iCade + MAME >> iCade + Atari's Greatest Hits

[RockLobster]

I'd say the controls are at least as good if not better than the X-Arcade controllers people who don't by HAPP parts for their MAME cabinets.

 

[VectorGamer]

It's cool but not my cup of tea...

[icbrkr]

I've got one, but I'm disappointed by the games included in the pak. Asteroids and Missile Command is great but... Atari 2600 games? 3D Tic Tac Toe? How about.. arcade games? You know, the point of the whole thing? I'm hoping more games are coming in the future and this isn't all that comes out.

[Mark Wolfe]

where can you buy the iCade controller? or do you have to build your own? can you get one with fewer buttons? it looks like they re jammed in there pretty good. seems to me you could place the 1/2 player and credit buttons on the sides which could also then be mapped for virtual pinball should that emu ever bee written for ipad

[goldenegg]

I've got one, but I'm disappointed by the games included in the pak. Asteroids and Missile Command is great but... Atari 2600 games? 3D Tic Tac Toe? How about.. arcade games? You know, the point of the whole thing? I'm hoping more games are coming in the future and this isn't all that comes out.

 

You know that the Atari app has a load of Atari arcade games (not only 2600 games), right?

 

where can you buy the iCade controller? or do you have to build your own? can you get one with fewer buttons? it looks like they re jammed in there pretty good. seems to me you could place the 1/2 player and credit buttons on the sides which could also then be mapped for virtual pinball should that emu ever bee written for ipad

 

 

Here

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/retro-gaming/e762/

[raskar42]

this interests me - maybe it's time to look into ipads....

[Cynicaster]

this interests me - maybe it's time to look into ipads....

 

It's your money, but IMO you should probably make sure you have plenty of other uses planned for the iPad before laying down the cash.

 

Reason being, if the primary function is games, it's worth pointing out that for the price of an iPad + iCade, you could more than build an entire MAME cabinet and have a far superior experience.

Edited July 18, 2011 by Cynicaster

[icbrkr]

I've got one, but I'm disappointed by the games included in the pak. Asteroids and Missile Command is great but... Atari 2600 games? 3D Tic Tac Toe? How about.. arcade games? You know, the point of the whole thing? I'm hoping more games are coming in the future and this isn't all that comes out.

 

You know that the Atari app has a load of Atari arcade games (not only 2600 games), right?

 

 

No, it's not a load. It's about.. 15? ( couldn't get the total list from the App Store). It's Missile Command, Centipede, Asteroids Deluxe, Asteroids, Tempest, Lunar Lander and a few others. The rest are 2600 games which is disappointing. I like the games, but I'm wanting to play actual arcade games on the iCade.

[mckafka99]

"18 classic arcade games, 92 Atari 2600 games "

 

Complete list - http://toucharcade.com/2011/04/06/atari-brings-100-retro-titles-to-ios-in-ataris-greatest-hits/

 

For me, there's only one 'Atari' arcade game (among those that the current 'Atari' could legally release) missing that I would have liked to have seen - Quantum. Here's to hoping a future update brings this game on board.

[goldenegg]

I like the games, but I'm wanting to play actual arcade games on the iCade.

 

Then for now, jail breaking and using iMame4All is your only option. It works really well.

 

It's also great to see a bunch of iOS game developers adding iCade support to their games! Playing Velocispider, Mos Speedrun, Silverfish Max and others with the iCade is a fantastic experience.

[icbrkr]

I like the games, but I'm wanting to play actual arcade games on the iCade.

 

Then for now, jail breaking and using iMame4All is your only option. It works really well.

 

It's also great to see a bunch of iOS game developers adding iCade support to their games! Playing Velocispider, Mos Speedrun, Silverfish Max and others with the iCade is a fantastic experience.

 

Now that's an idea. I'll give that a shot - thanks for the info!

[ledzep]

I like the iCade... except for the the control panel seeming to be a permanent part. It would have been better to make that removable so that the user could swap in a paddle/spinner or a trackball for the games that definitely require it. More money for the iCade makers, too. And there's money to be made with wraps of your favorite arcade games for that thing, too.

 

I hope that another version of the iCade comes out for some other touchpad computer, maybe that one can have modular controllers. I grow tired of these "all-in-one" game droids that only have joysticks and buttons but expect you to be able to play Breakout or Centipede or Tempest with them. Otherwise, for the money, I agree that a MAME cabinet would be far better (along with a cabinet running a ZVG board and VectorMAME through a vector monitor, of course). But then you can't carry around a MAME cabinet or keep it on your work desk, haahaha. Unless you're Shaq, I guess.

[goldenegg]

I like the iCade... except for the the control panel seeming to be a permanent part. It would have been better to make that removable so that the user could swap in a paddle/spinner or a trackball for the games that definitely require it. More money for the iCade makers, too. And there's money to be made with wraps of your favorite arcade games for that thing, too.

 

I hope that another version of the iCade comes out for some other touchpad computer, maybe that one can have modular controllers. I grow tired of these "all-in-one" game droids that only have joysticks and buttons but expect you to be able to play Breakout or Centipede or Tempest with them. Otherwise, for the money, I agree that a MAME cabinet would be far better (along with a cabinet running a ZVG board and VectorMAME through a vector monitor, of course). But then you can't carry around a MAME cabinet or keep it on your work desk, haahaha. Unless you're Shaq, I guess.

 

Given that iOS doesn't have any real type of game controller support, this probably isn't going to happen. The iCade can't provide a paddle or trackball, as there's no way to provide that type of analog input. As is, the iCade emulates a Bluetooth keyboard, sending two keys per button (one for on, one for off). Unless Apple decides to add proper controller support to the OS, this is about as good as it's going to get.

[ledzep]

Given that iOS doesn't have any real type of game controller support, this probably isn't going to happen. The iCade can't provide a paddle or trackball, as there's no way to provide that type of analog input. As is, the iCade emulates a Bluetooth keyboard, sending two keys per button (one for on, one for off). Unless Apple decides to add proper controller support to the OS, this is about as good as it's going to get.

Ah. Not owning an iPad, I wasn't aware of that limitation. I'd still welcome the idea for a different touchpad computer, maybe one with decent I/O and OS. I like the idea of turning one of those pads into a digital overlay for a Vectrex-sized mini-arcade dock. The only limiting factor would be the controllers. It would even make sense to sell two versions, one like the iCade for vertical screen games, another for horizontal screen games with a wider, shorter cabinet dock. With removable controllers, of course. That would actually get me to buy a touchpad computer.