Budget gaming handheld promises old school thrills

Tablets can be great but when you fancy a gaming session it's nice to have a proper controller, like those we get with our favourite games consoles. Now you can have both thanks to a new handheld (or should that be tablet?) called the Wikipad that debuted at CES earlier this year and which is set for release soon.

The finalised specifications for the new tablet / handheld were revealed yesterday and while not entirely groundbreaking they promise a decent experience.....

A 1.4 gigahertz quad core Tegra 3 processor partnered with one gigabyte of ram, Android version 4.1 (JellyBean), two cameras (eight megapixel rear and 2 megapixel front facing), a 10.1 inch IPS screen (with a 1280x800 resolution) and a minimum of at least sixteen gigabytes of internal storage space certainly makes this an attractive tablet in its own right but unlike most tablets the Wikipad has a special treat in store for those who love their games.

What treat?

The tablet becomes a self contained handheld gaming system thanks to a clever controller bundled with it that makes the tablet screen function as a large handheld display while allowing game and menu control with a joypad type interface that include two sets of triggers and bumpers, two analog sticks, four buttons as well as a start button and a select button and of course a d-pad.

As you can see from the pictures it transforms the already decent tablet into a proper Tegra 3 powered portable gaming system that will run all your favourite high end Android games, let you use a proper joypad to control them as you'd expect from a handheld gaming console, and yet can revert back to your everyday tablet should your inner adult feel the need to come out for a while and get some work done.

Aside from the obvious possibilities this offers there is also the less obvious one of being able to play all those old school favourites from your Playstation or arcade gaming days thanks to the use of emulators. Now you can play them as you remember, with proper controls, uninterrupted by the outside world or of course just use the controller to blast away at zombies.

But the fun doesn't stop there for hardcore gamers. Want to play your favourite PS3 or XBox 360 titles on your new Wikipad? Well thanks to their partnership with Gaikai (a games streaming service that rivals OnLive) you can do just that.

That's right, without ever needing to buy another console title you can still play the top games on them using the Wikipad.

Okay, okay, so it sounds great but what's it going to cost?

Originally the price was set to be $250 but at the time it had a glasses free 3D display and eight gigabytes of internal storage. The change in specifications means it should still hit that target price and retail at $250 (£160).

At that price it promises to steal away potential buyers of tablets such as the Nexus 7 and even Asus Transformer series, offering a fun gaming experience combined with the everyday benefits of a decent tablet.