Gamers rejoice! GameStop just became the latest company to throw its hat in when using the Android operating system. The video game retailer is planning to release its own-brand gaming tablet, which will launch with a number of titles pre-installed, according to company president Tony Bartel in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz.
Bartel says his company will be selling a “GameStop-certified gaming platform” in its stores. In the interview, he notes that the tablet was not developed by GameStop, but his company tested several slates before choosing one that it believes, is “worthy of its certification.” As far as the choice in hardware is concerned, Bartel assured the company were on track saying “we definitely have selected one,” adding “we’re in test phase right now.”
The new slate will initially have a modest choice of mobile games, but GameStop intends to stream console games to the device and ship a dedicated controller for the experience — something users will surely enjoy. GameStop plans to compete against Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and Apple when its tablet hits stores next year.
I feel like my brain is going to explode with all of this Android fragmentation going on; it seems everybody is trying to bend the OS to their own “unique” specifications. Recently, we all learned Amazon will launch its Kindle Tablet running a forked version of Android 2.1 or 2.2. I dread the fact that most users won’t get a true Android experience when there are about 90 different versions floating around. That said, this GameStop tablet should be a pretty interesting device when it hits stores.
[via gi]