There’s one last hurdle for the Evercade to overcome before this handheld with cartridges filled with classic and indie 8 and 16 bit games appears. While the system finally has a May 22, 2020 launch date, the official blog noted that the COVID-19 coronavirus will result in a final delay. The system is finished, as are some cartridges. It’s just that shipping issues are preventing the expected simultaneous release and instead will mean the system will start showing up between May 22-June 5, 2020.
The Evercade is a $99.99 system that, in its base Premium Pack, comes with Atari Volume 1, Data East Volume 1, and Interplay Volume 1 cartridges. It is a handheld with a 4.3” screen, 4-5 hour battery life, and option to connect to a TV via its mini HDMI port. The three cartridges in the Premium Pack would give people immediate access to games like Adventure, Asteroids, Bad Dudes, Boogerman, BurgerTime, Centipede, Clay Fighter, Earthworm Jim, Joe & Mac 2: Lost Tropics, Magical Drop II, Missile Command, and Tempest. 14 of these $19.99 cartridges will launch in 2020, with some of them being Atari Lynx Collection 1, Mega Cat Studios Collection 1, Namco Museum Collection 1 and 2, Pikoi Collection 1, Technos by Arc System Works Collection 1, and Xeno Crisis & Tanglewood Dual Game.
In all goes well, it is looking like 2020 could be filled with a number of niche handhelds. Panic Inc has asserted that its Playdate, a system with built-in games that unlock each week and a crank as part of its control schemes, will appear in 2020. The Analogue Pocket, a device designed to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Lynx, and Neo Geo Pocket Color games, is expected to launch this year as well.
The Evercade’s official release date is May 22, 2020, but people should expect delays that could keep it from appearing until May 29-June 5, 2020.
