Retro consoles often give adult gamers a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. That is because consoles that are considered retro nowadays were in a part of their childhood. They are nostalgic, often bringing up memories of people's very first video game. Now in the time of the Xbox One, PS5, VR, and Nintendo Switch, consoles like the original Playstation, Gameboy, Dreamcast, Atari, and GameCube are all consoles that are considered retro.
While no one can time travel to the past, there are gamers that like to bring these older consoles back into their lives through tattoo art. These tattoos are often symbolic of warm memories. There are many retro consoles out there and many styles in which they can be tattooed.
10 Pink Super Nintendo
Also known as the Super NES, this console first was released in Japan in 1990 and slowly spread internationally throughout the years. According to data from Nintendo, a total of 49 million Super NES were bought by gamers worldwide.
With numbers like that, the Super NES is a popular retro gaming tattoo choice. This particular design was made by Los Angeles tattoo artist, Roberto Euán. The pink controller with purple buttons and bright blue flowers is exemplary of this colorful style.
9 Gameboy Advance
The Gameboy Advance was a little handheld console that became a part of many gamer inventories in 2001. It was the successor to the Gameboy Color and the console that would come after it would be the Nintendo DS. This particular thigh tattoo was done by Dudi Hen Tattoo, who typically does colorless tattoos with little shading.
Games that could be played on this console included The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion, and Sonic Advance.
8 Dreamcast Controller
7 Colorful Gameboy
In the timeline of handheld games, before the Gameboy Advance was the Gameboy and Gameboy Color. The game console came out in 1989 and its best-selling games were Pokémon Red and Blue. This console dated back to when the screen had no backlight, so players had to keep the lights on to play games like one would for reading a book.
The colorful Gameboy tattoo was done by chobananaclub. Their tattoos often are made using psychedelic colors and patterns that can really pop.
6 Legend Of Zelda GameCube Controller
Made by Jason Agee Tattoos from Ain't That Art Tattoos, this tattoo is retro with a twist. While it is a Gamecube controller in every visual sense, this Legend of Zelda edition was actually made recently to be compatible with the Nintendo Switch. With Breath of the Wild doing so well, Nintendo decided they could make even more profit by adding a nostalgic controller to their stores.
The GameCube controller is still a favorite among many gamers. It is what came after the N64, and gamers could play very popular games on it like Super Mario Sunshine, Resident Evil 4, and Luigi's Mansion.
5 Atari Joystick
This watercolor piece was tattooed by Tattoo Twan from New Jersey. It is of the Atari joystick that would connect to an Atari 2600, a console that was part of gamer homes as early as 1977. Today, the gamers that were for the Atari are now often free games or incredibly cheap games on current consoles. Such games include Frogger, Pac-Man, Mario Bros., and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
4 Minimalist Super Nintendo Classic
This is another Super NES controller but done in a very different style. This one was tattooed on by Mattia Mambo, whose style uses thick dark lines and colors that do not stay within the lines. Due to the colors used, this actually lookeslike the controller for the Super NES Classic Edition rather than the Super NES.
Like the Zelda GameCube controller for the Nintendo Switch, this is a retro console that was actually made recently in 2017 to profit off of nostalgic gamers. The console had 21-built in games.
3 Little Blue Gameboy
Made by zzizziboy, who is based in Seoul, this tiny tattoo of a Gameboy is richly colored. Tiny, dainty, and colorful tattoos are a typical design from many Korean-based tattoo artists. Due to the minimalist design, this could either be an original Gameboy or a Gameboy Color.
In their times, the Gameboy and Gameboy Color were the best-selling consoles to date. However, that achievement would later be awarded to the Nintendo DS and PS2.
2 NES Nintendo Controller
NES stands for Nintendo Entertainment System. They were third-generation consoles and first came out in 1983 in Japan. This console is known to have revived the video game industry after the video game crash of 1983. It had popular titles from series that still get games today like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Super Mario Bros.
This arm tattoo was done in Barcelona, Spain, by Roger Mares. Other than the red background spikes detail, this tattoo is an exact replica of what a NES controller looked like.
1 PS1 Memory Card
