Nephew of ZX Spectrum Creator Develops Gift Card-Sized Raspberry Pi Gaming Console: GamerCard Boasts 4-Inch Square IPS Screen & Pre-Loaded Arcade Games

Wow, okay, so there’s this whole retro gaming revival thing happening, and I can’t help but get caught up in it. Like, seriously, some of these devices are wild, and now you’ve got one that’s literally the size of… a gift card? Yeah, you heard me right. Grant Sinclair—yeah, related to the legendary Sir Clive Sinclair, who basically turned everyone into computer nerds back in the day—has come out with this thing. No idea why it grabbed me, but hey, here we are.

I mean, it’s called the GamerCard®, and it runs on Raspberry Pi. Picture this: a 4-inch screen, sharp as heck, and then these funky little round pads with buttons. Kinda like… okay, I don’t know, but it feels tactile in that weirdly satisfying way. Stuffed with arcade games right out of the box. Talk about instant fun.

What’s kinda cool—or maybe just me getting sidetracked—is that it rocks this custom launcher with big icons, emulators, the works. Plus, it’s up for coding, like MicroPython? Not that I’d ever use it, but someone out there probably would.

Oh, and dig this, they’ve got these indie games, Bloo Kid 2 and AstroBlaze DX? These were just for Nintendo Switch until they tweaked them to fit the GamerCard’s funky screen. They’re all pixel-art style—you know, the kind that makes you nostalgic for a time you maybe didn’t really live through.

And here’s the kicker. It’s thin, practically see-through. Like, ever seen something so techy that it looks like you shouldn’t touch it but also can’t stop touching it? Yeah, that. No case, no shell, it’s all right there in your hands.

Anyway, there’s more to say about what’s inside: a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, whatever that means, stacks of gigabytes for storage, and a battery to keep the magic going. You can plug stuff into it, turn it into a sorta desktop. But then you’d better love Raspberry Pi, because it’s not the cheapest date at £125, or around $170 if you’re stateside.

This thing hangs on store racks like it’s a gift card, and I can’t quite tell if that’s genius or just… odd. If you’re a retro junkie with cash to burn, it’s a neat toy. If not, there are probably cheaper thrills out there. It’s quirky, it’s creative, and I’m still not sure why I’m so intrigued. But there you go, Sinclair’s done it again.