If you own an iPad and love retro arcade games, then ThinkGeek has the ultimate accessory for you. Right now they are taking preorders on the iCade, a retro gaming cabinet for use with your iPad. What as once an April Fools joke is now a reality. Preorder it for $99 and it is scheduled to be released some time in May for delivery.
iCade uses Bluetooth to connect to your iPad but support for it currently is limited to the Atari’s Greatest Hits app in the App Store. For more information about the iCade, click the read more link below.
[via ThinkGeek]
Didn’t think you needed an iPad? Think again!
When the iPad was announced, we all crammed into a conference room to watch live and drool over every shiny corner and reflecty icon. After the glow of the initial announcement wore off, many of us came to the conclusion that the iPad was actually pretty useless. “It’s a giant iPhone!” some said. Others exclaimed, “WTF, no Flash!?”. Still, we knew that most Apple fanbots (us included) would have to have one anyway.
Knowing that many of our loyal geeky customers would eventually get their retractable claws on an iPad at some point, we knew we needed to take it to the next level. What cool things could we do with the iPad that you, our lovely geek customers, would squee over? A few brainstorming sessions later, the idea of a MAME cabinet came up and we knew we’d struck gold. How cool would it be to slide your iPad into a desktop-sized arcade cabinet and rock it old school with some Pac-Man or Space Invaders?
Enter the iCADE iPad Arcade Cabinet! To use the iCade, gently slide the iPad into the cradle. The iCADE uses Bluetooth to connect to the iPad so there’s nothing else you need to do. You’re ready to “insert coin” and game on!
To bring the iCADE to life, ThinkGeek has partnered with ION. Atari, the first name in classic arcade games, also signed up to bring a huge suite of classic arcade titles including Asteroids® to market with iCADE support built right in. When released, a friendly API will be made available to developers to add iCADE support to almost any game.
Atari’s Greatest Hits Download Required for iCade
Atari’s Greatest Hits brings the best of retro gaming to iOS with 100 Classic Atari Games. This suite brings you the hottest Arcade and 2600 titles from Atari. For those who love the classic gaming experience this handheld breakthrough is sure to guarantee hours of fun. Fully compatible with the iCADE. Product Specifications
- Beautifully retro-styled tabletop arcade cabinet for your otherwise useless iPad
- iPad connects to the iCADE controls via Bluetooth
- “Atari Greatest Hits” iPad App ready to go with the iCADE, including support for over 100 classic Atari games.
- Atari App comes with classic Pong for free, other games available for in-app purchase. 3-game packs are $1. All 100 games are $14.99
- API to be released later allowing any iOS developer to create iCADE-compatible games.
- Compatible with both the original iPad and iPad 2
The Gamer With Kids 