Specifications

Screen: 5 inches (12.7 cm)
CPU: Dual Core 1 Ghz
Storage: 8 GB in-built
Motion Sensors: Built in accelerometer, Gravity Sensor
OS: Android Jelly Bean
Camera: Single
Price: INR 7990/-

With so much being talked about the state of next gen and the imminent future of video gaming, what a lot of experts miss out on is the huge mobile gaming and handheld gaming market that exists outside. Kudos to Mitashi for understanding the other side of video gaming and catering to just the last two tiers of gamers, with its revamped Android based handheld gaming console – the Mitashi Thunderbolt 2. Mobile gaming has an extremely broad and diverse market today, with newbies being born every hour. Mitashi’s focus is to stick to its teenage, next gen fan base and give them a console that can make their first smartphone wait a little longer.

On paper, the Mitashi Thunderbolt 2 is a winner, featuring Android built 4.2.2 and a D-Pad and joystick dedicated to its gaming attribute. It also has a pairable HDMI port in case you want to take your experience on the TV. It boasts of preloaded Disney games worth Rupees 1000 meant especially for the teenage group. It can also be used to download games straight off Google Play. Before you start drawing your own yardstick, here’s my experience with the console: A broken WiFi connector that will connect and disappear no matter what kind of internet you are using. While I was eager to try out the joystick and D pad, I couldn’t experience much thanks to the touch or tilt based games it came preloaded with, with the likes of Need For Speed and Temple Run.

Not all kids are fond of the feminine white and pink default skin, and the look and feel of the elder version of Thunderbolt is badly missed here. Maybe a steel white or jet black edition could’ve sufficed the kids who are familiar with the names of Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty. Nowadays, presentation is as vital as the crux of the product, especially when it comes to gaming. Even though some of its featured games may have a unique style to them, the console may never stand to deliver a true handheld visual experience. With a monstrous 5 inch TFT LCD display screen, the support turned out to be a bummer. A screen resolution of 800x482p was not relished well with a pixel density of 180 dpi. The touch screen is not all powerful resulting in half commands being prompted at times.

I feel somehow that the promise of handheld gaming could’ve reached the Sony PSP level if the basic common day benchmarks were met. Sony Entertainment made it official that they would not be supporting PSP any more, even though you will find PSPs selling like hot cakes in this part of the world, which is a huge boon for competitive console brands any day. Mitashi was always innovative, with laptop like Video Game Consoles wrapping up my 90s, I feel they made the Thunderbolt 2 look and feel like a Handheld Port for the Android gaming experience, and not delivering a mind blowing product for a fan base that can be easily mind blown.

What’s easily one of the Thunderbolt 2’s best aspects is its compatibility and versatility. It supports the classic Nintendo 64 3D games alongside the SEGA MD games. Secondly, somehow I felt that the processor was fast enough to allow me to run multiple games at optimal fps. The battery was equally powerful as I clocked in two hours of gaming. The other benefits of having an Android OS also comes to play with features like Web Browser, Media Player and Camera presinstalled.

The console comes at a steep MRP of INR 7,999 for the Indian market, which is, comparatively a lot for an Android based gaming console. The PlayStation 2 is still serving the basic gaming junta at around 4 or 5 grands and is deemed to deliver a much larger experience for the teenagers growing up to slay Titans and freeroam in Skyrim in the near future. Even the PSP and the very basic model of PS Vita comes close when I draw comparisons and leave a more enhanced gameplay/visuals based aftertaste in the minds of the future generation. But as a standalone Android gaming platform, catering to casual gaming, the Thunderbolt 2 fits into the palms with ease.

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I live every morning. I die every night. An advertiser who has forever been bruised and seduced by video games. If you are likely to shoot me down, I'd probably dribble past you or jump into covert with a leap of faith. Start?

2 COMMENTS

  1. The Game in Thunderbolt can be used in a normal way like a Android device- It can be recharged, you can download material from Goole Play Store , can browse the internet , take full use of Android without leaving anything behind at all.

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