Dystopika (Steam, Windows) is a city builder in maybe the strictest definition of that two-word descriptor, because it steadfastly refuses to distract you with non-building details. The game is described by its single developer, Matt Marshall, as having “no goals, no management, just creativity and dark cozy vibes.” Dystopika does very little to explain how you should play it, because there’s no optimal path for doing so. Your only job is to enjoy yourself, poking and prodding at a dark cyberpunk cityscape, making things that look interesting, pretty, grim, or however you like. It might seem restrictive, but it feels very freeing.
That’s great. But how long until I can play Balatro on my iPod Classic?
(I love that indie devs occasionally port their games to nonsensical or obsolete platforms)
Edit: I actually think Balatro would translate fairly well; assuming the iPod Classic has enough ram and CPU to run a visually stripped-down version. When I had an iPod Nano I played solitaire almost obsessively. The controls were a bit slow due to the limitations of using a clickwheel, but they actually worked really well.
On a side note: does anyone know if capacitive clickwheels still under patent, trademark or whatever was keeping other companies from using them? I loved the way the iPod clickwheel felt and it sucked that no one else had a 1:1 replication of it.
iPod mini was the first with the capacitive touch wheel with integrated buttons. It came out in 2004 and patents usually only last 20 years, so it should be fine to use the tech as long as you don’t use an apple logo, or any of the advancements they made in 2005 or later.
I had completely forgotten about iPod games! I think there was one called Vortex that I liked a lot and there was also game version of the show LOST that I only played because I was a mega-fan of the show that was otherwise very frustrating.
Oh wow, I totally forgot about doing that as well! I think I spent the better part of a day getting it work, then “played” it for all of two or three minutes.
I’m sure there are people out there that will leap at the opportunity to buy one of these, but between emulation with modern controller mapping, and og hardware on a CRT, I’ve never stopped playing N64 games since 1996 and the prospect of buying another $250+ piece of hardware just doesn’t appeal to me. I guess if you totally missed out on the 64 era, this is a great way to bypass the tinkering emulation requires to get to a playable state (N64 peeps already know), while getting the technically best image quality possible, and be a buy. The N64 has a fantastic (albeit sort of small) library of bangers. The issue now is finding carts that aren’t priced to the moon.
Yeah, with the need for the cartridges, I don’t know who this appeals to. I would think it appeals to people who already have a library of games, but they also probably have original hardware, and running on a CRT is probably ideal, not a modern display in 4k. The CRT hides the low detail from the time and has built-in AA, so it (subjectively) looks better.
So, if it’s not for those people, is it for new people? In which case they better be loaded because getting the games isn’t easy. In which case, getting an original console probably isn’t an issue.
Native 4k output instead of a crappy upscaler or a RetroTink which costs more alone than this Analogue product. N64’s native composite is laggy and hideous on a flatscreen TV, you need something like this or a retrotink or a CRT to make the games look good. Even if the Analogue couldn’t play ROMs off an SD card (it can, if Analogue’s previous products are any indication), you could just stick a Summercart in it.
I personally am a ride-or-die CRT player for my retro consoles, but big CRTs are getting rarer and living rooms less accommodating. And N64’s library has a ton of absolutely killer party games that are best experienced on a big TV with your friends, not a dark retro cave on a 20" CRT the way SNES RPGs are. If someone I knew wanted to go a “step past” emulation, I’d absolutely recommended this thing as the second shopping list priority. In order (imo):
Real N64, Real CRT, Summercart/ED64X7 (most authentic, and also cheapest if and only if you can source a CRT that fits your needs)
Analogue 3D, HDTV they already have
Real N64, RetroTink, Summercart/ED64X7 (more expensive than option 2 even if they already have the console and summercart lol)
Real N64, RetroTink or CRT, buying real copies of games at jacked-up collector prices
That’s why these things are always “so close” to being done. You hear the milestone is near, and then it disappears. I have a theory Nintendo waits for as long as they can so people invest a lot, then they send the papers. In a way it discourages people from even starting imo.
Edit: why is this being downvoted. Nintendo slowrolling developers is just like, my opinion man. It’s not controversial
If there is any type of authentication between the cartridge and console that gets bypassed, that would technically be a violation of the circumvention portion DMCA. They have used this exact tactic before and that kind of authentication has been used as long ago as the og NES.
I believe the FPGA modules are written with 100% unique, non-Nintendo code. Maybe the only issue could be the cartilage connector? I’ve had an Analogue Pocket for a while and that project hasn’t been taken down.
Apparently Ryujinx the switch emulator has been removed even though it used unique code and the speculation is the owner got paid off to delete it. Makes me wonder if they get you either one way or another
If your hobby is making Paper Maché Owls, and one day Hobby Lobby calls you and threatens to sue you in criminal court for millions, or you can silently stop your hobby?
Unless you have millions to burn, you give up your hobby, because it’s not worth ruining your life over.
The console doesn’t officially support ROMs. It must run games off the original hardware carts.
However, there’s a fairly simple hack to get ROMs to play on the SD card slot of the Analogue Pocket that many suspect was unofficially developed by Analogue themselves.
Man anyone saying this is a bad thing has never been through arbitration before. It’s basically a room full of lawyers getting paid to waste your time and money just to fuck you over later. Course as I type that it kind of sounds like all lawyers…
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