Press Start: This Rolls-Royce ‘Ghost Gamer’ is inspired by retro video games

Rolls-Royce has revealed a one-off car inspired by retro 8-bit video games of the 1970s and 1980s, called the Black Badge Ghost Gamer.

Commissioned by a tech entrepreneur, the car is a Black Badge variant of the Rolls-Royce Ghost II, but with lots of references to the aesthetics of retro arcade games, like Space Invaders. Although not linked to any one game in particular, the car features a character dubbed the “Cheeky Alien”, and there are plenty of references to classic arcade games set in outer space.

Highlights include the alien character hand-painted onto the car’s exterior and stitched into each of the four head rests. The seats also feature “Player 1”, “Player 2” etc in their backrests – with the former being reserved for the driver, naturally – while the door sills are decorated with illuminated messages of “Press Start”, “Level Up”, “Loading…” and “Insert Coin”.

The so-called waterfall, a section of interior panelling between the two rear seats, features a scene of stainless steel flying saucers racing across a hand-painted lunar landscape with a starry backdrop. Rolls-Royce says the scene was inspired by the artwork of early arcade game cabinets.

Demonstrating the effort Rolls-Royce went to create the artwork, the company explained: “Crafting this remarkable battle scene required more than two weeks of intensive development, with multiple paint iterations refined to create the final, period-perfect hues… The design was then applied entirely by hand using a mix of traditional brushwork, a specialised sponge technique to create texture and depth, and subtle blending with an airbrush.”

Further celestial details include a subtle silver sparkle added to the lacquer of all of the car’s Technical Fibre surfaces, such as on the Waterfall panel and the picnic tables of the rear seats, which also feature the ‘Cheeky Alien’ character.

The most impressive feature of the Black Badge Ghost Gamer is its starlight headlining. Already a hallmark of Rolls-Royce interior design, the roof lining has been redesigned from a generic starry sky to what the company calls ‘Pixel Blaster’. Rolls explains: “A formation of 80 bitmapped battlecruisers spans the canopy, each crafted using hand-placed fibre-optic lights.”

Rolls’ famous shooting star function, where LED stars occasionally streak across the roof lining, has been reprogrammed to simulate laser fire. Beams of light pulse with a heady dose of nostalgic flair from the ships, across the ceiling above.

Lastly, the illuminated dashboard fascia has been reworked to evoke the ‘Laser Base’ backdrop of retro video games. It includes a gunship made up of 85 individual LED stars, with the constellations adjusted so the ship appears to be flying through a starfield.

In typical Rolls-Royce style, the company’s Bespoke department has taken an idea that might sound outlandish on paper – perhaps even one at odds with the luxury carmaker – and nailed the execution. It’s a fun, even playful, way of demonstrating what the Bespoke service can do, while elevating the theme of retro gaming to make it work in a car with a price tag that’s likely out of this world.