Despite the extraordinary improvements made in the field of graphics since the 1980s, many of us still want to the relive the retro gaming experience. Emulators have sort of helped in recreating that experience, but the software controls were’t as good for games that were designed with a dedicated controller in mind. Besides, without the dedicated controller, the experience wasn’t as authentic.
A new Kickstarter project, GameDock, aims to fill in this gap by developing an iOS device dock that transforms your device into a retro gaming console, complete with the two NES-style controllers and a cable to connect the TV to your device.
From the project’s Kickstarter page:
Have you ever played a great retro game on your iPhone, only to be frustrated with the touch controls? Or have you wanted to play an awesome iPad game with a friend, but two people holding one tablet just doesn’t feel right? With the GameDock for iOS you can play classic games the way they were meant to be played: with two controllers and a TV. Just plug the dock into your TV like a video game console and your iOS device into the dock like a game cartridge. The GameDock is designed to be compatible with existing iCade games and for dock-ready games that include two-player support and full 1080p HDTV output.
It’s compatible with devices running iOS 4 and up, with the HDMI mirroring available to the new iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Games written with support for the iCade controller would work with GameDock. The folks behind the project will also build a repository of all the games that’ll support GameDock once it comes out.
Here are a couple of videos of the whole setup in action:
This isn’t an entirely unchartered territory though. There have been a few controllers released earlier that try to replicate the retro gaming experience, but none of them have come this close.
The whole thing (dock+two USB controllers+HDMI adapter) would cost you $ 150, and would be delivered to you by the end of this year. Here’s the Kickstarter page.
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