Retro Games Ltd. and PLAION REPLAI continue their run of full-sized home computer recreations, with THE A1200 arriving this December and Atari’s THE 800XL following on April 23, 2027.
Atari has officially announced THE 800XL, a full-sized recreation of its popular 8-bit home computer from 1983. Developed by Retro Games Ltd., the company behind THEC64, THE400 Mini and THEA500 Mini, the new machine combines the original computer’s design and functionality with modern conveniences such as HDMI output, USB connectivity, save states and gameplay rewind.
Before THE 800XL arrives, however, Retro Games Ltd. has another major hardware release lined up. THE A1200, its full-sized recreation of the Commodore Amiga 1200, is scheduled for December 4, 2026, following an earlier delay. This makes it the company’s next planned hardware release, with THE 800XL following on April 23, 2027.
Manufactured and distributed by PLAION REPLAI, THE 800XL is available for pre-order at €219.99 / £199.99 / $219.99.
More Than Just a Games Machine
Like THE A1200, THE 800XL is designed to function as an actual home computer. It features a full-sized mechanical keyboard, built-in Atari BASIC and a working cartridge slot, allowing users to do considerably more than simply select games from a menu.
The original Atari 800XL was introduced in 1983 and became one of the most popular models in Atari’s 8-bit computer family. With 64KB of RAM, dedicated graphics and sound chips and a built-in BASIC interpreter, it was equally at home running games and allowing users to write their own programs.
Retro Games Ltd. aims to preserve that experience with its new recreation. Users can write, save and load BASIC programs, while the cartridge slot and USB support allow them to run software beyond the included selection.
According to Atari, THE 800XL supports software from the Atari 400, 800, XL and XE computer families, as well as Atari 5200 games. USB flash drives can be used to load cartridge, disk and cassette images, opening up a considerably larger library than the 25 games included with the system. Atari also advertises compatibility with most original cartridges, although the extent of that compatibility remains to be seen.
25 Built-In Games, Plus Two Hidden Extras
THE 800XL comes with 25 licensed games, including eight Atari first-party titles and 17 third-party releases. The selection covers arcade conversions, platformers, strategy games and some of the more distinctive titles from the Atari 8-bit library.
The complete line-up consists of:
- Airball
- Asteroids
- Basketball
- BattleZone
- Berzerk
- Boulder Dash
- Bristles
- Capture the Flag
- Centipede
- Crystal Castles
- Elektraglide
- Encounter
- Flip and Flop
- Henry’s House
- Hover Bovver
- Lee
- M.U.L.E.
- Millipede
- Miner 2049er
- Missile Command
- O’Riley’s Mine
- The Seven Cities of Gold
- Star Raiders II
- Wavy Navy
- Yoomp!
Interestingly, two additional games are hidden in the game carousel. Castle Crisis and Super Breakout can be unlocked by connecting an analog controller, bringing the total number of included games to 27.
The 25 standard games are exactly the same as those included with the earlier THE400 Mini, which is somewhat disappointing. Especially since the latter already supports Atari 800, XL and XE software through USB, meaning THE 800XL doesn’t actually open up a new library of games. We would have liked to see Retro Games Ltd. take this opportunity to expand the selection with Atari 8-bit classics such as Rescue on Fractalus!, Ballblazer or Archon. Instead, existing THE400 Mini owners are essentially getting the same games in a more elaborate package, with the full-sized mechanical keyboard, physical cartridge support and BASIC programming experience being the main reasons to upgrade.
Modern Connections and a Classic Joystick
Naturally, THE 800XL comes with several features that weren’t available back in 1983. HDMI output supports both 50Hz PAL and 60Hz NTSC display modes, with options for a traditional 4:3 aspect ratio, pixel-perfect scaling and CRT filters.
Four USB-A ports provide connections for controllers and storage devices, while USB-C is used to power the machine.
The system also includes four save slots per game and a rewind function that allows players to reverse gameplay. Both features are advertised for built-in games, software loaded from USB and physical cartridges.
Included in the package is THECXSTICK, Retro Games Ltd.’s recreation of Atari’s classic joystick. It retains the familiar single fire button design while incorporating seven additional buttons for modern functions. An HDMI cable, USB power cable and quick guide are also included.
Arriving april 2027
With its mechanical keyboard, cartridge support and BASIC programming capabilities, THE 800XL takes a more complete approach to recreating the original hardware than the usual collection of pre-installed games in a retro-styled box.
How accurately THE 800XL handles the extensive Atari 8-bit software library remains to be seen, but the combination of physical cartridge support, USB loading and a proper keyboard makes this an interesting proposition for Atari 8-bit-fans who want to revisit more than just the games.
THE 800XL is available for pre-order through Atari and PLAION REPLAI, with shipping scheduled for April 23, 2027.
