Andrew: We’ve got different hardware, but essentially it’s the same generation of cartridges, so whether you have the original handheld, the EXP, the new EXP-R, or the Super Pocket, it’s all completely consistent so you can play all those games. And as Dominic says, the 32-bit/64-bit era is where we top out on hardware at the moment.
MCV: The Super Pocket was an interesting addition, but why did you release it under a new brand - Hyper Mega Tech? Andrew: The Super Pocket is there as a kind of entry point. It’s got some really amazing pre-loaded games, so whether you buy it as a standalone experience or buy any more carts is up to you. That goes back to the point about why we’re different: Mini consoles (PlayStation Classic, A500 Mini, etc) are really amazing products with great software, but the experience ends after however many days you get out of them in terms of entertainment. With the Super Pocket, we didn’t
want to make products that ended on day three. That you’d play for a bit and then stick in the drawer. We wanted to make something that had real value as a console that went forward as something that you can play retro games on. Equally, we also recognised that people don’t have huge amounts of money right now. We didn’t want to make something super expensive. We were trying to find that value piece for people.
MCV: Does that attention to value extend to the games? Andrew: The Tomb Raider collection has three titles on it. Atari Collection 1 has 20 titles, Another arcade collection has ten, another has six, so it’s a real mix. The pricing is consistent, so we’ve got two price bands for cartridges. The first one - which is for 99% of cartridges - is $20, and the other price point is the Tomb Raider price point. That’s actually because it’s a higher capacity chip, not so much because it’s Tomb Raider. As we release newer stuff we will have higher capacity chips, which we will need to deliver more content on those cartridges. But all the initial 50-odd cartridges are all the same price, whether people get two games on them or
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