Analogue Super NT - the ultimate SNES

[Rich!]

This launches next week and we haven't got a thread yet!

You may know of Analogue from their last console -the Analogue NT, a premium HD ready re-imagining of the NES/Famicom. The second revision (NT Mini) was designed by genius coder Kevtris and built around an FPGA core. The FPGA chip used allows 1:1 perfect replication of the original hardware right down to its lowest level with absolute perfect compatibility of all cartridges, accessories and mappers identical to the original hardware and zero processing lag. It's not emulation, it's essentially a perfect clone of the hardware itself.

For just over a year now Kevtris has been employed by Analogue co. working on the SNES based successor, the Super NT:

https://www.analogue.co/pages/super-nt/





Price: $189.99

Technical Specifications
Compatibility

    - SNES cartridges, Super Famicom cartridges
    - Region Free
    - Worldwide Compatibility [PSU: 100-240v, 50-60hz], runs on 5v 2a USB

Video

    - HDMI 1080p/720p/480p
    - NTSC & PAL Support
    - Lag free, zero signal degradation
    - A lag free analog video output module is in development for it, and will be released later in the year for those who wish to use the console on a CRT.

Audio

    - 48KHz 16 bit
    - Digital audio via HDMI

Special Features

    - Original-style SNES/SFC Controller Ports
    - SD card firmware updating [via Super Nt SD card slot]

Other Features

    - Scanline options
    - Scaler options
    - Horizontal position adjust
    - Horizontal stretch
    - Vertical position stretch
    - Super Turrican and previously unreleased Super Turrican Special Edition built-in
    - Intro design/music by Squarepusher
    - & more

As it's based on a complete reverse engineer of the SNES itself by Kevtris and ran via an FPGA, it has absolutely 100% perfect compatibility on the same level as Higan (emulator). Worth repeating that this isn't emulation - and as such all add-ons such as the Super Game Boy and flashcarts like the SD2SNES work perfectly on it too. And absolutely zero processing lag.

Some real life shots from review units (digital foundry/kotaku/mlig/etc)











(haven't got any photos of the US purple scheme irl yet, sorry)

Release date/Review Embargo End: Wednesday 7th February. The first run batch was 5,000 per colour variant (so, 20,000) and they're currently sold out entirely through preorders.

I've got a transparent one preordered since March, and I can't fucking wait. I bought one of the final NT Mini consoles made in the last batch, and it's an absolutely superb piece of kit. And having a small, future proof non-emulation based SNES without the hassle of needing an RGB upscaler (xrgb/ossc) and relying on ageing hardware is awesome.

NT Mini had an unofficial firmware update by Kevtris that opens up other cores (master system/game gear, game boy, gbc, atari, etc) and rom loading from SD for each - so yeah, expect rom loading from SD for this one too in the not too distant future if you're into that sort of thing.

[Tasty]

Kinda bummed it's not solid metal like the NES one. Also wish it had come out two years ago when I bought my SNES Jr. Ah well.

[Rich!]

Kinda bummed it's not solid metal like the NES one. Also wish it had come out two years ago when I bought my SNES Jr. Ah well.

It was the best choice. If we want Analogue to keep making these awesome consoles (and they intend to, possibly Sega next), they need to get a bigger audience - and ditching the aluminium was needed to lower the price enough to do so

and it's worked - they've already outsold the entire run of the NT Mini, entirely through preorders alone.

[fistfulofmetal]

Got this thing on preorder and eagerly waiting for it to ship. I didn't bother getting an 8bitdo controller because I have plenty of SNES controllers including a Famicom style to match my preorder.

I really hope they did get custom roms on this thing like the other Analogue products.

[Tasty]

Kinda bummed it's not solid metal like the NES one. Also wish it had come out two years ago when I bought my SNES Jr. Ah well.

It was the best choice. If we want Analogue to keep making these awesome consoles (and they intend to, possibly Sega next), they need to get a bigger audience - and ditching the aluminium was needed to lower the price enough to do so

and it's worked - they've already outsold the entire run of the NT Mini, entirely through preorders alone.

Analogue can die after they made a metal unibody SNES as far as I'm concerned though. It's really the only system I've wanted from them.

[Syph]

damn this thing looks sharp
might have to grab that clear or famicon version

[Rich!]

Some more images of the transparent model, which is the one I ordered. Was a bit worried when I first saw IRL shots of it, but I'm now pretty happy with the decision - especially now Kevtris has added complete LED customization to the firmware (including brightness and turning it off entirely!)







Not sure what game I'll play on it first...maybe Kirby Super Star.

[bork]

That is really slick.  I'd love to see them do something like that with the Genesis next.

[Rich!]

full breakdown and review from MLIG, plus Kevtris:



hooooly shit, can't wait to get this thing

[fistfulofmetal]

waiting desperatelyvfor mine to ship

[Rich!]

waiting desperatelyvfor mine to ship

oh yeah I don't think anyone has got their shipping confirmation yet. Analogue did say 100% of preorders will go out today, and it's not even 10am in Nevada yet (which is where they're shipping from).

My NT Mini arrived here in two days from Seattle to the UK, so I'm hopeful I'll get mine by the weekend...but eh, maybe Monday.

[fistfulofmetal]

I believe I a few people have checked their order page and saw that it shipped but hadn't received an email. No luck for me tho. I'm expecting to get mine on Monday as well as long as it really does ship today.

[Rich!]

I believe I a few people have checked their order page and saw that it shipped but hadn't received an email. No luck for me tho. I'm expecting to get mine on Monday as well as long as it really does ship today.

eh maybe so - my order page hasn't changed yet. You in the UK too then?

[Himu]

I NEED the gray one.

[fistfulofmetal]

I believe I a few people have checked their order page and saw that it shipped but hadn't received an email. No luck for me tho. I'm expecting to get mine on Monday as well as long as it really does ship today.

eh maybe so - my order page hasn't changed yet. You in the UK too then?

Nope, NY.

[bluemax]

I feel like calling something that is basically an expensive emulator the ultimate SNES is off somehow, but maybe that's just me.

[Positive Touch]

[Rich!]

I feel like calling something that is basically an expensive emulator the ultimate SNES is off somehow, but maybe that's just me.

It's not emulation. It's a 1:1 clone. Watch the video above.

To expand on this, it cost me £100 for my SFC Jr, £50 modding it with RGB and £200 for the OSSC and cables. The NT has 1:1 perfect compatibility and performance (as again, it's not emulation but a fully reverse engineered clone) and beats it on picture quality hands down along with zero input/processing lag making it in par with my OSSC setup with an SFC. And it's under half the price.

So yes, it's most definitely worth calling the ultimate SNES. And sadly no, it doesn't seem to be just you - a lot of people seem to have the same misunderstanding.

[a slime appears]

It's the ultimate hardware clone, not the ultimate SNES. The Cyclone V FPGA chip is impressive but it's still emulating original hardware and from some reports it isn't 100% accurate. The lack of an analog output coupled with a DAC is disappointing but I get why they'd omit it to keep the costs down.

If Analogue did something akin to the first Nt where they used original parts to output (VGA/RGB) with an hdmi up-converter built-in, it would be glorious.

[fistfulofmetal]

If you go to UPS.com and go to tracking and then track by reference, you can put in your order# and the city/state/zip of the shipment it'll find the tracking info. Mine is on it's way and will be delivered on Wednesday.

[Tasty]

It's the ultimate hardware clone, not the ultimate SNES. The Cyclone V FPGA chip is impressive but it's still emulating original hardware and from some reports it isn't 100% accurate. The lack of an analog output coupled with a DAC is disappointing but I get why they'd omit it to keep the costs down.

If Analogue did something akin to the first Nt where they used original parts to output (VGA/RGB) with an hdmi up-converter built-in, it would be glorious.

If this isn't the ultimate SNES, what is?

[Kalnos]

If you go to UPS.com and go to tracking and then track by reference, you can put in your order# and the city/state/zip of the shipment it'll find the tracking info. Mine is on it's way and will be delivered on Wednesday.

Thanks for this, I have been wondering why nothing was showing up.

[Rich!]

hahahaaaaa my shipping is totally fucked. not even been scanned in yet and it's been three days. I'm in the UK. Paid for DHL express, and the logistics company have assigned me UPS. My NT Mini via DHL arrived in two days.



they really made a seriously bad decision going with the logistics firm they chose.

[fistfulofmetal]

You can get a refund for the shipping cost difference. They're aware that some of the DHL shipments got picked up by UPS

https://support.analogue.co/hc/en-us/articles/360000634171-Super-Nt-Now-Shipping-2-9-18-Update

[bluemax]

I feel like calling something that is basically an expensive emulator the ultimate SNES is off somehow, but maybe that's just me.

It's not emulation. It's a 1:1 clone. Watch the video above.

To expand on this, it cost me £100 for my SFC Jr, £50 modding it with RGB and £200 for the OSSC and cables. The NT has 1:1 perfect compatibility and performance (as again, it's not emulation but a fully reverse engineered clone) and beats it on picture quality hands down along with zero input/processing lag making it in par with my OSSC setup with an SFC. And it's under half the price.

So yes, it's most definitely worth calling the ultimate SNES. And sadly no, it doesn't seem to be just you - a lot of people seem to have the same misunderstanding.

It's not a 1:1 hardware clone, its an FPGA programmed to be an SNES:

https://www.byuu.org/articles/fpgas-arent-magic/

[demi]

Rekt by byuu, enjoy your expensive retron

[Rufus]

Nah, not at all. All byuu is adressing there is the misconception that an FPGA is inherently more accurate.

The main takeaway is this:

This is also not to say that higan is more accurate than the Super Nt is! Only time will tell. And given the personalities of Kevin and I, it's extremely likely that the moment any issue is observed in either of our products, we'll be fixing it as soon as possible. And hopefully, helping each other with that.

But this truly isn't just about me: it's about the inevitability of seeing this claim that FPGAs are inherently superior in accuracy to software emulators repeated for more systems in the future if we don't set the record straight now.

[demi]

U blind fat boy?

Rich said

It's not emulation. It's a 1:1 clone. Watch the video above.

Byuu just said word for word it is emulation on a chip

[Rufus]

I don't need Byuu's input to know that. I was adressing your post directly. If you'd rather have dedicated hardware to hook up to a TV via HDMI, this thing is exactly what you want. No need for buyer's remorse on account of lacking accuracy or whatever the comparison to Retron is supposed to imply.

All an actual hardware clone would have over the NT is analog output for CRTs (inlcuding the weird 60.09Hz refresh). This thing is extremely accurate out of the box and since it's an FPGA, any inaccuracies discovered in the futrue will likely be fixed in firmware.

What Rich understands emulation and hardware clone to mean he can explain himself.

[Tasty]

Hardware emulation will always have a leg up on software I think.

[Rufus]

Software emulation can be pretty fucking good:
http://retroarch.com/index.php?page=latency

[Rufus]

https://twitter.com/analogue_co/status/962653009648877569

 

[a slime appears]

If this isn't the ultimate SNES, what is?

1CHIP SNES

I have it hooked up to my PVM with RGB and has zero lag, zero compatibility issues, and pristine picture quality.

[Rich!]

Got mine last week. Transparent model. Some photos I took:









Works really well. No issues with any games I've tried. SD2SNES and SGB work perfectly. Scanlines (only 1px height in 1080p mode when they should be scaled accordingly) and colour range (0-255 not set correctly) are a bit fucked, but kevtris replied to me on atariage stating he's aware and fixing them in the next update.

Fits nicely in my gaming setup: