Is Analogue Duo Worth Buying?
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- čas přidán 14. 12. 2023
- We review the Analogue Duo -- does it live up to the hype? Is it worth buying?
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➡More info @www.analogue.co/duo
#analogueduo #retrogaming #pcengine #turbografx - Hry
How do you think the Analogue Duo looks? Are you a big PC Engine/TurboGrafx fan? Looking to pick one up? Let me know what you think!
I'm not. I have all the original consoles up to 1985. That with pc emulators, I'm passing on this.
Love it so far! I ordered an extra one to have in another room in my house. Runs great, no issues with running any of my games.
Loving mine!
Can you guys test to see if the Hori multi fight sticks works with this?!??
I got a white one..... It does the whole gamut of PC-Engine stuff. I need to get an Everdrive for it. 😆
It only is cheap(er) if you are a resident in US. In Sweden, I got $112 customs tax import fee. So add that upon the $79.99 shipping cost. :) I ended up at 329.98 + 112 = 441.98 USD. But you can probably not get a SuperGrafX + CdRom^2 + Arcade Card for less than that. Also you'd want to rgb mod atleast one of them. It'd probably cost round 600 USD.
You could also go a really cheap Core GrafX for like $30->$40 + Super HD System 3 Pro for $273 (excl shipping) which has "jailbreak" and hdmi out and support for everything. Which would go for less than the Analogue Duo, at around the same form factor (except vertical instead of horizontal).
I'm patiently waiting for the DAC (digital-to-analog converter) to be back in stock and for Analogue to add support for it on the Pocket so I can finally connect my Pocket/dock to a CRT screen.
I was most excited about this and it just arrived in the mail. Spotty game support, DAC incompatibility, and the subpar menu ui makes me wonder just what the hell Analogue was doing for the past year. I own every analogue device except the pocket but this is unfortunately the last time I support them.
once a year is one more than Review Tech USA
Does he even review technology anymore?
I miss the 1316Killer shenanigans.
@@ladynikkieDK Oldies.
😂😂😂
@ladynikkie he's more of a "drama" channel lately 🤦
I think this is super awesome!!! The fact that the TG16 wasn't that popular back in the day, and wasn't really 'affordable ' on mowing lawns back then until they were being clearanced. The market is there, the games are bad ass for the day. Now I have an excuse to amass a PCE collection of all my favorite games and have 100 working console thats gonna last!
I was surprised when the Wisdom Tree Bible games didn't play on the Pocket. I'm still holding out hope for a firmware update for that lol.
Controller port should have been on the front! Original controllers are incredible with 3 selectable turbo settings but cords are extremely short. TurboChip slot should have been open to see card artwork and to allow for Everdrive to fit without having to remove its plastic cover/shielding. Disc window should have been made to view disc spinning like original Duo, missed opportunity there. Other than those minor complaints it’s sleek, new and will definitely reduce wear on my original TurboDuo’s
The original cords were like 3 feet long I think? Need to get the multi-tap for the extra distance!
The Game Express CD cards are not really cracks. From what I recall, they're just custom implementations of the CD-ROM driver, since they didn't have access to the SDK to use the regular CD-ROM cards. Since it's their own implementation, it breaks compatibility with regular CD-ROM cards.
What about Neo Geo FPGA because those Carts cost like 500-700 dollars.
I could see them doing a Neo Geo CD FPGA.
@@ZeniusFox I mean the cd is much cheaper than the carts but what about a duo like the one they made for the turbo duo/PC engine.
They have done a MVS made of wood. I believe it was one of there first consoles.
I can't tell if Ian is 40 or 70.
The TG16 Mini USB controller works nicely as well btw.
So looking forward to mine arriving (all the way down here on the Island to the south of the land of Oz :)). It's on the way, hit Honolulu yesterday, so I am pretty hopeful it will make it here by the predicted 19th!
I have quite an extensive PC Engine collection and do have a really good working Turbo R, but especially due to the size of my collection and my remoteness, this new unit will be essential for ensuring I can have a working system.
Then you have the obvious improvements of HDMI out, and things I don't have such as a Super Grafx. I have an original Everdrive card which should fit in the system as well.
I will probably still use my wired arcade stick most of the time.
Analogue seems to have definitely improved their act in general, with much more realistic stock levels, an easier pre-order process and they have kept to their promised shipping dates.
Tasmania? I don’t know anybody could live there with those Tasmanian Devils on the loose. (Disclaimer, my entire knowledge of such creatures comes from cartoons.)
@@billcook4768 oh yeah totally like the cartoons, you have to shelter in doors all time ;)
Saying that you wouldn't want one of them to bite you, as they have incredible jaw strength. Their numbers have been massively reduced due to a genetic facial cancer disease that has been running rampant. They think they have managed to breed a couple of populations that are free from the disease but it is going to take them a very long time to recover.
But don't forget about the Tiger Snakes (2nd most deadly snake in the world), the red back spiders and other lovely creatures :)
I visit my DUO R and talk softly to it so it knows it's loved
Thanks for the review guys. I had been juggling at the idea of getting one, since I never really got access to the real systems, at least not at any reasonnable price. You just convinced me, and I ordered one.
Large marge sent me
MiSTEr has a fully working and accurate PS1 core. A very close Saturn core and the N64 core is nearly done.
0:00 I always get a kick out of it when Pat does the crazy eyes look.
I'm just surprised Analogue is being less trash this month, and keeping orders open for a lengthy amount of time. You can actually buy a pocket right now. I ended up ordering both the pocket (and game gear adapter) and duo. Probably the only two things from analogue I'll want. My son also loves Bonk on the pc-engine, so this will be great.
Waste of money tbh
@@ozmond The time I will enjoy from this will not be wasted. Think Hendrix had a quote along those lines.
The pocket is awesome. Enjoy!
This looks so sick but I'm on the fence. I was able to pick up a PC Engine mini when I was last in Japan and it's pretty stacked. It would be nice to have something to play physicals, though.
I got my duo on Monday. If you have physical media it’s worth it!
Wish they'd add the Trintron filter option in Mega SG and Super Nt. Looks beautiful with Duo games.
Read your response to jirard as well. In the great words of ali g...respek.
Indie devs wont touch him either, theyre removing him from sea of stars.
Who would've thought jirard was actually tommy tallerico?!
@@thweetiebird well he just issued the statement like a few hours ago, and since they don't do these shows weekly, we prob won't hear him talk about it for a few weeks (and maybe by then jirard will be audited, so he'll have more to discuss). I don't know if I'd say they were friends, it read more like colleagues. He mentioned he donated to indieland, and that he's done his own charity work w/ the NES marathon, and how disappointed he's at the way jirard handled it. He mentioned that this shouldn't discourage people from donating to real/legit charities as well.
This I might get at some point simply because it can play games for all of the systems in the PC-Engine family. The Japanese versions of the base units are cheap enough, but I hardly want to commit to all of those attachments and/or cartridge converters.
This is the only one of Analogue's devices I've ever bought. No complaints.
First glance legit thought that was Pat and Frank
I actually cancelled my pre-order because I was able to pick the JP Duo with EU cables, controller and a couple of games (including Castlevania Rondo of Blood) for 300€. Felt like a no brainer to me, although I would appreciate the HDMI upgrade. Regardless, with taxes and shipping the Analogue Duo would cost close to 370$ to Finland. That's not cheap.
Same to uk. Even though it was partly designed here. Not getting a European distributor is so amateur. if guys making ode's can get european resellers , then so can analogue.
My two main issues with it currently, is that it seems only the TED Pro works as my TED 2.5 just throws SD errors, but it works fine on my actual TurboDUO. And the blinking LED for the controller pairing is really annoying as it is always blinking even with a wired controller attached. And worse it still blinks waiting for a controller even when the system is powered off. But all of the games I've tried on it that I own have worked fine. Like Ian, I prefer to use my Avenue 6 pad as well.
When things blink like that or are to bright, a sliver of electrical tape usually helps the annoyance tone down at least 🤷🏻♂️
Just press the small button on the side and it will turn off. I had the same issue. The light will turn off if you press the button.
I havnt gotten mine yet, but I've heard from mylifeingaming and gamesack that the Turbo everdrive pro doesn't fit in the Duo unless you take it apart. The original turbo everdrive doesnt even work at all. I feel like this was a big misstep. If you're a PCE fan and buying this thing, chances are you have one of those. The 8bitdo TG16 pad is a 2.4 ghz controller, not bluetooth. But the Duo has a built in receiver for it. I think that's pretty neat. Also great that you can burn CD-Rs and play them on the Duo. If you still have any lying around lol.
I hope they add DAC compatibility in the future.
Very excited for this console. My order is supposed to arrive on Tuesday.
Looking at the thumbnail for this i didnt want to watch the video, it looked like it was going to be incredibly annoying, i was wrong, great video, i watched the entire thing.
The controller port on the side matches the original PCE duo in styling. A flip top lid for the dvd would have been preferred but I assume that may have been more difficult to manufacture requiring bespoke drives - it does have an LG DVD drive which is a good drive and so should be reliable in the same way like PlayStation 3,4,5 etc are on the best part. As it’s not a rare part a new dvd drive isn’t impossible should on the rare chance it does fail. So that’s encouraging. 😊
Looking to get this device. FPGA is such cool tech that is keeping a lot of retro devices around and even adding new stuff to products whose manufacturer support is long gone.
now i have a real one, I can say that yes, the disc drive is a little tight but it won't mess with your precious discs, I put my Riot Zone in there and there was no damage to the disc. Overall, this is the greatest thing to ever come for the NEC scene since the TG16/Duo in the US. I am also pleased that I don't have to hack up my USA Duo to make it region free for the purpose of using my Arcade card to play my real copy of Sapphire or the other Arcade card games. On my real USA Duo, or any duo, the side is where the AV port is, so putting the controller there is similar in design so why complain? I use my avenue 6 pad as Ian does, it is great with my OG extension cord. But the fact that you can use almost anything is really nice. I spent about $400 on a USA duo back in 1998, I recapped it and put an RGB Component Mod from Voultar and I didn't do the region free mod because it scares me to mess with the hu-card slot. Factor all of that, and you get some real value here. The Component modded duo looks just like this so you don't miss the image quality at all. Buy this, if you can.
Although Analogue did one many years ago in a wood shell, they need to do a NeoGeo AES! Nice overview, fellas.
I received mine on Friday, but didn’t get to try it out till yesterday. I ordered it because of what you said, cheaper than original hardware. I’m keeping my Core Grafx II to run my Everdrive, but my Hu Cards on the Duo. So far I only have Cosmic Fantasy 2, and ordered Dracula X for cd games. I could use some suggestions.
I can foresee the day pre-orders open for the 3D... ugg... hope the site doesn't crash. Get the browser refresh warmed up. Although Analogue's first project was a reshelled NeoGeo, you guys are forgetting about the fact that they haven't done a FPGA NeoGeo console yet. Im hoping thats next.
Ian kept saying bluetooth. I hope you're using the 2.4Ghz versions of the 8bitdo controllers instead as the lag is considerably better (1-3ms lag, so effectively zero).
I saved the 300 bucks including shipping and tax by just playing on my Vita and Android tablet, leaving my disks and carts on the spinner rack.
I am having some major issue with the controllers with the Duo. I am not happy... They say to buy the 8Bitdo TG (or PCE) controllers, which i did... How do you pair them with the system? It is supposed to not required the wireless adapter (that comes with the controller), it doesn't work for me! I need to have the adapter. I try to play Bomber Man in Battle Mode.... Setting up a second controller is a pain.... I was able to do. Left the system a couple of hours, restarted it... Second controller was not working... I had to restart the system. I updated the Duo with the last firmware available. Even to access the Analog menu while playing, sometimes the controller let me access it, sometimes it doesn't. It will be fixed but it is very very frustrating to deal with this crap after such a long wait!
Just to prove it is technical BS. I know understand the problem with the menu; the Duo doesn't like the second controller. If I am using only 1 controller, no problem. But if the second one is on, then there is no access to the menu with a button combination!
@@migueldias4140 Have you updated the controllers?
@@mambajoopa I am a tech person. I actually work for one of the biggest electronic company in the world which name starts with a S.... I make FAQs for them. I manipulate devices all day long... So of course, I tried to update the software... Not detected by 8bitdo software and if you try to do manual update... They have all the controllers, or almost all of them, but not the PCE or TGE controllers in the list... That said, because of your comment, I decide to check one more time. I googled "duo analog pair controller issue" and I found a page "Troubleshooting your Duo". I use the information there to go back to a 8bitdo with a different method to update the controller (it is explained in a txt file, DO NOT USE 8BITDO software // you transfer a DAT file to your controller manually while connected to a computer). NOW, it is working perfectly. THANK YOU for pushing me to double check again!
I would have considered it if it had a RGB out to use on my CRTs. Am I wrong here or there is only a hdmi output?
what a year! I have both an Analogue Duo and the Atari 2600+ both coming in the mail.
I still don’t see the target market. If you don’t already have a PCE collection, it’s far too expensive to start now. And if you do have a collection, you probably have a way to play them.
I started now. And got the duo. I always wanted a tg16 but my parents refused to buy it. It is expensive to get started but I’m loving my childhood dream through it. The duo delivered on Monday already played several hours.
Must be a target market somewhere to be sold out?
My Wii's and PS3's auto loader still work. Is that a common piece to break?
I've seen quite a few PS4s with broken drives, or they at least need to be opened and cleaned to work right again. You want to have the least amount of moving parts as possible because then the console will most likely last longer, if the old cartridge based consoles had CD drives, harddrives, fans, etc., I doubt many of them would function 100% these days nearly 30 years later.
THIS is the only Analogue system that got me interested. I didn't pre-order one because I am still debating on selling my boxed TG16.
I’m hoping that Analogue gets its duo ironed out. I want mine when it eventually arrives, (ordered the initial second) to run like the original with all the bells and whistles of the Switch…aside from being portable.
My UPS tracking has been stuck on "label created" for a week now
Got my tracking number on Monday the 11th for my pre-order from May, still hasn't shipped. Waiting patiently for a very long time for this. Hope it comes by Christmas.
Same here and there seems to be plenty more.
Pay a premium price for shipping and get a bargain basement service.
Not happy.
Did you order a white one?
@@Maikeru722 I did, all the unboxings seem to be the black ones. Seems a bit strange if they have processed them separately.
@@mambajoopa I had a hunch that they shipped out the black units first. I ordered a white one and the status still says created label.
@@Maikeru722 In the discussion on another video someone has said that they ordered both colours but only the black one has arrived.
I will follow up my other reply to this video with:
I love the pocket. LOVE it. And mostly for the non openFPGA stuff (though that stuff is cool... pretty neat to play FPGA version of donkey kong on the go... soon even the TMNT arcade game and Simpsons too). It's a wonderful gameboy / color / advance. The filters are so so good. Super Mario Bro Land 2 halloween level in the pinball neon matrix filter is just so good. For the cost of an SP + screen mod + battery upgrade... the pocket is just easily worth the upcharge.
I have a lot of original gameboy hardware across the generations. None of it gets played really any more in favor of the pocket.
Agree with Ian's take about scanlines being more important for later systems. Pat's right, NES looks pretty good without them. I'd add NEO GEO to that list of systems that benefit from well implemented scanlines.
It's finally out? I swear I forgot this was a thing until now.
Does the drive itself support CD+G discs? Because if it doesn't read that format, it doesn't matter what you do, it's not going to work.
I've been wanting to get a PC engine or TG-16 for years, but they are way too rich for me. This is the first one of these I'm excited about. Still pricy, but for the same price as the original TG-16 alone you also get the CD drive.
Neo Geo would be a good one! Give us AES, MVS, and Neo Geo CD like the Neo Geo Duo that never existed
Is Altered Beast CD fixed now???
I suspect the N64 from Analogue will have colors too and they were testing the water with the colors on the Pocket colors. Just a wild guess but that's my feeling....
Great Review Lads ❤
Pat is looking more like Jimmy Superfly Snuka everytime
I thought he looked like Brad Pitt
@@guilty-of-being-right lol
lmao, that Bikini Babe looks like tshe came from a Compuserve Phone modem. NOICE!
Though I don’t own all the analog consoles I do enjoy the super nt and sega one and I’m excited for there n64 one
Still need a system 1.0 card to play Altered Beast CD. Still the best way to play OG games.
It seems impossible to find the games. I only see just a handful on ebay at high prices
I'm not going to lie, I honestly thought Ian was Frank, in the thumbnail.
Looks great 👍🏽
i just want to here what you guys think of the Completionist, and his charity fraud stuff
Analogue makes great products. They just have mediocre business practices.
lol imagine aging 20 years in like 5. alcoholism will kill you guys.
FrameRater did a gear review of thos version
So does this system run reproduction cds?
The 2 button PC controllers are definitely switches, not buttons. Not sure what Ian is smoking, but it must be strong, so you wanna pass a hit over here?
Funny how this came out (albeit delayed for three years) and the TT's Amico is nowhere to be found. 🤣
i assume it's worth buying if you got more than half a million dollars in stolen charity money
Off-topic I just read your response over the completionist video and thank you for your respectable response it was well said. That analoge looks really cool and I can't stop laughing at the Christmas lights Pat you look really cute😂
Just give me a transparent clear Analogue Duo, take my money.
I don’t think anything Analogue should be bought
"Label created"
iykyk
Once the community hacks the drive to play Neo Geo CD games. It will be the PolyMega of your dreams before they did the switch or url and decided to let go of FPGA support. Lol
That dude looks like Frank already isn't he in his mid 40s?
I still think these are unnecessary when you can just buy a PC Engine controller and plug it into your smart tv to play roma
You guys are a cute couple. Great chemistry.
I think disc rot is going to be a bigger issue than the cd drive failing in this machine.
I’d say it’s a tossup as to which will fail first. Shortest predicted lifespan of some CD-R’s is around 20 years. Granted, a CD-ROM is probably going to last longer as it has physical pits/grooves molded into the plastic rather than the literal burn marks. But the reflective layers are no different between the two. Then again, one disc rotting means that one game is unplayable. A broken drive means the whole system is unplayable (for cd games obviously).
Makes sense. I had some Sega CD games that rotted a while ago. @@101fng
The turbo switches do not work when the recommended 8bitdo controller is connected directly to the Duo console. This is a terrible oversight in my opinion and nobody else seems to notice it.. And when the controller is paired using the dongle you can't adjust the switches individually. The procedure to adjust the turbo switches is also very tedious and the documentation from both 8bitdo and Analogue on this topic is pretty much worthless.
It does not accept everdrive cards
I thought your show had ended??? You’ve totally dropped off of the Google algorithm
So... this is going to be a bit of a big post.
A few general comments about things mentioned in the review:
Analogue needs to do a proper NES FPGA. The NT's were done with real PPU chips. An NT in the spirit of the Super NT / Mega SG would sell very well.
I think they'd also still sell Super NT's / Mega SG's. Maybe an analogue Retron 5 or Retron 3 is coming.
Pocket is essentially in the spirit of a portable mister, but considerable mention that the pockets FPGA core for OpenFPGA stuff only has about 1/2 the LE's that the FPGA in the mister has. Things like PS1 / N64 will very likely never run on the mister. In terms of docking the pocket, a good wireless controller solution is an issue. Using a PS5 dual sense with the dock isn't a great experience. I was getting wrecked on punchout past the 3rd or 4th fight because the input lag just didn't allow me to react quick enough. My TV might not have been set properly, as lag is horrendous out side of game mode (not sure if it was on or not). The point is, 2.4ghz is much better and I think a lot of the 8bitdo controllers (M30, SN30) do support that IF you flash them with a special firmware for the dock.
I think the Duo is a fine product. I also agree that the Duo makes the most sense IF (BIG IF) you are a TG-16 / PCE fan who actually has real physical hu-cards / CDs and are in general pretty into the eco system.
The N64 system will do well. But original N64's aren't expensive or hard to get. You can get a plain jane N64 setup with cables and a controller for $60 or $70 on ebay. The N64 puts out some nice S-Video as well which is almost every bit as good as the RGB output of the modded N64's. N64 hardware is pretty reliable in general as well (except for the inherit issue with cartridge based systems... keeping those damn carts / cart slots clean). The reason the Analogue N64 will do well is because of the hype around Analouge AND the ease of simply plug and play here. It's clean. It easy. It just works. No maintenance. No cleaning. Just works. AND they are touting 4K output as well. If this thing is $300 or less, it will do very well. The DUO wins though in the preservation category. I think in 30 years a lot of N64s will be running just fun. In 30 years it'll be silly rare to find an original Turbo Duo - PCE-Duo that wasn't killed from leaking caps AND has a working laser.
Longer version (related to the DUO):
I am someone who embraces allll sorts of solutions for video games. I'm the guy who has both a few CRT's and a pair of Sony A90J OLEDs. I have a mister setup. I have a mega SG / Super NT / Pocket. I have alll kinds of original hardware (NES, Genesis/32X/CD, N64, PS1/2/3/4/5, Gamecube, Gameboy, Color, Advance, SP) and on and on and on. I don't own a ton of original games.. but I do have some for each system. I have a hacked switch which I play the NSO emulators on. I play emulators on my PC. I play the real consoles (both on CRT and OLED).
I had two of the Duo's pre ordered since the day pre orders opened. I cancelled those preorders the two weeks ago. I took a long long look at what I have, and what I use. I am not a turbo fan. I have never played TG-16 at all. Never even via software emulations. I don't want to start buying real games. It just doesn't make sense for me. So I cancelled them. Mainly to use that money on other things AND so the people who really want them can get one.
The DUO really does solve an issue. Original Turbo Duo / PCE-Duo's are dying due to capacitors failing and trashing the mainboards. it's not a simple repair and complexity / difficulty / outlook of the repair gets worse and worse as the damage gets worse. And over time, if left unchecked, it will get worse and worse to the point that the boards basically junk. Lots of these have already been lost because of that, and more and more will be as time goes on. PLUS these things are more expensive BEFORE the necessary repairs and BEFORE you do any type of mods or consider any type of upscalers. The DUO is a TG-16 fans dream come true.
They did a proper nes FPGA with the nt mini and the nt mini noir, only problem is they were very expensive because of the internal DAC and the machined aluminum case
Bought one just to hack
Just get a f*cking MiSTer FPGA and forget about analogue
notice how pat didn't mention anything about the completionist in the latest podcast?
apparently taking down tommy is totally cool, but talking about your buddies who are literal thieves isn't good content.... unsubscribing, have a nice life guys.
Just wondering when you will address your buddy The Completionists BS?
They DID that.
same!!! I want to know what they think about it
they did in an episode? @@MasterZebulin
@@MasterZebulin
Did they? Was it on Twitter or something? Because I don't really use Twitter.
Hey I might be wrong but I think they put this thing through its paces.
I thought Ian was Frank for a second on the thumbnail 😂