An Atari 2600 in a handheld; no, we're not talking bout a new emulator like the Anbernic RG35, I'm talking about an actual handheld dedicated to playing Atari 2600 cartridges with an actual built-in screen, with no emulation.
The handheld comes from Nick Bild, who has previously worked to make the Atari 2600 smaller and create a fully functional board that's three times smaller than the original. And now, he's created a handheld called the µTari Go (micro-Tari) that uses the original 6507 processor with zero FPGA (thanks, Hackaday). This is old-school computer hardware, complete with a 4" CRT for playing on the go!
The µTari Go takes everything that you would need from a home-console Atari 2600 experience and puts it into the handheld - built-in controls, speakers, audio amplifiers, and a cartridge slot, all housed in a 3D-printed casing. It's powered by an external 12V jack that can be run from a portable power pack, so you can take the Atari 2600 and your carts out of the house and play anytime, anywhere.
Sure, it's not as graphically exciting as pulling an iPhone Duo out of your pocket, but it looks 10 times as cool to any retro gamer like me. And the fact that it plays actual cartridges is even cooler - we've spent a lot of time talking about how ModRetro bringing back the Game Boy with their metal and plastic Chromatics has revitalised the Game Boy game scene, and who knows - we might get people making more Atari games if a handheld like this took off too. Space Invaders on a plane? No, it's not a new film with Samuel L. Jackson, but what I'm going to be doing when I next go on holiday if I can get my hands on one of these handhelds!
Head to GitHub to get started building your own!
