GameStop to Build an Android Gaming Tablet

Posted 09/12/2011 at 10:05am | by Paul Lilly

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Used game vendor GameStop is raring to go with its own-brand gaming tablet the company will refer to as a "GameStop certified gaming platform." GameStop president Tony Bartel told GamesIndustry.biz it has already chosen a specific model of tablet, and that it will run Google's Android operating system, the odds-on favorite if you were to venture a guess beforehand.

"I don't see any need to create a new one with three hundred or so on the market already," Bartel explained to GI on GameStop's decision to stick with an existing hardware platform. "We have a refurbishment center and we can bring in the product and preload certain games onto it. It's an Android device."

Bartel said GameStop's device is currently in the test phase, and when the Android tablet ships, it will come with "a few benefits that you're not going to get elsewhere." Streaming games will be part of the experience, if not initially than soon after, and you'll be able to hook up a controller to the device.

"So we've created a controller that we're testing to really allow for immersive gameplay. It's hard to imagine how to stream a game -- let's say Modern Warfare 3 -- onto a tablet and then play it with your finger," Bartel explains.

Price and release date? Like the specific hardware, those details remain a mystery, though when it does ship, it will come with a selection of pre-installed games.