Blaze Entertainment has decided it’s time for another refresh of its Evercade line of retro gaming hardware. The Evercade EXP-R and Evercade VS-R have been announced, with each set to launch this July. There are quite a few changes that have been made, so let’s dive right into it.

First, the Evercade EXP-R is ditching the ability to connect to a TV and is focused solely on portable play. It will also not be coming with the 18 pre-installed Capcom games that came with the original Evercade EXP, as the licensing deal is set to expire. That said, the portable will still come with a multi-game cartridge in the box, although fans will have to wait a bit longer to hear what’s in this particular compilation.

The Evercade VS-R, meanwhile, seems to be largely the same, although it won’t be able to play Namco Museum Collection 1 & 2. it will, however, be able to handle Evercade’s new Giga Cart format (which is meant to be able to handle larger retro games originally released on CDs), and the console now supports TATE screen rotation. Beyond that, expect another collection of games to be bundled with the console, the contents of which will be announced at a later date.

Both systems have a new, uniform color scheme, boasting dark charcoal housings with teal accents. Let’s just say this writer is happy to see the portable finally having a dedicated dark colorway after griping about it back in 2019 when the original Evercade launched in white and only offered 3,000 units in black. If anyone is wondering why Blaze has made these changes, it is apparently in an effort to bring costs down and offer a more unified lineup of hardware. Both consoles will sell for $99.99, which is a virtual steal in this day and age.

Note that with this change, Blaze is retiring the original Evercade VS and Evercade EXP. Both consoles will be available while supplies last at retail, but if you want either moving forward, you’ll have to invest in the new R versions of the hardware. This is arguably most pertinent for those who wanted to enjoy the 18 Capcom games on the original EXP, so act fast if you’re interested. Finally, alongside these consoles, Evercade will also be launching a TATE Grip for both versions of the EXP that makes playing in TATE more comfortable. It will sell for $19.99.

If you’re curious what Evercade is all about, it’s a range of hardware that focuses on bringing retro gaming experiences to fans exclusively on cartridges. Other than being able to do updates via WiFi, Evercade is an old school experience where all you do is plug your games in and play. There have been a number of excellent compilations put out over the years, all of which (well, for the most part) are playable on both the handheld and home Evercade platforms.

Will you be picking up one or both of these? Let us know your thoughts on Evercade down in the comments!

Source: Evercade Blog

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