GameStop Android tablets on-sale in US
Samsung, Acer and Asus tablets available with six pre-loaded games
GameStop will begin selling a range of game-focused Android tablet devices online and in selected US stores on November 4.
The tablets sold in-store are the Acer Iconia 7-inch (8GB/$329.99), the Asus Eee Pad Transformer 10.1-inch (16GB/$399), and the Samsung Galaxy 10.1-inch (16GB/$499).
Each comes pre-loaded with six free games: Dead Space, Re-Load, Sonic CD, Monster Madness, Riptide and Cordy. The tablets will also come with the digital version of Game Informer magazine and the Kongregate Arcade app.
The devices will go on sale on Friday at 200 GameStop stores, before being rolled out across company's entire network.
A Bluetooth wireless controller, designed by GameStop's internal R&D department to work with the three tablets, is available for an additional $39.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in September, GameStop president Tony Bartel said the pad was intended to encourage the development of more immersive games for tablets.
"There's not a lot of tablet/Android based games for the consumer that are designed to use an external controller," he said. "Our thought is that the tablet is a great immersive gaming device so it's hard for us to envision how that tablet will really function as such without some sort of controller."
"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' say Modern Warfare 3 - onto a tablet and then play it with your finger."
GameStop is also developing a cloud-based streaming service that will work in conjunction with the tablet devices.