Over the holidays I found time to unpack and build my iCade and what a great piece of retro gaming kit it is, especially when coupled with iMame and a whole host of vintage arcade classics. The iCade is a mini desktop arcade cabinet for the Apple iPad complete with Stick Ball joystick and micro switch arcade buttons. The controls connect to the iPad via Bluetooth therefore there’s no wiring to worry about, simply plug and play.
Opening the box I found all parts to very well packaged in individual bags and the wooden parts wrapped in foam padded bags to prevent damage to the colourful side art.
Building the iCade was a breeze with just eight screws to fix the side, front and back panel. Each screw has it’s own fixing hole and a small hex key driver is included in the package.
The control panel is a sealed unit so no need to worry about wiring etc, simply screw on the joystick top and you’re done.
iCade built and ready for play.
Simply insert your iPad either in portrait mode into the iCade mount or In landscape mode into the groove just below the iCade mount. This is perfect for Mame as it allows you to quickly swap between those classic vertical shooters and horizontal games on the fly.
Lifting the iCade lid shows the how to connect the pair the controls to the iPad.
The iCade supports a Eight buttons in total giving you ample for arcade titles like Street Fighter II as well as start and coin buttons. I was surprised on how well the digital stick performed on non digital controlled games such as Outrun and Afterburner for example and they play really well. With iMame, as with the PC version, you can configure the controls to use the defaults or specific controls per game which is perfect if you like your controls set in a certain way.
My only criticism with the controls is that the micro switches are very loud and so when the action gets intense and you’re bashing away at the buttons, it can get quite noisy. Research online shows plenty of examples of modded iCade’s where folk have replaced these with silent switches, replaced buttons and even swapped the joystick with Sanwa arcade parts. It’s also nice to read that the stock iCade joystick also have a 8/4-way restrictor plate fitted as standard.
No doubt in the next few weeks I’ll be taking a closer look at the actual workings of the control panel and making a few adjustments myself!
Overall though, I’m loving the iCade. It’s a lot sturdier and well built than what I originally thought to be a flimsy plastic box. Games supporting the iCade are a little thin on the ground at the moment although Atari’s Greatest hits does let you sample some great arcade classics with authentic arcade controls. If you were one of the lucky ones to pick up a copy of iMame before it disappeared from the app store then this is where the iCade really excels as a desktop arcade machine. It works better than i’d hoped it would and much easier to setup and get playing than my own DIY mini Mame cab (although not as fun to build).
