Blaze announces Evercade product refresh with two new, cheaper systems

UK-based Blaze Entertainment has announced a refresh of its Evercade line of retro consoles.

The company will be replacing its existing models with two updated models, named the Evercade EXP-R and the Evercade VS-R.

The EXP-R will be the company’s new handheld system, replacing its EXP model and retailing for £99.99 / $99.99 instead of the EXP’s £129.99 / $149.99.

Although the EXP-R is cheaper, however, it will not include the 18 Capcom games built into the EXP (due to Blaze’s licensing agreement with Capcom expiring) and will also not have a Mini-HDMI port, meaning players won’t be able to output the image to their TV.

The VS-R, meanwhile, will replace the existing Evercade VS home console and will retail for £89.99  / $99.99 (the same price as the VS).

Both systems feature a new grey and light blue colour scheme, and both will come bundled with a new ‘Giga Cart’.

This cartridge has a larger capacity than existing Evercade carts, and will feature more games on it than usual. Blaze will announce the contents of the Giga Cart, which will be the same for both the EXP-R and VS-R, later this month.

“We’re thrilled to introduce the EXP-R and VS-R, going one step further to make retro gaming more accessible to gamers,” Blaze CEO Andrew Byatt said in a statement. “With these reimagined editions, we are delighted to be able to lower the cost of entry into a market where prices seem to continuously rise.”

Originally released in 2020 as a handheld device, the Evercade plays bespoke cartridges containing officially licensed collections of retro games.

More than 500 games are now available on Evercade systems, spanning more than 50 cartridges.