Retro gaming is back in style and people are snapping up old-style arcade cabinets (like ones from Arcade1Up) for their basements and game rooms. But you don’t need a spare wall to experience old-timey video games. My Arcade’s Pixel Classic looks like a Nintendo Game Boy clone but comes packed with 300 vintage games. Right now you can get the Pixel Classic for $20 from Macy’s — that’s 60% off the usual $50 price and a lot cheaper than any other price I can find online. (The best price I can find the Pixel Classic for elsewhere is $35.)
The Pixel Classic looks for all the world like a Game Boy, but comes with 300 games that play on the 2.75-inch color screen. It has a built-in speaker with volume control and runs on four AAA batteries or can be tethered to a power source via Micro-USB.
Most of the 300 games are pretty generic, but if you’re a vintage gaming fan, you’ll be especially interested in the eight Data East games, all fully licensed and running off the original ROMs: Bad Dudes, Caveman Ninja, BurgerTime, Karate Champ, Heavy Barrel, BreakThru, Side Pocket and B-Wings.
A word of caution: I wouldn’t recommend this handheld at the original $50 price tag. Some of the bundled games are difficult or impossible to play thanks to poor button mapping or emulation issues. You’ll run into games that can’t be properly controlled with the two buttons, for example, and the lack of detailed instructions leave you a bit high and dry. But all eight of the Data East games play as intended, so if that’s your main focus, then this is $20 well spent, especially when you factor in the fact that many of the remaining 292 games really do play just fine.
Oh, and this is super important: Throw something else in your cart, because you get free shipping for purchases of $25 or more.
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