Sort of suprised at the lack of interest in the Analogue Duo

[Spartacus]

The Duo went live today and neither version appears to have sold out yet. I was really nervous about getting one as they were a fixed quantity and not an open pre-order. Had my order in as soon as it opened.



I have a beautiful PC Engine collection, something at one time I thought I would never be able to afford. I started collecting video games by collecting shmups. Those weird ships, monsters and robots appealed to my love of horror, sci-fi and war films. Almost seems comical to me now because I don't care for the forced forward scrolling game play at all. Baltron and Xenon 2 are two of my favorites simply because they allow you to go backwards - retreat!
I used to look at the PC Engine shmup library at http://www.shmups.com/xenocidefiles/pcengine.html and drool at the pictures. My goodness that PC Engine had some pretty games! But it was a PC Engine game called Mr Heli that got me started collecting PCE games. I have a helicopter game collection and knew it would have to have a game with Heli in it's title. I'm sure the PC Engine is easy to emulate, but I'm not aware of a console release of a PC Engine compilation disc. The Evercade doesn't have PC Engine games either as I recall.
I bought two Japanese PC Engine Duo consoles modded to output in S-Video and RGB, both of which are easy to upscale to HDMI. But the CD drives are old and I am happy to have Analogue's modern version of the Duo.

[Aussie2B]

This is the first I'm hearing of it. I have two PC Engine Duo-RX systems that are holding up, so I'm good, but it looks like a nice product. I haven't been keeping up with the values of retro games and systems that well, but as far as I know, there isn't a version of the Duo or base model + CD add-on that wouldn't set one back just as much, if not more, and that's not even getting into system cards and the SuperGrafx and such, so it looks like a no-brainer for anyone wanting to get into the system now.

[Niku-Sama]

i mentioned something about it in the SuperNT thread. i really want to get one but pre orders when live today and payday isnt till next thursday and i dont wanna dip into savings that badly...

also i still havent gotten my SuperNT

[Tron 2.0]

I'm fine with my current setup,TG16+TurboCD and Duo-R.Beside analogue really get's you with that shipping fee etcs Not to mention analogue is really terrible at having enough systems in stock.When the price was gonna be $199.99 i all most consider it.Still looking at it now if i want another way to play pce on a hdmi tv i rather just have a mister at this point.Btw yes it has a core for playing pce,hucards and cds.

[Steve W]

I'd never heard of it until today. And I just can't justify the cost. I have a TurboDuo with bad caps, it'd be financially easier on me to recap it, get an HDMI converter, and a region converter card. Or I can just play the games in emulation.

[turboxray]

i mentioned something about it in the SuperNT thread. i really want to get one but pre orders when live today and payday isnt till next thursday and i dont wanna dip into savings that badly...

also i still havent gotten my SuperNT

You don't have a credit card???

[Spartacus]

One YouTuber who passed on the Analogue Duo gives his thoughts: "Too Late To Care? Why Are People Not Buying The Analogue DUO? " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLSCh-XTsF0

Gamespot thought "Analogue Duo Preorders Go Live May 19, Will Likely Sell Out Fast"
Slashgear thought "Analogue Duo Pre-Orders Finally Open, But You Have To Be Fast"

At this point I'm just thinking that there aren't that many folks who own TG-16 or PC Engine games. This was never a cheap collection to have. If mine was a TG-16 collection instead of a import PC Engine collection, I could not have afforded it. Nobody was giving away the Japanese versions either.

Analogue is really slow at shipping. I'm still owed a Pocket (my second) with all the adapters. But I excused it because the news was full of supply shortage stories, especially for micro chips. I don't feel Analogue's Duo was priced too high because I know what a real Duo cost me. Heck, you could probably find a working Genny or SNES for under $40 and Analogue's versions cost 5 times that! I'm one of those who plunked down $500 for a aluminum Analogue NES. That's kinda crazy, but I own over 500 NES and Famicom games that I could use to justify it with and I wanted to play them on my HD TV. Plus it made me the coolest kid on the block. Nuk Nuk Nuk

That MiSTer, I don't know. It just seems more complicated to me that what I'm willing to deal with. I don't want to build the machine. I want to play the machine.

My hope is that Analogue will sell out of Duo's, encouraging them to further develop other future FPGA CD ROM based consoles. And I'm really really curious what might be next.

[Aussie2B]

Yeah, I figure anybody who has or plans to buy legit games probably either already has the original hardware or would want it, so it comes down to who wants to double-dip getting another system that plays the games. Everybody else would probably say screw it to the prices for the games and any of the system options and just emulate. I'm lucky that I got most of my PC Engine stuff in the '00s when prices weren't too crazy. I've got a TG-16 too, but I have very few US games, and that collection isn't likely to increase in size with prices as they are.

[Tron 2.0]

I'd never heard of it until today. And I just can't justify the cost. I have a TurboDuo with bad caps, it'd be financially easier on me to recap it, get an HDMI converter, and a region converter card. Or I can just play the games in emulation.

This and have it modded for rbg and run it through a retrotinx 5x or an ossc and you're set.

[Niku-Sama]

You don't have a credit card???

I do but i paid it off right before i moved so it was one less bill i had to deal with, that and the rate went well over 10% for the first time ever since i've had it. most likely from the rest of the rate hikes in the economy lately

This and have it modded for rbg and run it through a retrotinx 5x or an ossc and you're set.

you modded it for Ruth Bader Ginsburg?

[Greg2600]

Analogue's customer base I feel is really the streamers, and that's not trivial, seems like everyone does it now.

[Tron 2.0]

I do but i paid it off right before i moved so it was one less bill i had to deal with, that and the rate went well over 10% for the first time ever since i've had it. most likely from the rest of the rate hikes in the economy lately



you modded it for Ruth Bader Ginsburg?

Dunno on that question but there are people that can mod it for rbg.Even when the analogue duo get's released i assume it will be sold for for certain amount of time then discontinue.Like what happen with mega sg and super nt which are flipped now for crazy prices.

By the way this neat kit came out recently which can be used on a base tg16,pce and coregrafx.Not to mention there is a everdrive now that can play games on cd.

[Koa Zo]

As of today, 4 days after orders opened, they've sold well over 30,000 units.
That is hardly "lack of interest".

[Az]

Yeah, I figure anybody who has or plans to buy legit games probably either already has the original hardware or would want it, so it comes down to who wants to double-dip getting another system that plays the games.

I think another point is that much of what this does has already been available with other hardware add-ons. People that want to run ISOs and ROMs have options to do that, people that want HDMI or some other modern video have plug & play options for that already too. That's not even touching on other FPGA options like the Mister or even Analogue's own Pocket cannibalizing potential sales.

If this came out prior to all that stuff, say 5 years ago, I could see it having much more success.

[Niku-Sama]

in all honesty modded for Ruth Bader Ginsburg or not, the analogue systems have a place outside of streamers.

I bought the Analogue NT and Super NT so i could play them on my bigger screens. my, to be soon, OLED screens.
Partly because its a space issue, when i owned my own house my entire collection was in one little room and most of it was still boxed up and stashed away not making it very easy to get to things that i wanted to play some times.
Sure i have a PVM and have ample ability to rGb mod the systems to work with it, do some digging here and you'll find my research into getting RGB sync on green for PSX using the PS2 component cables to get the signal out (PS2 and PSX share RGB and Component lines on the multi out), BUT i only have a few inputs on the tv, i ran out of room for a decent extron RGB switcher and now i've been priced out.

On the other side of things, I have a TG16 but i've never found the CD add on and again, now priced out. I wanted to get a PC engine instead of that strange region mod card thing, but now i dont feel like they are worth the $100 for a loose system, again priced out. Duos NTSC U or J, Priced out.

at $250, i can get this nearly flawless on my modern equipment and play Any region card or cd based game for $250. sure i dont think i can get it to display on my PVM but thats a small price to pay to be able to even play these games in the first place.

so no these arent really for streamers, they are for people that have been priced out or dont have the space.
I dont have any more room in my new place, plus its only temporary till i can figure out what to do with my life so yea, i'm interested.

i'd like to get my SuperNT first though, still havent gotten it yet

[Oobgarm]

I've had Mega SG and Super NT since they each came out. I was on them immediately. They've seen a lot of use, Nintendo more than Sega.

I immediately signed up for the Duo notification list so I could be on top of it too once it was made available. Of course, that was 2020. It wasn't too long after I had purchased a CIB RGB-modded Duo from a friend (a former regular here I might add) and even though I don't have much of a collection - maybe 6 cards and 2 CD-based titles - I was excited. I could mothball the Duo and not stress it too much. As fate would have it though, something gave out on it and it stopped getting power. Add in the fact that I've moved twice since then and I currently have little space for gaming stuff - so my focus changed to MiSTer and Retroarch on the Series X.

And that's where things have stayed for quite some time now. I'm not really collecting much anymore at all, and when I do feel that urge to play something, I have everything at my fingertips. I don't have to look for the game and/or console. And emulation now is a far cry from years past, and I'd imagine for many, it fits the bill now. There will be some enthusiasts that spring for it, sure, but fringe cases (such as myself) who aren't hardcore-dedicated to having everything be latest and greatest can pass on this. And of course games are already stupid expensive so I can't imagine this machine being someone's gateway into collecting for the system.

All this said, I almost did go ahead and buy one as soon as they were available. Had it in the cart and everything. Eventually decided that I have other ways to play these games practically flawlessly and that I'd be better off not dropping the nearly $300 with shipping to get one. I'd love to play my Rondo of Blood and Gradius 2 discs again but is it really necessary now? Emulation can handle that. I don't regret changing my mind at all.

Eventually I'll have room again to get my CRT collection out and I'll be able to use my older consoles again, especially the Duo if I ever bother to get it repaired.

It just feels that the market has shifted and the space for things like this is way smaller than it was 3 years ago. And this is to say nothing of the Pocket.

(also, long time no post!)

[YoshiM]

Woah! Oobgarm! Long time no see and welcome back!

Me and the Turbo have a on again, off again relation ship. Not as bad as me and the Genesis (which I think I owned five times?) I think I've had three Turbos during my gaming life. One when the system was being sold with a free game (then got a CD system a couple years later), sold it, maybe got a second and sold it then got a third as a gift (bought it for 50 cents if memory serves-just add power supply) and then I sold that before my divorce. I bought the Turbo Not-So-Mini about a year ago and I think I touched it twice. Part of me wants to continue the cycle and sell it but a smaller part of me says "better not.....you'll only buy it again". If I can convince myself that, when I do want to get my classic on, that maybe buying a controller that is a replica of the original controller and just do PC emulation that it'd be good enough. The inner debate continues.

I now have a mini makeup of all my teenage game consoles: NES Mini, SNES Mini, both Genesis minis and the Turbo. IT *IS* neat to see them all lined up. Ugh, my fickle heart.

30,000 units is pretty dang good! I wonder if that's worldwide or if Analogue has a breakdown of where these are all going? That would be interesting to know. Are there a lot of US buyers as it didn't do oh so hot here in the States?

[Koa Zo]

30,000 units is pretty dang good! I wonder if that's worldwide or if Analogue has a breakdown of where these are all going? That would be interesting to know. Are there a lot of US buyers as it didn't do oh so hot here in the States?

It would be very be interesting to see a breakdown of where units are shipped.
The sales numbers are world wide. 20,000 units in each color to be manufactured.
Just under 1600 white remaining and just shy of 7000 black remaining in stock apparently.

[SparTonberry]

Tempting but probably shouldn't, as my Turbo collection consists of only a few PC-Engine CDs.
I don't think it'd be a good idea to get into card collection at this time.

[Gamevet]

I pre-ordered the black Duo on Saturday. I always wanted to play the PCE CD games, so this was better than trying to feta Duo with the arcade card. I currently have a TG-16 with 10 hucard games, complete, plus the Turbo Booster.