We’ll cut right to the chase: this image is not photoshopped.

Yes, it’s a handheld video game controller in the classic style 8-bit style you know and love–but now it’s for your iPad or iPhone, no console or cartridges required. And it exists IRL.

We’re calling it the iCADE 8-Bitty. It pairs wirelessly just like our iCADE, and it’s compatible with a growing list of hundreds of retro game apps, including the Atari Classics collection, Pac Man, Super Mega Worm, and more (see full list). Because the 8-Bitty uses a completely open interface system, any app developer can easily add game support–even to Android devices.

The only bad news is we don’t have it in stock yet; we just couldn’t keep it to ourselves any longer.

The 8-Bitty will be available later this year for $24.99 exclusively at ThinkGeek, and you can sign up for email updates now so you can be the first to know when it arrives.

What could you play on an 8-Bitty? There’s a list for that. In addition to Atari’s package, here are links to games with either released or announced support for the iCADE and 8-Bitty:

• Muffin Knight – Angry Mob Games
• Minotron: 2112 – Llamasoft
• Velocispider – Retro Dreamer
• No Gravity – Realtech VR
• Super Mega Worm – Deceased Pixel LLC
• Space Inversion – Silverline Arts
• Sideways Racing – Bjango
• Emerald Mine – Les Bird
• Freeesh – Realtech VR
• Commodore 64 – Manomio LLC
• The Exterminator – SUMO Productions
• IronStar Arena – Appracatappra, LLC.
• Compression HD – Little White Bear Studios, LLC
• Mos Speedrun – Physmo
• Warblade HD – Edgar Vigdal
• Plum Crazy – Claymore Games
• HungryMaster – xionchannel
• Cyborg Livestock – PopArcade
• Space Inversion 2. – Silverline Arts
• Stardash – OrangePixel
• Super Drill Panic – OrangePixel
• GoatUp – Llamasoft
• Minotaur Rescue – Llamasoft
• Bob’s Action Racing – VariaMedia GmbH
• Silverfish MAX – Chaotic Box
• Match Panic – Chaotic Box
• Retroid – Flat Black Films
• Box Cat – Rusty Moyher
• Fruity The Snake HD – 22Moo
• AirAttack HD – Art In Games
• Temple Run – Imangi Studios, LLC
• Haunted Hallway – UNCADE
• HyperBowl – Technicat, LLC
• Battlestation: Quixotic – CrushCrumble
• Jungool – Headsoft
• Influx – Half Fast Games

If you’re an iOS developer supporting the iCADE and 8-Bitty–or if you think we’ve missed a game above–let us know! Just email [email protected] or leave a note in the comments.

Developer Support

• Official ION Documentation [PDF]: The team at ION has made their official iCADE Developers Resource available for download without an NDA and we’re pleased to offer it here as well.
• Stuart Carnie of manomio software has released an Open Source SDK for adding iCADE support to iOS apps. The open source iCADE SDK can be downloaded here.

MAME Support

• iOS: If you’ve taken the step of jailbreaking your iPad, the iMAME4all app adds MAME awesomeness to your iCADE gaming stack. While we can’t recommend jailbreaking or unlicensed ROMs, we can certainly confirm that it does indeed work and it works quite well. Just this January, developer Matthias Ringwald just released Blutrol, an application for jailbroken iOS devices that maps iCADE’s physical buttons to on-screen presses.
• Android: By popular demand, Seleuco added iCADE support to MAME4droid.