Hasta La Gadget!

Nyko, a manufacturer of third-party accessories for gaming consoles, is partnering with video games and entertainment retailer GameStop to bring its Nyko PlayPad Controllers to Android consumers nationwide. Nyko’s PlayPad and PlayPad Pro, a GameStop exclusive, are now available for $39.99. These PlayPad controllers are capable of supporting games that are optimized for Tegra processors. The PlayPad Pro is a full-sized wireless Bluetooth controller that features a dual analog stick, a d-pad, 4 face buttons, and left and right dual shoulder/ trigger buttons for the perfect gaming experience. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Wikipad misses Halloween release date, makes pit stop for refinements, Gamestop Gears Up For Wii U, Cuts Down On PS2 Sales,

Were you raring to go and buy a Wikipad instead of trick-or-treating? You might want to search around for some leftover chocolate bars and potato chips. The gaming tablet maker has postponed its shipments the very day they were meant to start after chances to both to improve the bundled content and make a “minor refinement” to the experience. We’re interpreting that last mention as either a pleasant surprise or an unexpected hiccup. Any delay may be comparatively short when Wikipad says it’s already in the last stage of firming up a new schedule, and it’s vowing a gift in return for maintaining a pre-order — still, the clock is ticking if the company wants to score some mobile gamers before the holidays are over. You can check the full statement for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Wikipad sees last-minute delay for new bundle and ‘refinement’

Filed under: Gaming, Tablets

Wikipad sees last-minute delay for new bundle and ‘refinement’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 21:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welcome to Friday evening, everyone. Today was a pretty big day in the world of tech, with both Windows 8 and Microsoft Surface launching and the iPad mini going up for pre-order. Microsoft was actually handing out £50 coupons to the Microsoft Store for giving those in the UK who pre-ordered a Surface conflicting messages about when it will ship, and the company even managed launch Xbox Smartglass for Android alongside Surface and Windows. Microsoft said it will be giving Windows 8 Pro users a free upgrade to Media Center, while Steven Sinofsky talked up the company’s new products, managing to get a couple of shots in at Apple at the same time.

On the Apple side of things, iPad mini pre-orders went pretty quick today, but not as fast as Apple devices normally go, leaving us to wonder if Apple finally managed to get stock issues right or if the iPad mini just isn’t all that popular. We heard that iPad mini LTE models could arrive as early as November 21, and Apple was seen knocking PC manufacturers for being afraid to drop old technology.

Of course, it would have been a very strange news day if there weren’t any new Nexus leaks, but thankfully we had a couple big ones to report. One Google employee apparently used the camera on the back of the Nexus 10 to snap pictures on his vacation, while we got to see the tablet up close and personal in a series of new leaked photos. Speaking of Google, the company released a new video showing new Windows 8 users how to quickly install Google search and Chrome onto their machines, and we received a new Google Maps update that adds colored terrain, which is a pretty cool feature if you ask us.

There’s a particularly scary Borderlands 2 exploit making the rounds, while Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition players got a skins pack featuring a whopping 55 Halloween-themed skins for just two smackers. Nintendo introduced a new Charizard 3DS XL that’s sure to be super rare, and GameStop announced that it will be opening a number of retail stores aimed at young children. Paul Ceglia was arrested for fraud after it was determined that he forged documents saying he was entitled to a huge stake in Facebook, and Volvo was touting its traffic jam self-driving technology today. Netflix detailed its Windows 8 app today too, so have a look at the company’s new video if you want to get familiar of all of the new features.

We’re almost done with the Wrap-Up, but before we go, be sure to have a look at the original articles that went up today. Chris Davies tells us why he’s cancelled his Microsoft Surface pre-order, while Chris Burns asks if Apple will adopt wireless charging technology if Google introduces it in its Nexus line. Burns also got the chance to interview famed artist Futura at a recent Samsung event, so don’t miss that one! That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you have an excellent weekend!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: October 26, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Wii U Pro Controller is obviously aimed at gamers who want a more traditional experience, but it may just be perfect for hardcore gamers in more ways than one. Listings on both Amazon and GameStop are saying that the Pro Controller’s rechargeable battery can last a ridiculously long time. Spotted by Nintendo Life, both listings claim that the Pro Controller can keep chugging along for up to 80 hours on a single charge.

If that’s true, then it will be a huge leap over the current generation’s rechargeable controllers. The batteries in the PS3 and Xbox 360 gamepads can last anywhere between 20 and 30 hours, while the Wii U gamepad will only last around five. Naturally, the Pro Controller doesn’t have a touchscreen to sap its power, but still, the fact that it could potentially last 80 hours on a single charge is – in a word – insane.

While that’s certainly good news, this revelation comes with a bit of bad news as well. It turns out that the Pro Controller isn’t backwards compatible with original Wii games, so if your games call for a more traditional controller instead of the Wii remote, you’re going to have to use the Classic Controller. That isn’t the most preferable situation, but what can you do? Nintendo has to make that money, after all.

The life of the Pro Controller’s battery immediately reminds us of the Gamecube Wavebird, otherwise known as the best controller to ever grace Earth. We’ll have to wait a little bit longer to find out if there’s any truth to these claims, but for now, things are looking pretty great for the Wii U Pro Controller. What do you think? Is it possible that Nintendo’s claims of an 80-hour battery life are legitimate, or is this a bit of pre-release embellishment?

Wii U Pro Controller battery lasts 80 hours, retailers claim is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Wikipad is an anomaly. It’s a 10.1-inch, $500 Android tablet aimed squarely at gamers — an expensive portal to a platform many mobile game developers have abandoned due to piracy. It’s got an IPS display with 1,280 x 800 resolution, an NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30 quad-core 1.4GHz processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean (at launch). So … it’s not quite as sharp in the graphics department as some other tablets on the market, nor is it as pretty as its main handheld gaming competition, the PlayStation Vita. On top of that, it’s from an engineering firm that you’ve never heard of — Wikipad is also the name of the business behind the tablet, and this is the company’s first product launch. Oh, and did we mention that the main selling point is an attachable game controller that frames half the tablet in a mess of plastic buttons, joysticks, and speakers? And no, the controller won’t be sold separately, nor will it work with any other tablet.

Defying all logic, however, the Wikipad feels like a surprisingly solid piece of equipment (regardless of the fact that the prototype model we used was hand-built). From the light but solid construction of the tablet’s chassis, to its grippy molded rear — which helps both for gripping the tablet without the controller attached and assists sound amplification when the device is laid down — nothing about the device feels cheap. As a tablet, it’s speedy and responsive. Apps load quickly and smoothly, and it’s got extra loud speakers for gaming without headphones (or for David Guetta, as was demonstrated to us). The custom skin it was running felt a bit rough — the apps get reorganized with a gaming focus and slapped onto a flippable cube, which caused some visual stuttering from pane to pane. Another feature of the custom OS is a special 3D game launcher, which includes sections for Nvidia’s Tegra Zone, PlayStation Mobile games, GameStop-suggested titles, and Google Play. There are some less than exciting ad banners attached to this launcher, but they’re easily ignorable. Though Gaikai is still working with the Wikipad post-Sony buyout, CEO James Bower told us the game streaming service won’t be there at launch — he’s hoping it’ll arrive by year’s end, “but that’s up to Sony.”

Continue reading Hands-on with Wikipad, the $500 Android gaming tablet (video)

Filed under: Gaming, Tablets, Wireless, Mobile

Hands-on with Wikipad, the $500 Android gaming tablet (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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