Analogue’s 4K Nintendo 64 is coming next year, but you can preorder it next week

By Carli Velocci Published October 16, 2024

Analogue, the retro hardware emulation company, has officially delayed the Analogue 3D, its Nintendo 64 console. However, it released the first images of the console to tide us over until it launches next year.

The Analogue 3D was originally announced in October 2023 for a 2024 release, but the company announced Wednesday that it’ll now be aiming for a release in the first quarter of 2025. It’ll cost $250, come in black and white colors, and preorders will open up at 8 a.m. PT on October 21 on the Analogue website. This doesn’t include a controller, but Analogue partnered with 8BitDo to create a Bluetooth N64 controller you can buy separately for $40.

Analogue has already released recreations of the Game Boy with the Analogue Pocket, along with TurboGrafx emulator Analogue Duo, among others. All utilize a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip that works as a blank slate for a “core” of other hardware. This allows Analogue products to emulate directly on the chip instead of through other software, allowing for seamless play sessions compared to other console emulators.

The Analogue 3D was a tough undertaking, and the company said it spent around four years engineering it so that there wasn’t any input lag or inaccuracies. N64 emulation is notoriously difficult compared to other consoles, but Analogue claims the 3D will offer “100% compatibility.” “For the first time, you can reexperience the N64 exactly as it was meant to be, without compromise,” it writes on its website. This means you can plug in any N64 cartridge and get going without worry.

Another issue with N64 emulation is that it basically needs a CRT display for graphics to appear as intended. While the Analogue 3D will output video in 4K resolution, it’ll have Original Display Modes to recreate CRT displays for your modern TV.

Additionally, Analogue announced that its Analogue OS will now be split into product-specific operating systems. The one for the 3D is called, as expected, 3DOS, while the Pocket will operate with PocketOS, and so on. 3DOS was built from the ground up for the new console, but will function similarly to the others. Plug in your console or controller and you’ll get access to firmware updates, along with the ability to install other software.