French electronics maker
Archos announced a new portable game console that will be available well ahead of the holidays. The Android-based Archos GamePad has physical game controls that are designed to work with all of your
Android games.
The key here is the GamePad’s compatibility with past, present, and future games, regardless of whether they're designed for physical controls. Archos says it has a patented technology for automatically mapping virtual controls to its physical controls. Identical sets of game buttons and analog sticks flank the GamePad’s 7-inch screen.
“Thanks to the mapping and automatic game recognition systems included on the GamePad, we already have over a thousand android games compatible with the ARCHOS GamePad’s physical controls, including back catalog titles that originally didn’t include physical controls,” says Henri Crohas, Archos founder and CEO.

The GamePad pairs an ARM Mali-400MP quad-core GPU and a 1.5GHz, dual-core CPU. Because it runs Android, you’ll be able to use it as you would other tablets: you can check email, browse the Internet, etc. Of course, you can also download games via
Google Play.
Archos plans to release the GamePad for under 150€ (about $188) in October. Archos is also courting game developers, having already worked with certain shops during the development of the GamePad. If you’re a developer and want to connect with Archos, drop them a line at gamepad@archos.com.
Joshua Gulick
Josh cut his teeth (and hands) on his first PC upgrade in 2000 and was instantly hooked on all things tech. He took a degree in English and tech writing with him to
Computer Power User Magazine and spent years reviewing high-end workstations and gaming systems, processors, motherboards, memory and video cards. His enthusiasm for PC hardware also made him a natural fit for covering the burgeoning modding community, and he wrote
CPU’s “Mad Reader Mod” cover stories from the series’ inception until becoming the publication editor for
Smart Computing Magazine. A few years ago, he returned to his first love, reviewing smoking-hot PCs and components, for
HotHardware. When he’s not agonizing over benchmark scores, Josh is either running (very slowly) or spending time with family.