Awesome 8-bit

Go back to the 8-bit era with this Atari 2600 smartwatch. In addition to its sweet retro style, it has four classic games you can play on its touchscreen: Centipede, Missile Command, Pong, and Super Breakout. It includes three interchangeable bands and also works as a fitness tracker with heart rate, steps, and calorie burn tracking. Ships starting 7.10.25.

The latest addition to the Classicbot toy series is a collectible robot toy inspired by the Apple IIe computer. The 3.35″ tall figure has a monitor head, dual floppy drives, and detachable tank tracks and arms. Each toy will be handcrafted from resin, and pre-orders will get a limited-run joystick. Pre-orders start 9 am ET on 11.14.24, with shipments starting Q3 2025.

This teensy replica of the Atari 2600 comes with a miniature TV cabinet. It’s small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and is loaded with nine 8-bit video games, including Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Combat, Millipede, Missile Command, Pong Tempest, Warlords, and Pac-Man. They’re actually better than the original 2600 versions.

If you had those bootleg 100-in-1 cartridges as a kid, UFO 50 is an idea that makes far too much sense to be true. Except it is. Created by the developers behind Spelunky, Downwell, Air Land & Sea, Skorpulac, Catacomb Kids, and Madhouse, this collection of 50 8-bit style games has it all, from platformers to full on RPGs. Half of them have versus or co-op modes.

Retro Games is bringing back the 1980s classic ZX Spectrum computer, along with a variety of upgrades to the original. It has 48 built-in games, save and rewind game functions, four USB controller ports, HDMI output, and a classic mode with BASIC programming and virtual cassettes. Coming to Europe 11.22.2024. No word yet on a US release date.

This palm-size arcade machine plays 100 classic Atari 2600 games. The cabinet is decorated with Atari 50th anniversary graphics and has a crisp color display, a built-in speaker, and a 3.5 mm headphone output. It runs on four AA batteries or a USB-C charger. MyArcade also makes mini versions of arcade classics like Galaga, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Tetris.

We’ve heard what Nirvana’s breakthrough album sounds like played on a Nintendo 64; now listen to what it might have sounded like on an Atari 800 or a Commodore 64. JC VidZ says he spent “way too long” working on this impressive note-for-note chiptune version of the classic 1991 grunge album.

A faction of the computer graphic Demoscene prides itself on creating visuals with the least code possible. Programmer Alcatraz turned up at the Revision 2024 demo party with this surreal scene – a post-apocalyptic black-and-white city created with just 256 bytes of Gopher code running on DOS. Revision posted some competing 256-byte demos here.

8BitDo’s latest retro computer keyboard is inspired by the Commodore 64. The 87-key mechanical keyboard is finished in C64 grey with rainbow graphics. It offers Bluetooth, 2.4GHz, and USB wired connections and comes with a joystick and jumbo-sized buttons. Compatible with Windows and Android. Pre-orders start shipping on 5.28.24.

veridiz vz•tv put together a full-length recreation of Pink Floyd’s classic album Dark Side of the Moon using 8-bit synthesizer sounds. After a very monotonous start with Speak to Me, things kick into gear by the time they hit On the Run and Money. veridiz has also made chiptune covers of Another Brick in the Wall, Echoes, and The Final Cut.

After releasing its Atari Gamestation Pro retro console, My Arcade is now working on a handheld version of the 8-bit gaming system. In addition to coming with more than 200 classic Atari 2600 games, the Gamestation Portable will have a 7″ display, joystick, paddle, numeric, and mini-trackball controllers built right in. Drops Q4 2024 for $149.

The Atari 400 Mini emulates all of the classic Atari 8-bit systems, including the 400, 800XL, and Atari 5200 game consoles. The modernized system has an HDMI video output and USB controller inputs. It comes with 25 games, including Berzerk, Millipede, Miner 2049er, M.U.L.E., and Star Raiders II, and you can load more via USB. An Amazon UK exclusive.

The Atari 2600 is back and better than ever. The Atari 2600+ plays both 2600 and 7800 game cartridges and has an HDMI output for modern displays. It’s got a widescreen mode, an less finicky cartridge socket, and a light-up Atari logo. It comes with a CX40+ joystick and a 10-in-1 game cartridge w/ classics like Adventure, Missile Command, and Yars’ Revenge.

The A capella group Maytree is really good at making mouth sounds. In this clip, they replicate the music and sound effects from Nintendo’s classic 8-bit arcade game, Donkey Kong. Though like many of us, they couldn’t make it past Level 1.

Do you need a break from your regular music playlists? Then open up this video, hit play, and drop it into a background tab. Jorf assembled this epic 10-hour and 53-minute mix of 227 tracks programmed by various chiptune musicians and played with the classic 8-bit sounds of the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Tactile Turn’s limited-run Spring 2023 pen features a design inspired by classic 8-bit game consoles, specifically the NES. The titanium pen has a two-tone Cerakote finish in grey and black with a textured orange pocket clip and a red “Reset” button to retract its ink cartridge. Available in Standard (5.8″), Short (5.3″), and Mini (4.6″).