After seeing the market created and dominated almost exclusively by third-party manufacturers, Samsung has stepped up and announced its own game pad peripheral with a companion application in the GamePad. The GamePad, like so many other Android game controllers features support for larger Android smartphones starting out at 4 inches and maxing out at 6.3 inches.
The GamePad unit itself also features AllShare support for wireless display mirroring as well as an HDMI output, while requiring Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and Samsung recommending it be used with devices such as the Galaxy S III, S4, and the Note II/Note 3. The GamePad also includes NFC support for easy device pairing, while the Mobile Console app for the GamePad is now available for download through the Samsung App store.
The GamePad will launch first in Europe while a US release has not been confirmed and over 35 games have been confirmed as GamePad-compatible, such as EA’s Need for Speed™ Most Wanted, Gameloft’s Asphalt8 : Airborne; first-person shooter titles such as Gameloft’s Modern Combat 4 : Zero Hour, sports titles such as SEGA’s Virtua Tennis™ Challenge, and action titles such as Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia : The Shadow and the Flame.
