A new peripheral called the Atari Arcade lets you turn your iPad into a top notch port of the Atari 2600 gaming console.
30 years ago the Atari 2600 was the king of video gaming, and now once again you can relive the glory days of that console with a neat little attachment that adds a joystick and four buttons to your iPad. Simply flip your screen sideways and attach the peripheral and off you go. Of course it doesn’t hurt to have some actual Atari games to play.
According to our source, there’s a pretty good collection of Atari games that was released for the iPad earlier this year called the iCade that has loads of classic Atari hits such as Asteroids, Centipede and Missile Command. Though until now, playing them with the touch screen controls hasn’t really been the same as using those clunky old joysticks of yesteryear.
The peripheral, released by Discovery Bay Games, is available for purchase at most Apple Stores, so finding one shouldn’t be that much of a problem. The base requires no batteries, simply plug it into your iPad to power it up. You don’t have to worry about them becoming detached either, there are two secure clamps on either side which securely tighten the base to the iPad. Simply press a button and you can unlock your tablet.
The controls should work great for all the Atari game ports out there, since most of them only really used the joystick along with a button or two. You’ve got 4 buttons just to be safe though. The buttons are a bit smaller than the usual arcade buttons those of us growing up in the 80s and 90s are familiar with, but they at least feel like them and are responsive.
This addon is meant to be played with the Atari Greatest Hits app that you can purchase over iTunes, though before using it you will need to update them once you plug in the controller. The whole download should take only a few minutes though.
How’s that for some geeky old-school meets new school gaming? Not too shabby by me.
Anyways, be sure to also check out a Rustic Neo Geo Controller made from wood and Man Builds iPad-Like tablet for Ladylove
