Atari and PQube finally releasing their woodgrain Atari 2600 handheld and plug and play TV joystick on October 26 in some regions!
Atari certainly isn’t new to the retro bandwagon as it released various ‘Flashback’ consoles back in 2004-2011 but now, it’s coming back with two retro consoles! One of these is an extremely good-looking woodgrain handheld and the other is a plug-and-play TV joystick.
What happened to these two retro consoles?
The story begins back in September 2017, when various news outlets reported that Atari teamed up with PQube to release the aforementioned two retro consoles. Apparently, these were slated for release last Christmas (2017) but ultimately, they never made it to consumers due to production issues. However, it seems that these two consoles have returned and are slated for a UK/EU release on the 26th of October 2018!
A look at the consoles and bundled games
One of the consoles, which in my opinion is the most interesting, is called the “Atari Retro Handheld” and costs £34.99 (around 40€) which makes it a nice Christmas gift. Without a doubt, the main selling point of this handheld is its woodgrain aesthetic which mimics the look of the original Atari 2600. Other than looking good, it also offers a total of 50 retro games which isn’t shabby for the price (let’s face it, you’re paying less than 1£ a game!). Among these games, we find:
- Breakout
- Asteroids
- Centipede
- Missile Command
- Millipede
- Unfortunately, the game line-up is missing some great Atari 2600 classics like Pitfall, Q*bert, Ms Pac Man (the original Pac Man wasn’t great on the 2600), Donkey Kong, Space Invaders and Dig Dug.
If you’re not a fan of retro handhelds, you can also grab an “Atari Retro TV Joystick” which offers the same selection of games for a lower price of £24.99. The TV joystick comes in the form of the original Atari 2600 joystick but has a few extra buttons so that you can control the mini-console itself.
Conclusion
To order any one of these consoles, simply follow the links below and remember, these consoles are currently only available for pre-order in EU/UK! As of right now, there’s no word about a US release so you’ll have to wait a bit longer for that due to licensing problems.
Atari 2600 Handheld purchase links (includes sites like Amazon and FunStockRetro): http://blazeretro.com/atari-handheld/
Atari Retro TV Joystick purchase links (includes sites like Amazon and FunStockRetro): http://blazeretro.com/atari-tv-joystick/
Note: It seems Blaze Retro is the only site providing links to numerous purchase outlets as opposed to one.
This will be ***
Why don’t Atari release a miniature Atari lynx
That would make perfect sense
My old smart phone and an 8bitdo controller ($20) blow this portable away. Sadly.
Will we be able to hack it?