Help, I can’t stop buying awesome retro gadgets

I’m in love with this Commodore 64 keyboard. It’s not even an official Commodore product, but I couldn’t care less. The aesthetic of 8BitDo’s Retro Mechanical Keyboard – C64 Edition is clearly inspired by the iconic 1982 computer model that many old nerds like myself used to learn to program BASIC at school.

It’s the latest entry in a long-standing retro design trend, apparently fueled by Generation X’s nostalgia for the best stretch in the history (sorry kids, this century really sucks) and Gen Z’s strange fascination with an era they never experienced.

As a Gen Xer who was a teenager in the 1980s, I’m a sucker for anything that looks, tastes, sounds, feels, or smells like that time, especially computer peripherals and electronic thingamajigs of all forms. It makes me feel good. I don’t know why. And I don’t give a damn about the why—it just does. So here’s my latest list of toys that drink straight from the intoxicating bottle of 80s design.

8BitDo’s Retro Mechanical – C64 Edition

This is the latest flavor of 8BitDo’s mechanical keyboards. The company—which specializes in creating retro gaming peripherals inspired by old classic console designs—already had two similar keyboards: N (for Nintendo Entertainment System) and Fami (for Nintendo Famicon, the white and red Japanese version of the NES).

This $110 C64 is modeled on the Commodore 64—a strange, cheap computer that launched in 1982. When it came to the Commodore’s keyboard, though, the company used switches from a Japanese brand called Mitsumi that combined springs and rubber parts to get the keyboard’s signature clickety-clack action. The new 8BitDo version uses Kailh Box White V2 switches, which feel amazing and make a very satisfying (and loud) sound, users say.

The overall curvy shapes, the thick keys, and the overall finish perfectly reproduce the original beige brick. The red power light is there, too. So is the rainbow in the middle of it, which apparently was a must-have of the best classic computers of that era, like the Apple II and the ZX Spectrum. It also has two knobs on the top left corner, which the Commodore didn’t have, but I love knobs.

All of that is great, but the best part of the C64 is the Super Stick and Super Buttons that come with it. The first is inspired by the classic C64 joystick that later became another design icon with the Commodore Amiga, but 8BitDo’s version is simpler and more elegant.

The Super Buttons are programmable keys that look like giant NES gamepad buttons. Sadly, you can only get this peripheral as part of the C64 keyboard. Nothing bad there, but I wish they had it available separately. If you want a C64 joystick, you can buy a replica on Amazon from another brand, but it has neither the elegant simplicity of the Super Stick nor the two giant Super Buttons.

The keyboard connects through USB, Bluetooth, and a 2.4GHz USB dongle that docks in the keyboard base. The company site says it is only compatible with Windows and Android but don’t believe it: it works for Mac too. You just need to remap some keys.

8BitDo’s SN30

8BitDo also has SN30 gamepads. Inspired by the Nintendo Super NES design, they manage to maintain the aesthetic of the original but add extra buttons so you can play modern or emulated games from any classic systems right on your PC or Mac. It’s really easy to plug and play, it’s wireless (purists will want the cable connected version, but the Bluetooth model works just fine for me), and it feels fantastic in your hand while you imagine being a teen playing Zelda: A Link to the Past, or whatever is your favorite nostalgia poison. There’s also the company’s superb Arcade Stick, but it’s too big for my house and, if I had the space, I’d rather have a full arcade cabinet at home to play with my kid. I tried it, though, and it fully captures that mechanical arcade feeling. It is all you need to play every single emulated game ever made on this good planet Earth.

Flightstick Pro

This will definitely be obscure for many people, but millions of these Flightstick Pros were sold back in the 1990s to play anything from Microsoft Flight Simulator to LucasArts’ X-Wing. They were so popular that they became a beloved design for an entire generation for nerds like me, who thought they could be Chuck Yeager or Luke Skywalker in front of our PCs. These are available again from the company that made them, CH Products, and you can buy them on Amazon if you want to revive your glory days as fighter jockey.

Audio Technica’s Sound Burger

If there’s a retro product that has captured my heart and credit card this year, that’s the new release of Audio Technica’s Sound Burger, the Walkman of turntables. The AT-SB727 has returned after 40 years, with its 2.6 pounds of compact, portable vinyl playing power. Originally released in 1983, the battery operated Sound Burger came with folding headphones. The company made a 7,000 unit limited edition back in 2022 that was so successful it prompted Audio Technica to make it available in three colors: black, white and the glorious yellow model.

It’s basically the same as the original, a belt-drive system capable of playing both singles and full albums at 33-1/3 and 45 RPM. But this one comes with wired and Bluetooth connectivity, plus an alleged 12-hour wireless play time.

Bonus: Apple Extended Keyboard

I would trade any of the above for Apple to re-release (or license) its Apple Extended Keyboard, complete with the rainbow logo. Heck, I would settle for a compact version, like the one this guy did:

The keyboard was based on the Snow White design language that the legendary studio Frog Design created for Apple in the early 1980s. The Cupertino company used it until 1990, and it was a thing of beauty that felt great and was completely different from the $700 (adjusted to inflation) IBM Model M (which was and is cool in its own right). Of course, I would also get anything designed following the Snow White language, especially any of those machines designed by Hartmut Esslinger that were never ever released.