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Works with Prism
Availability Unknown
$24.99
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GameFace (Prism)
by Handspring
The GameFace clips on to the front of your Visor handheld for a more natural gaming experience.
Includes a full copy of Astraware's Zap!2000. The best arcade experience ever!
Works with all Visor handhelds except Visor Prism and Visor Edge.
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Amazingly simple |
This handy little item can be had for under $20 from eBay and will transform the way you play games on your visor Prism. It simply snaps on over the face of your visor the same way the factory cover does, except this particluar attachment gives your Prism a joystick controller that will allow you to more easily play arcade style games. When finished, it removes just as easily by gripping the top tab and pulling it back. It works via six small extensions that physically push the appropriate buttons on your Prism when you move the joystick or press a fire button. Because of this simple design, it requires no device drivers or electrical connections.
The feel of a Joystick is perfect if you\'re old fasioned like me, but if you like the more modern type of gamepad feel like on gamepad controllers you can simply unscrew the joystick and you have a four directional gamepad type controller. The threaded section of the Joystick is well constructed. No simple plastic molded threads here, the bottom of the joystick actually has the equivalent of a metal screw sticking out of it connecting it to the GameFace. The hole it screws into is equally well constructed of metal. The joystick comes off the GameFace easily and goes back on just as easily. One complaint I have is that it does seem to losen with use, but the \"screw\" part is long enough that it won\'t come out far enough to actually fall off before you notice it\'s getting loose, and of course screwing it back in is a simple matter.
The Joystick is just big enough to give an adequate hold without being big enough to be overly obtrusive in a case. It can be held easily with the thumb and forefinger, or if you prefer, you can just put your thumb over the top of it and control it just as easily. The two side buttons are nice, large and rounded to allow for good gameplay. The unit is slim enough to store in a very small case, though obviously it\'s footprint is as large as that of the visor itself. If you really have a problem storing it, you can always remove the joystick and store the two parts separately (though I\'d recommend being very careful since the joystick does seem small enough to be easy to lose).
The feel of the buttons is not perfectly smooth since you are still essentially just pushing the buttons on the visor Prism with the corresponding \"click\" feeling, but I don\'t see how this could have been avoided. For those of you that don\'t have any games you think could take advantage of this attachment, Handspring has come through again; included with this unit is a CD for Zap!2016, a 16 bit arcade style space shoot-em-up game. The graphics on this game are beyond anything I ever imagined seeing on my Visor Prism screen. It definitely elicited some ooh\'s and ah\'s. This game alone is worth the price you pay for the gameface.
What struck me most when I first attached the unit is how perfectly it goes with the Prism. The color is the exact opposite of the Prism (blue buttons on a silver frame versus silver buttons on a blue frame). Once installed this gives the unit a handsome, stylish look which is at the same time very natural. In other words, if you didn\'t know this was an add on, you\'d think that this was a dedicated game unit such as a Gameboy, albeit with much better graphics. This thing looks like it\'s part of your PDA!
Although storing the GameFace should be no problem, storage of the PDA with the gameface attached is a different story. Due to the joystick protruding out, the Prism with gameface will not fit in any traditional case I\'ve seen. If you unscrew the joystick section, it may fit in some of the larger cases, but in my opinion you\'d be better off storing your PDA and the GameFace separately.
The Gameface does not interfere with the stylus since it doesn\'t extend that far back, or the power button since it has a cut-out section to allow you to access it. It does however get in the way of the bottom connector so you can not synch with this unit on (unless of course you synch via IR...Hmm...). This is a minor problem since you can\'t synch while playing a game anyway. The thin sides of the gameface gave me a little pause at first worrying that they might break, but the curved shape they are molded in seems to be enough to keep them from breaking. I also worry a little that all this use of the gameface might cause the icons on my Prism\'s buttons to begin to rub off, but then again, so could excessive use of one\'s finger on any button.
Overall, I\'d give the Gameface a 4.5 out of 5. It\'s simple yet effective design matched with its versatility and inobtrusiveness while in use make it a must have accessory. The added advantage of the Zap!2016 CD makes it downright shameful not to pick up one of these.
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cvasqu03 |
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