“When I first heard that SteelSeries was making an iOS 7 controller, I got really excited. Previously, we’ve looked at both the MOGA Ace Power and the Logitech Powershell, the only two kids on the proverbial iOS 7 controller block and while it’s awesome to have physical controls in iOS games, they’re each difficult to recommend,” Eli Hodapp writes for Touch Arcade. “Logitech and Moga are both great companies who have both been releasing accessories for years now, but SteelSeries has been making products specifically targeted at the hardcore gaming crowd since they were founded in early 2001. ”
“SteelSeries is among the brands of gizmos I trust… so, it was with lofty expectations that I unboxed the SteelSeries Stratus iOS 7 bluetooth game controller,” Hodapp writes. “The current market of iOS 7 controllers is disappointing to say the least. Yes, they work, and they surely enhance gameplay, specifically in games originally designed for a controller, but there’s a silly amount of drawbacks. They suck up the Lightning port, making HDMI output impossible. Additionally, they are locked to the current form factor of iOS 7 devices. This poses the significant drawback of how hard the rumor mill is pointing at the iPhone 6 being larger and it inevitably not fitting in your controller. Last, but certainly not least, is the elephant in the room that is the ridiculous $99 price point of all of these controllers. All of these issues have securely landed iOS 7 controllers deep inside of the ‘gadget fiend early adopters only’ camp.”
Hodapp writes. “In the end, even with the SteelSeries Stratus controller out there, reviewing iOS 7 controllers feels a lot like the classic Top Gear episode on the horrible ‘Communist Cars’ that came out of Russia. When none of the options available to you are that great, it’s very easy to stand out as the ‘best.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Perhaps Apple should take a stab at making one? Or helping some company make a good one? The burgeoning field of iOS 7 controllers sounds like it needs a Woz-like figure (or maybe even Woz himself) who can figure out a way to do things more efficiently and get the price down combined with a Jobs-like figure (Jony Ive) who’s obsessed with build quality.
[Attribution: MacRumors. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
I think Apple should build
It’s early, early days for these things. Apple just released the specs this summer. It’s too bad the early birds aren’t hitting it out of the park, but I’m sure there will be a glut of options soon…
Just copy the Xbox and playstation controllers FCOL. I want a “regular” game controller for my iPad, not for iPhone.