Atari Set to Get Into Wearable Business With Gameband on February 1

Atari has teased the launch of a new gaming wearable, in association with Barcelona-based Now Computing, which seems set to be an extension of the latter's existing Gameband. The official launch of the new Atari-themed Gameband is scheduled for February 1, which should shed more light on what it really is.

“We’re getting ready to announce some new tech that will let you play classic Atari titles in a whole new way,” Atari said in a corresponding newsletter. It’s not revealing anything beyond that just yet, but the fact that Gameband is involved, there’s a high chance it will resemble their earlier product, the Gameband for Minecraft.

Launched back in 2015, the first Gameband was like a portable Minecraft for obsessives. You could make a copy of your game, your Worlds, and your mod launchers onto the wearable’s internal storage, and then carry it with you. Playing the game was as simple as plugging it into any computer – Windows, Mac, or Linux – and just opening the Gameband app.

Apart from that, the Gameband for Minecraft was also capable of presenting customised messages and animation on its LED ticker display. One thing it didn’t come with though was a license for Minecraft, so naturally people scoffed at its $80 price tag. It’s come down since then thankfully, but it remains to be seen how Atari and Now Computing plan to price the new wearable.

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