I Bought A $500 NES in 2020 - Analogue NT Mini Noir Review

[@AlanJones1984]

This thing took so long to arrive that when I ordered it my wife was 3 months pregnant and now, when it arrived yesterday, I have a five-and-a-half month old daughter.

[@ScubaDiverPicker]

They made the cartridge slot loose on purpose. The old ones were loose aswell. They part they fixed was the part that scratched your carts which was fixed on the Noir. Not sure why you think the loose cartridge slot takes away from the experience. You put the cart in the slot and it plays the game? Why does it matter if it’s a little loose? A tighter cartridge slot can damage the pins in your system and cartridge. Unless you hit your cart while playing I don’t see an issue. Also, You have to power off your controller so the light on the receiver goes off. The reason it’s looking for the controller is Bc it’s powered on still. It doesn’t shut off when the system turns off. Also the controller is made by 8bitdo not Analogue. The cartridge slot is great imo. It protects your game and system pins.

[@jeffcross9960]

I'm hoping they finally release a cheaper version of the nt at $200 later down the line.

[@nobodie9996]

"Which doesn't matter because ya can't get one anyway," still interesting and pretty funny

[@NerdyShawn]

Another run getting released today

[@jakesmith5278]

hahahahahahaha...love that line.

[@yllib2012]

@@NerdyShawn Yes and took 2 days to sell out. The Mega SG sold out in minutes. I had no problem getting the Nt Mini but the Mega Sg was gone before I could do the deal.

[@seanmcclean770]

Seriously good review. Camerawork was gorgeous, and the analogy to the Mercedes vs Honda makes complete sense to me as someone who doesn't know much about the device. And it didn't seem like it but you sounded like you were reading of a script. Your commentary was articulate and really well structured. Great review.

[@mestivra6711]

Gotta have that crunch insert. I have major OCD, so I'm sticking e we it my original lol. Great video

[@OneFoxTwoFox]

That wiggle causes serious anxiety. I would rather blow on cartridges than see that. I am sure some badass is making a 3d printed insert as we speak.

[@MalevolentBeak]

5:40 Not too sure that I agree with this being a problem. The human arm is not built for inserting an object into other objects at a perfect 90 degree angle with no wobble. What do you think would happen, over time, to the PCBs in either the console or the cartridge if the connector was completely rigid?

[@TheFrenchy82]

wow.... An honest review of this product... i can understand your point of view : for this "2.0 version" of the NT mini, Analogue could have done a better job... It's still the "neo geo" of a NES system.... but it's really expensive !! I started to play video games, back in the days, with NES... but it's not my system of choice.. I prefer SNES ! Less slowdowns or sprites blinking .....

[@georgeewing2993]

Nice informative review. Purchased both Analogue Super Nt and Mega Sg units however am more than satisfied with my Rerto USB AVS in both form factor and function. 720p is crisp and clean and the cartidges don't blow around in the breeze either lol. Analogue seemed to have missed the boat in that regard!

[@yllib2012]

Having power to the receiver with the console off is intentional and not an oversight in the console design. It may be a something 8Bitdo could fix with firmware. It is also possible Analogue could change this in a firmware update as a new setting. Power to the receiver means a blinking light. No power to the receiver means no ability to power it on by the controller. If it is a real problem for you there are inline power switches available on Amazon for a few dollars. If you choose to use an inline switch, the power on with controller function will of course not work. If you want to retain the power on by controller function perhaps a piece of electrical tape is the best solution for now. I do understand the blinking light always on can be a bother.

[@dioshiba6066]

You know, I don't have many NES games on cartridge. In fact the only one I have on me is excitebike. A part of me considered getting an NT mini, but frankly I just don't think it's worth the money at the price it's at. This review only solidifies why I felt this way about it and if Analogue does consider making another NES based console then they should probably go the same way they did with the Super NT and the Mega SG and focus on affordability and not so much the luxury. And don't get me wrong, I actually own a Super NT and it has somewhat of a similar issue with the cartridges not being too snug. BUT at the very least I didn't have to shell out $500 for it. $200 sure but considering the other features that it has I somehow found myself being able to look past that for the price it was at, especially considering that I expect a couple of new jailbreak firmwares in the future that could put it on par with a SD2SNES cartridge. With this I don't think I can do that as much considering it has a ton of other crap that I probably don't care about anyways, and if I did I'd much rather wait for a DAC unit.

[@hyper_sam9812]

You can actually hold the start button to turn off the controller and receiver.

[@zombiemachinery4868]

I remember you from times of Destiny but I didn't know you were a man of culture.

[@miketate3445]

2:17 those old displays didn't have rectangular pixels. They didn't have pixels at all. Pixels were created by the election beam, and were not a property of the screen. The beam could hit the screen anywhere, and pixels could be as fat or skinny as the hardware drawing them wanted.

[@nyastclair8174]

The cart slot isn't nearly as big of an issue as some people are making it out to be. Never had an issue with the V1 or the V2 so far. Unless you live in a moving vehicle or have toddlers or pets that will constantly bump the system. I've seen games glitch or bug out on many cart based consoles from the cart being bumped. Keep it on a sturdy surface and you'll never have an issue as well. Where else would you keep your 500.00 Nes after all, where this becomes a constant concern?

[@Dikwili]

The big deal is when this happens, it has been erasing people’s game saves. Saves that may be 30 years old or more. With that liability on this expensive system, it is a very big deal. He didn’t even mention the loose controller ports.

[@nyastclair8174]

@@Dikwili You can extract the save from the cart and back it up on the Nt mini if you’re concerned.

[@nyastclair8174]

@@Dikwili The controller ports on mine are fine. I think there’s some isolated cases.

[@skins4thewin]

Lol honestly, I feel like the "floppy" cart slot issue has been completely overblown. How exactly does it affect the experience at all? There is zero reason that anyone should be touching the cart while they are playing in the first place. The only way this is going to matter is if you are trying to actively play during an Earthquake, or you have the thing set up in your vehicle while going offroading or mudbogging. Why else would it even matter? Why ppl even care about the floppy cart slot is beyond me. I honestly couldn't care less. It was never once a problem for me on the original NT Mini and it's not a problem for me now with the Noir.

[@chrisesposito5530]

The best solution to the blinking 8bitdo dongle in the 1st player slot is to get a RetroUSB wireless NES pad. I ordered one recently and it's been a revelation. The dpad and buttons are all microswitches, so you get the clicky tactile precision you need with "NES-hard" games. And, the dongle doesn't light up in the p1 slot, and the 8bitdo dongle doesn't light up in the p2 slot. Win-Win!

[@UttRConcrete]

I bought 2 NT mini noir and love them

[@jay9058]

That thumbnail, I felt it too 😭

[@chrisesposito5530]

The issue is not the cartridge slot itself, but rather the height of the unit. NES carts are tall, which creates leverage. Look at the top-loading NES, for example: it bubbles up to mitigate the height issue and minimize wobble. Someone will make a 3D-printed insert that does the same thing and eliminates the issue. The only thing Analogue could have done is to make a similar bubble-top for the cartridge slot or an insert.

[@Djerique]

Would be nice to see a comparison video between the v1 and the v2(Noir). Since there are much more changes than only the NES slot according to the official changelog of Analogue.

[@BigGeekEmpire]

Mines is shipping now. I can finally collect and get into nes games more. Any cheap but good games anyone recommends?

[@anhdn3132]

This system is like 9.5/10 just because of the minor flaws; keep your system and resell it if the floppy cart slot is a big deal for you. I plan to use an sd card so not much of a deal for me and for retro collection purposes this system is a big deal... you can play this on a CRT!

[@jasonpritchett7145]

Great review, solid points, and you're right, you can't get one. Unless you are me, then you have one haha! ok, i'm done bragging. couple issues... the blinking light, well like you said you enjoy plugging the cartridge in, so just used to unplugging and plugging in the receiver, boom fixed. The NES cart slot is a bit wobbly, this is true, however I have played 6 different carts all have worked on the first try. More so, I have played final fantasy for about 15 hours, and I have left the game running while grabbing my kids from school, eating dinner, whatever...0 issues with a game getting corrupted, 0. The problem with the flaps is that Analogue just revised them, they were scratching peoples carts and they made a change to prevent that. Finally, no one "needs" a Bugatti, but some people just have to have the best, the fastest, the most expensive, and this is where this no compromises system comes in. It's not made for everyone, it's for the people who want that ultra rare hardware that others will only read about or watch video reviews. The moment I first laid eyes on these (Analogue NT Mini) I wanted one but they were sold out and discontinued, so when I got a whiff of the preorder of the LIMITED LAST RUN!!! take my fucking money.... then I had to wait 8 months.... but i'm happy now as if you couldn't tell

[@TheSwartz]

I still don't understand why Analogue isn't currently selling a "normal" Nt; these guys would be making $$ hand over fist... if they were in stock.

[@josephboysuk686]

This company doesn’t care about making money hand over fist. If they did the Super Nt would be in stock. This company is clearly run by people who have no clue how to run things. I’ve seen eBay sellers with better customer support and transparency than this company. I’m disgusted I spent 550 dollars on this for it to get delayed without any word until the month it was gonna to ship. Then to find out it’s poorly designed is even more shameful. I hope when my two pockets come sometime in 2022 at this point they aren’t fucked up as badly as this console seems to be.

[@needhambunch]

Good review! I bought an AVS last year, and when this was announced I almost bout the NT........but for the features it has that the AVS does not, I decided the AVS was all I really needed. 720p doesn't bother me honestly. Just glad I can play all of my original carts on my current TV. The NT is sexy though, I will give it that!!!

[@GameboyZeroOfficial]

I love the Vinyl record analogy. It's exactly what it is.

[@jcchaconjr]

Eh, I can deal with the loose cartridge... I got the Monoprice Audio/Video cables months ahead in anticipation for its arrival and hooked it up to my Sony WEGA KV-27FS120 TV via component, and it looks freaking GLORIOUS.

[@wrightguyz]

“Like a ____ in the wind”. Hahaha, sub’d

[@CoryJacobsen]

Excellent review, you hit the nail on the head.

[@jeffaltman7313]

Isn't the blinking light a criticism of 8bitdo and not analogue? They're not making the controller or the wireless transceiver. The experience of putting the cartridge in the slot is fair but subjective. Growing up with the toaster style NES, a top loader design by default isn't going to replicate that experience for me. At least a third of time I would have futz with it to get it to work and I sure don't have nostalgia for that part of the process. As long as this thing works most of the time with my games with clean contacts I'll be happy. I understand people's frustration with the loose cartridge issue. However, I have mine on a pretty sturdy surface so it's pretty much a non-issue for me.

[@themanwithnoname4723]

In 1990 when I was playing Mega Man 2 and Contra we didn’t have HD 50 inch 4K stuff... had a 19 inch color tv in the living room. Graphics and colors looked great. I have a 13 inch crt in my office. Games look great on it still. The tv was $10.00 at thrift store.

[@JamBurglar]

Haha! Great, honest review. Apparently the cartridge slots on the older models were not as good at making the connection. Mine definitely wobbles like that but so far no problems with the games connecting.

[@mprziv]

Piece of electrical tape to stop the blinking if it really upsets you, don't wiggle/kick the system when a game is in it. The power button is on the back because you can turn the device on/off with the 8bitdo controller.

[@onetwo6039]

Good to know. I haven't opened mine yet.

[@mprziv]

@@onetwo6039 Open it, use it and enjoy it. It's lovely👍

[@onetwo6039]

@@mprziv I start my vacation this Sunday......definitely on my priority list?

[@wulver810]

I saw they are going to release it again, I will pass on it now. Cool for some, but I'll stick with my N64 emulating NES. Hell, I landed on the Aircraft Carrier on Top Gun, first try in 30 years so it isn't that bad.

[@Sariden342]

I was thinking about trying to get it but similar to you, after watching this video it is giving my impulsive nature some seriously conflicting feelings lol.

[@wulver810]

@@Sariden342 You could always profit off selling it.... lol

[@mikedl1105]

I'm enjoying mine so far. I really like the Super NT and Mega SG, so I wanted this as well. It is a bit over built and pricey, but a fool and his money...

[@Ozzie314]

I would love to have all of the Analogue products. They are quite beautiful. Ive been very tempted to buy the super nt and mega sg

[@GameboyZeroOfficial]

"Which doesn't matter because ya can't get one anyway," - Perfect ending. I receive my NT in a couple days... it's the first edition from 2015. Looking forward to it.

[@mrmiyagi8433]

Awesome review!

[@joab757]

Your addiction is real lol! But amazing video!

[@tv4184]

I just got mine too. I dunno what possessed me to get it either lol. Barely use my mega sg n super nt. the slots in those two are also floppy too

[@MaxaMillion711]

Great review. Haven’t opened mine yet. Starting to regret my purchase 😖

[@BriarRabbit]

Try it out. If you don't like it you can always sell it

[@Edwinschuur]

@@BriarRabbitd Doesn't it sell for a better price new and unopened?

[@lillyliberator425]

@chris taber I never regret the Super NT and Mega SG, but then again, those were sub 300$. I do hope they put out a proper NES without the scarcity BS, but til then, I'm all about dat RetroUSB AVS

[@utubepunk]

Why regret? If you sell it, you'll make more than you paid for it.

[@x3nomat]

But... why?? I bought two. xD

[@TeftyTeft]

"Dick In The Wind" Future DCP episode title Great review!

[@skins4thewin]

The way the Tranceiver functions is unfortunately not up to Analogue - it was 8BitDo who designed the Tranceiver. Unfortunately it's something that only 8BitDo could change with either a Firmware update or a design change for future revisions, as it has no choice but to be constantly powered of one wants to keep the ability to be able to turn the system on from the controller at any time. The only thing I can think of that Analogue could maybe do would be to add an option in the menu that allows you to turn off the "Always On" nature of the system. Whether that can even be done via a menu option is something I do not know, as it might not be able to be controlled via the menu. It might be something that's built into the hardware itself and might not be able to be changed.

[@Xanduur]

In regards to the cart...put it in the slot and leave it alone. Problem solved.

[@utubepunk]

🙄👌

[@garyparadis8868]

Just wondering, do you have a brother that lives in ct. you look so much like someone I know.

[@afriend9428]

*Same price as PS 5 and XBOX 2 what would you buy?!?*

[@BriarRabbit]

All of them...

[@mirabilis]

Neither.

[@Dikwili]

Years from now PS5 and Xbox will be on every pawn shop shelf in the world. We all know that. The original Nt Mini holds to this day and most likely always will.

[@nyastclair8174]

The NT mini of course. I hate playing most modern games with a controller. PC all the way or retro gaming!

[@Dikwili]

@chris taber they're sitting on the shelves here. My point is you wont see Nt minis sitting anywhere. Even the first release from years ago are holding value.

[@ghostbombl8034]

I still love my software pc emulator that can play every nes plus I have 100 plus setting third party video card performance and scaling perfect so on that gos beyond nes hardware. On crt or lcd.I think these hardware emulator counsels are cool but the price is little scamy. I never seen any these hardware or emotion systems come close on the power of my custom software emotions. I am not saying these are not better than my set up since there two different things but you can do better.i have no input lag or any lag on my set up thanks to my doul Prerendering 3rd party software that clears any input lag.i use a USB dongler to real controllers.

[@gammaloth]

hi guys ! , whats the name of the game shown ( the one with a hook and a bazooka ) , thanks !

[@samhard9616]

That is "Bionic Commando". Very fun game!

[@EM_vi_ix]

Why is their stuff always out of stock?

[@Xanduur]

Being a buy one to use and one as a backup guy...I bought two

[@reasonableknievel7259]

Don't feel bad I bought a mega drive in 2009 for $200. Maybe if we join forces our choices could be twice as terrible?

[@edgardo034]

1. Right now there’s a surplus of these things on ebay. People bought 2 or 3 of them to make a profit, but Analogue sold them for such a long time, almost everyone who wanted one, got one. $600 on ebay is actually losing money. 2. The cartridge slot has been like that since the V1. Should’ve watched reviews before buying. It’s absolutely not an issue if your games are clean. 3. If you don’t want the controller receiver to blink, just take it out. 4. If you prefer a mister, then you don’t care for carts and this is not for you.

[@ScubaDiverPicker]

The Analogue NT Noir is AMAZING. Their best piece of hardware. Love it.

[@rigo6156]

It's an investment.

[@ramonrodriguez4372]

i think Briars back hurts because he got run over by a Lexus. how else could he afford all this retro gaming gear?

[@BriarRabbit]

Lol

[@ryanlove6878]

review was 10/10

[@BigHead2615]

Um, k. Analogue's NT, NT mini or what ever, never appealed to me for one reason - why a chunk of aluminum which obviously drove the price up? It's UNNECESSARY, simply a "luxury" as you put it, for the 1% out there. I'd rather go and buy the RetroUSB AVS. You make it sound shameful for ONLY outputting at 720p and NOT 1080p. Consider this, Nintendo put out their NES classic edition, and it ONLY outputs at 720p, so even they knew that 1080p is UNNECESSARY. I'm just disappointed that RetroUSB has never gotten into making SNES, Genesis, or ANY OTHER older/classic console AVS systems.

[@mirabilis]

NES Classic is shit, though.

[@lillyliberator425]

The AVS is an absolute beast, especially after the firmware updates that add the extra palettes and interpolation. Even if Analogue never goes the Super NT/Mega SG route, the AVS will always be there, and for 185$ of my money, looks dang GOOD on a 4K display😏🎶

[@mirabilis]

@@lillyliberator425 MiSTer!

[@kawaiimariagamez872]

didn't need all the swearing.

[@aspookyfox]

Now do the GPD WIN Max and WIN 3.

[@chadwolf3840]

I bought this. It's beautiful, works well, but is NOT grounded, which means if you have any static and touch the machine it reboots the whole thing. Really terrible design. But it works well if you have a static free environment.

[@guyverjay1289]

Hi-Def Nes, sure doesnt have analogue but its lterally cheaper to just have two nintendos 🤣

[@John_watches-cars]

Way over dramatic with the slot. Yes it moves but no effect on performance at all. I agree they could of looked into that but it’s being so overblown by everyone.

[@eMoney-408]

I have one but haven’t opened it yet ..... maybe I’ll sell it Don’t like what I hear about it

[@nyastclair8174]

It's a great system. You won't find a better Nes. The loose cart slot is no issue, games work perfectly.

[@nyastclair8174]

Don’t listen to chris here. He wouldn’t be able to afford one even if it was 200.00.

[@MzuMzu-nx1em]

The nes games are funnier than they look, try harder.

[@Gaming-Legends007]

👍

[@ppowerman5000]

...why everyone complains about the blinking?...just put a tape on. MOVE ALONG. MOVE ALONG.

[@katarinagamersgal]

Please don't talk about cars ever again. Thanks.