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I’m in love with this Commodore 64 keyboard. It’s not even an official Commodore product, however I couldn’t care much less. The aesthetic of 8BitDo’s Retro Mechanical Keyboard – C64 Edition is clearly impressed by the enduring 1982 laptop mannequin that many aged nerds like myself used to study to program BASIC in school.
It’s the most recent entry in a long-standing retro design development, apparently fueled by Generation X’s nostalgia for the very best stretch within the historical past (sorry youngsters, this century actually sucks) and Gen Z’s strange fascination with an period they by no means skilled.
As a Gen Xer who was a teen within the Eighties, I’m a sucker for something that appears, tastes, sounds, feels, or smells like that point, particularly laptop peripherals and digital thingamajigs of all types. It makes me really feel good. I don’t know why. And I don’t give a rattling concerning the why—it simply does. So right here’s my newest listing of toys that drink straight from the intoxicating bottle of 80s design.
8BitDo’s Retro Mechanical – C64 Version
That is the most recent taste of 8BitDo’s mechanical keyboards. The corporate—which makes a speciality of creating retro gaming peripherals impressed by outdated basic console designs—already had two comparable keyboards: N (for Nintendo Leisure System) and Fami (for Nintendo Famicon, the white and pink Japanese model of the NES).
This $110 C64 is modeled on the Commodore 64—an odd, low-cost laptop that launched in 1982. When it got here to the Commodore’s keyboard, although, the corporate used switches from a Japanese brand called Mitsumi that mixed springs and rubber elements to get the keyboard’s signature clickety-clack motion. The brand new 8BitDo model makes use of Kailh Field White V2 switches, which really feel wonderful and make a really satisfying (and loud) sound, customers say.
The general curvy shapes, the thick keys, and the general end completely reproduce the unique beige brick. The pink energy gentle is there, too. So is the rainbow in the course of it, which apparently was a must have of the very best basic computer systems of that period, just like the Apple II and the ZX Spectrum. It additionally has two knobs on the highest left nook, which the Commodore didn’t have, however I really like knobs.
All of that’s nice, however the very best a part of the C64 is the Tremendous Stick and Tremendous Buttons that include it. The primary is impressed by the basic C64 joystick that later grew to become one other design icon with the Commodore Amiga, however 8BitDo’s model is easier and extra elegant.
The Tremendous Buttons are programmable keys that appear like large NES gamepad buttons. Sadly, you may solely get this peripheral as a part of the C64 keyboard. Nothing dangerous there, however I want they’d it accessible individually. If you’d like a C64 joystick, you can buy a replica on Amazon from one other model, however it has neither the elegant simplicity of the Tremendous Stick nor the 2 large Tremendous Buttons.
The keyboard connects by USB, Bluetooth, and a 2.4GHz USB dongle that docks within the keyboard base. The corporate website says it’s only suitable with Home windows and Android however don’t imagine it: it works for Mac too. You simply have to remap some keys.
8BitDo’s SN30
8BitDo additionally has SN30 gamepads. Impressed by the Nintendo Tremendous NES design, they handle to keep up the aesthetic of the unique however add further buttons so you may play fashionable or emulated video games from any basic techniques proper in your PC or Mac. It’s very easy to plug and play, it’s wi-fi (purists will need the cable linked model, however the Bluetooth mannequin works simply high quality for me), and it feels unbelievable in your hand whilst you think about being a teen enjoying Zelda: A Hyperlink to the Previous, or no matter is your favourite nostalgia poison. There’s additionally the corporate’s excellent Arcade Stick, however it’s too massive for my home and, if I had the area, I’d somewhat have a full arcade cupboard at residence to play with my child. I attempted it, although, and it absolutely captures that mechanical arcade feeling. It’s all that you must play each single emulated recreation ever made on this good planet Earth.
Flightstick Professional
This can positively be obscure for many individuals, however thousands and thousands of those Flightstick Professionals have been offered again within the Nineteen Nineties to play something from Microsoft Flight Simulator to LucasArts’ X-Wing. They have been so in style that they grew to become a beloved design for a complete era for nerds like me, who thought they could possibly be Chuck Yeager or Luke Skywalker in entrance of our PCs. These can be found once more from the corporate that made them, CH Merchandise, and also you can buy them on Amazon if you wish to revive your glory days as fighter jockey.
Audio Technica’s Sound Burger
If there’s a retro product that has captured my coronary heart and bank card this yr, that’s the brand new launch of Audio Technica’s Sound Burger, the Walkman of turntables. The AT-SB727 has returned after 40 years, with its 2.6 kilos of compact, moveable vinyl enjoying energy. Initially launched in 1983, the battery operated Sound Burger got here with folding headphones. The corporate made a 7,000 unit restricted version again in 2022 that was so profitable it prompted Audio Technica to make it accessible in three colours: black, white and the glorious yellow model.
It’s mainly the identical as the unique, a belt-drive system able to enjoying each singles and full albums at 33-1/3 and 45 RPM. However this one comes with wired and Bluetooth connectivity, plus an alleged 12-hour wi-fi play time.
Bonus: Apple Prolonged Keyboard
I’d commerce any of the above for Apple to re-release (or license) its Apple Prolonged Keyboard, full with the rainbow brand. Heck, I’d accept a compact model, like the one this guy did:
The keyboard was based mostly on the Snow White design language that the legendary studio Frog Design created for Apple within the early Eighties. The Cupertino firm used it till 1990, and it was a factor of magnificence that felt nice and was utterly totally different from the $700 (adjusted to inflation) IBM Mannequin M (which was and is cool in its personal proper). After all, I’d additionally get something designed following the Snow White language, particularly any of those machines designed by Hartmut Esslinger that have been by no means ever launched.
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