Latest news with #N64
Android Authority
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Android Authority
This cheaper N64 FPGA console might be the best way to play your N64 carts
Robert Triggs / Android Authority TL;DR ModRetro has announced pricing for its N64 FPGA console, the M64, at $199.99. This is $50 cheaper than the Analogue 3D, which ships next month. The video hints at a holiday release date, but no specs or details have been announced yet. The Nintendo 64 was one of the most interesting consoles of its time, but revisiting those classics isn't easy. Unless you still have a microfridge-sized CRT in working order, you're looking at spending hundreds of dollars on mods, upscalers, or converters to play the original hardware on a modern TV. Thankfully, there's another option that uses high-speed FPGA chips to emulate the console at the hardware level. Not only does this provide a nearly perfect recreation of the original experience, it also allows for upgrades like upscaling, HDMI output, and more — without the need for expensive dongles or mods. The ModRetro M64 is a cheaper alternative to the Analogue 3D. That's the promise of the latest N64 FPGA console from ModRetro, called the M64. Details are still light on the exact specs and features, but today it was revealed to cost $199.99, which is significantly less than alternatives like the Analogue 3D. At least, that's the early bird pricing ModRetro is offering to interested shoppers who sign up for the M64 waitlist. The Analogue 3D gained significant attention when it was announced last year, but even if you somehow managed to snag one on pre-order (it's been sold out for more than six months), the $250 price tag is a tough pill to swallow. That console ships next month for pre-order customers, but there's no guarantee that it will ever be back in stock. And if it is, it will almost assuredly come with a tariff-induced price hike. In the announcement video posted to ModRetro founder Palmer Luckey's X account today, the company takes several swipes at the Analogue 3D. Text from a flaming retro skull reads 'respect the trident' and 'black and white is boring.' The first is a reference to the 8BitDo 64 controller, which was designed in partnership with Analogue and drops the iconic trident design. The second is a clear swipe at the only colorways available on Analogue's N64 clone: black and white. The video doesn't fully reveal the M64 console itself, but it does hint at a potential launch date. A note on the covered console reads 'No peeking until Christmas,' which may indicated a holiday 2025 release. It's worth mentioning that Luckey is a very divisive figure in the gaming community. Apart from designing retro consoles and founding Oculus, he's also involved in arms and defence contracts via another company he founded, Anduril Industries. The billionaire also doesn't shy away from his controversial political beliefs, which likely led to him losing his job at Facebook after the company acquired Oculus. Regardless, the M64 is set to be ModRetro's second console release, following the Game Boy Color-inspired Chromatic. After selling out almost immediately, the Chromatic was made permanently available for purchase earlier this month. The Chromatic is designed as the ultimate Game Boy, but we don't yet know exactly what the M64 has in store. At the very least it should provide a cheaper way to play original N64 cartridges on modern TVs, which is great news for retro gamers. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
16-07-2025
- Android Authority
Analogue's N64 clone is finally shipping, and there's good news for pre-orders
TL;DR Analogue announced its N64 FPGA device is finally shipping in August. Released in pre-order in October 2024, the Analogue 3D faced nearly a year of delays. Pre-orders are not subject to additional tariff charges, with Analogue eating the cost. The Analogue 3D made huge waves when it was made available for pre-order in October 2024, promising to play classic N64 cartridges in full 4K over HDMI. The $250 pre-orders quickly sold out, and after nearly a year of waiting, Analogue has announced that it will finally be shipping next month. This is the third time the company has delayed shipping, with initial estimates for the end of 2024, then July 2025, and now late-August 2025. Analogue cites 'last week's sudden tariff changes' as a reason for this final delays, but it appears that the date will actually stick this time. Tariffs have touched nearly every gaming handheld release this year, from the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 to the Nintendo Switch 2. Analogue has promised to absorb any extra tariff costs for pre-order customers, but it's not clear whether the product will ever be back in stock — and at what price. The Analogue 3D is a modern take on the N64, with Bluetooth and full 4K output. Despite its troubles with timeliness, Analogue is renowned for making excellent devices. The Analogue 3D is its third release after tackling the TurboGrafx-16 and Game Boy. The Analogue Pocket in particular impressed us in our review, although it now faces stiff competition from the ModRetro Chromatic. ModRetro has also teased an N64 FPGA device called the M64, although no concrete details have emerged as of yet. The Analogue 3D isn't a 1:1 copy of the N64, but rather a modern reinterpretation. It's still 100% compatible with the full N64 catalog, using low-level hardware emulation via FPGA chips to provide a much more authentic experience than software emulators could ever dream of. Given the difficulties with emulating the N64's unique architecture on modern devices, this makes a huge difference for retro gaming fans. In terms of modernizations, the console features full 4K output over HDMI, which is 10x the resolution of the original console. To keep things authentic, it has built-in filters to replicate the CRT look of displays at the time. It keeps the power and reset buttons of the original console, as well as all four controller ports. If you don't have (or just hate) original N64 controllers, Analogue has partnered with 8bitdo to create a modernized version, complete with Bluetooth compatibility and a design that's better suited to human physiology. It ships at the end of July, and is compatible with not just the Analogue 3D, but also PCs, Android devices, and even the Nintendo Switch. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
The Verge
15-07-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Analogue's 4K N64 has been delayed again, but only by a month
The Analogue 3D has been hit with another delay, but should still be launching this summer. In an update on its preorder website, Analogue explained that it's modern take on the Nintendo 64 'is now shipping in late August 2025,' after previously aiming for July. The company said in a separate statement that the decision was made due to the ever-changing situation around US tariffs. 'Following last week's sudden tariff changes, Analogue 3D will now begin shipping next month,' the company explained in a post on X. 'We're absorbing the costs — your preorder price stays the same. No additional charges. Late August, the wait ends: reviews go live with everything we've been saving for this moment.' Like its previous hardware, the $249.99 Analogue 3D is a modern console designed to play old games, in this case N64 cartridges. The new console can upscale classic games to 4K and includes multiple display modes to mimic the look and feel of a CRT display, and the company says that it supports 100 percent of N64 cartridges. It was originally planned for a launch in 2024, but has been hit with multiple delays since it was initially announced.
Digital Trends
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
The Switch 2 is the perfect example of why console launches don't feel special anymore
I will never forget the unbearable excitement I felt on that early morning on my 7th birthday. It was 1998, and Pokémon was the biggest thing in the world, especially for an elementary school kid like me. Except that I didn't have a single card or game to my name. In fact, I didn't even have a Game Boy. That, plus Pokémon, was the only thing I asked for that birthday, and I knew I would get it. I can still remember lying awake half the night, unable to sleep while my imagination ran wild with unrealistic machinations of what the game would be like. I woke up just as early to the sounds of my parents and sister setting up decorations downstairs and bided my time before I could go down. It was a school day, but they could sense my excitement well in advance and agreed to let me open one thing before school. Recommended Videos It was, of course, a fresh Game Boy and copy of Pokémon Blue. I could tell you similar stories surrounding my N64, PS2, and even Xbox 360. I was at very different ages for each so the excitement came in different flavors, but they were all just as strong. I haven't felt that way about a new console since the original Switch, and now that I've been playing — and loving — the Switch 2, I understand why. Meet the new console, same as the old console My first instinct as to why getting my hands on the Switch 2 lacked that special feeling as previous consoles was to blame it on my age. I'm a full adult now, and one whose career revolves around covering games, so it would only be natural that the magic of a new console would wane. After my first month, however, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more. The Switch 2, for the first time since the transition from the NES to the SNES, feels like a sequel console in the most literal sense of the word for Nintendo. That might sound like an obvious statement since Nintendo called it the Switch 2, but even the Wii and Wii U had fundamental differences. It is, as most people will tell you, a more powerful Switch. Yes, there are some neat additions here and there, like the mouse controls and camera, but this is not Nintendo taking a creative leap. We have the same UI, a ton of upgraded Switch games, and the console itself is a more refined form factor of the old one. None of that is bad, but it makes it so easy to forget that I'm playing a new console. With game graphics and performance leaps becoming so minor now, plus the number of cross-gen games, there's very little to give me that new and exciting feeling I had with past generations. I know that my memories of my first days with the Game Boy, PS2, and Xbox 360 were cemented in my mind because of how unmistakably unique they were from top to bottom. We're now in the era of PC-like upgrades that lack a new console feel. I'm reminded of a now-debunked quote wrongly attributed to Henry Ford that said, 'If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.' While we don't know who or where the quote actually came from, it still rings true for new consoles. We all say we just want the same thing but better — faster horses — and now that's exactly what we're getting. That's cool, but a faster horse isn't nearly as exciting as a car. I know that nostalgia plays a factor in this feeling. Just like we might think old games were better, we all tend to look back at our memories of getting new consoles with rose-tinted glasses. I will never be 7 years old, living in my childhood home before my parents' divorce, playing Pokémon before school with not a care in the world again. I will never get to take the day off from school after getting my PS2 to play Kingdom Hearts all day. But I do think there's a real loss when all new consoles now, even Nintendo, play it safe by keeping the same controller, same UI, few games that can't be played anywhere else, and only minor graphical improvements. From a business perspective, it totally makes sense. But I do lament the fact that I may never form such powerful memories around a new console again.
Scottish Sun
11-06-2025
- Automotive
- Scottish Sun
Twix ad BANNED from TV after being branded ‘dangerous'
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AN ad for chocolate bar Twix that was branded 'dangerous' has been BANNED from TV. The advertisement depicts a car chase between two identical caramel coloured vehicles - ending with one sandwiched on the other like a Twix. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 4 A Twix advert has been banned after being branded "dangerous" Credit: Getty 4 A watchdog said the ad "must not appear again in its current form." Credit: BBC 4 The advert featured two caramel coloured cars sandwiched together Credit: TWIX However, five complaints have been made against the clip, saying that it highlighted dangerous driving and was irresponsible. Mars-Wrigley, who own the Twix brand, highlighted that the advert featured a "cinematic presentation". They continued by saying it took place in a "world that was absurd, fantastical and removed from reality" This view was echoed by Clearcast, the non-governmental organisation that approves adverts prior to broadcast. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled the ad "condoned unsafe driving" and "must not appear again" in its current iteration. Although the ASA acknowledged the fantastical aspect of the ad, it stated the video's first half showed driving "that appeared likely to breach the legal requirements of the Highway Code". The watchdog said there was an "emphasis on speed", in addition to "fast paced beat and music" in the car chase and "visible skid marks" left on the road. Mars defended the advert, having said both cars were shot "driving at lawful speeds and any emulation would only reflect the legal and safe driving presented." The final scene showed a Twix bar falling through the sunroofs of the two still attached cars. This was also accompanied by the tagline "two is more than one". Original '90s TV ad for N64 game Super Mario 64 now worth thousands Clearcast told the ASA that the advert's style made it clear that it was not meant to be emulated, nor did it suggest "safe driving was boring". The ASA's ruling concluded: "We told Mars Wrigley Confectionery UK Ltd not to condone or encourage irresponsible driving that was likely to breach the legal requirements of the Highway Code in their ads." It's not the first time that a TV ad has been banned from screens. TV architect George Clarke was paid by Scottish Power to star in their television advert. It was taken off air by the Advertising Standards Agency for breaching their guidlines. The watchdog said it misled viewers into thinking they were watching George's Channel 4 hit Amazing Spaces.
