Since 2001, ThinkGeek has been compiling gag products for April Fool’s Day. Some products are silly, some outrageous, and some are conceptually cool and show promise as a real product. The iCade gaming cabinet, one star of April Fool’s 2010, falls into this latter category. The iCade is a retro gaming cabinet that hearkens back to the 80s and its arcade gaming craze. The table-top unit lets you mount your iPad as the display, while the cabinet itself includes a joystick, arcade buttons and Bluetooth to connect to your iPad.
After a few copycat versions hit the scene, ThinkGeek realized there is genuine interest in such a product and is working with Atari and ION to bring this concept to fruition. Atari is planning to release iCade-friendly versions of its classic arcade games, like Asteroids. These games will run on the iPad, and the action will be controlled by the BT-connected joystick and gaming buttons. An API will also be released so that current game developers can create iCade-compatible versions of their games.
The unit will start shipping April 2011 and will retail for US$99.99. Are any of you gamers out there interested in scooping one up when it becomes available?
[Via the gadgeteer]
ThinkGeek’s iCade gaming cabinet for iPad moves closer to reality originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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