Wikipad 7 Review - Software and Games Review
Software and Games
Can Wikipad succeed where the Archos GamePad failed?
Sections
- Page 1 Wikipad 7 Review
- Page 2 Software and Games Review
- Page 3 Performance, Battery Life and Verdict Review
Wikipad 3D – Software
The Wikipad runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and offers pretty much everything a standard Google-running tablet should these days. There’s access to Google Play services to download apps games, magazines, music and more. Swiping up from the home button will launch Google Now and the Google Chrome browser comes as standard.
The tie-up with Nvidia adds a few more services to the mix including the Tegrazone and Nvision apps. The latter is essentially a news and video feed focusing on movies, gaming and technology. It’s interesting, but offers nothing that a reader app like Feedly couldn’t already give you.
This is also a PlayStation certified device, which means PlayStation Mobile is also supported to widen the games catalogue at your disposal. Big Fish Instant Games is also there but is currently not supported in the UK.
This is every much the Android tablet you’d hope it would be. It’s not running Android 4.3 but it’s not a major issue. It’s worth noting you can use the controller to navigate through homescreens and launch apps. There doesn’t, however, seem to be way to take screengrabs.
Wikipad 7 – Games
As we’ve seen with the Archos GamePad and Ouya, optimized games at launch means everything. The Wikipad is a 7-inch tablet at heart so we imagine porting games is an easier task, it’s about getting the button mapping right.
The Wikipad website lists over 100 compatible Android games. Thankfully at launch Grand Theft Auto 3, Max Payne Mobile and Conduit HD are among the games supported. If you need to see the control setup, you’ll need to refer to the website for the controls reference chart.
The Wikipad comes with three pre-installed games; Unity’s FPS shooter Dead Trigger, online multiplayer Shadowgun Deadzone and Hockey Nations for all of those big hockey fans. So straight out of the box, you get a nice range of games to get an idea of what the controller is made of.
As mentioned earlier, you’ve got access to PlayStation Mobile. For anyone who’s taken a look at the store recently, there’s not much to enhance the catalogue of games you can already download in the Play store. There’s also Big Fish Instant game support for a selection of casual games, and if you still use OnLive the controller is fully supported to work with the online cloud gaming service.
How we test tablets
We test every tablet we review thoroughly. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly and we use the tablet as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
