintendo 64 enthusiasts looking for an experience closer to the original console.
As far as specs go, the Analogue 3D boasts a 4K HDMI output and both NTSC and PAL support. It’s marketed as being “lag free,” so if you’ve found issues playing your owned Nintendo 64 cartridges on original consoles, the Analogue 3D may remedy those issues. It also features original display modes to mimic the experience of playing on an old CRT TV. For games that might require the use of the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, you can also play those games without issue since the Expansion Pak support is built into the Analogue 3D.
Nintendo Switch Online does offer digital Nintendo 64 games via some Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions, but those don’t encompass every Nintendo 64 game out there and are naturally subject to digital ownership issues as well. While pricey, the Analogue Pocket in particular has shown Analogue’s support for preservation efforts like these, so if you’ve got a big collection of Nintendo 64 games you’re sitting on, the Analogue 3D sounds like the perfect compliment to those.
