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ION Audio: iCade Mobile Review

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ION Audio: iCade Mobile Review

Do you like playing video games old school style? The iCade Mobile will let you play close to 100 of them that way. With the iCade Mobile, you insert your iPhone or iPod Touch 4/4s or earlier, into the rubber holder located in the center. My nine year old just received an iPod Touch 5 for Christmas and was upset that it was too long and did not fit. This then gives you buttons on the top (like a Nintendo), a directional pad to the left and buttons on the right. The iDevice holder does rotate for both landscape and portrait playing modes too.

ION Audio: iCade Mobile Review

Next, your device needs to be paired with the iCade. I had a tough time setting it up, even my 13-year-old had a hard time getting it connected, so I knew that I was going to have to call for customer support! During the setup process, you do need to go into your Bluetooth settings and make sure that Bluetooth is turned on. You then need to pair the device so that Bluetooth can pick it up. This is where I ran into problems, the phone is supposed to show a passcode that needs to be entered into the iCade Mobile device. I never received one. Even after calling in for help, I never had to enter a code. But once it finally got connected, the iCade Mobile said “paired” on my iPhone and I was ready to go.

ION Audio does offer a list of compatible games. This was the second problem I encountered. I downloaded several of the games only to turn out they actually weren’t compatible. Come to find out the developer had “listed” them wrong on the site but now they have been updated. There is a good mix of free and paid apps that can be used with the iCade. A few free titles we played were: Don’t Run With a Plasma Sword, Fix It Felix Jr., Zombie Meatballs. The kid’s favorites seem to be Temple Run and Nyan Cat both of which we had before we received the iCade. But don’t expect to see any of the latest and greatest apps, most are titles we had never heard of.

Bottom line: While the iCade is a neat idea, I would only recommend if you are a BIG fan of the classic style arcade games. At a price point of $50, the limited game availability was a downside. Plus my kids didn’t really enjoy having to go through the setup process just to be able to play a game.

ION Audio is available on Amazon.

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