It’s pretty amazing how popular retro game consoles have remained through the years, with many collectors paying premium for both gaming systems and cartridges alike. Not to mention, all the successful runs of limited-edition versions of old consoles that sporadically come out. And the more they lean into the nostalgia, the more popular they seem to get. As such, we have high hopes for the upcoming Atari 2600+.
Yes, it’s hardly the first console to reprise the original Atari. In the past few years alone, we’ve seen the Ultimate Atari Fight Stick, the Atari Flashback, and the absolutely odd Atari VCS, among a whole host of other efforts. What sets this apart, though, is the fact that it’s designed to work with original cartridges, give retro collectors a brand new console to plug their 40-year old games into. Nice.
The Atari 2600+ takes on the familiar appearance of the original Atari 2600, from the rectangular shape and wood edges to the light-up Atari logo and the faux wood veneer panel that made it fit in with homes of that period. It reprises the collection of switches, too, along with the cartridge slot in the middle of the top section. Seriously, this thing looks like the original, albeit in slightly more compact dimensions, which is always a great idea considering how little space retro gaming fans probably have for another console, given the many retro systems that came out in recent years.
It comes with an Atari CX40+ joystick directing the onscreen mayhem, which comes with a single button for those times you need to perform any form of action that doesn’t involve maneuvering your onscreen character. If you prefer using those paddle-style controllers with some games, they’re also offering the optional CX30+, which comes with a four-in-one game cart containing Breakout, Canyon Bomber, Night Driver, and Video Olympics.
The Atari 2600+ has a functional cartridge slot that can take not just original games for the 2600, but also for the Atari 7800 from 1986. That means, it’s time to start dusting off those old games you picked up from Retropalooza a few years ago or pick up a few new ones from your local retro game store. Don’t have any actual Atari cartridges? The console comes with a single 10-in-one game cartridge, which contains Adventure, Combat, Dodge ‘Em, Haunted House, Maze Craze, Missile Command, RealSports Volleyball, Video Pinball, and Yars’ Revenge. According to the outfit, by the way, they made the cartridge slot slightly larger than the original to prevent cartridges from getting stuck inside like they would occasionally do back in the day.
The console comes with an HDMI connection, so you can easily hook it up to any modern TV. Even better, it supports widescreen mode, so you don’t end up playing on a square box in the middle of your 50-inch panel. Do note, this system only runs on emulator technology, so there might be games that won’t be compatible with the software. They do have a list of all compatible games, though, so you can check whether your favorite ones will be fine.
The Atari 2600+ is available now, priced at $129.99.