Atari Retro Handheld Console Brings Woodgrain Atari 2600 Love to Nostalgic Gamers
However, while the original Atari 2600 hooked up to your old 13-inch(ish) tube television, the Atari Retro Handheld has all the action taking place on a rather small 2.4-inch display. Flanking the display is a directional joystick on the left and two game buttons on the right. You'll also find select and start buttons near the top of the device. Atari is really playing up the retro aspect of its new portable device with the same ribbed black plastic styling and woodgrain trim found on the original Atari 2600.
As for games, Variety reports that the Atari Retro Handheld will come with 50 games preinstalled including Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Missile Command, and Pong. And if playing on the tiny 2.4-inch display gets tiring after a while (and it likely will), there are A/V connectors on the console so that you can hook it up to your big screen television.
If that wasn't enough, the company has also unveiled the Atari Plug & Play Joystick, which is available in both PC and TV versions and is patterned after the original Atari one-button controller. The PC version comes with 100 games preinstalled, while the TV version cuts that number in half.
Atari has priced the Atari Retro Handheld console at £34.99, while the Atari Plug & Play Joysticks are priced at £24.99. The Atari Retro Handheld is currently available from Amazon UK, with a scheduled release data of October 26th. There is currently no word on U.S. availability.
