Wikipad rises from the grave

[Foxi4]

Lately we're seeing a huge influx of Android-based gaming devices, ranging from the cheapo Chinese products like the JXD line through Indie "alternative consoles" such as the OUYA and the Game Stick to the most prestigous of projects like NVidia's Project Shield. You may or may not remember the WikiPad - a similar device with a detachable controller "frame" that was supposed to fill in the "gaming tablet" niche, first presented on CES 2012. This tablet was to be specifically designed for gaming, PlayStation Certified and "to be released October 2012" but that release date has been delayed for, as the creators put it, "minor refinement and last-minute tweaks". Since then, the Los Angeles-based company Wikipad Inc. went all quiet about their brainchild. We all thought that it was yet another one of those "vaporhardware" products that just "appeared on CES never to be seen again" and wasn't going to be released for whatever reasons like many, many before... but we couldn't have been more wrong.

According to an interview on Engadget, the Wikipad went through a series of re-designs and is now ready to be released. During the re-designing, the planned 10.1" screen has been replaced with a 7" one and the unnamed 1,2Ghz processor gave way to a quad-core Tegra 3. The process of refining the product allowed Wikipad Inc. to lower the price point of their tablet from the original $499 to merely $249 a piece, which is entirely within reach of the average consumer.

The tablet is equipped with a 1.4 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 T30S quad-core processor, packs 1GB of DDR3 RAM, 16GB of internal storage and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean while the display is 1,280 x 800 - more than enough for any gamer's needs.

There is also a planned 10.1" version of the tablet which will most likely be equipped with the new Tegra 4 processor, to be released around the vague date of "before Christmas this year" so if you like your gaming "big", you might want to wait for that.

So, what are your opinions? Definitive gaming tablet or what? I mean, look at that controller... look at it!

Source
Source #2
Wikipad's Homepage

Discuss.

 

[EJames2100]

Looks decent and cheap, if it also has HDMI out it's brilliant.

 

[Foxi4]

Looks decent and cheap, if it also has HDMI out it's brilliant.

Yes, it does have microHDMI output.

 

[raulpica]

Awesome for emulation. Now that is one Android "console" I'd spend my bucks on!

 

[Wizerzak]

Errmm... does this only play Android games?

 

[Foxi4]

Errmm... does this only play Android games?

Anything that's on PlayStation Mobile, TegraZone or Google Play Store... so yes, I suppose.

Awesome for emulation. Now that is one Android "console" I'd spend my bucks on!

I agree, this looks absolutely delicious... just remember, it's primarily a tablet - the whole controller is detachable, as seen here:

Just a fun tidbit - the original 10.1" version was supposed to be equipped with a 3D screen, unfortunately it had to be scrapped to lower the price point.

As for the release date setback, the Chinese manufacturer informed Wikipad that some of the parts are no longer manufactured literally months before they were supposed to go into production. Very professional, isn't it?

 

[Wizerzak]

Anything that's on PlayStation Mobile, TegraZone or Google Play Store... so yes, I suppose.

Meh, I don't really see the point then. I mean, what advantage is having an Nvidia Tegra 4 going to have when the games are designed to run on a smartphone?

 

[Foxi4]

Meh, I don't really see the point then. I mean, what advantage is having an Nvidia Tegra 4 going to have when the games are designed to run on a smartphone?

Erm... Emulating every machine "emulate-able on Android"?
Besides, at $249 those aren't specs I'd complain about.

That, and this version is actually Tegra 3-powered, the Tegra 4 version isn't ready yet.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Meh, I don't really see the point then. I mean, what advantage is having an Nvidia Tegra 4 going to have when the games are designed to run on a smartphone?

PS1, N64, SNES, NES, GBA, GB/C, MAME, NDS (once development comes further along), PSP (again, needs more development {waaay more development >.>}) Not to mention one of the many games made for powerful tablets/phones like Dead Trigger or possibly a full-fledge game like Epic Citadel. Smartphone gaming isn't just crap like Angry Birds and Temple Run, there are quite a few RPGs and FPS's on Android that are fun.

 

[Foxi4]

Not to mention one of the many games made for powerful tablets/phones like Dead Trigger or possibly a full-fledge game like Epic Citadel.

Dead Trigger is on the list of officially supported games with its set of Wikipad-specific controls already, so as far as gaming performance is concerned, Wikipad owners have nothing to be concerned about.

Spoiler

Can you see those mouth-watering triggers? I can.

 

[Bladexdsl]

the n-gage is back

 

[Gahars]

Will it come with its own wiki? If so, will it be called Wikipadia?

 

[Foxi4]

Will it come with its own wiki? If so, will it be called Wikipadia?

Oddly enough, the similarity to Wikipedia is completely coincidental.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

Ohhh another Android based gaming device? How about no and piss off.

 

[Foxi4]

Ohhh another Android based gaming device? How about no and piss off.

The only things that are "gaming-oriented" about this product are its controller (which is detachable), the PlayStation Certificate, Tegrazone and Big Fish game streaming. You can consider it a normal tablet, it just comes with a comfortable gamepad, I don't see how that's a bad thing.

 

[Bladexdsl]

they keep bringing out all these devices but one thing will always remain the same: the games are shit!

they're either

a. casual crap.
b. pay to play/keep playing SCAM games.
c. overpriced games that last maybe a day then you're bored of them.

 

[Foxi4]

c. overpriced games that last maybe a day then you're bored of them.

That's a weird thing to say considering that mobile games are the cheapest thing on the planet since they're Digital Distribution-only. I don't think games sold for from a few cents up to a few bucks can be called "overpriced" by any standards.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Not that I really hate mobile gaming I just don't see the reason for a device dedicated to it. People go "But for the emulation!" but emulating has been around for years and at this point I can't think of a single game I'd want to emulate. I've had a thousand chances to play all these older games, I don't need a new device to do this.

 

[Foxi4]

Not that I really hate mobile gaming I just don't see the reason for a device dedicated to it. People go "But for the emulation!" but emulating has been around for years and at this point I can't think of a single game I'd want to emulate. I've had a thousand chances to play all these older games, I don't need a new device to do this.

I'm actually looking forward to the day when calling games "mobile" will stop being a euphemism.

I mean, with the current pace of technological advancements as far as portables in general are concerned, "mobile" platforms are slowly becoming viable devices for video game development. Smartphones and tablets are going quad-core, graphics chips are only getting better and within a few years, who knows? Maybe video game developers will start treating Android, iOS and Windows Phone seriously.

We already see the glimpses of that happening - big franchise games like Mass Effect or Dead Space are getting their "mobile" counterparts and, fair play, they ain't got sh*t on the real deal but paying $5 for something fun to play when I'm on the bus to Uni is not something I frown upon.

 

[Flame]

how did they get Playsation mobile on it? PSM is for select few devices, I mean I have Playsation mobile on my samsung GS 3 but that's rooted and all, this device feels bit "ghetto". Did they even get the permission of sony?