It appears that game publisher Atari is now looking to make a return to the hardware market with a brand new gaming device. The product was recently teased on the official GameBand website, which could indicate that the device will take the form of a wearable wristband preloaded with classic Atari titles. Details regarding pricing, specs, and availability are missing at the time of writing but enthusiasts can sign up on the official GameBand website to stay up to date with further developments.
Although details on the mysterious “brand new gaming hardware” are lacking, Atari’s collaboration with GameBand could say quite a lot about the type of product we should expect. This is due to the fact that GameBand’s previous product was referred to as “Minecraft GameBand” and as the moniker suggests, it was basically a wrist-worn storage device pre-loaded with Minecraft for multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, and Linux. The idea was to create a wearable device that would allow Minecraft enthusiasts to carry their favorite game everywhere they go and have the ability to load their voxel-based game world on a wide variety of machines. With that being said, it is possible that the new gaming hardware developed by Atari and GameBand could once again take the form of a wearable device loaded with classic Atari titles. After all, seeing how Nintendo’s NES Classic console was a success, and given that Nintendo will soon be able to distribute classic NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) titles through the upcoming Nintendo Switch, there’s no denying that classic 8-bit and 16-bit games still hold some value to consumers. With that being said, it could be that Atari is also looking for ways to bringing its classic titles into the spotlight once again, and it appears that the mysterious GameBand hardware might be the company’s first step in this direction.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t Atari’s first time in recent years to signal a return in the hardware market. A report emerged last year to suggest that the company is partnering with SIGFOX in order to develop Atari-branded IoT (Internet of Things) devices, but this seems to be a different business endeavor unrelated to the gaming industry. Either way, it’s likely that Atari and GameBand will reveal their new gaming hardware soon.