We knew it was only a matter of time before we got the NES core for Analogue Pocket.
It was just under two months ago that Analogue officially launched their openFPGA update, which was introduced to promote retro game preservation.
As we all expected and prayed for when the Analogue Pocket launched… this also opened up the possibility for ROMs running from the SD card.
It’s just a matter of time before we have every retro console through the 32-bit era on the Analogue Pocket.
Last week we saw the released of Analogue Pocket Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Support and the SNES. And we already have support for the best Sega Game Gear games, GB-GBC titles, GBA, and Neogeo.
One of the last big missing pieces of most wanted console cores was the NES. Well, the wait is over, y’all!
NES For Analogue Pocket
So, where is this NES core?
Well, you can grab your copy of the new core from GitHub.
As they indicate on the Github page, there are a few known bugs and features still in development, which is to be expected with any of these new cores coming out.
But, as we have seen since the release of openFPGA, developers are all racing to be first to the scene with cores.
They are released as quickly as they possibly can, and then they worry about fixes after the fact.
Heck, it was only hours after the release of openFPGA that we had Game Boy cores.
So What Cores Are Next For The Analogue Pocket?
The Analogue Pocket is a perfect home for everything from 8-bit to 32-bit consoles.
And at this point, we have a lot of the important ones.
So what do we have to look forward to for openFPGA?
I don’t imagine we will see anything from the 64-bit era even attempted, because who’s gonna want to play that with the button configuration of the Pocket?
And, I’m not sure if the Pocket can even do 64-bit.
Everything Sega has already been covered, and anything Sony or Microsoft is off the table.
We could possibly see Virtual Boy, and the Analogue Pocket already has a built in color palette paying homage to that console.
We surely have the full Atari console line coming; we already have support for Atari’s 1972 Pong. But I can easily see support for the best Atari 2600 games, Atari 5200, and Atari 7800 coming soon.
You know what we don’t have yet that I would have expected by now? Neo Geo Pocket and Neo Geo Pocket Color.
As one of the main consoles that the Analogue Pocket was designed to play, it seems odd that it is so late to the openFPGA party. So much so, in fact, that I’m wondering if it’s out there but I’m just not seeing it.
Final Thoughts
I would anticipate a lot of Atari and some Neo Geo Pocket in the next couple weeks. After that, I dunno’ what else we need.
I’m just happy to see that the Analogue Pocket became the premium emulator we had all hoped for. Makes me regret not ordering one a year ago.
In case you don’t know how to update your Analogue Pocket, check out our guide on How To Install Cores Onto Your Analogue Pocket.
Once you’ve got your NES Core installed on your Pocket, you should browse our list of the 25 Best NES Games Of All Time.
