The Atari 2600 is back, but with a fresh, modern take on the original ’70s classic console. Now called the Atari 2600 Plus ($130), it’s smaller and connects to modern TVs through HDMI making it easy to play game cartridges, old and new. If you’re a fan of retro games, you’ll definitely be interested in this.
The original Atari 2600 came out back in 1977 with many games that everyone’s heard of: Breakout, Space Invaders, Asteroids and Pac-Man, just to name a few. Now, almost 50 years later, we have an updated version of that exact console, with some small but worthwhile improvements.
Getting an original Atari 2600 to connect with a TV these days is very difficult. Not only do I need a CRT to display the games properly, I have to use an additional adapter so the RCA video cable can screw into the coaxial port. Even then, the image looks grainy and kind of bad, but at least I can play Pac-Man.Â
There’s a pretty low chance you have a CRT TV lying around somewhere, and who can blame you? These take up a ton of space and are really heavy. This is where the 2600 Plus comes in with its HDMI output to connect to flat-panel high-def TVs. It’s the exact same physical design, down to the iconic wood grain, but is 20% smaller. The original 2600 weighed 4.6 pounds and sat 3.5 inches tall, 13.6 inches wide and just over 9 inches deep. The 2600 Plus weighs a scant 1.3 pounds and sits 2.8 inches tall, 10.6 inches wide and 7 inches deep.
This smaller size makes the device much easier to fit on a shelf or entertainment center and puts it in a similar category to the Nintendo and Super Nintendo Classic consoles that came out years ago. Unfortunately, the 2600 Plus is still about twice as large as those devices. It would have been nice to have it even smaller; considering how lightweight it is, I can’t imagine there’s a ton of internal tech inside.
One reason for the larger size may actually be…
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