Preorders Open For Funky But Cool Evercade Retro Handheld Gaming System

As of September 6^th, 2019, the officially-licensed Evercade retro handheld console is available for pre-order. Like other retro consoles, Evercade is capable of emulating a number of older game systems, and like a few others, Evercade is also a portable handheld. Where Evercade differs from most retro emulation machines, however, is that it doesn't rely on digital ROM files or original release game cartridges.

Instead, Evercade ships with its own officially-licensed cartridges, which carry a number of different games from certain publishers. Each cartridge serves as a numbered "Collection" from a Publisher's catalog, and can carry anywhere from 6 games to 20 games. For a full list of available Collections and the games within, check here.

The Evercade system itself comes in a form-factor resembling the original Sony PlayStation Portable, right down to the same 4.3-inch screen size, 4 face buttons, and D-Pad placement. You can get the default white-and-red color scheme from any retailer, but the black-and-red model is exclusive to Funstock.co orders. In addition to a familiar portable form factor, the Evercade also supports HDMI output, which you can use to play the games on a larger monitor or HDTV.

Particularly notable games available at this time include Earthworm Jim, Asteroids, Pac-Man, Dig Dug, and Burger Time, with more slated to come in the future. Through partnerships with studios like Mega Cat Studios, Evercade is also looking to bring modern indie games to the platform, which further expands the possibilities from just retro games.

The Evercade handheld retro gaming console provides a different approach to playing and preserving retro games. With no downloading features and exclusive support for officially-licensed game compilation cartridges, the Evercade harkens back more to the design philosophy of gaming as we knew it before widespread Internet connectivity.

If this sounds like a compelling game device to you, you can look here for a list of retailers that will carry the portable console, and if you'd like to place a preorder.