I can remember it just like it was yesterday. The first day we got our Nintendo. Then the Super Nintendo. Then the kid down the street got a SEGA. Life outside of four walls without a controller in my hand as a child was obsolete. Not completely I suppose, but damn I loved those games, and plenty of my childhood was filled with Super Mario, Sonic, and Final Fantasy. Not much has changed when it comes to the love I have for those old style retro games, and I love to get down on a little bit of nostalgia now and then. I just don’t have the systems to do it anymore. Thanks to the last few years on android and many hard-working hours of developers making emulators for the android platform, I am able to enjoy those memories again. Only now I can do so with a full on controller, just like in the old days.
The iCade 8-Bitty retro controller is now available for all the retro gaming fun you could ever want on your android. It has 8 button controls and a retro style design that will have you thinking that you’ve gone back in time to the year of 1997. Why 1997? Because I was 12 and that’s when I remember having our NES. Seemed like a good year. The 8-Bitty has four face buttons, select and start, and two shoulder buttons on top. Plus the D-Pad for movement and control. The gamepad is of course wireless bluetooth and even has an auto power save mode for those forgetful times. The controller is powered by 2 AAA batteries, so it might be a good idea to invest in some rechargables if you plan to use this a lot. The controller is small and portable so you can throw it in a pocket and game on the go even easier. Its open platform makes it easy for app developers to add support for the device as well. Which should allow us to see some games pop up that have usability with the 8-Bitty. At least I would hope.
Another really cool thing is that it already has support for MAME4droid which is one of the more popular emulators floating around on the play store. Just what the retro gaming community needed! WOOP! If you’re itching to get down on some retro fun, hit the jump button on your keyboard to enter Lightspeed, ( in reverse of course) and travel through time to pick this up. You can actually find this on thinkgeek.com, where they sell the controller for $29.99. I have the included the link at the beginning of this post. GO!
