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GameStop's Upcoming Android Tablet
An anonymous reader writes "GameStop has confirmed rumors that it is planning to jump into the tablet market with a device dedicated to gaming. '[GameStop President Tony Bartel said] this week that Android was capable of running what he called a "GameStop-certified gaming platform" and that GameStop would be self-branding existing tablet hardware built by an unspecified third-party manufacturer. ... GameStop will sell its gaming tablet alongside consoles and handheld gaming devices from Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and others, he said.' There's no release date yet, but the device is currently being tested by consumers. It will apparently ship with its own wireless controller."
for games? .....no way!
Just what we don't need. The tablet bubble will burst eventually. If you are going to get something that expensive, and large, it should have buttons and a keyboard, unless it is an eBook Reader. There is a market for portable touchscreen gaming, and it is phones.
Desktop for work, Laptop for travel work, Netbook for light travel work/play, e-book reader for bed/toilet/train/plane reading, phone for "let me look something up while walking down the street". A tablet costs as much as a year of digital data subscription over a wireless carrier, or as much as a netbook and e-book reader combined, and does the function of both badly with much less battery power.
As for games, I can play those games on my phone (if they are touchscreen optimized), but generally those do not have the replay value of more inputty platforms. I'd rather look at a screen than at my thumbs on a screen when playing anything other than sudoku and angry birds. We need an Android version of the DS/3DS/PSP/Vita.
Sorry, but phone screen is way too small for gaming. It's okayish in a bus or so, but there's no way I would consider it fun time to take my phone to sofa or bed to play some games. And on top of that, laptop isn't really ideal for that either. I have a great gaming laptop, but it just doesn't allow relaxing like that on sofa or bed, while tablets do. And quite frankly, I would like to do something else than just read too. On top of that, I spend quite much time sitting down at the pool and having a few beers. Tablet would give me ideal entertainment for that. There's no way I'm going to take my laptop there, though.
The tablet bubble will burst eventually.
Why? Because it fits the analogy?
They'll sell them "new" but use the box as a display and have the actual units stored behind the counter, and they'll have mysterious signs of use.
The real question is: Does it have Battletoads?
Use of the words "good", "bad" or "evil" is almost invariably the result of oversimplification.
"[W]e've created a controller that we're testing to really allow for immersive gameplay," he said. "It's hard to imagine how to stream a game—let's say Modern Warfare 3—onto a tablet and then play it with your finger."
I was going to comment on any one of the seventeen inaccuracies/deceptions/downright lies about cloud gaming that can be construed from this statement, but, I don't know, it seems to speak for itself. I suppose this all explains why Gamestop has recently decided to pursue a business model only slightly more reputable than a pawn shop. Oh well, as long as parents have more money than parenting skills, I suppose the business model will flourish.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge gamer, and my parents were very good about exposing me to video games. They also played the games with me or at the least watched to make sure my games were appropriate. And they sure as hell didn't give me a credit card to go out and buy whatever. Nor did I give them a list of demanded games. Seriously, if you ever want to despair for the fate of humanity being placed in our youth, go creep around Gamestop for a few tens of minutes.
I'm curious: will this new gaming "platform" be DRM locked, or will you be able to play the games on any Android device powerful enough to do so?
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
If they could use a controller, absolutely. But multi-touch gaming is just not convenient. A few games can pull it off and last the test of time, but nothing that's in the market that GameStop caters to. The controller is a MUST and it may make the machine a killer device, a portable console that doesn't suck.
You are incompetent in your current business model, and now you want to be a console brand with no software development backing you up? its not been nice knowing you.
But what do I care, you were driven out of my town by a ma and pa shop which in this day and age takes real talent.
...but it just doesn't allow relaxing like that on sofa or bed, while tablets do. And quite frankly, I would like to do something else than just read too. On top of that, I spend quite much time sitting down at the pool and having a few beers. Tablet would give me ideal entertainment for that.
You know... surfing for pr0n doesn't require a gaming tablet.
(hysterical laughter automatically removed),
this is insane. HP just liquidated their tablets, the Playstation Phone is falling flat, and the Playbook is almost bringing RIM into bankrupsy. Let's not forget the market leader, iPad, probably has a thousand games for less then a dollar.
GameStop is probably the only dedicated Video Game store, and it is still in last place. They can't even manage to sell merchandise in it's original condition, and they hope to make an iPad killer?
And nothing of value will be lost.
It rhymes with flop.
This one may flop, but it won't take long for someone to make one work. The cost of building these tablets is falling fast, while the capability of the hardware is ramping up with similar velocity. Screen size won't be a problem for long - I already hook up my Asus tablet to an external keyboard, mouse and HDMI out (to a full size monitor) when I'm doing office work on it. It feels light and responsive as it is, so the new quad core versions should fly.
There's plenty of good looking games in Tegra Zone too, and I have no doubt that's just scratching the surface of what'll be available soon enough.
It's a great thing that the computing world is finally routing around the damage that is Microsoft's desktop computing monopoly. It's well past time we had some real innovation in the field.
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Tell that to everyone that's bought a portable gaming system in the last 25 years.
That's a big market, even if you choose to ignore everyone that plays casually on their iPhone.
Well ... depends on the game I guess. I recently bought a 7" Acer Iconia tablet, and despite what Acer's CEO recently said about tablets I think it is respectable. Okay, on some games (FPS, etc.) a controller would help. Make it bluetooth and then everyone can use them. But I installed nVidia's pinball app and it looks real good - and the interface for that is mostly appropriate. I'm sure we could come up with some other games it would be great for. I couldn't see a 10" as a portable gaming console - just too big.
Okay, obvious caveat - make sure you're using a wi-fi connection if you're going to try some graphics-intensive MMORG, otherwise the data charges on your phone plan will kill you.
Buy used, jailbreak, download, burn, play, buy used accessories, play some more.
Buy your next Linux PC at eightvirtues.com
Will it have Battletoads? I guess we should all start calling Game Stop to ask if their tablet will have it.
All the tablets should have their prices marked down because of Gamestop's open box policy.
There is no way whatsoever they can get a sizable and decent screen, a decent CPU, and a decent GPU into one package for a price that their average customer will pay, especially while simultaneously bundling a wireless controller.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Agreed. A good wireless controller and connection to the TV (wireless preferred) could help pull this off.
GameStop gets to define the controller that will be used and to strongly encourage developers to support that controller. One of the big wins for consoles is a known hardware and control setup. Right now no tablet comes with or can expect a handheld controller. A GameStop branded tablet could do that.
Also, GameStop could sell games for their tablet only through their own online store. Then they could sell the tablet at a loss and make it up on the games - just like the console makers. What would be hard, though, is forcing developers to ONLY sell their games through GameStop. But Steam does pretty well, I guess.
Toss in some good parental controls (I want this account to only see Y7 games) and that would give parents a warm fuzzy about the system. (But kids would hate it, so maybe that's a bad idea. But the kids will likely figure out a way around the controls, and many parents won't bother to set them up.)
To me, the trick is NOT to just release a GameStop tablet and a controller. But to release an entire gaming environment. Playstation Network and XBox Live have led the way, but they had years of experience and huge piles of money behind them.
Tablet hardware has certainly reached the point of being powerful enough to be a viable gaming platform. A tablet with a few tweaks to make it extra gaming friendly could be a winner.
How stupid can these companies be? Can they not see all these product failures around about them? Never mind what history has shown us reguarding tablets. This tablet fad needs to die now. As much as it annoys me to say this, only Apple can/could pull it off, at the end of the day they could sell a toaster and market it into something the whole world wants. Note to everybody else: stop now, save yourself the time, effort and money, go back to R&D and think of something new.
Yes, Nook for games.
Will it have Battletoads?
No, but it may have coupons GameStop will remove and later apologize to customers when they get caught.
Sorry kids, but I wouldn't trust GameStop with anything that has any of my data on it.
If it has Unknown sources or adb install, it has NES emulators, and if it has NES emulators, it has Battletoads.
There is a market for portable touchscreen gaming, and it is phones.
Is there a market for portable touch screen gaming without a $660 per year voice and data plan ($15 for the lowest data plan and $40 per month for the lowest voice plan that can be combined with such a data plan)? A lot of parents buy Nintendo products because they can't afford to add smartphone service for three kids to a family plan.
Tell that to everyone that's bought a portable gaming system in the last 25 years.
Nintendo is known to be unfriendly to smaller developers. (Google "Bob's Game".) That's one reason why Apple's App Store and Android Market took off: a chance for indie developers to build a reputation.
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You sure make North Korea sound like a cool place.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
For those who don't know; Gamestop purchase kongregate.com about 6 months ago; which is one of the largest flash gaming portals around. My guess is they will intragrate the login system, achievements and games into the tablet.
And Kongregate is a massive collection of Flash games. Many of them are left-mouse-button only. Their desire to make a gaming tablet makes much more sense given that information.
A Nintendo 3DS costs $170. A tablet costs twice as much. An unlocked smartphone costs three times as much.
So what's the Android counterpart to the iPod touch? Every Android-powered product in that size range that I've investigated has had a major flaw compared to the iPod touch. Archos 43 has no Android Market and no multitouch, unlike iPod touch which has the App Store. Samsung Galaxy Player or Galaxy S Wi-Fi or whatever they're calling it now appears not to be sold in the United States, unlike iPod touch which is. And an unlocked phone with no plan costs over twice as much as an iPod touch.
A Nintendo 3DS costs $170. A tablet costs twice as much. An unlocked smartphone costs three times as much.
However something like an iPad is not a special purpose device dedicated to gaming. Like a computer it is multipurpose and gaming is only one use.