“iPhone users apparently will have yet another game controller to add to their arsenal,” Lance Whitney reports for CNET.
“Seen in a series of photos tweeted by Evleaks, the Razer Kazuyo will offer a wraparound case that turns your iPhone into a lean, mean gaming machine,” Whitney reports. “The photos reveal a design similar to iPhone game controllers offered by Logitech and Moga.”
“The controller sports four action buttons on the right and an arrow button on the left. The iPhone can also be tilted to give you a better view of the action.,” Whitney reports. “Evleaks didn’t reveal any pricing or other details. But the new controller will have to compete with Logitech’s PowerShell Controller and the Moga Ace Power, both of which sell for $100.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
I’m curious why Apple didn’t require all controllers to have dual control sticks. Does anyone know if there was a reason for this? Seems like it might make it a little difficult for game developers to choose which control schemes to include.
The GameController API supports two profiles; GamePad and Extended GamePad.
GamePad supports,
– two shoulder buttons
– four face buttons arranged in a diamond pattern
– one directional pad (D-pad)
Extended GamePad supports,
– two shoulder buttons
– two triggers
– four face buttons arranged in a diamond pattern
– one directional pad (D-pad)
– two thumbsticks
The million dollar question is why didn’t they make a Bluetooth controller that can be used to play games on the iPhone as well as the iPad and iPad mini. Seemed like a no brainer to me. I don’t play that many games on my iPhone because the battery sucks. It barely lasts a day even if I use it for nothing more than making calls.
If you’re only getting a day from an iPhone while only making calls, then either you have everything turned on, with maximum screen brightness, or there’s something wrong with your phone.
Or your calls last for a couple of hours at a time…
I’ve managed to go a whole day using mapping, camera and reading books, before the battery finally died.
That was an iPhone 4, from 9am to 11.20pm.
No analog stick is real non-starter. Every 3D game lacking analog controls is extremely clunky and lacking precision.
Just look the game in the photo as an example: a racing game. With that controller, you have only 3 steering options: straight, left, or right. There’s nothing in between: no slight left to gradually move to a different lanes. Can you imagine tying to drive a real car without analog steering?
I hope that we’ll start to see analog controllers soon and this isn’t a limitation of the iPhone game controller SDK.
The car game could still support steering by rotating the iPhone. And could support finer left/right shifting by using the d-pad.
As soon as games supporting the GameController API become common, my wife is getting something like this for a birthday or Christmas. She’s a game nut, and her iPhone and iPad are currently her favorite gaming platforms.
——RM