Ah, Gamescom. A show quite unlike any other (now that E3 in Los Angeles has given up the ghost). Gamers attend en masse in Cologne's Messe halls to preview the good and the great of forthcoming games.
And while headline-grabbers, such as my preview of the new Xbox handheld console, are a given, it's some of the lesser surfaced products that really elevate the show to another level. Well, that and all the cosplayers.
Take, for example, this Nintendo Switch 2 accessory. It's called the Mini Arcade Pro, made by iMP Tech, and it literally transforms your Nintendo console into a little arcade machine.
Buttons are mapped as per Nintendo's Pro Controller, with a built-in physical switch for determining whether the Mini Arcade Pro's control stick is d-pad (DP), left stick (LS), or right stick (RS).
I dutifully fired up the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics selection, where there's a batch of 90s classics from one of Nintendo's most revered consoles ever. You can go back further in time with SNES and NES launches, too, perhaps being a better echo of the classic arcade's heyday.
It's easy to slot the console into the Arcade Mini Pro, whether you have one of the original Switch models or are more up to date with a Switch 2. The newer Nintendo console looks better, owed to its larger screen, which makes the greatest use of the Mini Arcade Pro's scale.
The buttons feel clicky, chunky and classic in their arcade feel, as does the red-topped joystick – which, as said above, can emulate that digital or analogue to your preference via the flick of a switch.
So, if you love retro gaming and Nintendo then this retro-styled accessory is a great add-on – or it could make the perfect gift. It's due to go on sale around November, iMP told me at Gamescom, although there's currently no pricing information confirmed.
