Product information

ASIN

B0092ZEIN4

Release date

October 1, 2012

Customer Reviews

3.4 313 ratings

3.4 out of 5 stars

Product Dimensions

6.5 x 1.97 x 5.51 inches; 7.04 Ounces

Type of item

Video Game

Language

English

Item model number

80691

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer

No

Item Weight

7 ounces

Manufacturer

Nyko

Date First Available

August 21, 2012

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Product Description

Bring the console experience anywhere and everywhere with the PlayPad for Android based tablets. The PlayPad is a travel sized wireless Bluetooth controller with specialized tablet stand and carry case designed to work with a multitude of today's top Android titles. Featuring dual analog stick, d-pad, 4 face buttons, left and right dual shoulder/trigger buttons the PlayPad has all the necessary tools to tackle any game. Designed in conjunction with NVIDIA the PlayPad is compatible with numerous high-end mobile games optimized for Tegra-powered devices. For expanded compatibility, the PlayPad works with Nyko's free Android app, called Playground, to provide backwards compatibility for the PlayPad Pro with legacy tablet titles, including those that currently utilize keyboard mapping, touch mapping and mouse support. Playground provides profile management for customized control schemes, as well as pre-set profiles for top selling and popular games. The PlayPad Pro works with any Android 3.0 device or higher with Bluetooth.

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3.4 out of 5

313 global ratings

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Carmen Strianese III

This would make any Retro Gamer happy.

Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2013

Verified Purchase

I really didn't know what to expect when I ordered this for my Samsung S4 phone and my modified Android NOOK Color.

Everything was breeze. Easy to charge and quick to link up with both items via Bluetooth.

I mainly use this for Retro game apps which run MAME, Sega Genesis, NES, SNES and others. The Playpad works great if you have a break at work, even if you need to pass the time on a road trip or just to kill off an hour of time.

My apps allowed me to program the buttons without any Nyko app. Please note this may be different for other popular games, but if these little apps work fine with the controller, I don't see why some of the more advanced games would have a problem.

This also is a great controller for anyone not looking to be directly connected to your phone. The controller allows you to sit back and view your tablet or phone from a comfortable distance.

The only thing would be it might be a small controller and it can cause a slight cramp if played for an extended time.

The controller comes with a carrying case and with a stand for your phone or tablet. Both are handy for being on the go or just sitting up for home use.

Since there really isn't a large amount of Bluetooth controllers, this would be a solid choice for the money. I was able to get it for about $25.00 and I'm pleased with the results.

One person found this helpful

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David Churchill

Great hardware when it works, terrible software

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

I had to go through 5 of these before I got 2 that weren't DOA. They simply refused to charge or power on under any circumstances. The 2 that did end up working had some pretty nasty LED spasms when I first plugged them in but gradually calmed down and started charging normally. Once they were finished charging there were no more hardware issues.

In Gamepad/HID mode the controller is very fast and reliable, but the button mappings are strange in Windows. The D-pad actually sends keyboard arrow key inputs instead of gamepad directional inputs, the trigger buttons on the back don't work at all, and the back and home buttons send commands to any open web browser (or open a new one) that send your currently focused page a "go back" command or "go to home page" command respectively. My browser tries to load my home page about 500 times while trying to turn the controller off since you have to hold the home button a few seconds to do so.

The mouse mode seems to work well. It's hard to mess up a mode that just inches a cursor around the screen.

In Android mode the controller works very well, though the trigger button inputs are still absent. The Playground software, even when it is able to sync with your controller, seems to be unable to update the firmware or program any button profile changes into the controller since it can't determine the firmware version. Make sure you start the Playground software before turning on or pairing the controller or it won't find the controller to sync with it. I was hoping I could remap the errant buttons that were giving Windows so much grief using the Playground software but until the firmware issues are resolved, I don't see that happening.

This could be a very nice device if it came with reasonable defaults or a way to change *anything* about it. Be prepared to either have your games work perfectly or not at all until Nyko releases a way to configure their device. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt about all my DOA playpads since they all seemed to come from the same possibly faulty batch, which is understandable.

Good luck. :)

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Jason Stieber

Software is crap. Everything else is pretty good.

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2012

Verified Purchase

I was initially very pleased when I got this controller. Took it out of the case, turned it on, paired it via bluetooth with my Nexus 10, and my emulators and most of my games (Dead Trigger, Riptide GP, GTA 3, Shadowgun, etc..) were working perfectly with it.

Next, I decided to load up Nyko's Playground software from the Google Play Store. Terrible, terrible idea.

Nyko's Playground software is meant to allow you to program your Playpad for any games that don't natively support their controller. It does nothing of the sort. Not only is the app very unnecessarily confusing, but it doesn't work. At all. Nyko doesn't even deny this fact. Their app is officially in BETA, but as far as I'm concerned it shouldn't even be considered an alpha build at this point. It just doesn't work, period.

So after realizing that the software didn't work, I decided to go ahead and continue to use the Playpad and use the controller on games that DO natively support it. I powered the Playpad on, and it wouldn't sync via Bluetooth any longer. I tried every conceivable trick or workaround to get it to work again, but no go. A quick Google search revealed that this is a common problem after loading the Playground software with MANY android devices, and the only satisfactory resolution is to do a full factory reset of your Android device. That's what I ended up having to do. Worked like a charm again after a factory reset but I'd be EXTREMELY hesitant to load up the Nyko Playground software ever again. Even when it's out of Beta and is supposedly 'officially' working.

If I never bothered trying to use the Playground software I would've given this controller 4/5 stars. It's solidly constructed and works very well for games that natively support it. Because of the headaches caused by the Playground software, however, I can't feel comfortable rating this higher than 2 stars.

31 people found this helpful

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Marcello

Per quello che costa pessimo oggetto e qualità scadente. 2 su 2 rotti!

Reviewed in Italy on January 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

Arrivato in un paio di giorni, appena scartato ho subito constatato che non si ricaricava ed inoltre, cosa molto peggiore, che non funzionava nemmeno. Niente da fare, nemmeno una luce. Per fortuna l'ho restituito, Amazon me ne ha inviato un altro nuovo e... Sorpresa!!! Stavolta il Playpad sembrava caricarsi, una luce si accendeva ma poi non dava segni di vita. Questo addirittura era peggio di quello precedente: un selettore mancante, un etichetta che sembrava essere stata tolta poi rimessa, danni estetici alla scocca. Mai speso peggio 29€!

One person found this helpful

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Fito

Un producto a medias...

Reviewed in Spain on November 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

El mando está muy bien construido, tanto desde el punto de vista de los materiales, como del diseño. Tiene buen tacto y los botones se ven robustos y la batería parece durar lo suficiente, por lo tanto tiene buena usabilidad desde el punto de vista ergonómico, etc. Desgraciadamente tiene varios errores muy importantes; configurarlo correctamente es un auténtico dolor de muelas, la compatibilidad con los juegos es bastante limitada y el software propietario que se puede descargar gratuitamente desde Google play es absolutamente inútil, ni tan siquiera es capaz de encontrar el dispositivo a pesar e estar conectado vía bluetooth.

Resumiendo: un buen producto fatalmente rematado. No lo recomiendo en absoluto.

Por cierto, a lo mejor tuve mala suerte pero necesité 3 cambios para conseguir un mando que funcionase, los 2 primeros me vinieron directamente muertos, al parecer este producto tiene bastantes problemas con la alimentación/batería. Afortunadamente en ese aspecto Amazon funciona de lujo y no tuve ningún problema con los cambios, excepto por las molestias de necesitar 3 envíos/devoluciones para un sólo producto.

3 people found this helpful

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N. Dittes

Nice concept, works great in windows.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

Nice concept. It works great in windows 8. Windows was able to interface with it immediately and emulators just worked with it. I was impressed. I didn't expect it to work well, but it does. I'm not sure if mine has problem or if it's bluetooth issues, but I had button issues on mine. I will have to test it more on other devices like my phone.

It's loads of fun. I'm glad I bought it.

Peggy

Très bon produit !

Reviewed in France on January 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

J'avais la rage quand mon gamepad gametel ne marchait plus, j'ai donc opté pour cette nouvelle manette et elle fonctionne très sur la tablette Galaxy tab 2. La qualité du produit est excellemente, elle peut paraître un peu dur au départ mais après on s'y fait et enfin on a de vrai joystick et ça, c'est plutôt plaisant. Bref, impec pour les accros de leur tablettes et des émulateurs !

One person found this helpful

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Christopher

Gutes Konzept - schlechte Umsetzung

Reviewed in Germany on January 15, 2013

Verified Purchase

Gestern kam endlich mein Nyko Playpad an. Zu allererst muss man sagen, dass das Playpad einen wirklich guten Eindruck macht. Die Verarbeitung ist hochwertig. Der Standfuß für das Tablet und die zugehörige "Transportbox" sind eine sehr gute Idee, auch wenn die Box nicht ganz so gut verarbeitet ist wie der Rest.

Und das war es schon mit den guten Punkten, denn das Playpad tut leider nicht das was es soll. Ich habe mich an die Anleitung gehalten, und zuerst mal die Nyko Playground App auf meinem Nexus 7 installiert, welche dafür da ist, um Key-Mapping-Profile für Spiele zu erstellen, die der Controller sonst nicht unterstützen würde. Als ich versucht habe ein solches Profil für die Mupen64-App (N64-Emulator) zu erstellen, sollte ich im Anschluss den Controller mit der App synchronisieren. Der Vorgang funktioniert das erste Mal, aber im Anschluss wird immer gesagt, dass der Controller nicht verbunden sei.
Das ganze kann man solange wiederholen, bis der Synchronisierungs-Vorgang irgendwann zwischen 25% und 50% einfach stehen bleibt und nichts mehr passiert.

Ich habe dann natürlich das Orakel befragt, und habe einige Foren gefunden, in denen andere Leute dieselben Probleme hatten. Anscheinend kann der Controller nicht richtig per Bluetooth verbunden werden, sobald die Nyko-App installiert wurde. Auch eine Deinstallation der App bringt keinen Erfolg. Die einzige Lösung ist, das Tablet komplett zurückszusetzen, was ich dann auch getan habe. Im Anschluss habe ich das ganze ohne Nyko-App versucht, was auch relativ gut funktioniert hat. Leider kann man so weder den rechten Analog-Stick, noch die unteren Schultertasten belegen. Auch dieses Problem kann man oftmals in diversen Foren lesen.

Als ich dann endlich spielen konnte, ist mir leider noch aufgefallen, dass die Analog-Sticks sehr schwergängig sind, was es einem nicht ermöglicht, diese nur leicht zu bewegen. Dadurch hat man nur die Wahl zwischen den Stellungen "Mitte" oder "Vollgas"

Somit hat das Gerät aus meiner Sicht komplett versagt. Hier noch eine kurze Liste mit Pro und Kontra:

Pro:
- Gute Verarbeitung
- Standfuß
- Transportbox
- Gutes Design

Kontra:
- zugehörige App sehr schlecht umgesetzt (offiziell BETA)
- nach Installation der App keine BT-Verbindung
- bei manuellem Key-Mapping funktioniert weder der rechte Analog-Stick noch die unteren Schulter-Tasten

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Nyko Playpad Wireless Game Controller for Android Tablets and Smart Phones

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