Playing fun games on small screens is by no means a new concept: Nintendo started selling the original Game Boy in 1989, after all. Still, people are always coming up with new ways to make games portable, and the creative well hasn’t run dry yet. For example, somebody turned a Burger King toy into a functioning Game Boy.
Arcade games have been harder to effectively shrink down, though, because the look and feel of the cabinet and its controls are a huge part of the experience. Enter the RepliCade: Mini Centipede, a mini arcade cabinet that’s arcade-accurate and appears pretty darn true-to-life. Developed by New Wave Toys and officially licensed by Atari, it’s not like the Raspberry Pi-fueled projects you may have seen online, because like a true arcade cabinet, this thing only plays one game: Centipede.
It certainly seems to have some advantages over your typical homemade device, though. For one thing, it really looks like a genuine arcade machine, with its wood cabinet, backlit marquee, and authentic art, and it also has a 3.5 inch LCD screen and custom made trackball and buttons, all packed into device that’s less than a foot tall.
The Replicade is currently in the middle of a Kickstarter campaign, and since it’s met its goal, you can back the project and secure a device of your own. If you’re one of the next 200 or so to contribute at least $90, you can get a Replicade for that low price (vs. the MSRP of $160). Check it out, and let us know in the comments if the gamer in your life (or you) would be happy to get one of these during the holiday season.
Featured image: New Wave Toys
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