Yesterday we shared a video that the people over at GamerHub.TV made of one of the upcoming accessories for the Samsung Galaxy S IV, The Samsung Game Pad. In this video we see the handset in the Samsung Smart Dock which is connected to a television via HDMI out with the Game Pad connected to the GS IV using bluetooth. This in turn makes your smartphone a full on gaming console running all of the games that the Android ecosystem has to offer.
The first thing I thought of when watching this video was the Ouya gaming system and how the Samsung method would stack up with the much ballyhooed kickstarter project. Now granted this is something we’ve seen before, most notably with the pretty affordable Moga Android gaming controller, but those have had limited success because they aren’t as well known and don’t have the marketing budget of a company like Samsung. And that’s the key right there, Samsung’s budget. They could market the hell out of this (not so original) feature like they do with some of their other “innovations” and blow the competition out of the water even before they get their feet on the ground.
While just about everyone in the tech community knows about products like the Ouya and it’s extremely affordable $99 price tag or even the $33 Moga, the possibility is very real that more people will know about how the Samsung Game Pad and Smart Dock paired together will bring your mobile gaming experience to the big screen. Considering that Samsung’s two accessories will cost more than the Ouya and the Moga combined, that’s a pretty big coup if they can pull it off.
Of course a method of gaming is only as good as it’s content and both Samsung and the Ouya people have some pretty decent titles in their respective stables. Samsung for their part will have 16 games available at launch including well known titles such as The Sims, Simpsons: Tapped Out, Plants vs. Zombies, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Monopoly, and Bejeweled Blitz, all of which will be sold from Samsung’s own app store for under $10 dollars. The Ouya on the other hand will have over 300 game titles at launch including favorites like Final Fantasy III, Hawken, Dungeon Panic, and Beast Boxing Turbo.
It remains to be seen which system will be more successful however Samsung has a pretty sizable user base since the Smart Dock/Game Pad combo will already support the Note II, The Galaxy S III, and The Galaxy S IV right from jump street. So I pose these questions to the peanut gallery: Can Samsung and their Game Pad change mobile gaming or will it just be a niche product? How will the Ouya fare against the Samsung marketing machine should the South Korean manufacturer really put a focus on cornering the gaming market? Let us know in the comments.