Gamevice, Inc. is a Simi Valley, California based tablet and tablet peripherals manufacturer specializing in gaming products. The debut product was the Wikipad, a proprietary Android tablet hardware engineered for mobile gaming, which featured a detachable controller. Gamevice later came to market with a peripheral only product, rebranded under the name Gamevice. The company was founded by Matthew Joynes, James Bower, Fraser Townley and Brendan Iribe. Appointing the current CEO Phillip Hyun.
History
Wikipad
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 10, 2012, the Wikipad was shown with both a 2D and a glasses-free 3D-enabled device. In May 2012, Gaikai, a cloud gaming service which Sony acquired two months later in July 2012, partnered with Wikipad, Inc. to integrate its streaming service into the tablet. The Wikipad was originally scheduled for an October 31, 2011 release, but was delayed indefinitely on the day it was originally supposed to be released. The Wikipad was released on June 11, 2013 in the United States with a price tag of $249. In March 2014, a game control mapping tool was announced for the Wikipad to help map touchscreen game controls to the physical Wikipad controller in an effort to improve gameplay. Also in March, the price of the Wikipad dropped to $199. In June 2014, OnLive cloud gaming support was added to the Wikipad.
Reception
rated the Wikipad's screen size and intentions as nice, saying it had "its heart in the right place", but decided that the lack of compelling Android games, high launch price, and outdated specs and software limited the appeal of the device. IGN gave the Wikipad poor reviews taking into consideration the lack of games in its library, flimsy construction, and software that was considered dated, even at the time of the device's release. It concludes that "The Wikipad is a mostly failed attempt at turning an Android tablet into a gaming handheld." An aggregation of reviews done by Engadget shows the average review score of the Wikipad among critics to be 58/100.
Gamevice
In January 2014, Wikipad, Inc. announced a new controller called Gamevice to expand its mobile device coverage. Gamevice is a detachable controller with a classic D-pad; twin triggers; A, B, X, and Y buttons; and dual analog sticks. On January 31, 2017, a new Gamevice controller was released for the iPhone 7. On February 15, 2018, Gamevice announced and launched a Minecraft-themed controller bundle, which includes a Gamevice controller, a carrying case for the controller and a download code for Minecraft on iOS.
Legal
In August 2017, Gamevice filed a lawsuit against Nintendo in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, alleging that the design of the Nintendo Switch conflicts with its patent on the design for the Wikipad. The lawsuit sought damages on existing Switch sales and banning further sales of the console. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed by Gamevice in October 2017. However, in March 2018, Gamevice initiated a second patent infringement lawsuit on Nintendo related to a different set of patents. Gamevice also sought action through the United States International Trade Commission related to patent infringement under Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, and was seeking to block imports of the Switch into the United States. On October 10, 2019, the lawsuit against Nintendo has ended, alleging the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined to affirm the conclusion of the presiding administrative law judge's initial determination that no violation of Section 337 has occurred. On March 27, 2020, Gamevice once again filed a new patent-infringement lawsuit against Nintendo in addition to appealing the previous case that it lost. Another legal battle will depend on whether or not the U.S. International Trade Commission agrees to investigate the complaint.
