ThinkGeek's April Fool's Day prank, an iPad gaming console known as the iCade, is now a reality, but fans might have to wait awhile: it's already backordered.
On April Fool's Day, ThinkGeek introduced an mini, old-school, arcade cabinet into which you could slide your iPad, combining the new and old. Stories about the iCade quickly spread all over the Internet, and after all that hype, ThinkGeek decided to make this product real.
ThinkGeek partnered with ION to bring the gaming console to life with retro arcade gaming on the Apple tablet. The desktop-sized console uses Bluetooth to connect the iPad to the gaming controls—a joystick and eight buttons—so you can just slip either the iPad or iPad 2 into the cabinet, "insert coin," and play.
ThinkGeek also worked with Atari, the first big name in arcade games, to bring a collection of classic arcade games with iCade support to market, including "Asteroid" and "Pong." The Atari Greatest Hits app, with over 100 classic arcade games, is also iCade compatible and is available in the App Store for $14.99. The API will be released later, allowing any iOS developer to create iCADE-compatible games.
The PCMag staff got a chance to see the real iCade at CES this year.
Priced at $100, the iCade quickly sold out after its release. ThinkGeek is now accepting preorders, slated to ship by May 27, but it can't ship outside the U.S. at this time.
To see what other pranks have come to fruition, check out 6 April Fool's Pranks So Brilliant They Became Real.
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