Fully-Funded GameTank Heads Into Production

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📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Fully-Funded GameTank Heads Into Production

https://retrohandhelds.gg/fully-funded-gametank-heads-into-production/

Picture a 1987 dev‑kit that somehow escaped the museum and landed in a maker‑space—that’s the vibe of the newly funded GameTank, an open‑source 8‑bit console that just smashed its $30 k Crowd Supply goal, pulling in over $40 k.

Backers will receive a full‑blown system: a chunky custom controller, a cartridge flasher with a blank cart, and even a physical copy of the launch title Accursed Fiend. This isn’t an emulator box; it’s a brand‑new platform running two W65C02S chips (one at 3.5 MHz for logic, another at 14 MHz for audio), a 128×128 framebuffer with a hardware blitter, and 512 KB of graphics RAM. Video is pure composite—perfect if you still own a CRT or a good scaler.

What makes GameTank special isn’t the nostalgia trip but the invitation to tinker. All schematics, board files, and 3D‑printable shells are open‑sourced, and an SDK built on CC65 lets developers write real 6502 code from scratch. With shipping slated for July 12, 2026, this niche‑of‑a‑niche finally moves off the vaporware graveyard and into your hands—ready for anyone who wants to build games and hardware.

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