Multiplayer iPhone gaming on a TV with Griffin PartyDock
A new accessory from Griffin will allow you to use connect your iPhone to your TV and play multiplayer games with separate controls. But will it ever see the light of day?
The Griffin PartyDock is ready to turn your previously hermit-like iPhone into a multiplayer party gaming machine your plug into your big-screen TV.
Wireless Goodness did a spot of digging through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website and found information on the device, which has four wireless controllers and a space to put your iPhone 4 or iPad.
Once the iPhone is slotted in, you can download PartyDock games from the App store, which up to four people can play with the controllers. Griffin intends to release Midway Motors, Fishing Frenzy and Flippin' Frogs at launch.
You can connect the thing to an external monitor, allowing you to play games, video and music on your TV. It's already possible to connect an iPhone, iPad or iPod with a TV using the right connections. But as Thinq remarked, Apple has kept the hardware locked down to photo slideshows and iTunes video playback only, unless you jailbreak the device.
It looks like a fun bit of tech, but obviously it's still at an approval stage. Griffin also has to run it by Apple, which may not necessarily want its iPhone or iPad to turn into a games console. A similar portable gamepad add-on, the iControlPad, which we reported on this morning, requires a jailbroken iPhone.
There's also a question mark over the quality of the games. It seems this will run only with Griffin-developed games, which we doubt would be any good. If this is going to work, the games have got to be entertaining enough to make the PartyDock worth investing in.
Will multiplayer gaming on the iPhone on your TV ever see the light of day? Or will it be an even more gimmicky Wii rip-off? Your thoughts are welcome.
Image credit: Wireless Goodness
Update: In a message on http://www.griffinpartydock.com, Griffin confirmed that you will be able to watch movies and videos on the PartyDock, including YouTube. It will also work as a charger and will come with three mini-games at launch.