The Analogue Nt is a

home video game console A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few game ...

designed and manufactured by Analogue, designed to play games for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

History

In March, 2014 the system was announced. Analogue began accepting pre-orders for the system on May 5, 2014. Pre-orders began shipping in June 2015. A limited run of 10 24 karat

gold plated Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal, most often copper or silver (to make silver-gilt), by a chemical or electrochemical (electroplating) process. Plating refers to modern coating meth ...

special edition systems were produced by April 2016, and were available for sale at a price of $4999. In 2016 Analogue announced a followup system, the Nt Mini, a smaller model which includes RGB & HDMI output in the base model and uses an

FPGA A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is a type of configurable integrated circuit that can be repeatedly programmed after manufacturing. FPGAs are a subset of logic devices referred to as programmable logic devices (PLDs). They consist of a ...

as a processor. By July 23, 2017, the Analogue Nt had been discontinued.

Hardware

Instead of

software emulation In computing, an emulator is hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run software or use perip ...

or an

, the original Analogue Nt uses parts sourced from damaged Famicom HVC-001 systems. In particular the system incorporates a

Ricoh 2A03 The Ricoh 2A03 or RP2A03 ( NTSC version) / Ricoh 2A07 or RP2A07 ( PAL version) is an 8-bit microprocessor manufactured by Ricoh for the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. It was also used as a sound chip and secondary CPU by Nin ...

CPU and an

NTSC NTSC (from National Television System Committee) is the first American standard for analog television, published and adopted in 1941. In 1961, it was assigned the designation System M. It is also known as EIA standard 170. In 1953, a second ...

Ricoh 2c02 PPU, on a custom printed circuit board. A notable original chip which was omitted included the

lockout chip In a general sense, a lockout chip is a chip within an electronic device to prevent other manufacturers from using a company's device to perform certain functions. A notable example is the lockout chip found in Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment S ...

used on the NES. The system was designed to be compatible with NES, Famicom, and

Famicom Disk System The commonly shortened to the Famicom Disk System, is a peripheral for Nintendo's Family Computer (Famicom) home video game console, released in Japan on February 21, 1986. The system uses proprietary floppy disks called "Disk Cards" for more ...

titles. The default model was released with RGB (RGB,

Component Component may refer to: In engineering, science, and technology Generic systems *System components, an entity with discrete structure, such as an assembly or software module, within a system considered at a particular level of analysis * Lumped e ...

S-Video S-Video (also known as separate video, Y/C, and erroneously Super-Video) is an analog video signal format that carries standard-definition video, typically at 525 lines or 625 lines. It encodes video luma and chrominance on two separate chann ...

Composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts ** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic material ...

VGA Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the IBM PC compatible industry within three years. T ...

, and

SCART SCART (also known as or , especially in France, 21-pin EuroSCART in marketing by Sharp Corporation, Sharp in Asia, Euroconector in Spain, EuroAV or EXT, or EIA Multiport in the United States, as an EIA interface) is a French-originated standard ...

) video outputs, with an additional "add-on" for 1080p HDMI output and other digital features. The Analogue Nt's enclosure is solid aluminium unibody enclosure manufactured from 6061 aluminium in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and assembled in the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

. Casing could be anodized red, blue, or black for an additional fee. The system dimensions are .

Reception

The Analogue Nt received positive reviews, with critics praising performance on HD TVs, while noting an unusually high price for the system. Will Greenwald's

PCMag ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Magaz ...

review gave the Analogue Nt a 4/5, praising the graphical output of the system as "simply the best-looking direct feed of an NES cartridge I've ever seen.", while noting that the price of the console with HDMI output was "tough-to-swallow".

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

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.", while also noting that NES games may have limited appeal to gamers not nostalgic for them. CNET.com said "In an age where retro games just don't look right on modern HDTVs, the Analogue Nt is a magical piece of hardware." while noting that "At $500 the Analogue Nt is obviously not for everyone." The high price of the system was noted by many, such as Kyle Orland of

Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...

, who noted that "it's hard to recommend to anyone besides the most committed 8-bit retro gaming addict".

References

External links

Website
(Archived) {{Nintendo Entertainment System Unlicensed Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clones Home video game consoles 2015 in video gaming Products introduced in 2015 2010s in video gaming Analogue (company) products Regionless game consoles Discontinued video game consoles Retro-oriented video game consoles