With sales of the iPhone, and iPad continuing to be a roaring success there are bound to be numerous specialty accessories surfacing. The Gametel from Swedish Fructel AB is a Bluetooth controller for Android, iPhone and iPad. It was released just in time for Christmas, but failed to gather much coverage or a large distributor outside of Scandinavia. With the recent news that the iCade team will release smaller iCades for the iPhone the Gametel could have had a better start. Still it manages to bring some own ideas, and can be seen as a complimentary product rather than a competitor to the iCade. There is also the similar iControlPad that is a more advanced controller than the Gametel bringing dual joysticks to the table. Still I think there is a market for the Gametel, as it uses the Bluetooth profile of both the iControlPad and the iCade.
The Gametel has an eight way keypad, four action buttons and two shoulder buttons. Beside this there are the start, and select buttons. The top of the device allows you to insert a phone, and it is held quite well by the clamp. This is the basic way to use it with an iPhone or Android device. The feel is not far away from that of the Nintendo DS. This is also enhanced, as many commands in games are still touch only and you have to constantly touch the screen between levels for example.
Connecting the Gametel to my iPhone 4S was quite simple, and then setting it to iCade mode as well. It does support a whole array of Android devices as well, and I can’t help but laugh slightly thinking that the Xperia Play users must feel cheated. This is basically the same thing except the Gametel is easy to remove.
Playing games using the Gametel is great, and I have improved my times in Mos Speedrun for example. Games using only one or two buttons are ok depending on how they are mapped. When more buttons are involved, or they are poorly mapped games tend to become awkward.
There isn’t that many games that are supported fully, and none have allowed for custom mapping of the controls. Using the iCade profile is a good start, but it also means that a lot of games have the wrong orientation. One thing that also struck me is the fact that games that I have asked for physical controls for are too advanced with too many buttons. The Gametel supports none of these. For example I would have loved to use a controller for GTA3 or any FPS game. Those the Gametel works with are casual action reaction games, retro compilations and one space fighter. Games where I really felt the Gametel improved the gameplay, and results are:
League of Evil, tight jumping even though the attack is mapped to a shoulder button it works well.
Mos Speedrun, absolutely marvellous and my times improved.
Silverfish, excellent precise controls without covering up any screen estate.
Muffin Knight, also a great improvement not having fingers covering the screen.
Forgive Me Not, with the Gametel it feels much more arcade and fun.
C64, I improved my LeMans racing by a ton.
There are more games that are compatible that I haven’t played enough to give a verdict on. Super Crate Box is supposed to work, but I haven’t found a setting to get Bluetooth controller to work. This is perhaps the largest issue I have with the Gametel in the fact that it isn’t a platform in itself yet. Game developers need to be more clear in how they use the iCade profile, as a lot of games come without proper control menus.
The best way to use the Gametel is to hook up an iPad or iPhone 4S to a projector. Then you can use the Gametel as a standalone controller playing games on a huge screen with some wicked music. To me this is by far the most fun I have had with the controller, and it makes the iCade experience feel kind of flat. It is a shame though that there aren’t any big name games to play using it. If a game like Dead Space came with Gametel, or iControlPad support I could sell off my PS3. If you have followed our OnLive discussion at TouchGen you know that the future might be more about the controls than about the hardware.
I really wish that the Gametel is a success, as it would help giving developers incentive to include physical control options for their games. With the iCade, and smaller iCade siblings the market is tough as nails. Priced right I still think there is room for the Gametel, but that price has to be really low.
Final Rating
More information at Gametel.se in English
