Nostalgia has served as a wonderful element in gaming today, with most mobile games on both the iOS and Android platform feature the early 90's vibe -- 8-bit graphic glory and ultra difficulty modes widely popularized by the legendary Nintendo Entertainment System. Developers are harkening back to the Halcyon days, but it was not complete without the feeling of slapping a cartridge into a console, much as you would with the NES from decades past. Beatrobo takes this into the mind and unleashes the Pico Cassette.
Beatrobo, a Japanese start-up, aims to deliver the nostalgia feel that early games have grown fond and familiar with through the Pico Cassette -- a game cartridge that plugs right into a smartphone's audio jack so users will be able to play a specific game. It's a different approach, though, as obviously, there are no smartphones that feature a cartridge slot, as of yet.
The Pico Cassette doesn't actually hold games. However, it does emit inaudible audio that authenticates games that users have downloaded. Not only is this a welcomed approach to stopping piracy, but the technology is also capable of syncing save files across multiple devices, so in a sense, it would still feel like a personal cartridge that the user can bring around.
The primary reason for Beatrobo to develop the Pico Cassette is simply for nostalgia. "Sure, you can get Chrono Trigger on your iPhone, but it's just not the same," told Beatrobo founder and CEO Hiroshi Asaeda to The Verge during Tokyo Games Show 2015.
During the event, the only playable Pico Cassette games was a Flappy Bird-esque title to demonstrate and prove the concept of the product. However, he confirmed that the company is working with content partners, and there are also plans to bring Pico Casettes to the market soon when its crowdfunding campaign reaches its goals.
