Atari has partnered with Plaion to recreate its classic entry in the console landscape. The Atari 2600+ will play games from both the 2600 and 7800 consoles.
The Atari 2600+ is based on the classic wood-grained, four-switch model of the console, which has become the most recognizable look for it. It comes with a reproduction CX40 controller and supports USB power and HDMI. Also, the Atari logo lights up when it’s on. It comes packed in with a 10-in-1 cartridge that has a selection of classic games.
The store page also says that it has “been lovingly recreated to the same specifications as the original,” which is kind of vague. I mostly want to know whether the hardware is similar to the original, if it uses FPGA, or if it’s software emulation. It sounds like the latter since it touts a Rockchip 3128 SOC microprocessor. Most games are compatible, as seen in this list. The Atari 2600+’s HDMI is certainly tantalizing since the hardware had previously only supported RF-out. I had actually modified my personal Atari 2600 to support composite out. Modern TVs, even late-era CRTs, tend to hate RF signals.
I wish more companies would do this. Being a retro gamer progressively requires more soldering skills to maintain and modify consoles to work on modern setups. Would I buy an official NES from Nintendo that supports HDMI? Absolutely yes. On the other hand, would I buy a reproduction Atari Jaguar? Yeah, actually, I totally would. The fact that Atari has even gotten into producing new titles for their old consoles is just more tempting.
The Atari 2600+ is available for preorder now for $129.99 USD. The console is expected to ship November 2023.
