A couple years ago, a keyboard was just a keyboard. You might get a few macro keys or some futuristic plastic styling around the edges, but underneath it all, keyboards were mostly the same. Now, we’re awash in a biblical-level flood of mechanical keyboards bearing a variety of different-colored switches, RGB LEDs, programmable functions, and more. PC component manufacturers known for computer fans and motherboards are even in on the mechanical keyboard game. Now, gaming peripheral manufacturer Hyperkin wants in, but they’re taking a slightly different approach: pure nostalgia.
With purple, lavender, grey and black keys, as well as some purple LED accent lighting, the design of Hyperkin’s Hyper Clack Tactile Mechanical Keyboard calls to mind Nintendo’s 16-bit glory days, though Hyperkin never specifically calls out Nintendo for obvious legal reasons. Instead, it’s simply called an iconic ‘classic gaming’ color scheme.
Just don’t call it a Super Nintendo keyboard, okay?
Beneath those purple keycaps are Gaote Blue mechanical switches that offer a tactile click similar to the more familiar Cherry MX Blue switches. The keycaps can be replaced with custom ones if you feel like spoiling the purple-and-grey look, but, aside from that, what you see above is what you get. The keyboard doesn’t offer any customization software or FN keys to bake extra functionality into the keyboard. Nostalgia (and clicky switches) seems to be the primary function of the board.
The Hyper Clack is on offer from Hyperkin’s official site for $99.99, so it’s priced in competition with the countless other keyboards offered by Logitech, Corsair, Steelseries, G.Skill, Gigabyte, Zalman and many, many others. If that Super Nintendo feel is what you’re looking for, though, the Hyper Clack can’t be beat. Even the box has that SNES feel.
