So, how did I manage to get my hands on the Surface RT tablet game console? Well, I was cleaning out my basement and I came across my old Microsoft Surface RT tablet that I bought way back in 2012 when Microsoft unveiled the very first Surface tablet. I remember the buzz when hard core fans of Windows exhaled with a sigh of relief when they learned that there is another slate option in addition to the ever popular Apple iPad that had taken over the world by storm since its launch back in March of 2010.
Anyway, it is now 2016 and the Surface RT has evolved from a small tablet with a weak processor that was only suitable for running mobile applications to the ever powerful Surface Pro 4. For those of you who are familiar with the acronyms, the term RT stands for “Run Time”. On a side note, the ARM processor in the Surface RT is not Intel-based so the Windows RT (or Win RT) operating system that resides on it is actually not a true version of Windows, so the downside is that the Surface RT is limited in what applications and games it could run. Today however, Microsoft has listened to its fan base of Windows loving geeks (like myself of course) and over time and several iterations has generated the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 powerhouse – which is Intel based and is a real Windows 10 tablet.
However, I digress – so I have this brand new Surface RT in my hands (yes – I hardly used it back then after I realized that the processor was ARM based and was only designed to run games and applications that would traditionally run on smartphones) and realized that this tablet may just be the right size to fit into my iPEGA 9023 bluetooth wireless gamepad in landscape mode. Imagine a portable game system with a huge screen and full gamepad controls, I would look like a boss playing one of my favorite racing games on the train.
Well would you believe that the tablet did actually fit. Nice, now we have converted the Surface RT tablet into a game console! Now my next challenge was to find games on the Windows XBox game store that was compatible with the IPEGA 9023 gamepad.
So far, I have been lucky to find two of my favorite racing games, namely Asphalt 8 and Reckless Racing 3 that give me decent control when playing. To setup the controller, the first thing I do is activate the Bluetooth radio on the Surface RT tablet by going into settings, selecting “Bluetooth” and turning it on. On pretty much any Bluetooth enabled device when the Bluetooth is activated it automatically scans for other Bluetooth devices nearby and shows them on a list. So while the Surface RT is in active Bluetooth mode the next thing to do is turn on the IPEGA controller. Now the cool thing about this controller is that it can operate in several modes, making it compatible with all of the major mobile platforms out there like, Android, iOS (Apple) and Windows.
To get it to work with Windows and Windows RT devices the IPEGA needs to be started in what is called “Keyboard Mode”. Keyboard mode is started when you simultaneously press the “Home” amd “A” keys at the same time. Once done, you will see the orange LED on the controller flashing – this means that the device is looking to pair itself with a Bluetooth device. The Surface RT will find the controller in a couple of seconds and you will see the IPEGA Controller listed on the tablet. When you see that you simply click on the IPEGA Controller name and “voila” in a jiffy you have connected the IPEGA 9023 controller with the Surface RT.
When I started both Asphalt 8 (an Arcade 3D racing game which is really intense and fun to play) and Reckless Racing 3 (a top down racing game) there was no key mapping needed. In other words you could play the games using the controller immediately. Isn’t that cool. Anyway, I will continue to test other games with this tablet and Bluetooth game pad combo to see what works and I will upload another blog post with the updated game list.
Get the Surface RT tablet from Amazon here.
Get the IPEGA 9023 game pad from Amazon here.
In the meantime feel free to checkout my YouTube video below where I show how to setup the hardware and test the racing games.