Moga teases new Bluetooth game controller for Apple's iOS ahead of possible March unveiling

Posted:
in iPhone edited May 2014
Mobile gaming accessory company Moga is set to add a wireless Bluetooth option to its iOS game controller lineup at next month's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco after offering a glimpse of the new device in a teaser image.

Moga Rebel


The controller in the image sports a design similar to Moga's Pro Power controller for Android devices, including a front-facing multi-LED battery meter. TouchArcade was first with news of the device, which the publication believes -- based on lettering visible in the image -- will be dubbed the "Rebel."

Also shown are two thumbsticks, a four-way directional pad, four action buttons, a pause button, and a recessed Bluetooth sync button. The middle of the controller appears to be dedicated to a fold-out clip that could hold an iPhone or iPod touch in place during gaming sessions.

Moga's first "Made for iPhone" game controller, the Ace Power, hit shelves last December. AppleInsider found it to be a functional controller that enhanced gameplay on the iPhone, but with a flimsy construction that did not justify its $100 price tag. The cost of the Moga Ace Power has since dropped to $80.

The Rebel would be the third Bluetooth controller for Apple's mobile devices to debut this year. SteelSeries unveiled the bite-sized Stratus in January, days before Signal did the same with the RP One.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    Am I missing something?

    Doesn't this SCREAM that there is Apple gaming coming to Apple TV?

    We have seen that Apple's kinetic acquisition is busy (months ago in 2013) with Patent filings.

    To me - this is saying that Apple is taking on the XBOX/Playstation - seems a no-brainer, correct?

    Please give me the evidence of contrary -

    I believe this launch will come by Summer latest from this movement - and you??
  • Reply 2 of 28
    noahjnoahj Posts: 4,503member
    Am I missing something?

    Doesn't this SCREAM that there is Apple gaming coming to Apple TV?

    We have seen that Apple's kinetic acquisition is busy (months ago in 2013) with Patent filings.

    To me - this is saying that Apple is taking on the XBOX/Playstation - seems a no-brainer, correct?

    Please give me the evidence of contrary -

    I believe this launch will come by Summer latest from this movement - and you??
    It screams that this company can sell controllers for Apple iProducts that already have games. If Apple puts games on Apple TV then it is possible that this controller could be leveraged as well...
  • Reply 3 of 28
    Apple's gonna kick some serious MS butt before the year's out. Monkey boy's chair in the boardroom will need some extra cushions.
  • Reply 4 of 28
    It's good Apple implemented the code for controller support but the prices of these needs to drop to at least $60. I would also need more games that support it, which I'm sure will happen in the coming year.
  • Reply 5 of 28

    No one is going to pay $80 for a game controller. 

     

     

    I guarantee it.

  • Reply 6 of 28

    Apple forgot to include a touch surface in their game controller spec. Even the Ouya game controller has touch as does the PS4's controllers. This is something you will be sorely missing when you use third party games and other apps on your Apple TV. This makes me think that the 2.0 version of the game controller spec is on the way along with first party controllers. I may be willing to pay $80 for a high quality Apple branded controller with the right features.

  • Reply 7 of 28

    Asymmetrical sticks = no go, for me.

     

    I’ve been told on more than one occasion that Microsoft fans (what are they doing on an Apple board?) tend to prefer asymmetrical sticks, just because that’s what they’re used to. Fine. But if just one hardware developer sees this comment as a vote against, I’ll have done my job. My thumbs are symmetrical — well, mostly — so give me symmetrical sticks. That is all.

  • Reply 8 of 28
    Originally Posted by scampercom View Post

    Asymmetrical sticks = no go, for me.

     

    Funny. Symmetrical sticks are a no-go for me.

     

    My thumbs are symmetrical 


     

    Except you don’t play a game like that if you plan on using non-trigger buttons. :???:

  • Reply 9 of 28

    As I said, my comment was a vote, just as yours is. I had to register it though, right? As for how people play games, your trouble is that you’re confusing your opinion for facts. I (thought I) avoided this whole line of criticism by explaining my opinion as opinion. Ah well, but this is the net — trolls gotta troll. (I won’t reply on the matter after this post.)

  • Reply 10 of 28
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Huh? Thumbs can move y'know. What do you mean, "you don't play a game like that if you plan on using non-trigger buttons"? What difference does it make apart from personal preference for placement?

    Also depends on the game, some games you'll be using both sticks at the same time, some games you'll be using one stick and four buttons.
  • Reply 11 of 28
    Originally Posted by Crowley View Post

    What difference does it make apart from personal preference for placement?

     

    What difference does usability make? Quite a bit.

     

    Hold your hands prone. Your thumbs aren’t naturally down where Sony keeps its analog sticks. That layout has always confused me.

  • Reply 12 of 28
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    I don't think any way of holding a game controller is particularly "natural". I can put my thumbs on the PS analogue sticks just fine. Maybe my hands are smaller or differently shaped to yours, but it's not a problem at all.

    In any case, how is an asymmetrical layout, where one thumb is in the bad usability (according to you) position, much better? Surely you should be advocating putting both analogues up top?
  • Reply 13 of 28
    Originally Posted by Crowley View Post

    Surely you should be advocating putting both analogues up top?

     

    Not when a majority of games don’t use both simultaneously.

  • Reply 14 of 28
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member

    I vote for a price reduction.

    The placement of the thumb sticks aren't an issue because I'm one of those adaptable humans, not one that shuns something just because it's slightly different. They all do the same thing, you just have to adapt to it.

  • Reply 15 of 28
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    scampercom wrote: »
    Asymmetrical sticks = no go, for me.

    I’ve been told on more than one occasion that Microsoft fans (what are they doing on an Apple board?) tend to prefer asymmetrical sticks, just because that’s what they’re used to. Fine. But if just one hardware developer sees this comment as a vote against, I’ll have done my job. My thumbs are symmetrical — well, mostly — so give me symmetrical sticks. That is all.

    I think the reason for that design is that the buttons are given that symmetric placement rather than the stick. On the Playstation for example, if you use the buttons and the left stick, your thumbs aren't aligned.

    I used to prefer the Playstation sticks, now I prefer the XBox ones and find the Playstation ones awkward for two main reasons. One is that they make the tops of the sticks convex rather than concave (slightly fixed with the PS4) so my thumbs slip off them much more easily, the other is that most games use the left stick all the time, which means my left thumb is always stretched down, which I find uncomfortable after a while. If you relax your hand in front of you, it defaults to a position where the thumb would be higher up the controller. They could put the two sticks up top with the buttons down but I'm sure that at one point in the past games tended to use the buttons more on the right than the right stick. First person shooters weren't all that popular on consoles in the beginning because they started on PCs and the controller doesn't give you a one-to-one mapping so targeting is harder and the developers have to make allowances for this. Nowadays, the right and left sticks are used loads so ideally both sticks would be up top with buttons elsewhere. This is how Valve designed their Steam Controller but it uses touchpads anyway so they didn't have much choice.

    This Moga controller looks much better than the previous one. The band in the middle will probably be like the Android one that flips up and holds the phone. This design allows the same controller to be used for iPhones and iPads so if you have two devices, you get one controller for both. It helps with multiplayer too if it's affordable enough.
  • Reply 16 of 28
    ws11ws11 Posts: 159member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GrangerFX View Post

     

    Apple forgot to include a touch surface in their game controller spec. Even the Ouya game controller has touch as does the PS4's controllers. This is something you will be sorely missing when you use third party games and other apps on your Apple TV. This makes me think that the 2.0 version of the game controller spec is on the way along with first party controllers. I may be willing to pay $80 for a high quality Apple branded controller with the right features.


    The PS4 controller is one of the best gamepads available and it only costs $60 USD.  

     

    Even for an apple branded controller, $80 is insane.

  • Reply 17 of 28
    ws11ws11 Posts: 159member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nyuestateplanninglawyer View Post



    Am I missing something?



    Doesn't this SCREAM that there is Apple gaming coming to Apple TV?



    We have seen that Apple's kinetic acquisition is busy (months ago in 2013) with Patent filings.



    To me - this is saying that Apple is taking on the XBOX/Playstation - seems a no-brainer, correct?



    Please give me the evidence of contrary -



    I believe this launch will come by Summer latest from this movement - and you??

    A 3rd party company that's essentially rebadging/repackaging an Android gamepad for iOS does not suddenly mean that Apple is taking on PlayStation and Xbox.  There is also the fact Apple's iOS has a very tiny gaming library composed of mostly old console ports. 

  • Reply 18 of 28
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    scampercom wrote: »
    Asymmetrical sticks = no go, for me.

    I’ve been told on more than one occasion that Microsoft fans (what are they doing on an Apple board?) tend to prefer asymmetrical sticks, just because that’s what they’re used to. Fine. But if just one hardware developer sees this comment as a vote against, I’ll have done my job. My thumbs are symmetrical — well, mostly — so give me symmetrical sticks. That is all.

    They work splendid on the Xbox controller which is much better than the PS (symmetrical) one.
  • Reply 19 of 28
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    dasanman69 wrote: »
    They work splendid on the Xbox controller which is much better than the PS (symmetrical) one.

    I wonder if Microsoft would ever consider releasing an XBox controller for iOS like they do for Windows. They're only $36 wireless. Companies tend to make good margins on accessories. Even if they made a $49 controller, they'd wipe out sales of other controllers and make better margins than they do from selling the controller for Windows and the XBox. They clearly need some brand awareness in mobile and a controller would be one way to do it. Even if it only sells 1 million units, it's not as if they'd have to go all out designing it. They'd just have to make some buttons analog that aren't already to comply with Apple's guidelines and maybe add a clip for holding the phone in place. If the same controller could be used for Mac and Windows gaming, that makes it an even better deal.
  • Reply 20 of 28
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Marvin wrote: »
    I wonder if Microsoft would ever consider releasing an XBox controller for iOS like they do for Windows. They're only $36 wireless. Companies tend to make good margins on accessories. Even if they made a $49 controller, they'd wipe out sales of other controllers and make better margins than they do from selling the controller for Windows and the XBox. They clearly need some brand awareness in mobile and a controller would be one way to do it. Even if it only sells 1 million units, it's not as if they'd have to go all out designing it. They'd just have to make some buttons analog that aren't already to comply with Apple's guidelines and maybe add a clip for holding the phone in place. If the same controller could be used for Mac and Windows gaming, that makes it an even better deal.

    They'd easily sell over a million units at the $49 price point, and that build quality, but MS doesn't do many things that make sense.
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