Within seconds, nearly all of the world\u2019s media can be at your fingertips. At the click of a button, you can easily access Buster Keaton\u2019s early shorts, the \u201cCloset Mix\u201d of the Velvet Underground\u2019s third album and the entire oeuvre of Philip K. Dick.<\/p>\r\n
However, this isn\u2019t true for video games. Once a generation has moved forward, and new consoles and operating systems are released, a game that once sold millions of copies might be lost forever. That lack of preservation, of safeguarding history and conserving an important part of pop culture, is a large part of what drives the current retro-gaming trend.<\/p>\r\n
But while emulators and all-in-one devices do a decent job of recreating older systems such as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Sega Genesis, much of the immersive experience is lost. Enter Analogue, a US company that\u2019s been called the \u201cLeica of retro video games\u201d (as its founder Christopher Taber repeatedly reminds me during our interview). Sure, it\u2019s a marketing catchphrase, but it\u2019s not far from the truth.<\/p>\r\n
The company currently only sells two devices: the Nt mini, which can play NES\/Famicom games, and the Super Nt, compatible with Super NES\/Famicom releases. Nothing is preloaded, there\u2019s no emulation \u2013 you need to use the original Nintendo cartridges and these can now sell for up to US$500 (about HK$4,000), or double the price of a PlayStation 4.<\/p>\r\n
But despite those limitations, retro-gaming obsessives consider the Analogue devices to be the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me \u2013 stunning high-quality retro consoles that allow nostalgic gamers to relive their youth in high-definition, and often with many of the hardware perks they couldn\u2019t afford back in the day.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cJust to be clear, unlike other devices, we don\u2019t make products that focus on nostalgia as the key point,\u201d say Taber.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cWe\u2019re focused on creating an accurate experience that\u2019s faithful to the original, if not better. Playing those knock off emulators is like watching your favourite film on a crappy streaming site on your phone. We\u2019ve designed our products with zero degradation \u2013 so with a lot of the games released on the original system, there\u2019s literally no other way to get that pure experience except on our consoles.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company recently opened a Hong Kong office in what\u2019s quickly becoming a gaming-centric stretch of Causeway Bay, just a stone\u2019s throw from fellow niche brands as Razer\u2019s hardware store and Playdium\u2019s virtual reality arcade. The expansion was partly influenced by our city\u2019s close connections to Shenzhen, where Analogue sources its components, but also because Taber has a deep love for Hong Kong.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cWe were coming here to oversee production, and every time I\u2019d come I\u2019d stay a little longer,\u201d says Taber. \u201cTwo months, three months. After a while, I figured I should just move here. The video games and electronics market is so different here. It\u2019s a really inspiring place to be. I love the hardworking, 24-hour mindset. Everything is sharper and on edge.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
That sense of energy and excitement harks back to when the company started in 2011, during Taber\u2019s college days in Montana. He was fascinated by lost releases, particularly those by defunct Japanese brand Neo Geo released for game arcades. While most arcade machines could only play one game, Neo Geo developed an interchangeable cartridge system for theirs, almost like a massive console.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cNeo Geo released about 150 games for arcades, and a load of really cool ones you couldn\u2019t play any other way. If you wanted to play them, you literally had to buy a commercial arcade cabinet,\u201d says Taber. \u201cI was fascinated and wanted to play them, but there was no solution \u2013 so I made a solution. I had no experience at all. I found electrical engineers and industrial designers around my campus, we took the motherboards from the original system, redesigned it and encased it all in a console kit.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Legality wasn\u2019t an issue \u2013 think of it as a fancy VCR machine, playing old licensed VHS tapes \u2013 and the result was the CMVS console, a device that retailed for US$650, almost as much as buying the physical arcade cabinet. The difference though, was the attention to detail, a handcrafted console available in a walnut wooden case, with endless audio-video customisation to recreate an original arcade experience on your high-definition TV.<\/p>\r\n
Released in 2012 with a limited production run, it immediately sold out and now auctions on eBay for up to double its original price. Taber and his team saw they were onto something, and they used the profits for their next focus: Nintendo\u2019s popular but neglected line of early systems.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cWith a lot of old consoles, the original systems have certain capabilities and limitations,\u201d says Taber. \u201cNintendo\u2019s early products are one of the biggest in modifications, with fans bringing in both the Japanese and US consoles to create boutique boards,\u201d says Taber. \u201cWe essentially took everything somebody would ever want in a Nintendo system and turned it into a pedestal product. Nobody else was doing it and what we\u2019re doing is so specific. We developed and cultivated an audience around that.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
The Nt mini, compatible with every type of NES and Famicom game, was released in 2015 with numerous audio-video outputs, including 1080p HDMI, as well as a variety of other features. The reviews were effusive and, despite its US$500 cost, it garnered massive interest and, again, immediately sold out.<\/p>\r\n
The Super Nt, set for release in February 2018, has just as many features, if not more, but is priced more modestly at just US$189. I had a chance to test out the system when I dropped by Analogue\u2019s Hong Kong office \u2013 and to say a wave of nostalgia washed over me is doing it a disservice. This was complete immersion, an experience so much more than my SNES memories, and I was immediately a convert.<\/p>\r\n
But between the release of Analogue\u2019s two major Nintendo-based products, something funny happened: despite years of abandon, Nintendo suddenly announced the release of the NES Classic and the Super NES classic, two affordably priced products that would emulate the original systems with preloaded games \u2013 no cartridges required. The quality wasn\u2019t nearly as high, but the nostalgia-focused audience was much, much bigger.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cThe NES Classic and SNES Classic are great products. They\u2019re exactly what they should be,\u201d says Taber. \u201cThey are bringing this period of games to everybody \u2013 they\u2019re playing them more, talking about them more. People ask us if we\u2019re competing and we\u2019re absolutely not. You\u2019ve got a toy versus an enthusiast product, but the bridge that exists between them is what\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Meanwhile, Analogue isn\u2019t limiting itself to Nintendo. Up next, Taber says, are plans for every forgotten console released in the years since: Sega Genesis, Atari Jaguar, 3DO, Sega Saturn, Dreamcast. There\u2019s no timeline, but their focus and the interest it\u2019s creating certainly makes a strong case for the conservation of gaming\u2019s history.<\/p>\r\n
\u201cIt\u2019s extremely difficult to take old consoles and make products that work on modern televisions which faithfully represent the original hardware,\u201d says Taber. \u201cBut to go from a US$650 console to a US$189 console, with 100 times the sophistication behind it \u2013 it was a long road to make something that effective, but we\u2019re doing it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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