60beat iPad Gaming Accessory Could Be The iOS Missing Link
techcrunch.com
techcrunch.com
(Let me unpack that: the iPad -- with multitouch screen and accelerometer and gyro -- provides a unique user interface of its own. While this accessory is fundamentally the n'th generation descendant of the 1970s console game controller. I'm kind of annoyed, because if this catches on it will potentially cost us a raft of new user interface innovations by allowing lazy back-ports of console titles instead of forcing developers to confront the inherent strengths and weaknesses of an entirely new and different way of doing things. If I wanted a console with a traditional controller I'd buy a PS3 or an XBox360 ...)
What's next, using a bridle to control a car?
For a game developer, this might tend to limit the desirability of porting existing games to the market or even developing games for it.
A lot of time and thought went into the dual stick interface.
What I want to see on iOS are games that fit naturally into the touch interface, which can be existing games that just adapt well, or entirely new concepts.
What makes a touch interface work, I think, is directly manipulating what you see. Control schemes that rely on "body extension", like a joystick or directional pad, rarely translate well.
It's true that you can't play every genre of game on an iPad, but it's also been true for years that not every genre of PC game would play well on a mainline TV console (traditional adventure games, strategy games, and anything with a lot of diverse/unique user input or complex underlying systems tends to fail on a 360 controller/living room couch situation), and not every GameBoy/DS game would work well there either.
That aside, personally as a gamer I'm glad that there are game systems out there with nearly mutually exclusive input methods, because it prevents lazy ports, and lazy ports generally, basically, suck to play.
Besides, even if a lot of people had one of these, they'd only want to use it for those games which don't translate well to touch/tilt.
I understand that the ability to plug in a controller can support lazy porting, but I suspect this is largely in addition to dedicated work on using the touch interface in creative ways on new projects.
"Forcing" developers to confront new interaction design is an odd expectation for a popular consumer electronic device, and doesn't really justify denying a large group of users the opportunity to enjoy some great games/software through the use of an optional accessory.
Meanwhile since Android devices just use microUSB, there's no licensing involved.
Once a company gains too much control over the consumer, innovation suffers.
a) I don't remember people being against http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/retro-gaming/e762/
b) On-screen controls that try to mimic a controller are at best a kludge and never really work as well as a real tactile controller. Having a physical controller to use is huge. My tablet is sitting here right next to me, I'd love to use a real controller with it and treat it like a mini game console.
This is possible, at least with Android. I have a friend who spends much of his spare time playing emulators on his Xoom tablet with his Xbox controller.
I'm looking forward to giving it a go though. My iPad really needs one of these.
I don't know if there's a way to support analog controls over Bluetooth.
Regarding question 2: I'm unsure, but I couldn't imagine this being an issue. Very clever, pretty cool!
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