Summary
The gaming world is waiting with bated breath for the reveal of a new handheld console, and just three days into 2025, we’ve already got one, it’s just not the one you were expecting. It’s exciting nonetheless asAtarihas re-declared its intention to give us something to play retro games with on the go this year, sharinga sneak peek at its upcoming Gamestation Goand promising further details at next week’s CES.
If this all feels very familiar, that might be because almost exactly one year ago, Atari revealed the Gamestation Portable, a handheld device shown off during CES 2024. The handheld device was expected to be released before the end of the year, but that never happened. Instead, it seems Atari and My Arcade have been hard at work tweaking the console and the end result is this re-revealed and renamed projectwhich is now called the Gamestation Go.
While what games will be playable on the Gamestation Go and how they will look hasn’t been shared in the trailer, what the console will look like, and the controls you’ll be using to play its games, has been shown in detail. The Gamestation Go appears to be a hybrid of modern-day handhelds with the controls needed to play some of the arcade classics I imagine will be either built-in or available to buy for the device.
Atari Has Re-Revealed The Handheld Console Its Been Working On And Given It A New Name
Introducing The Gamestation Go Complete With Trak-Ball, Paddle, And Keypad
The modern inclusions are a d-pad, face buttons, and triggers on the top, just like you’d find on almost any modern handheld console or controller. The Atari twist comes in the form ofa paddle, a Trak-Ball, and even a full keypadunder the face buttons to the right of the screen. All inclusions that act as clues to exactly what games from Atari’s past will be a part of the Gamestation Go’s library.
The paddle, for example, is synonymous with Breakout, one of Atari’s most famous creations and a game you will have almost certainly played a version of, even if you don’t realize it. As for the Trak-Ball, while other companies have used versions of it, the feature is so linked to Atari that the way it’s spelled here is the studio’s own trademarked version of the feature. Its inclusion here almost guarantees Centipede and Missile Command will be playable on the Go.
The keypad is the feature that has even some retro gamers confused, but there are games from Atari’s past, such as Codebreaker, that will make use of it if included. Atari now owns Intellivision’s back catalog too and almost all of its games required the use of a keypad. Exciting times for anyone looking for an easy way to play Intellivision games in 2025 as the keypad’s inclusion on the Gamestation Go heavily implies at least some of its titles will be available on the device.
