Analogue is bringing back its Super Nt and Mega Sg retro consoles with updated designs, built-in wireless controller support and a couple of ports that make them a little less allergic to modern life. The new Super Nt Plus plays Nintendo cartridges; the Mega Sg Plus handles Sega Genesis cartridges. Both are priced at $219.99 and will open for preorder on October 19 at 9AM PDT, with shipping expected to begin sometime in December.
The core idea remains the same: each console uses an FPGA processor to recreate the hardware functionality of its respective 16-bit system. That is different from running games through software emulation, and it’s the foundation of Analogue’s pitch to players who want to use original cartridges on contemporary displays. The company has given both systems a “reworked industrial design,” though the announcement does not detail what changed beyond the new features.
Those features address some familiar inconveniences. The consoles output at 1080p, and now take power over USB-C, so owners can use the kind of cable already cluttering the drawer with the mystery adapters. There’s also an additional USB-A port for peripherals. Neither console gets the 4K treatment Analogue offers with its Nintendo 64-focused Analogue 3D, so anyone expecting their SNES or Genesis cartridges to suddenly look like a remastered release should adjust expectations accordingly.
Controller connections are the more meaningful upgrade. The Super Nt Plus and Mega Sg Plus add wireless support through Bluetooth or low-latency 2.4GHz connectivity, letting players connect compatible gamepads without a separate controller-port dongle. That removes one small piece of hardware from the setup—and, more importantly, one more thing that can go missing between the couch and the console.
These aren’t new platforms or a promise to make decades-old games sharper than their original artwork intended. They’re refreshed versions of Analogue’s existing cartridge-playing consoles, with modern power and wireless options wrapped around the same FPGA-based approach. For people who still own the games, that combination may be the point: original cartridges, without asking an old console to do all the work of connecting to a current setup.
The $219.99 price is the number to weigh against that convenience; the announcement provides no further pricing breakdown or shipping date beyond December. Preorders start October 19, and Analogue expects to begin shipping later in the year. It’s a tidy set of upgrades, not a reinvention—which is probably healthier than pretending a USB-C port has discovered the future.
Sources: Glitch Please! and The Verge — https://www.theverge.com/tech/1012901/analogue-retro-console-supern-nt-plus-nintendo-sega-genesis-mega-plus — Reporting by Andrew Liszewski
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