News Article

Does The JXD GamePad 2 Remind You Of Anything?

Posted by Damien McFerran

Certainly rings a bell

Last year we were graced with the Droid X360, a Chinese-made clone of the PS Vita which runs Google's Android operating system. This year, we've got another copycat device which shares more than a few similarities with the Wii U GamePad - it even has the same name.

The JXD S7300 GamePad 2 has a 7-inch capacitive screen, a dual-core processor and runs Android 4.1. It's basically a 7-inch tablet with gaming controls bolted onto the side, with the biggest shock being that the D-pad, buttons and analogue sliders are actually pretty decent.

Something which won't come as a shock to those who are familiar with Android-powered devices from the Far East will be inclusion of retro emulators which allow you to play ROMs. N64 and SNES emulation is included as standard, but performance is pretty ropey.

You have to wonder what Nintendo's hard-working designers make of this particular product. Imitation is one thing, but when placed side-by-side with the Wii U controller, it's blatantly obvious that the GamePad 2 is a shameless copy.


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User Comments (46)



McHaggis said:

Can't quite place it. Those slider analog nubs look familiar, though. I wish the 3DS had something like that.



Squashie said:

It certainly looks nice, but I bet when you get hold of one, the build quality is atrocious! Stay away at all costs...



Kafei2006 said:

Actually reviews of previous JXD devices (a lot of them copied the PSP look) usually praise their build quality... except shoulder buttons, which can be quite fragile, but this was perhaps fixed with this release.

I'm interested! May look into getting one, depending on performance, battery life and WiFi reception (which was abysmal in some of their previous models)



Geonjaha said:

@Lan - My thoughts exactly. The best course of action is to not let people know about these devices. Don't give them the publicity they want.



Damo said:

@Geonjaha We've reported on this because it's a blatant clone of the Wii U GamePad, which we thought Nintendo fans might be interested to know about.

Merely giving this product publicity doesn't force anyone to actually buy it. You're in control of what you do with your own money, surely?



Scollurio said:

@Damo while I completely agree with you the lobby bashing videogame violence might - if they followed the same logic as with videogames - disagree because for those people certainly it is enough to be exposed to whatever to trigger a reaction, regardless of free will, education and personality... but that's an whole other story.



Cranky said:

@PinkSpider Do not worry, game emulation devices like this have been around for years. The VC will be affected much more when/if the 3DS or Wii U gets hacked.There are products like the Sega Mega Drive Arcade Ultimate Portable that are built to emulate the Mega Drive. Not only are they endorsed by Sega, with 20+ games built in, it also has a sd card slot so you can add what ever roms you like. Anyone thinking of buying a emulation device should look up the GCW Zero.



Geonjaha said:

@Damo - I'm not going to buy it myself whatever the circumstance, but when 25% of the comments above my first one expressed an interest in now buying this device, despite any 'emulation is a no' undertone, then you cant really argue that you're not helping this product.

One could easily argue that people would have found out about it regardless and bought it, but it's just a little hypocritical to say 'Don't ever mention emulation on this site - that stuff's illegal!' and then 'Oh by the way there's this new gaming device for emulating old Nintendo games, it's actually pretty good'.



element187 said:

This imitation device looks ALOT thinner.... but its probably no more powerful than a iPhone 3gs.



AlexSora89 said:

(I hope the following joke hasn't been done already)

Oh yeah, a controller with touch-based input, two analog sticks, four buttons and a d-pad... it reminds me of the PS4 controller OH WAIT--



Kirk said:

It actually looks pretty good.

Someone should make a device just like this that also acts as a fully functioning tablet for stylus based input on your PC and that also mirrors your PC desktop view on the device.

Now that would be cool and very useful for people like me who'd really like to be able to draw graphics in programs like Photoshop directly using a proper table/pen and one that has the actual screen on the tablet, at an affordable price, and that also isn't just solely a drawing tablet only.



Nukarmer said:





ivanmata said:

Looks like it would break with a couple of falls, the reason the wii U gamepad is kind of chunky is because it was designed to withstand multiple falls without breaking, they've already tested the wii U gamepad against falls and it passed the tests (gizmoslip). I agree it's a "shameless copy".



retro_player_22 said:


It's true that they do copy stuff, though I don't see why ppl see that as a problem considering the same stuff they copy were made by them. Sure Japanese and American manufactured the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U but those consoles were actually built and made by China before they got manufactured. Also the fact that China banned console gaming since the N64 also explain a few things too. The poor Chinese ppl never got to ever experience the joy of GameCube, GBA, PS2, Dreamcast, Xbox, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, 3DS, PSP, Vita, and Wii U and they live to create these but never had to chance to play them. Some of us who live in this country already got some of these consoles and yet we're still as pissed even when we do get to play them. In other words we should respect the Chinese ppl for their dedication. Remember the quality of our product were good cuz the Chinese ppl were forced to work day and night to make them good.



AVahne said:

With these gaming tablets, it's just better to buy a Vita since it's already pretty much more of a specialized gaming tablet with exclusives (capacitive screen and tweaked version of iPad 3's GPU) than it is direct competition to 3DS. If you want to do Android gaming, just stick with your phone (if you have one) and buy a universal mobile controller (avoid MOGA, it's garbage).



Whopper744 said:

The only interesting thing about it to me, is the fact it plays N64 games apparently, and the Wii U (old school speaking) can only play Ballon Fight and F-Zero so far, and it's been out since November now. That being said, I'm definitely not getting one though. I'd feel like I would be stealing from Nintendo getting this system to play ROM's on.



SanderEvers said:

It's thinner that for one is a fact.

But I think you won't like playing very long on it. As opposite to the gamepad it's not designed to fit nicely into your hands.

Nintendo could've made the gamepad even thinner - if they wanted. But yet they didn't. Why? Ergonomics.



AlexSora89 said:

Now if only there was a cheap handheld device to play N64 games with - you know, just to ease the wait for the 3DS Super Smash Bros game, mind you. Did I mention that I can't friggin' wait for the first portable SSB game ever anymore?!?



Wilford111 said:

Where is the start button on that thing? Is that why it just shows the start screens on those games in the screen shots?



Chomposaur said:

atleast the emulation looks a Trillion times better on the Chinise gamepad ! Haha WIi U Lol



TheHeroOfLegend said:

Ive seen this earlier so I'm not really surprised. I still think its a clone of the Wii U Gamepad though.



Hber2 said:

If they ship that tablet to the Americas, Android should make a Wii U app for that.



Kaeobais said:

Nintendo owns the rights to the D-Pad, don't they? They could sue just for that, especially since it's near identical.



jwank said:




Kirk said:

It's a pity this isn't really that good because the actual unit itself is really slick.

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