I waited a year for my Analogue3D preorder. I shouldn’t have

I spent a lot of time on a Nintendo64. I didn’t even own one at first, but eventually I ponied up for my own. It even had a translucent purple controller. (I still love that thing.)

So when Analogue announced its Analogue3D model back in fall 2024, I sent a preorder in. The company has done stellar reverse-engineered retro consoles that play original cartridges at high-resolution, letting normies and lazy folk (like me) avoid the trouble of getting into the weeds of upscalers and soldering.

Then I waited. And waited. And waited some more.

I didn’t mind. The delay made sense. I had interviewed industry folks and I knew the tariffs likely had created difficulties in production. I actually half-expected a cancellation notice and a refund at some point. When I finally got a shipping notice late last month, I felt lucky.

I felt a lot less so when I saw a new email this morning, alerting me to the existence of the Analogue3D Funtastic Limited Editions. These are versions of the console in fun colors, including a rainbow of translucent plastic variants.

Now I don’t feel lucky. I’m grumpy.

Am I owed a replica of an N64 in translucent purple? No. But would I have waited without preordering had I known this would be an option? Absolutely. That’s true even knowing that these are only available in “highly limited quantities.”

Here’s my thought: I put $250 down on the plain black edition, expecting it to come to me in Q1 2025. That ended up being a year-long wait, and once it dropped, all the fun versions are immediately following it—with instant ship times.

Analogue

Now I’m in a position where I would have to spend another $300 or so for Analogue3D I truly want, with the hope to sell my original black one. (Probably doable? But it’s a hassle.) I would have preferred to wait and tried my luck at these limited edition models, then gone for a plain black one had the attempt failed. Waiting until January 2026 for the plain black one would have been fine—what’s a couple more months after a year of delays?

I’m not even saving on inflation having bought last year. Just a few dollars.

I don’t feel entitled to a fancy plastic console. (I probably sound that way, though.) All I’m saying is, after asking the preorder customers to endure such a long wait, Analogue could have handled this differently. The generous version would be to give the preorder customers first crack at these (with the option to return unopened preorders). It would be nice to be guaranteed the option to return an unopened preorder, at least.

In the end, this outcome is on me. I usually never preorder, since more often than not, you get little benefit from being first in line. I guess I’ve had a strong reminder not to let nostalgia interfere with good sense.