A New Cartridge-Based Console Is Being Made To “Reestablish The Culture Of Video Gaming”

This article is over 9 years old and may contain outdated information

Recommended Videos

Remember cartridges? They were chunky bits of plastic and electronics that games used to be distributed on ā€“ the last one was the N64, released back in 1996. The good thing about a cartridge is that when you own one the creator of that game canā€™t suddenly take it away from you. This is one of advantages of the cartridge when compared to digital distribution that has led to the development of the Retro VGS (Retro Video Games System), which is an upcoming cartridge-based games console.

 

Itā€™s the project of Mike Kennedy, who is also the publisher of Retro Magazine, and heā€™s looking to bring it to Kickstarter this summer. For now, he has a pretty solid idea of what the Retro VGS is for and what he hopes it will do.

11110233_817923834943555_2023097609627958686_n

Firstly, the Retro VGS is arriving among what Kennedy perceives is a revival of interest in retro-style games, which he says is ā€œfast becoming an art-form and genre on today’s mobile and modern consoles.ā€ Shovel Knight, anyone?

 

The Retro VGS, then, will play original 2D games made with this retro style for the console, as well as ā€œ16-Bit fan-favorite sequels,ā€ and ports of popular mobile and digitally distributed retro-style games from mobile and consoles released on cartridge for the first time. This will be made possible by repurposing the original Atari Jaguar tooling to create the console and the cartridge shells. The console will also come with rebranded internal hardware and a new retro-inspired controller.

11206053_817911344944804_6979646175634102867_n

According to Kennedy and his team, the ā€œRETRO VGS will reestablish the culture of video gaming, something that has been slowly dismantled over the last couple console generations. It will promote game ownership, tangibility and collectability. There will be no system updates, digital downloads or buggy games.ā€

 

You can follow development of the Retro VGS on its Facebook page.


Siliconera is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.Ā Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Chris Priestman
Chris Priestman
Former Siliconera staff writer and fan of both games made in Japan and indie games.