Tag Archives: Atari Greatest Hits

Atari set to release iCade style iPad controller

Posted by Hunter Skipworth on September 7, 2011 5 comments

Retro cool inbound
Atari set to release iCade style iPad controller

Atari appears to have jumped on the "appcessories" bandwagon, launching its own special iPad controller.?

The peripheral was accidentally leaked via an Atari Greatest Hits iPad app update, which included support for the Atari Arcade Duo Powered Joystick.?

Things appear to be taking a leaf out of the?iCade's book, one of the first retro accessories designed for the iPad. Clearly Atari is looking to get involved in Ion's retro success, using its own brand and popular iOS apps to boost sales.?

The Atari accessory features a joystick and four buttons as well as a slot to drop your iPad into. The iPad itself is locked into place once dropped onto the 30-pin dock connector. This means that unlike the iCade, which connects via Bluetooth, the Atari offering doesn't require its own set of batteries, using the iPads instead.

Website dvice.com is pointing to a 2 October release date and a $60 price tag in the US. There is, however, no date or price listed for the UK.

As of now the Atari Arcade only supports the Greatest Hits app, which means you can't use it for games like Street Fighter or Rtype. Irritating really as both gameplay experiences could be seriously improved via this iPad accessory.

For those desperate to get their hands on one of the new Atari devices, why not take a quick look at our hands-on with Ion's iCade offering. You might be converted!

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ion iCade iPad arcade cabinet hands-on

Posted by Rik Henderson on July 7, 2011 2 comments

There's a Pong around here
ion iCade iPad arcade cabinet hands-on pics

Already available in the US via ThinkGeek, the iCade arcade cabinet for iPad that started out as an April Fools' joke a couple of years back is on its way to the UK shortly. And Pocket-lint got to play with one on this side of the pond for the very first time at the Currys and PC World Christmas in July event in London.

The first impression of the ion iCade is that it's actually a lot bigger than you imagine from the press shots. Remember, it needs to solidly hold an iPad or iPad 2, so if you take the size of one of Apple's tablet devices into account you can see from the pics that the cabinet is a good foot and a bit high. It's also a lot more robust than we expected, made of solid wood and extremely sturdy. This is no cheap tat.

And that also applies to the joystick and arcade style buttons, they're exactly as you'd expect on a full-size retro machine, and they respond very well with the action on screen.

In fact, too well at times.

The test game on show at the event was the Atari classic Pong which, to be honest, was extremely difficult to play. The joystick was perhaps too responsive, and the on-screen graphical paddles a little too small. At least it's a challenge though, and one that we're sure will leave you feeling very smug if you manage to rise to it. For us, for now, we were just happy to return the block-like ball the once.

The iCade also currently works with a stack more Atari games - available through the Atari's Greatest Hits emulator app downloadable from the App Store. It offers Missile Command for free and 100 games in total, which can be bought through in-app purchases, and should keep you going until more games are launched or modified by the original developers.

Unfortunately, it can't just work with any game as there needs to be code implemented in the app to recognise the joystick and button configurations. Also, the screen of the housed iPad can only be ranged vertically (portrait) so that rules out certain games, such as Super Street Fighter II as it requires you to hold the device horizontally.

However, for those of the right orientation, ion offers a developers resource for download?and Stuart Carnie of?Manomio Software (the developer of the official Commodore 64 emulator for iPhone) has posted an open source?iCade SDK for free to anyone who wants to add support to their games, retro or otherwise.

Certainly, from our hands-on with the ?80 iCade, we hope that there's mass adoption. It is the first thing we've seen at a Christmas in July that we truly covet, and, even from short play time, it's a stunning way for those of us of a certain age to feel like we're in a kebab shop again, armed with a stack of 10p pieces and bedecked in our finest Tacchini Dallas tracksuits.

Actually, come to think of it, that's what we were doing last Thursday night.

Tags: iPad iCade ion iCade Gaming Tablets Apple