Fascinating review offers insight into the design tradeoffs involved in being first to market with a new technology.
Jason Biheller, the director of gaming innovations at PowerA, admitted that some of the issues with the controller’s feel may have been due to a number of restrictions. “It wasn’t an easy project,” he said in a phone interview. “I’m not blaming this on timing, but we did have a limited amount of time to get this done, and because the phone had to sit in the middle, it was very difficult. I guess you lose a little stability by having the phone in the center of the controller, because you’ve got moving parts and some mechanical designs moving back and forth. So you lose some of that solid feel you get with the Vita.”
I see three obvious alternatives to game controller design. First is the sandwich, the approach taken by Moga and Logitech (with their PowerShell controller), with the controller built to sandwich the iOS device between the two sides of the controller. This seems to be the most efficient approach if you want to take the controller with you, but has the mechanical disadvantage of having two points of wiggle weakness or flex, where the controller connects to the iOS device.
The second alternative is the top-heavy approach used for most Android controllers, where the device is held in place on top of the controller. This approach is unwieldy but necessary, due to the large number of Android form factors.
The third approach, is the satellite design used by consoles, where the controller is a single, solid, piece and plugs into the device via a cable. The upsides are solid controller feel and compatibility with multiple form factors (iPad and iPhone, for example), while the down side is the clumsiness of play while on the move.
It’s early days and I’m sure there’ll be lots of design innovation to come.
The limitations of the design, which PowerA blames on Apple, do not excuse the very poor quality of the materials, buttons, etc. The buttons are positively awful according to reviews, mushy with terrible action. What in Apple’s design spec required the use of shitty materials? They sell this thing for $100, there is not excuse for it being so poorly made.
Variant on #3… BlueTooth low power between the controller and the phone. Cable not required 🙂
There are Android controllers that use approach 1.
MFI COntroller allow for bluetooth connectivity. Moga looks interesting but just poorly made.
Note that Apple’s controller API suggests either “device in the middle of the controller” [without specifying how it attaches] or “standalone controller”.
And as Mr. Birkeland brings up, Apple actually assumes wireless controllers (which the Console market has been using for all of the last generation).
(I’d love to know if a PS3/PS4 controller will Just Work with Apple’s API.
Since they’re bluetooth and have a compatible-enough control layout, one thinks they might…)
Another thing to consider is symmetrical (PS-like) vs. asymmetrical (XB-like) stick configuration. People have their favorites. I’ve never allowed Microsoft kit to cross my threshold (yeah, I’m that guy), so I’m used to symmetrical. So I hope we see controllers in the future with the joysticks properly positioned. 😉