There’s a new Atari you can (technically) play with

Lego announces the new Lego Atari 2600 set (10306), and with it, you can build your own “brand new” old-school video game console. The release of the set comes in celebration of Atari’s 50th anniversary—and it launches on 1 August 2022.

You might have at least heard of the Atari as basically the world’s original video game console. The console was first introduced on 27 June 1972, and the Lego set is based on the four-switch revision—which debuted in 1980. The company’s products, like Pong and the Atari 2600, helped “define the electronic entertainment industry” from the 1970s to the mid-1980s.

“The Atari 2600 was one of the most memorable gifts I got as a kid. I recall spending hours and hours in front of the TV, absolutely amazed that I could play arcade games in my own home,” said the set’s Lego designer Chris McVeigh.

The set lets you build your own Atari console in Lego form and lets you get familiar with its old-school controller with a joystick—that apparently moves to feel just like the original. It also has an interesting “pop-up scene” from an 80s gaming room on the console set piece.

Additionally, the set also includes three video game cartridges of iconic Atari games in brick format—Asteroids, Adventure, and Centipede. The cartridges can even be stored in a case and built into mini versions of the games.

“…it has been such an incredible experience to bring two icons together, Atari and Lego, in this awesome set. We hope that building this classic console takes you back to those halcyon days when a handful of pixels meant a world of adventure,” continued McVeigh.

The 2532-piece Atari 2600 Lego set will cost GBP 209.99 (RM 1,122.53), and you can purchase it on 1 August 2022 through their site. But if you do want a (soft of) new Atari console to play with, you can purchase the Atari VCS—which is a more modern take of the classic Atari, except with the same old games.

[ SOURCE, IMAGE SOURCE ]