Analogue's latest retro remake is an all-in-one TurboGrafx console

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: Aesthetically, this might be one of Analogue’s best creations to date. The Duo, offered in two colorways, is the perfect blend of modern flare and retro design. And at $199, it doesn't feel unreasonably priced, either.

The TurboGrafx-16 has been getting a lot of love lately. Konami, which acquired the rights to the console back in 2012, announced and subsequently released a miniature version of the underappreciated system earlier this year. Now, it’s Analogue’s turn.

The retro gaming specialist has announced Duo, an all-in-one reimagining of nearly every NEC system and game format ever created. With a dedicated cartridge slot and a CD-ROM drive, it can play TurboGrafx-16, PC Engine, SuperGrafx, TurboGrafx CD, PC Engine CD-ROM and Super Arcade CD-ROM games as they were meant to be enjoyed.

There’s no emulation here. Analogue said it spent thousands of hours coding the Altera Cyclone V FPGA to accurately replicate the original hardware. It supports 1080p video and 48KHz 16-bit audio as well as Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless. There’s even an original-style TurboGrafx-16 controller port should you want to go full-on retro with your old wired gamepad.

The Analogue Duo will arrive in limited quantities sometime in 2021. Interested parties can sign up to be notified as soon as the console is available. Pricing is set at $199 which includes the unit itself, an HDMI cable, a USB cable and a USB power supply.

If that’s a bit too much scratch, the TurboGrafx-16 Mini is currently going for $99.99 over on Amazon.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87149-analogue-latest-retro-remake-all-one-turbografx-console.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Now that people are getting to experience the mini/classic consoles, they are getting a chance to see what 8 and 16 bit gaming was like back in my day.

I got my TG16 on bargain-bin clearance at ToysRUs while my sister got a Virtual Boy. I got just 4 games: Soldier Blade, Neutopia, Keith Courage and Dead Moon... the only TG16 games I've played even till this day (I haven't opened up my TG16 mini to play it).

The Turbo Express and Turbo Duo were excessively expensive and I couldn't afford them - nor would I ask my parents for them. Had the Turbo Express been cheaper and games been more plentiful, I think TG16 could have done better here.

Fortunately, the mini console will allow me to play the main games I missed like Splatterhouse and Neutopia II.

Here is my problem though:

why are you releasing a console to play those classic games, when it's clear that you could release a console that CONTAINS all of those classic games on a small flash media???

Hu Cards were sturdy, but I doubt all 4 of mine still work.

CD's got scratched.

I pulled out some of my classic consoles and tried to run my classic games and many of them don't work.

There is a retro gaming store nearby with fair prices on 8bit and 16bit classics, but the prices on the equipment is still relatively high when you compare them to modern days games that offer way more gameplay and practicality.

It's a good looking console, I'll admit. But I can't consider buying it for the same reason I can't bring myself to drop money on a SegaCDX, Turbo Express or Neo Geo. It would feel like I was wasting money when someone else would quickly tell me: "just download the ROM man...play it on a Nintendo Switch or PS Vita and have ALL the games".

 

[arrowflash]

Johnny Turbo approves.

 

[SixTymes]

Bonks Adventure was epic.

 

[defaultluser]

Now that people are getting to experience the mini/classic consoles, they are getting a chance to see what 8 and 16 bit gaming was like back in my day.

I got my TG16 on bargain-bin clearance at ToysRUs while my sister got a Virtual Boy. I got just 4 games: Soldier Blade, Neutopia, Keith Courage and Dead Moon... the only TG16 games I've played even till this day (I haven't opened up my TG16 mini to play it).

The Turbo Express and Turbo Duo were excessively expensive and I couldn't afford them - nor would I ask my parents for them. Had the Turbo Express been cheaper and games been more plentiful, I think TG16 could have done better here.

Fortunately, the mini console will allow me to play the main games I missed like Splatterhouse and Neutopia II.

Here is my problem though:

why are you releasing a console to play those classic games, when it's clear that you could release a console that CONTAINS all of those classic games on a small flash media???

Hu Cards were sturdy, but I doubt all 4 of mine still work.

CD's got scratched.

I pulled out some of my classic consoles and tried to run my classic games and many of them don't work.

There is a retro gaming store nearby with fair prices on 8bit and 16bit classics, but the prices on the equipment is still relatively high when you compare them to modern days games that offer way more gameplay and practicality.

It's a good looking console, I'll admit. But I can't consider buying it for the same reason I can't bring myself to drop money on a SegaCDX, Turbo Express or Neo Geo. It would feel like I was wasting money when someone else would quickly tell me: "just download the ROM man...play it on a Nintendo Switch or PS Vita and have ALL the games".

And, in addition to this: these are just as likely to have errors in this as you would running software emulation.

The amount of testing done on a SoC is always going to be limited, and will be limited by how much the selling company has set-aside for testing before shipment...fixing errors can take longer than in software emulation.

I mean, you only have to look at the large number of single-chip NES Clones that shipped to see how easy it is to screw-up hardware. And once you have the bugs identified, it's much easier for software devs to handle it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_hardware_clone

 

[QuantumPhysics]

And, in addition to this: these are just as likely to have errors in this as you would running software emulation.

The amount of testing done on a SoC is always going to be limited, and will be limited by how much the selling company has set-aside for testing before shipment...fixing errors can take longer than in software emulation.

I mean, you only have to look at the large number of single-chip NES Clones that shipped to see how easy it is to screw-up hardware. And once you have the bugs identified, it's much easier for software devs to handle it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_hardware_clone

You bring up an excellent point. Do they have people sit and play these games from start to finish looking for bugs before they go into production or do they assume the game just works because it's a clone?

 

[koblongata]

Analogue consoles are so awesome, would just put them on display have no problem with that.

 

[defaultluser]

You bring up an excellent point. Do they have people sit and play these games from start to finish looking for bugs before they go into production or do they assume the game just works because it's a clone?

Right, running Z80 test sets doesn't mean the Z80 talks with the rest of the console hardware. There's not enough time to test every possible test case in n a modern system.

Putting it all on a single FPGA dramatically reduced the complexity of built-in-test setup, but you still have limited amount of testing time (for an almost-infinit test set)