Lego recreates iconic Atari 2600 console for 50th anniversary

theverge.com:

The Atari 2600 is getting the Lego treatment. The Danish toy company’s latest model is based on the 1980 revision of the iconic console rather than its 1977 debut and consists of a meaty 2,532 pieces (which seems like a missed opportunity to offer 2,600 pieces, but I digress). It’ll be available on August 1st for $239.99 and coincides with the Atari’s 50th anniversary.

The launch of the set comes a little over two years after Lego made a similarly loving recreation of Nintendo’s classic NES console. But while the Lego Nintendo console included both a buildable console itself as well as an accompanying CRT TV, the Atari model is more self-contained; there’s the console itself as well as a controller with a movable joystick. Fantastically, the console does also open up to reveal a diorama of a 1980s living room.

And yes, the Lego cartridges fit in the Lego console.

The set also includes a trio of game cartridges based on the classic games Asteroids, Adventure, and Centipede, which can be slotted into the Lego console itself. Finally, three external dioramas show off blocky recreations of the games. The existence of the set was previously reported by German Lego fan site Promobricks.

“The Atari 2600 was one of the most memorable gifts I got as a kid,” Lego designer Chris McVeigh said in a press statement. “This is why it has been such an incredible experience to bring two icons together, Atari and Lego, in this awesome set. We hope that building this classic console takes you back to those halcyon days when a handful of pixels meant a world of adventure.”