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Retro-bit brought brand-new Sega accessories to CES
While Nintendo's 'classic' consoles have soaked up much of the retro love lately, Sega fans do have something to look forward to. The last booth I stopped by at CES 2018 was one of my favorites, as Retro-bit showed off new officially-licensed accessories it's releasing for Sega consoles later this year, including (but not limited to) Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my hands on any of these controllers to see how they match up with the originals, but it's nice to see them upgraded with modern capabilities like USB and Bluetooth.
8Bitdo's wireless SNES controller is perfect for Switch retro gaming
The Nintendo Switch's controllers shouldn't work as well as they do. That might be why options beyond a Joy-Con in each hand (or the Switch's own Pro controller) are few and far between. 8Bitdo's latest wireless peripheral, the SN30 Pro, might be worth considering for your secondary controller needs. Beside that allure of nostalgia, the SN30 Pro particularly shines with older games and tries to balance a classic design with modern controls. I picked up the (obviously prettier) European / Japanese model, the otherwise identical SF30 Pro, and had a play.
Microsoft resurrects its most iconic mouse
The Surface Precision Mouse isn't the only new input device in Microsoft's arsenal. The company's Surface site has quietly teased the Classic IntelliMouse, a wired peripheral directly inspired by the legendary IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 you might have used in the early 2000s -- yes, this is the second time Microsoft has brought back the iconic design. The company isn't saying too much about what this revival will entail, but it'll have more precise tracking (up to 3,200DPI) while preserving the "firm" scroll wheel you knew from the days when Windows XP was still hot stuff.
Play Atari's 'Centipede' on a tiny, authentic arcade cabinet
There's something special to playing a vintage arcade cabinet, but it's usually impractical to own one. It's no mean feat to lug a gigantic machine into your home, and you'll probably have to restore it to recapture its glory. Atari and New Wave Toys think they have a better idea. They've partnered on Replicade X Centipede, a 1/6th-scale cabinet replica that lets you play (what else?) Centipede in an authentic-looking system that won't chew up tons of space in your den. The 3.5-inch LCD won't recreate the experience you get with an old-school CRT screen, but everything else is surprisingly close. It's made of metal and wood, the art is sourced directly from Atari's vaults, and you even steer the game using a tiny trackball.
Of course there's retro-inspired 'Stranger Things' mobile game
Netflix has flirted with simple games starring its most popular original series, but its latest stab at interactive promo goes a little deeper. The streaming juggernaut tapped developer BonusXP to make a full-on mobile game for Stranger Things. And as you might expect, it's is about as retro as possible, aping classics of yore like River City Ransom and the NES' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for inspiration. All that to say, it's a bit more complicated than Netflix Infinite Runner from January. You can do sweet jumps on your bicycle as one of the kids and explore the Upside Down as Hawkins police chief Jim Hopper, for example.
A mini version of the Commodore 64 is coming in 2018
It's hard to deny the popularity of Nintendo's retro mini systems. After all, demand far outstripped supply for the mini version of the original console, and the same is expected to happen for today's SNES release. It's not a surprise, then, that other companies are getting in on the action. Retro Games is launching a mini version of the 1982 computer Commodore 64 called the C64 Mini. It will be available in early 2018, with a price point of $70.
8BitDo brings its wireless controllers to the SNES Classic
The SNES Classic is a cute microconsole with a hell of a selection of games. While it's a pretty accurate recreation of the original number, and its controller cords are indeed longer than the NES Classic Edition that preceded it, the modern convenience of wireless controllers is hard to beat. The good news is that if you ordered up one of 8BitDo's wireless SNES-styled gamepads and have last year's Retro Receiver, it'll work with the miniature 16-bit console in a pinch. Don't have one? Then the company has something new, just for you -- the SN30, a 2.5G wireless controller built specifically for the SNES Classic Edition.
Nokia remakes its remade 3310 with... 3G
As companies continue to pull open our wallets through the nefarious magic known as nostalgia, Nokia is back with another attempt to syphon some more disposable income from millennials and... whichever generation came before them. The re-reheated Nokia 3310 3G has, yes, 3G, which upgrades the 2.5G of the relaunched dumbphone, but still trails the LTE (4G) speeds we're used to. (Not that technical specs matter if you're interested in buying one.) It'll arrive with new Azure and Charcoal color options -- and silver buttons -- but that's pretty much the only other things that have notably changed.
Lenovo’s leaked 25th-anniversary ThinkPad sports a familiar look
The latest ThinkPad that Lenovo brought to CES back in January had a notably sleeker, more modern appearance than the line's traditional boxy black look. But it kept a couple features, like the red TrackPoint nub and 45-degree ThinkPad logo, that have become trademarks of the beloved brand since it debuted under IBM back in October 1992. But WinFuture reports that a leak revealed Lenovo is releasing a 25th-anniversary retro version that mimics the look of the first ThinkPad laptops that reached consumers.
Capcom to re-release $100 'Street Fighter II' SNES cartridges
As if grabbing the SNES Classic Edition weren't challenging enough, retro gamers have another limited re-release to look out for: brand-new Street Fighter II cartridges. Capcom and iam8bit have teamed up to produce a run of 5,500 units, available in either "Opaque Ryu Headband Red" (4,500 cartridges) or "Glow-in-the-Dark Blanka Green" (1,000 cartridges). The boxes are all identical and will be sealed, so which one you might actually get is random.
Lomography's all-analog square camera uses familiar film
Do you prefer to shoot photos with a completely analog camera, but wish you could get in on the square photo trend that's all the rage with the Instagram crowd? Lomography thinks it can help. It's crowdfunding the Lomo'Instant Square Camera, a fully analog instant camera that takes the same square Instax film you'd use in Fujifilm's semi-digital Instax Square SQ10. You won't have to look far to restock, in other words. The camera itself, meanwhile, revels in its non-digital nature -- although there are some concessions to modernity.
Nintendo's second 'Classic' console is better, but not perfect
When Nintendo announced that the already impossible to find NES Classic Edition was going out of production, there were two reactions: outrage that the company could introduce such a popular product and fail to meet demand, and curiosity -- why would Nintendo kill off the most popular throwback console ever made? The official line is that it was never intended to be a long-term product, but in the months that followed, you had to wonder if the original retro console was merely discontinued to make way for a sequel: The Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition. Now, that console is almost ready to hit the market, and Nintendo promises that it will make up for the original's shortcomings. The company expects to ship "significantly more" of the new console than the original. And we hope it does -- because if the short preview we had with the console last week is any indication, it's going to sell just as fast as its predecessor.
VW's electric microbus will become a reality in 2022
When Volkswagen unveiled the ID Buzz, the assumption was that it would meet the same fate as many concept cars: it'd look good at an auto show, and promptly disappear when cold economic realities set in. Thankfully, the Buzz won't suffer that fate. VW has announced that it will put the Microbus-inspired EV into production, with a launch expected by 2022. We wouldn't expect everything about the Buzz to remain intact (those large wheels are likely the first things to go), but the '60s-inspired styling, semi-autonomous driving and all-wheel drive option will carry over. VW is even teasing a cargo variant, so couriers may have a clean (and slightly kitschy) alternative to the usual vans.
Twitch starts its retro 'Starcade' marathon on August 28th
Twitch has nailed down the start of its Starcade marathon... and unlike many of its other marathons, it won't just involve playing episodes back to back. It'll stream the arcade-themed game show on Shout! Factory's channel starting August 28th at 2PM ET. The focus is on playing all 123 episodes digitized from the source tapes, but there's a modern twist: Geek & Sundry host and streaming veteran Erika Ishii will introduce games and provide context. You shouldn't be lost if you're too young to have played the games outside of an emulator.
Infiniti prototype melds a 1940s race car with EV power
As a rule, electric car concepts embrace the future. Even those with a retro flavor are clearly products of the 21st century. Don't tell that to Infiniti, however -- it's going deep into the past. Nissan's luxury badge has unveiled the Prototype 9, an EV whose design unabashedly recalls 1940s race cars (particularly those from Auto Union). And it's not just the long nose, spoked wheels and massive front grille that pay homage -- the prototype was even built using traditional techniques. Inside, of course, it's very much the product of 2017 know-how.
Bring your own SNES cartridges for the Supa RetroN HD
The upcoming launch of Nintendo's SNES Classic has turned up the hype on 16-bit nostalgia, and Hyperkin is ready to seize the moment. The company already builds several consoles built for retro gaming, and now product designer Chris Gallizzi tweeted this image of the Supa RetroN HD. Hyperkin's $160 RetroN 5 already plays SNES games (as well as other classic systems), but a pared-down clone will probably be simpler, might not need to run Android and may be cheaper, just like the $40 RetroN 1 HD for NES games.
Tech Hunters: Opening up new worlds with the Nintendo GameBoy
You have to hand it to Nintendo: the company knows how to change the way people play video games. As millions of gamers getting to grips with the Switch, which delivers A+ games on-the-go as well as it does docked at home, many will remember the console that pioneered the concept of portable gaming: the GameBoy. Launched in Japan in 1989, the GameBoy sold over 300,000 in its first two weeks and over 100 million in total. The 8-bit handheld console supported small interchangeable cartridges and its monochromatic display could screen render games in four different colors of gray, but thanks to titles like the side-scrolling Super Mario Land, Kirby's Dream Land and Tetris, consumers just couldn't get enough of it. With so many units sold, there's a plethora of handsets still available to quench your retro gaming needs, as Julia Hardy discovered in Croydon. But what if we could open up new worlds on the portable brick? We'll hand it over to Simon Ellis from Retrogamebase to see what else we can get it to do.
Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an '80s computer
In the age of the hipster, dust-covered and irrelevant mediums like the vinyl and cassette tape have slowly been given a new lease of life. Now, thanks to Radiohead, it looks like popular British computer the ZX Spectrum might be the next '80s relic to come back into fashion. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the band's genre-bending opus, OK Computer, Radiohead has released a £100 commemorative special edition of the album, entitled OKNOTOK.
When tech nostalgia goes too far
Nintendo had a bonafide smash on its hands with the NES Classic. And it looks like the SNES mini console will fly off of store shelves just as quickly. But it's not the only company looking to cash in on your nostalgia. Nowadays, there are reboots of TV shows like Twin Peaks and MST3K. Oh, and how about Netflix's Stranger Things, a series that's basically a love letter to the 80s? These are all examples of nostalgia products done right. But not everything we've seen in recent years has been as great as you would have hoped. Because, seriously, do you really want one of the Furbys pictured above watching you sleep? And who would be caught dead toting around a Tamagotchi in 2017? You know what, maybe that is you, and who are we to judge? But if you ask us, these 10 things probably took our retro obsession a little too far.
The SNES Classic is real, arrives on September 29th for $80
The delicious rumors are true: Nintendo is gearing up to launch the SNES Classic, a miniaturized version of the glorious original Super Nintendo Entertainment System. According to Nintendo's Twitter account, the system will be available on September 29th with 21 games built-in -- including the never-released Star Fox 2.
