Tiny Arcade Atari 2600 Mini Console

This is an Atari 2600 that fits in your palm, hooked up to a little old-school TV with antennas on top, and the joystick actually works. The color screen is 1.5 inches across, and it plays ten real games with their sound effects: Pac-Man, Asteroids, Missile Command, Centipede, Millipede, Breakout, Pong, Combat, Warlords and Tempest.

Super Impulse builds its Tiny Arcade line as playable toys and display pieces at the same time. On a desk it looks like a dollhouse version of a 1980 living room. Pick it up and it’s ten games deep, with no downloads, accounts or internet connection involved. The whole setup is about 3.5 inches.

It suits the guy who had a 2600 in the basement, wore out a joystick playing Combat with his brother and still remembers his best Asteroids score. Kids 8 and up can play it too, which makes it a good way to settle the old argument about whether games were better back then.

The catch: the screen is tiny and the joystick is scaled down to match, so long sessions get squinty and cramped. Think of it as a desk toy for a few quick rounds, not a replacement for a full retro console.