Android at E3

In addition to devices we’ve covered before, like the Ouya, the GameStick, and the Shield, Android was well represented at the video game and entertainment superconference.

Mad Catz Project M.O.J.O.
Mad Catz Project M.O.J.O.

Mad Catz, who have been in the gaming industry for years as a 3rd party peripheral maker, has thrown their hat into the gaming console ring with their Project MO.J.O..  Mad Catz’s offering is very much like the Ouya, only without the game store and boring looking UI.  It is a vanilla Android install (they were showing it with 4.1. – but say it will run the latest version of Android when it ships).  It works with Google Play and Android AppStore out of the box, so no hacking or side-loading required to get to the games you have already bought and paid for.  They are still working on the guts of the machine, but want it to support full 1080p, with HDMI, USB, Bluetooth, WiFi, and cost under $99.  It has a very X-box like controller, but would also work with Mad Catz’s existing line of BlueTooth controllers, mice, and keyboards – as well as peripherals from other makers.  I, for one, sincerely hope they come up with a better – shorter – name for it by launch.  Perhaps just “Mojo”.

Mad Catz – Project M.O.J.O.

But Mad Catz wasn’t the only game in town, Unu is going the more “jack of all trades” route with a tablet that you can dock into your TV, turning it into a smartTV and game console.  The 7″ tablet comes with the docking station, an arimouse, with a keyboard on one side and remote control type buttons on the other, and a game controller.

Unu Smart TV Gaming Tablet
Unu Smart TV Gaming Tablet
  • 7″ 1280 x 800 capacitive touchscreen
  • 1.6 Ghz Rockchip quad-core processor
  • 8 GB of on-board storage
  • MicroSD card slot
  • HDMI out
  • BlueTooth
  • WiFi
  • 2 MicroUSB

The tablet has some nice specs, but don’t expect to walk away with this bad boy for the almost universal “under $100” price tag we’re seeing for Android consoles.  The gaming edition of this tablet will set you back a cool $250.

Personally, I can’t help but feel Unu missed the boat on this one by not including the gaming controls directly on the tablet itself.  But that’s just me.

Did any of you, dear readers, make it to E3?  Did you see anything interesting? Have you read about any new gaming devices that you’d like to share?  Any thoughts on the rising main-stream popularity of Android as a gaming platform? As always – let us know in the comments below.

5 thoughts on “Android at E3”

  1. OH MA GOSH! I NEED a M.O.J.O. I hope its not to much, the highest should be $150, but I hop its under $100(i dought it)

    Reply

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