E-readers and E ink devices have seen some innovative changes and various improvements over the past handful of years.
The competition within the e-reader market has grown beyond simply offering a book-reading experience that utilizes E ink. For example, a lot of e-readers now feature color options, although slightly muted in comparison to any standard LCD panel. Even today, larger E ink tablets are becoming popular for those looking to capture the same feeling and overall aesthetic of writing in a notebook.
But, as far as seeing something focused on gaming while still predominantly being an E ink device, we haven’t seen it. Until now.
Introducing the Ink Console
A new company is here to add another innovation to the reader and E ink space. Ink Console is an entirely E ink handheld that also switches up the visual novel genre, by definition.
Ink Console Specs
- Display: 7.5-inch e-ink screen
- Resolution: 800 x 480 resolution
- Storage: 4MB
- RAM: 8MB PSRAM, 520KB SRAM
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 4.2 and LE
- Battery: 5000 mAh li-on
- Display: 7.5-inch e-ink screen, 800 x 480 resolution
- Features: SD card slot, single analog joystick, headphone jack
What sets the handheld apart from anything else we’ve seen released in the past is mostly found in what it aims to do.
The company is poised to release the Ink Console with its own set of games, called Gamebooks. Each Gamebook splits the screen between novel text, and a visual component that can be assumed to be the details of the game itself, with more customization depending on how you choose to proceed in the adventure.
The photos show the screen featuring different slots for equipment in one of their games, but based on the different text images shown, the games may rely on the same methods as old-school point-and-click games by having players choose between a few options to alter where in the story they’ll be going.
Ink Console Game Screenshots
Open-sourcing the work and development of the console is also one of the company’s main focal points. By open-sourcing the development and SDK of the console, gamers from all over can make their own Gamebooks and hopefully expand the longevity of the handheld while also giving birth to a new type of game that most haven’t known was available beforehand.
Ink Console, Coming Soon
Ink Console in the wild
Handhelds are consistently and constantly changing the ways in which we think we would ultimately want to play games. Some gamers relish in the idea of using a 1:1 device to play SNES games at the console’s native 8:7. Some gamers fawn over the idea of playing games that were once locked to a home console on a device that can fit into their travel bags.
The Ink Console changed everything we knew about how games would be created, and how people will enjoy them. It merges two mediums by using the advancements found in a neighboring technology to effectively revitalize a game genre we haven’t seen popularized since the days of MS-DOS.
What did you think of this article? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!
This page may contain affiliate links, by purchasing something through a link, Retro Handhelds may earn a small commission on the sale at no additional cost to you.
Should be aware that they’re pushing AI generated game covers on their site which puts into question the entire thing (Are the images AI generated, is the text also AI generated?).
Pretty massive dealbreaker there if you somehow didn’t care about the low res e-ink and micro USB port.