Analogue (company)

Analogue, Inc. is an American company headquartered in Seattle, WA, that designs, develops and sells video game hardware. Its hardware products include the Analogue Mega Sg, Analogue Super Nt, Analogue Nt mini, Analogue Nt, Analogue CMVS, Analogue NEO and the Analogue Arcade Stick. Analogue has offices in Seattle and Hong Kong.

History
Analogue was founded in 2011 by Christopher Taber. In April 2011, Analogue released the Analogue CMVS, a Neo Geo Consolized Multi-Video-System handmade from solid wood. In November 2012, Analogue released the Analogue Arcade Stick, a Neo Geo arcade stick handmade from solid wood. In November 2014, Analogue released the Analogue Neo, a Neo Geo Consolized MVS system and two arcade sticks, combined into one, all-in-one system.

In 2014, Analogue announced their 3rd product, the Analogue Nt. The product experienced several shipping delays, and began shipping in August 2015 to critical acclaim. In April 2016, Analogue collaborated with Hong Kong based company, 8Bitdo and released a wireless bluetooth adapter for the Nintendo Entertainment System called the Retro Receiver. In July 2016, Analogue and 8Bitdo announced another collaboration, the Retro Receiver for SNES. In August 2016, the Analogue Nt mini was announced.

On October 16th, 2017 Analogue announced their 5th product, the Analogue Super Nt. One year later, on October 16th, 2018, Analogue announced their 6th product, the Analogue Mega Sg, a Sega Master System & Sega Genesis FPGA console.

Products
The Analogue Super Nt is an aftermarket Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Famicom. Designed around an FPGA, it is the only aftermarket SNES and SFC system that is not emulation. The goal of the system was to build a perfect, no-compromises aftermarket SNES and Super Famicom that outputs 1080p HD, lag free, with zero signal degradation.

The product was released on February 7th, 2018 to critical acclaim. Forbes called it "The new benchmark for all retro consoles". . Tom's Guide and PCMag gave it an Editor's Choice Award. Wired Magazine gave it a 9/10 and a Wired Recommends Award.

The Analogue Nt mini is a smaller and revised version of the original Analogue Nt. Instead of being designed around the original Nintendo CPU and PPU, the Analogue Nt mini is designed around an FPGA.

The Nt mini was released on January 25, 2017 to critical acclaim, praising its superiority to "clone consoles". Engadget said, "The Nt Mini offers enthusiasts an authentic, tangible way to play these classics without struggling with outdated technology or subpar console clones. All romanticizing aside, the premium console excels at this task." TechCrunch applauded the Nt mini's FPGA, "The Nt Mini is not using emulation to provide your NES gaming experience, the way those inexpensive modern consoles from Retros and others do – it’s playing the games exactly as they were intended to be played, without the lag induced software trickery, which is present even on the NES classic." Forbes said, "The Analogue Nt is not some Nintendo clone gaming system hastily produced with parts found in the wreckage of a computer repair store. The Analogue Nt Mini is a solid tribute to the 8-bit era designed not to only capture our nostalgic spirit for a simpler time in gaming, but to keep our love for classic games alive with new hardware."

The Analogue Nt is an aftermarket Nintendo Entertainment System and Famicom. Designed around the original Nintendo CPU and PPU, the Analogue Nt is the only aftermarket NES and Famicom system that is not emulation, since it uses the original Nintendo CPU and PPU. The goal of the system was to build a perfect, no-compromises aftermarket NES and Famicom. The default model was released with RGB (RGB, Component, S-Video and Composite) video outputs only, with an additional "add-on" for 1080p HDMI output and a plethora of other digital features. The Analogue Nt's enclosure is solid aluminum unibody enclosure manufactured from 6061 aluminum.

The Analogue Nt was released to critical acclaim, praising how well it looks on and HDTV. PCMAG gave the Analogue Nt a 4/5, calling it "...remarkably crisp, sharp video on 1080p screens...It's simply the best-looking direct feed of an NES cartridge I've ever seen." Vice praised the Analogue Nt's build quality and video quality saying, "the Analogue Nt is a gorgeous machine...The Analogue Nt makes NES games look phenomenal. Seriously. Like, mouth-open, jaw-on-the-floor, tongue-everywhere remarkable".