Hasta La Gadget!

There’s no question about it — as fun as mobile gaming can be, sometimes furiously pecking at a touchscreen just doesn’t cut it. For those of you who long for the halcyon days of gripping hard, uncomfortable controllers while a conceptually-simple game runs on your television, the GameDock may be just what the doctor ordered.

This nifty hardware project comes courtesy of the Oregon-based team at Cascadia Games, who not long ago put their pet project on Kickstarter for retro-minded gamers to ogle. The GameDock has a delightfully Nintendo-y vibe going — users dock their favored iDevice (no blowing required), while a pair of NES-esque controllers run into a pair of USB ports up front and an HDMI cable provides the all-important television connection.

Of course, hardware is only ever part of the equation with projects like this — one of the major issues for a product like this is tracking down games that are actually compatible with it. Creators Chris Jorgensen and Andi Greise; noted on their Kickstarter page that iCade apps with no more than two action and menu buttons should work nicely, but the pair have also been working on a dashboard app that they plan to fill with curated apps that are known to fully compatible. Sadly, not every game that would benefit from some physical buttons (I’m looking at you, Mega Man X) will play nice with the GameDock, but that’s an iCade-related rant for another time.

Thankfully, the project just recently tiptoed over its funding $50,000 funding goal, so (barring any unfortunate missteps) this thing should be hitting backers’ doorsteps by December. Speaking of which, you’ve still got until August 16 to throw your hard-earned money at this thing — a bare-bones GameDock can be yours for $100, while an additional $25 will nab you a pair of USB controllers and an HDMI adapter for your troubles.

Anyone who has had played one of those retro titles on the iPhone, iPod or iPad would realize that nostalgia does have its fair share of value, but then again, playing something old school on a new device is not exactly the best way of getting around it, although it is far more mobile than being tethered to an old NES console, no? Well, there is just something about a physical controller that does the work of gaming better than a touchscreen device. This is where the GameDock Kickstarter project comes in handy – it basically lets you play classic games the way it is meant to – with a couple of controllers and using a TV.

With the GameDock, you basically dock your iOS-powered device to it, and connect the GameDock over to a TV, where you are then presented with two controllers to handle your gaming needs. With two-player support and full 1080p HDTV output, it is not too easy to fall in love with it, no? Having achieved around 20% of its funding goals to date, there is still some time left to go – but will it be able to achieve its goals? Only time will tell.

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