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Company Turns Your Android Smartphone Into a Game Console
MojoKid writes "The time we spend making calls on smartphones pales in comparison to the other activities we use it for, like surfing the web, logging into Facebook, streaming music and video, and of course playing games. It's that latter functionality that a startup called Green Throttle wants to tap into, and given the horsepower of today's smartphones, it makes a lot of sense. The company envisions harnessing the power of today's well-equipped Android smartphones and tablets in order to play console-like games on your HDTV. Right now the concept is limited to select devices — Google Nexus, Samsung Galaxy S II and S III, HTC One X, Kindle Fire HD, and Asus Transformer — though the company says it's adding to the list quickly. The system is fairly simple. You load Green Throttle's Arena app on your compatible device and start gaming using the company's Bluetooth-enabled Atlas controller, which looks a lot like an Xbox 360 controller, then push your phone's HDMI output to an HDTV."
I can already connect my phone to a TV with HDMI and pair a bluetooth game controller with it. How is this special?
And this is different from connecting PS3 or Xbox Bluetooth controller to your phone HOW ?
How many games support it? Unless it has wide support it's just not worth it.
There's a hidden treasure in Python 3.x: __prepare__()
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"Sorry mom, can't talk I --"
HEADSHOT
"-- got to finish this level I'll call you back"
ULTRAKILL!
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
The time we spend making calls on smartphones pales in comparison to the other activities we use it for
Speak for yourself, dickhead.
like surfing the web
Painful, at best.
logging into Facebook
Hell No.
streaming music and video
With today's data plans? Don't make me laugh.
and of course playing games
Well ya, like Tetris.
play console-like games on your HDTV
Wait, now I have to carry around my 46" HDTV? Fuck that shit.
$45 for this "Single Controller Pack", or $99 for a dedicated OUYA game console with controller, also runs android, doesn't have to worry about the game being interrupted by a phone call, no worries about frame rate drops due to various background services running, and already has dedicated third party developers (rather than a "developer program"). Yeah, sorry guys, the other team already has my money!
http://www.ouya.tv/
Phones are computers now?
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Many Android games have native Bluetooth game-pad support, for though that don't you can use something like: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fishstix.gameboard
You can already get hundreds of far cheaper Bluetooth game-pads, many designed to also mount your phone.
This company will likely fail because Droid already Does, and on more platforms than are listed in the article.
But they can try if they want to!
Seems stupid, but I decided to read it.
Adding [the Atlas] controllers to the mobile version of ChronoBlade allows users to experience the game the way it was meant to be played; bringing a true console-like proposition," said Taehoon Kim, co-found and CEO at nWay.
So methinks that this is a way of connecting a game controller to a phone and play the phone's mobile versions of games: Angry Birds would be a good game for it, that sort of thing. The HDMI thing is a bonus.
(Ahhhh... The pain!)
Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
http://xkcd.com/238/
I'm pretty sure that most people here already have such a setup or use their computer for TV purposes these days. Seriously, this article has slashvertisement written all over it. If you want something that was a game changer, we can talk about a certain bankrupt company that was ahead of its time.
The only real improvement I can think of is allowing ad-hoc LAN/console party style gaming, and I am struggling to think of how narrow a niche people using their phones (as opposed to more established LAN/console party equipment) would be for that application. Frankly I'm more excited for the futer of augmented reality games on phones, especially multiplayer ones. I also echo most of the above, this exists already even on Android and dedicated Android consoles are coming. - HEX
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I've had this sort of idea quite a few times. A few simple multiplayer games and a batch of cheap zero-fuss compatible controllers. The Android devices are open and widespread enough to make this sort of thing commercially viable. And these guys have on litte edge over the Ouya: They're focusing on their own set of launch games built around console multiplayer. Wouldn't if be cool if you could play their games on the Ouya using their controllers? Their controllers look more complex and seem to cater more to the hardcore console gaming community, but this is tres cool none-the-less.
I like they way things are heading with this new Android console gaming craze. ... Having been in the gaming industry myseld in the past, I'm seriously thinking about maybe developing a title for this approaching market.
My 2 cents.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
According to a reliable source that games market is take over the main stream in near future!! watches online
So, it's like AirPlay then?
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.
Dang, my Hate-Troll-o-Meter just bounced off the redline limit. Deep breaths, K?
I have a HTC One X and the MHL cable to connect to a HDTV and there is a slight problem with this idea. You have to look at the phone to see where the controls are and when you look at the phone you aren't looking at the big screen. I imagine there are solutions out there and I'd love to hear about them if anyone knows any.
I said - don't look Ethel!..., but it was too late..., she'd already looked.
I dunno about Xbox controllers, but my Transformer Prime supports PS3 controllers out of the box, stock, no rooting. Just plug in via USB cable once, turn on Bluetooth, and you're set.
That's why this "Arena" thing seems so pointless. I've already done this. Hooked my Transformer up to the TV, and played Max Payne and Shadowgun with a PS3 controller. I don't see the value-add.
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
Why would I want to use my phone as a console when I already have a PC and a console with much more processing power and tenfold better games?
Xbox 360 wired controllers appear to work out of the box through a USB OTG adapter on my Nexus 7 tablet. But the directional pad on an Xbox 360 controller is far from the best, which makes it harder to play NES games like Streemerz on it compared to, say, an N64 controller through an Adaptoid.
Now I can play games on my smartphone!? That'sd freaking AWESOME!
Ken
CronoCloud confirms it: Same-screen multiplayer is dying. It was fine back when video games were thought of as something for kids, and kids would make play dates after school. But grown-up gamers tend not to have time to visit each other for play dates or even to synchronize their schedules for friend matches. So they depend on games that support online play with pick-up groups of strangers. But I'd love to hear your counterarguments to his position.
How is this special?
As I understand it, Bluetooth game controllers are like USB game controllers in that each has a different button layout. If developers standardize on one button layout, it'll make it easier to start to play each game because the user can just install an app, start it, and play. Otherwise, the user has to go through a setup phase for each game: this button is jump, this button is fire, do you want movement on the primary analog stick or the primary POV hat, etc.
The game does not need to know what kind of controller I have just that I pressed stick one forward and depressed button seven.
Is button seven jump, or fire, or lean left, or pause? If Bluetooth controllers are anything like USB controllers, each one will have a different layout of the button numbers. Among my sample set, button seven is either the Select button or one of the left shoulder buttons, depending on what brand of controller is plugged in.
It doesn't matter how many support it.
If only 12 notable* games end up supporting it, and none are in my top 3 genres, it's not very useful to me. I'm not a big fan of JRPGs or violent first-person shooters, for example.
* Here I define a notable game as one that has been reviewed by reliable publications.
and of course playing games
Well ya, like Tetris.
I tried playing Tetris on an iPhone and I could never get the hang of the control scheme that EA adopted. I couldn't place the pieces nearly as quickly as I could on the DS version. I guess falling block games are one of those genres that really needs a gamepad, but I don't know whether EA plans to support gamepads in a future version of Tetris.
BasilBrush is probably going to chime in and ask for evidence that the company will be able to fulfill its promise to start shipping in 3 weeks rather than disappointing purchasers like OpenPandora did. And the nD didn't end up making its "before Wii U" deadline either.
If you are close enough to an HDTV for this to be useful you would be on wifi, not on 3G/4G
Unless your home Internet is through a MiFi or similar device or through a satellite dish because you can't get DSL or cable where you live. MiFi and similar have 5 GB per month caps, and satellite only recently raised its cap on entry-level plans to 10 GB per month.
This company will likely fail because Droid already Does
Since when has a Android phone made by Motorola (or any other Android phone manufacturer licensing the Droid brand from a Disney subsidiary) had gaming buttons? The only Android phone I can think of with a built-in gamepad was the Xperia Play, and I don't think Sony ever called its Android phones "Droid".
I'm pretty sure that most people here already have such a setup or use their computer for TV purposes these days.
CronoCloud and others would wholeheartedly disagree with you. Most people don't connect a PC to a TV, apart from the geek demographic overrepresented among Slashdot regulars. Non-geeks would have a lot more trouble figuring out how to connect a PC to a TV.
I am struggling to think of how narrow a niche people using their phones (as opposed to more established LAN/console party equipment) would be for that application.
For one thing, it's a lot easier for a startup developer to get into Google's developer program than into Sony's or Nintendo's. Sony and Nintendo want experience and financial stability first, which pretty much rules out releasing your company's first few products on their platforms. (See Bob's Game for example.)
No, it's not like Airplay. Airplay just works.
For one thing, Airplay costs $428: $329 for the iPad mini and $99 for the Apple TV. Even assuming someone already owns a smartphone or tablet, an HDMI cable from Monoprice is far cheaper than an Apple TV. For another, what Bluetooth controllers work with Airplay for more than one player?
People like drinkypoo appear to think no games benefit from a controller, and thumb gestures on a flat sheet of glass are more flexible than physical buttons. I have my own counterarguments, but I'd like to hear others.
Why would I want to use my phone as a console when I already have a PC and a console with much more processing power and tenfold better games?
For one thing, there are games you can't get on a console because they're made by startups, not established companies. Nor, I'm told, are most people willing to buy a second PC to put in the living room in order to play games on the big screen. That leaves mobile.
Games that are impossibly difficult unless you pay to unlock special powers.
Impossibly? In the NES era, you had to pay for Contra and Battletoads, and then you had to pay extra for Game Genie. There's a reason that above-average difficulty is called Nintendo hard.
Right now the concept is limited to select devices -- Google Nexus, Samsung Galaxy S II and S III, HTC One X, Kindle Fire HD, and Asus Transformer
Indeed, and unless the latest model is different, the Nexus 7 does *not* have an HDMI out. So the above statement doesn't even apply to the whole Nexus lineup.
For each of these edge cases, I'm trying to determine whose responsibility it ought to be to make sure that a customer is served. Either customers are expected to leave behind their livelihoods and move to a place already served by a provider, or providers are expected to invest in their infrastructure to serve more customers. For example, a solution that requires customers to move to another country is usually not feasible. So to what extent are rural markets without DSL availability a "vanishingly tiny minority"?
PC games are configured out of the box to use a mouse and keyboard, and mobile games are configured out of the app store to use a flat sheet of glass. I've considered popping up a window to perform "a simple config at start" if the number of axes, buttons, and hats on controller 1 differs from what was present the last time the game was run, but other Slashdot users have told me that PC and Android users lack the patience to do this, especially non-geeks outside Slashdot's core demographic. (Remember "calibration" during the MS-DOS era?) Thus major-label games in genres that could benefit most from "a simple config at start", such as Mortal Kombat (2011), just tend not to get ported to PC or Android at all.
Contra is most definitely not an example of "Nintendo Hard", especially with the Konami Code.
Good point. You had to pay for Contra or Gradius, and then you had to pay extra for the book that had all the keypress cheat codes in it. There wasn't GameFAQs back then to look up UUDDLRLRBA.
I enjoyed playing through the Baulder's Gate:Dark Alliance games with my wife and I'm currently playing through Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 with my son.
Based on this post, some people would call you an edge case. They think most households with more than one gamer have only one hardcore gamer and a bunch of casual gamers who would be satisfied with touch-screen games.
I think the HTPC fans' idea is that Steam Big Picture users would buy an office-spec PC for Facebook and a gaming PC for gaming on the projector, just as console gamers might buy a PC for Facebook and an Xbox 360 for gaming. A gaming PC is more expensive than a console, but the games are cheaper on Steam sales, so it might end up a wash.
So you're playing a game that actually uses touch. I guess to play those on a TV, you'd use a mouse. I own devices that run Android 2.2 and Android 4.2, and both support a mouse plugged in through a USB OTG adapter. You'll run into problems with games that rely on multitouch however.
In fact, Temple Run is a good example of using swipe actions.
If you would consider this game to show best practices for a tablet platformer, I'll try it on my Nexus 7. Is there anything more like Mario or Mega Man that you'd recommend?
I meant first-person shooters
Has there been a good nonviolent first-person shooter since FaceBall in the early 1990s?
and no, the thumb-on-screen system is nowhere near being a mouse and keyboard, because my fingers can't find the exact placements to use at a moment's notice
That's what I wrote in my own essay about mobile game controls, yet mobile fanboys keep reminding me that workarounds exist. For example, a well-designed gesture system requires only that the initial point of contact be in the correct ninth of the screen.
have to look periodically to make sure your thumb is centered
Or just lift and drop your thumb to recenter if a game measures motion relative to the initial point of contact.
if I hold the tablet perfectly level, its not perfectly level, its off by a bit and the car slowly bends left or right.
Analog sticks have the same problem, which is why games implement a dead zone in the center of a sensor's range. Except for Desert Bus, of course, where slowly bending left or right is part of the challenge.
When you were eight, I'd bet your parents provided your lodging and food. Games published in this decade tend to have an easy mode designed for grown-ups who have to work for a living and thus have less time to practice a game toward perfection.
Rearrange it how you want. It's like some Slashdot users rearrange the requirement of a Mac to develop iOS apps into a $650 Xcode license that comes with a free computer. My point is that some people just want the set-top gaming and movie rental device, not the Apple tablet. They might already have another brand of tablet, or they might prefer a netbook over a tablet.