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I’ve had mixed feelings on the Wikipad ever since it was ann0unced earlier this year. As a 10.1-inch tablet with a slew of impressive specs (Tegra 3 processor, 720p IPS display, 1GB of RAM, microSD slot), the only part about the tab that really made it special was a gamepad-like dock — and even that could have easily been manufactured for some other successful Android tab (maybe not cuz really, there are none).
As the gaming tablet has matured, it’s just now starting to come into its own (much like OUYA). Today, the Wikipad peoples showed off their final design, announcing that the tablet is now officially up for pre-order at GameStop stores nationwide and will be launching October 31st for $500.
Gamestop will further back the tablet by negotiating deals with “traditional” game publishers to bring exclusive content to the new platform. Sony has expressed their excitement for the tablet knighting the device with “PlayStation Certification” and will even bring their revitalized Gaikai streaming service — to be announced at a later date — to the Wikipad.
Still, with a seemingly bright future ahead of it, it’s tough to say if consumers will bite. The Wikipad has a lot of well established competition being offered at a much lower price. Where you can argue that the Wikipad can do more than those devices thanks to the power of Android, it will still be primarily marketed as a gaming device. What do you guys think? Any Android gamers out there? Would you guys consider picking up a Wikipad? If not, what would it take to make you pull out your wallet?
[Forbes]
A lower pricetag. With the current line of top notch $250 and under devices, $350 for this is top price.
Yeah, after seeing the specs for the Kindle HD 8.9″ for 499 and this for 499 with weaker specs…this isn’t going to work.
kindle HD 8.9 WiFi only is 300$ the LTE version is 500 and this thing doesn’t have LTE either
I agree…at this price….no way. I’m not going to pay more than $250 for any tablet. So far I’ve gotten what I wanted at that price or less.
It has tegra and playstation so it gets all the exclusive games.
If Google TV has taught me anything, it’s that you don’t buy a product for it’s potential. :/
LOL, true. :) I only paid $99 for mine and have yet to loose the remote, so I’ve been happy with it.
Same here. But as XBox has grown, my use of the terribad Logitech Revue has shrunk.
399 I’ll take it
Yup
This device looks to big and bulky for handheld gaming. Plus its ridiculously priced. I think they need to follow in Amazons footprints and sell the device at a lower cost, and make up the profits in game purchases via their own marketplace. But in the same time, we don’t need another ecosystem in the Android playground. And if they did, it would likely fail. No winning here. Just sell the gamepad apparatus separately and make bank. Just make sure to make it as universal as possible. Use Bluetooth for connectivity and move the speaker for both left and right handles. This could eliminate the bottom-center piece. As two separate parts you can now independently attach these to any tablet(s) of any size. BAM !!! Now wheres my Millions ???
I think just selling the gamepad is a much better idea. It could just be two simple clamps, maybe with a mini usb input for power, with a cable to let that power the tablet as well, kind of like the MHL adapters.
Already done. Bluetooth based. http://www.icontrolpad.com/
That’s not exactly what I was picturing but that’d work. Thanks for the heads up :)
J. Adam Morris
Not what I was imagining either. This iControlpad is a small one piece that sits center (which would be hard to play handheld on a large and relatively heavy device such as a tablet due to weigh distribution) and has attachments to clamp onto a small phone. Even then,it still looks limited to phones of certain sizes. This wouldn’t be ideal for a 7-10 inch tablets. It looks too cheap too, but that’s besides the point.
No it wouldn’t be perfect or even good for tabs, but would work perfectly with a Note.
It doesn’t have to attach to anything. It’s wireless. LOL
Well the controllers of the wikipad are detachable.
That may be so, but the disadvantage of its design is that you have to use the provided tablet or one similar. Its not as versatile as it could
hmmm I want to see ridiculous awesome specs. The alienware of tablets for those who want better than angry birds. If Samsung can make a galaxy note 2 with 2 gigs of ram, why not a gaming tablet?
For gaming, what I’d really like is a tablet to have HDMI INPUT, so I could just take my console with me and play it wherever I want. I travel around a lot and the house I’m in tonight literally doesn’t have a single tv or monitor anywhere. And I’m all by myself, bored, and really wishing I could play some CoD now that I was reading about Activision releasing Zombies for everyone.
What kind of house doesn’t have a TV or monitor? Are you in some shack in the middle of the woods in Albania? But then you’d probably be missing electricity or running water.
Hippies. A family of hippies.
Funnily enough, I’m in a perfectly nice house, 5 minutes from skyscrapers.
J. Adam Morris
Hippies. A family of hippies.
Funnily enough, I’m in a perfectly nice house, 5 minutes from skyscrapers.
Every time I see “HDMI output” it makes me sad. My TV has a built in VCR. =.(
This black Friday I plan on upgrading. >=.[
It becomes worst because I’m the only person in the house with that kind of T.V.
I have that kind of TV in the kitchen. We do have old vhs tapes lying around.
I want it really bad. The price point is pretty high for a gaming machine though. Hell I paid 500$ for a PS3 when it first launched but that was a full blown desktop. Maybe someone will make a dock like controller device for the Nexus 7?
http://wikipad.com/
of course they build their site in flash – these guys are behind the times.. in their concept, price point, hardware, and their web technologies.
Sorry. Android games aren’t that great. Games now in days are pay to play. I’m more of a single buyer player. This reminds me of those PC games, like Perfect World and stuff. You can get so far, but you won’t be able to do much unless you buy. Perfect World was fine though. I was able to have fun playing the game without buying anything.
I wish games were like that. There WILL be those people who buy, but don’t make EVERYBODY have to buy. *sigh*
Did I go off topic? LoL!!
>maybe not cuz really, there are none.
This isn’t IM. This site’s professionalism keeps going downhill by the week.
Professionalism is for squares.
Chris’s posts are someof the most entertaining anyway.
Blow it out your ass! -Duke Nukem
Really, since the SGS3, if the product doesn’t at least have 2GB of RAM, I won’t look twice (Especially for a tablet).
The similarly spec’d Asus TF300 is a hundred dollars less. This tablet will not sell well at that price.
It kind of looks like they could just sell the speaker gamepad part as an attachment that most 10.1″ Android tablets could plug into with an adjustable adapter.
Like others have said, the real potential here is making that gamepad attachment available for other devices, like the Nexus 7, Galaxy Tabs, and Transformer family. The controller itself needs to sell for an attractive price though, and I think that’s less than $50. Right now, I can buy an Xbox controller and OTG adapter for less than $35-40. I’d pay $50 for a more convenient solution.
Making an attachment would mean you could also take the tablet out of the game controller and put it in a briefcase. Try pulling this thing out at a meeting ;-)
Not for that price I won’t.
Maybe a 7 inch would be more ideal..