Before the 1983 video game crash and Nintendo’s subsequent takeover of the industry with the NES, the Atari 2600 reigned supreme. The popular console was pretty much the poster child for ‘late 70s/early ‘80s gaming, boasting a vast library of titles that have since inspired a multitude of games for decades to come. Over 30 years after the 2600 was discontinued, it’s making a contemporary comeback.
Atari and Plaion have announced the 2600+, a modernized recreation of the four-switch model introduced in 1980. In addition to sharing the same woodgrain aesthetics and metal switches, it also includes modern features such as HDMI output, USB port, and support for multiple screen resolutions. The console comes with a new CX40+ joystick faithful to the original and supports two players.
…
The Atari 2600+ launches on November 17 for $129.99. You can pre-order it now on Atari’s website. CX40 joysticks will also be sold separately for $24.99. Atari and Plaion also plan to launch the CX-30 Paddle Controller bundle that includes the paddle and a 4-in-1 game cartridge for $39.99.
That’s pretty cool. I grew up with an Atari 2600 at home and still think about some of the games today. I remember distinctly playing Parachute (I actually remade this for a personal project) and Pitfall, as well as a handful of others. I also had an NES, and those were pretty much my only consoles until much later when we got a Sega Genesis and later I bought an OG Xbox.
However, I won’t be buying this. They should instead just sell an actual emulator for PC and sell a bundle of games to go with it. Maybe sell each game for $1-2, maximum $5, and maybe offer a Switch port as well.
But I don’t want to pay $130 for single use hardware, that’s just dumb.
Are you talking about this Antstream? It’s not released , but I’ll have to check it out when it is.
