News

Kickstarter campaign is up for the ‘first’ dedicated Android-powered handheld gaming system

A new Kickstarter campaign has been launched for a new product that was inevitably heading our way at some point, especially after the success of the OUYA Android-powered game console. This new product, called the MG, is being developed by PlayMG and is being touted as the first dedicated handheld gaming device powered by Android.

The reason they are calling this the first dedicated handheld gaming device with Android is because it does nothing else but play games, music and video. While the Xperia Play is also a gaming device, it is also a phone and many other things that fall outside of the realm of gaming. The MG, even though it looks like a phone, isn’t one. While the device will be geared towards Freemium casual games, you will be able to play pretty much any game on it as long as that game isn’t chipset specific, i.e. a Tegra 3 game or a Snapdragon only title.

The device is already physically existing as well, with a fourth prototype already in the hands of the developers at PlayMG. We even have the hardware specs for it already:

– 4″ WVGA (480×800) Capacitive Touch
– TCC8925 Cortex A5 processor at 1GHz.
– 1GB RAM/4GB of internal flash storage
– 1880mAh battery
– Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
– WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
– 1.3MP front-facing camera for still image and video capture
– Stereo headset jack
– Micro SD card slot for expandable memory
– Micro USB 2.0 HS
– Gyroscope, Compass, Accelerometer sensors

Since the device is geared towards freemium games, most of which are generally lightweight when it comes to the visuals, the CPU coming with this device should be more than enough. Anyone who happens to be more of a hardcore gamer, who enjoys eye candy as much as the next person, will probably pass on this device. Anything less than a dual-core these days for any type of real gaming is going to be pretty dated.


Each MG comes with its own avatar

Still, if you like playing freemium games, or even paid games that are not overly heavy on the visuals, then this is pretty much the perfect device for it. There are no physical controls, since the device is geared towards casual games, but that doesn’t mean you can’t connect a controller to it. As for pricing, if you pledge $99 you will get an MG so we can assume retail it will be near that price point. Hit up the Kickstarter page for MG and read more about it if you’re interested.

Even if this Kickstarter fails, the MG will be arriving to market either way, it will just arrive with a lot less noise then they had hoped for. You can check out the pitch video below.

Website Referenced: PocketGamer Biz

Share This

You Might Also Like