Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | |
Founded | 2011 |
Founder | Christopher Taber |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Number of employees | 39 (2024) |
Website | www |
Analogue, Inc. is an American company that designs, develops and sells video game hardware which it manufactures in China. [1] Its hardware products include the Analogue Pocket, Analogue Mega Sg, Analogue Super Nt, Analogue Nt Mini, and Analogue Nt. Analogue was created with the philosophy of faithfully recreating 80s-90s video game consoles.
Analogue was founded in 2011 by Christopher Taber. [2]
Analogue was awarded "The 10 most innovative consumer electronics companies of 2022" by Fast Company. [13] The work of Analogue has been received positively for their focus on video game preservation. [14] [15] Analogue has won design awards for their Product Design and Industrial Design from Red Dot, Consumer Electronics Show and Wallpaper (magazine). [16] [17]
A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit, allowing players to carry them and play them at any time or place.
The Neo Geo, stylized as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a ROM cartridge-based video gaming system released on April 26, 1990, by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. Designed as both an arcade system board and home video game console, the Neo Geo was marketed as the first 24-bit system; its CPU is actually a 16/32-bit 68000 with an 8-bit Z80 coprocessor, while its GPU chipset has a 24-bit graphics data bus. It was a very powerful system when released, more powerful than any video game console at the time, and many arcade systems such as rival Capcom's CPS, which did not surpass it until the CP System II in 1993. Neo Geo hardware production lasted seven years; it was succeeded by Hyper Neo Geo 64.
The Master System is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured and developed by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 with graphical capabilities improved over its predecessors. The Master System launched in North America in 1986, followed by Europe in 1987, and then in Brazil and Korea in 1989. A Japanese version of the Master System was also launched in 1987, which features a few enhancements over the export models : a built-in FM audio chip, a rapid-fire switch, and a dedicated port for the 3D glasses. The Master System II, a cheaper model, was released in 1990 in North America, Australasia and Europe.
SNK Corporation is a Japanese video gaming and interactive entertainment company. It was founded in 1978 as Shin Nihon Kikaku by Eikichi Kawasaki and began by developing coin-op games. SNK is known for its Neo Geo arcade system on which the company produced many in-house games and now-classic franchises during the 1990s, including Aggressors of Dark Kombat, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, King of the Monsters, Metal Slug, Samurai Shodown, The King of Fighters, The Last Blade, Twinkle Star Sprites, and World Heroes; they continue to develop and publish new titles in some of these franchises on contemporary arcade and home platforms. Since the 2000s, SNK have diversified from their traditional arcade focus into pachislot machines, mobile game development and more recently character licensing.
Bung Enterprises Ltd. was an electronics company based in Hong Kong. Its products were controversial backup and development units for videogame consoles, which could allow the user to play a game without owning the original cartridge. Backup units for Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, Neo-Geo, Neo Geo Pocket, Genesis, Game Boy and Nintendo 64 were developed and produced by Bung.
In the history of video games, the fourth generation of video game consoles, more commonly referred to as the 16-bit era, began on October 30, 1987, with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics' PC Engine. Though NEC released the first console of this era, sales were mostly dominated by the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo across most markets: the Sega Mega Drive and the Super Nintendo. Cartridge-based handheld game consoles became prominent during this time, such as the Nintendo Game Boy, Atari Lynx, Sega Game Gear and TurboExpress.
In video game parlance, a famiclone is a hardware clone of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), known in Japan as the Family Computer or Famicom. They are designed to replicate the workings of, and play games designed for, the NES and Famicom. Hundreds of unauthorized clones and unlicensed game copies have been made available since the height of the NES popularity in the late 1980s. The technology employed in such clones has evolved over the years: while the earliest clones feature a printed circuit board containing custom or third party integrated circuits (ICs), more recent (post-1996) clones utilize single-chip designs, with a custom ASIC which simulates the functionality of the original hardware, and often includes one or more on-board games. Most devices originate in China and Taiwan, and less commonly South Korea. Outside China and Taiwan, they are mostly widespread across emerging markets of developing countries.
The history of video game consoles, both home and handheld, began in the 1970s. The first console that played games on a television set was the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey, first conceived by Ralph H. Baer in 1966. Handheld consoles originated from electro-mechanical games that used mechanical controls and light-emitting diodes (LED) as visual indicators. Handheld electronic games had replaced the mechanical controls with electronic and digital components, and with the introduction of Liquid-crystal display (LCD) to create video-like screens with programmable pixels, systems like the Microvision and the Game & Watch became the first handheld video game consoles.
The history of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) spans the 1982 development of the Family Computer, to the 1985 launch of the NES, to Nintendo's rise to global dominance based upon this platform throughout the late 1980s. The Family Computer or Famicom was developed in 1982 and launched in 1983 in Japan. Following the North American video game crash of 1983, the Famicom was adapted into the NES which was launched in North America in 1985. Transitioning the company from its arcade game history into this combined global 8-bit home video game console platform, the Famicom and NES continued to aggressively compete with next-generation 16-bit consoles, including the Sega Genesis. The platform was succeeded by the Super Famicom in 1990 and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, but its support and production continued until 1995. Interest in the NES has been renewed by collectors and emulators, including Nintendo's own Virtual Console platform.
A dedicated console is a video game console that is limited to one or more built-in video game or games, and is not equipped for additional games that are distributed via ROM cartridges, discs, downloads or other digital media. Dedicated consoles were popular in the first generation of video game consoles until they were gradually replaced by second-generation video game consoles that use ROM cartridges.
The Sega Genesis, known as the Mega Drive outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan as the Mega Drive, and in 1989 in North America as the Genesis. In 1990, it was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, Ozisoft in Australasia, and Tectoy in Brazil. In South Korea, it was distributed by Samsung Electronics as the Super Gam*Boy and later the Super Aladdin Boy.
A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, electronic musical instruments.
The Japanese multinational consumer electronics company Nintendo has developed seven home video game consoles and multiple portable consoles for use with external media, as well as dedicated consoles and other hardware for their consoles. As of September 30, 2021, in addition to Nintendo Switch, Nintendo has sold over 863.07 million hardware units.
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on July 15, 1983, as the Family Computer (Famicom). It was released in US test markets as the redesigned NES in October 1985, and fully launched in the US the following year. The NES was distributed in Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia throughout the 1980s under various names. As a third-generation console, it mainly competed with Sega's Master System.
The Analogue Nt is a home video game console designed and manufactured by Analogue, designed to play games for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Famicom.
The Analogue Nt Mini is a video game console designed and manufactured by Analogue. It was designed to play games for the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Famicom, like the original Analogue Nt. Unlike the former, the Nt Mini uses an FPGA for processing.
The Analogue Super Nt is an FPGA-based home video game console designed and manufactured by Analogue. It is designed to be compatible with games for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
Kevin "Kevtris" Horton is an American electrical engineer known for his work with Analogue with the Analogue Nt Mini, Super Nt, and the Mega Sg.
The Analogue Pocket is a handheld game console designed and manufactured by Analogue. Announced in October 2019 and released on December 13, 2021, it uses field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chips to play games from various handheld consoles up to the sixth generation.