The team at Retro Games Ltd on the incoming The 400 Mini
We knew that Retro Games Ltd had big plans for 2024 but we weren’t expecting its next system to drop so soon.
Nevertheless, that’s exactly what’s happening as The 400 Mini (based on Atari’s range of popular 8-bit micros) is planned for 28 March.
While the machine can play games from a variety of Atari 8-bit systems, the team decided to go with the design of the Atari 400.
“The form factor of the Atari 400 is utterly iconic,” explains Darren Melbourne, Retro Games Ltd’s joint CEO. “Even the flat membrane keyboard of the original machine held a charm that was evocative of the early days of computing.
It’s instantly recognisable to the legions of Atari fans across the world and it was also one of the first home computers that many people owned, given its relatively affordable entry price.”
With its release imminent, we were interested to know how long The 400 Mini had been in development for. It turns out the turnaround has been quite impressive. “Product development took about a year and involved a number of disciplines from user interface and industrial design (the physical product), software, hardware and mechanical engineering, game licensing, package design and support assets,” explains Chris Smith, Retro Games Ltd’s chief technology officer. “Our strength is in producing a seamless experience ‘that just works’, marrying authentic retro gaming with a modern and accessible interface, which is challenging in itself. So the CX-40 joystick (which we just had to use!) having only a single button was a particular problem, as was providing paddle and 5200 support, which required some creative thinking and was quite complex.”
As busy as the team has been, they’ve still found time to add new enhancements to the system that haven’t been seen in its previous products – most notably the ability to pause and rewind games. “We try to always add something new to every product that we produce,” explains Darren. “Whilst the user is always looking for a product that connects them with their gaming heritage it’s also critical that we keep an eye on modern gaming trends and functionality and try to include them into our products whenever possible.”
These quality-
