The humble video game arcade may now be a shadow of what it once was, but Swedish design company Love Hultén is letting gamers take a nostalgic step back in time with its beautiful R-Kaid-R. The portable arcade system comes with built-in support for MAME and a variety of retro console and computer systems, including the Neo Geo, Atari 2600, Super Nintendo, and all of the point-and-click adventure games playable in ScummVM.
The handmade wooden box features brass detailing and packs an eight-way joystick, 10 buttons, an 8-inch LCD screen, SD card slot, USB connectivity, rechargeable battery, and a built-in mono speaker. It runs on a custom operating system and comes with the game Cave Story pre-installed on an included 16 GB SD card. Its 5 V rechargeable battery should be good for eight hours of retro gaming. Its real selling point is not the feature set, though, but the care that's gone into its creation.
Hultén says the R-Kaid-R is meant to "breathe new life into a fading culture," and stands out in stark contrast against the mass produced designs of modern consoles. This loving approach shows in the gentle curvature of the screen and the way the joystick can be unscrewed from its slot and used as a handle when the device is folded closed.
Hultén's work puts a new spin on the argument that games are art with elegant designs like this and the R-Kaid-42 two-player mini-arcade cabinet. Such craftsmanship doesn't come cheap, however, and the R-Kaid-R will set you back a pretty penny.
It's slated to ship in September for €2,499 (US$3,400), and you can pre-order it in any of five different finishes, with or without a leather satchel.
Check out the video below to see it in action.
Source: Love Hultén
