If the next-gen Xbox doesn’t have a retro-style keyboard and mouse like this one, I don’t want it

Microsoft really wants to start talking about the next generation of Xbox and its partnership with AMD, and all signs point to it perhaps being closer to a PC than even the current console generation.

I’m not against that (so long as we’re not getting Game Pass reaching $200 a month by that point), and 8BitDo’s Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard and Retro R8 Mouse might end up being the perfect companions for it.

I wrote about them being on sale at another outlet, and 8BitDo were kind enough to send me each. “Ha, what a novelty!” I chuckled as I set them both up, bringing vibrant green to my otherwise relatively dour desk setup. “This will be fun!”

That was a month ago, and I’ve not switched away from them yet – despite having literal rows of keyboard I’ve collected in recent years.

I should stress, the Retro 87 isn’t even a new product, per se. It’s had Mecha Break versions, you can get NES-style keys for it, and there’s even an additional numpad available, but I need to stress how much this ‘takes me back’.

I’m not remotely interested in retro tech, unlike my esteemed colleague. I have some classic games I display on a shelf, but there’s no part of me that’s itching to play the games from my childhood again. And yet, this luminous green (and transparent, to really hammer home the noughties) keyboard and mouse combo just has me wanting to log off, grab the Duke, and boot up Halo 2.

It doesn’t hurt, then, that it’s a bloody fine keyboard, too. It’s almost unapologetically clicky, with a membrane over the keys that takes some getting used to, retro-feeling (but very responsive) dials for switching between the dongle and Bluetooth, and cranking the volume on tracks I loved from Amped.

Throw in the mouse, and it’s essentially a time capsule I’m happy to imprison myself in. The colored buttons on the side are nice, but as someone with larger hands, I do feel it’s perhaps a little too easy to press them accidentally. And yet, I’ve found myself using it pretty happily for clicking heads and, uh, opening Google Docs.

I’ve not even messed about with the included, comically large ‘Super Buttons’ that come in the box yet, but it really is a treat to use.

If I can hook up a Duke and these two to the next Xbox, I’m there. If not, I may just be tempted to liberate the original console from its storage box.