Video Games

Atari is making a weird new gaming handheld with a trackball and a numpad

Atari is teaming up with MyArcade for the weirdest gaming handheld yet

Oliver Brandt

Atar

We’re in the heyday of the portable gaming device, it seems, with the Nintendo Switch inspiring a host of similar devices. Valve jumped in with the Steam Deck, with Asus following shortly after with the ROG Ally, Lenovo not long later with the Legion Go, and just about every other company on the planet since. Even Sony is apparently working on a handheld of its own. Atari seems to want to be a part of the trend, and it’s doing it in a bit of a strange way. 

Atari has announced the Gamestation Go, a new handheld that seems to be focused on classic Atari games. The device was officially revealed on Twitter, where it was confirmed that MyArcade would be making the device, which makes sense given the companies’ history working together. 

The Gamestation Go is a curious little device, with some traditional controls and some much less traditional controls, too, like a dial and a trackball. It’s missing any analog sticks, so it probably won’t be playing any modern games, but it does have the usual ABXY buttons – in Xbox layout – a d-pad, and two L/R buttons each. It also has a hefty number pad on the right hand side of the device, as well as a 16:9 screen, which is an odd choice for something seemingly focused on retro games. 

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the strange device from Atari. At last year’s CES, MyArcade and Atari showed off a very similar device called the Gamestation Portable. That device was almost identical, with a 7-inch 16:9 display and all the control features seen on the Gamestation Go — the only changes are seemingly the location of the start, select, and menu buttons, which are now located in the bezel rather than above the controls directly. 

MyArcade and Atari have collaborated before, notably on the Gamestation Pro, a mini console with wireless controllers and over 200 built-in games, including Asteroids, Centipede, Pong, Breakout, and plenty more. It’s safe to say that the Gamestation Go will be pretty similar in execution and software, though it’s unlikely to match the Gamestation Pro’s $99 price tag. 

More details about the Gamestation Go will be announced next week during CES 2025. 

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Oliver Brandt
OLIVER BRANDT

Oliver Brandt is a writer based in Tasmania, Australia. A marketing and journalism graduate, they have a love for puzzle games, JRPGs, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and any platformer with a double jump.

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