Classic gaming has never looked so cool...or been so pricey.
Does the Venn diagram of your life feature an intersection where your desire to play A Boy and His Blobmeets a yearning to spend five big ones on antiquated technology? Well then buckle up, because it's your lucky day! Gamespot is reporting that the retro-gaming revivalists at Analogue Interactive are now taking pre-orders for the Analogue NT, a beautiful aluminum console that plays both Nintendo Entertainment System and Famicom games. Better still, it also plays the somewhat elusive disk-based Famicom games, a boast that no other currently available device can offer up.
The downside? It costs $499. As you can see in the above photo, this isn't a straight reproduction of the beloved NES due to the legal headaches that such a device would unleash, but rather Analogue's own design. It is a pretty thing to be sure, a mixture of past and present aesthetics that will look beautiful in the homes of real-life Scrooge McDucks who can take a break from their money swims and fire up some Duck Tales. If the silver grey aluminum seems a little cold, Analogue is offering consoles in black, pink, blue, and red anodized color options for $50 more.
The NT's top-loading capability means you likely won't ever have to worry about buying a replacement 72-pin connector--a definite advantage over the old NES consoles. It also features the original controller inputs, which will make the games feel as familiar today as they did back in 1988. (Rest assured however the games play off of the same internal tech that made them so popular in the first place.
Accessory wise, the company is offering a $50 HDMI cable. For the same price you can also a brand new NES controller. (Refurbished versions of the original NES and Famicon controllers are also available through the Analogue website as well). No word yet on if there will be any Marie Antoinette homebrew cartridges available.
In an age when nearly every videogame can be brought up on an emulator in minutes, Analogue is betting that some people will want the full old school sensory experience of what the NT offers. It's an interesting risk, but one whose price point just may be too much for most gamers to bear. We look forward to seeing how this one, well, plays out.
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