GamerCard is an Ultrathin Handheld Created by Clive Sinclair’s Nephew
Sir Clive Sinclair invented the world’s first portable TV, the world’s first slimline calculator, and the best-selling microcomputer the ZX Spectrum. Now, his nephew Grant Sinclair has revealed GamerCard, a super-thin gaming handheld.
The GamerCard weighs in at a suitably slim 128mm in length, 88mm wide, and only 6.5mm thick. It also weighs just 100 grams. Sinclair posted the device reveal on LinkedIn recently and explained the reasoning behind its truly pocket-sized design.
“I conceived the idea for creating a gift card size gaming computer while browsing magazines in a WHSmith store, as I have since the 1980s. I was interested that Gift Cards are distributed in all categories of stores almost everywhere, usually positioned in prime locations and selling in the billions of units – I thought this could be a really great way to make a computer available to the masses.”
WHSMith is a renowned UK retailer, soon to be rebranded to TGJones. People outside the UK may well have come across its outlets in airports, which continue to use the WHSmith name.
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A Family of Inventors
Sir Clive Sinclair was as known for his flops as for his hits, including the world’s first electric vehicle, the infamous C5 trike. Grant Sinclair has followed in his uncle’s footsteps by creating a successor to the C5, called the IRIS eTrike. It’s a road-legal EAPC (Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle) that doesn’t require tax, insurance, or a license to use, and features a 12” touchscreen with 360 degree camera views. It also costs an eye-watering £10,000 ($13,570).
The GamerCard costs a heck of a lot less at the equivalent of $170, which is comparable with competitor handhelds from the likes of Retroid and Anerbenic. In terms of its components, they’re different enough to help the GamerCard stand out in a rapidly growing market.
For starters, it’s powered by 64-bit Raspberry Pi Zero 2W with a Quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor. The former isn’t that common in retro-focused handhelds, although the latter is used in few rival devices. The 4” IPS screen is scratch-resistant and has a generous 720×720 resolution, whereas the 128GB storage should be more than enough for most gamers to store ROMs and associated data.
Perhaps most interesting of all, is that a built-in Qwiic connector means it’s possible to modify the GamerCard without opening it up. In short, this connection allows access to a wide variety of modules from tech companies like the Colorado-based SparkFun. Plus, HDMI and USB-C ports give users the ability to effectively turn the GamerCard into a Raspberry Pi-powered PC.
A Previous Experiment
The GamerCard isn’t Sinclair’s first foray into handheld electronics. He released an extremely similar device in 2020 called the POCO Pocket Raspberry, which was essentially a less-thin GamerCard that users had to assemble themselves. However, this was only shipped in limited numbers, making it something of a collector’s item.
The POCO Pocket Raspberry was marketed as being able to run retro games, which the GamerCard is also set up to do. However, in a nice twist on covering modern games, the GamerCard is also being targeted at PICO-8 gamers/devs, as its components and square screen suit that game engine’s titles.
Most retro-focused handheld devices that come out these days are content to offer emulation and that’s it, but as with AYANEO devices featuring a proprietary game hub, the GamerCard comes with a pre-installed Pi Game App that allows access to modern indie games specially tweaked to suit GamerCard’s square screen.
