9to5Mac posted an informative article that has been making the rounds, diving in to some of the intricacies of Appleâs MFi controller program.
Behind-the-scenes information is great to have, but some of the claims they present and conclusions they draw donât quite fit the facts.
Price and Value
9to5mac tries to answer the question of why these controllers seem to be so expensive:
One of the biggest pain points for consumers so far has been the price of MFi controllers: Does the added engineering that goes into having an iPhone dock right into the controller via Lightning connector really justify the roughly $40 -$50 premium over your average game console controller?
[â¦]One issue is that Appleâs MFi program requires manufacturers to source their pressure sensitive analog switches for buttons and thumbsticks from a single Apple approved supplier.
This is the primary issue that 9to5mac dives in to, but there is a bit more to the story than that. It isnât simply a matter of âadded engineeringâ to connect to a lightning connector.
The current crop of controllers include integrated batteries for powering the iPhone – 1500mAH for the Logitech and 1800mAH for the Moga. Buying a decent battery case can easily cost more than these controllers – JUST for the battery.
Audio output is another factor, at least in the case of the MOGA. Unlike the old 30pin dock connector, Lightning does not include analog audio output. Any device that purports to output sound out of the Lightning port – every speaker, dock, and adapter cable – actually include an entire integrated USB sound card. If youâre wondering why the iPhone 5 dock took so long, or why the lightning-to-30pin cable costs so much, theres your answer – they include a relatively high quality digital-to-analog converter chip small enough to fit in the end of a cable.
Developer Adoption
9to5mac asks:
Why arenât more developers updating their apps with controller support? Implementing Appleâs APIs in iOS 7 for game controller support is relatively painless, but some app developers weâve talked to arenât satisfied with the controllers
This article keeps implying that developer support for these new controllers is minimal. The facts donât bear that out.
There are about 175 games out right now that support these new controllers to varying degrees. Not bad games, either – serious, major releases are already supporting MFi controllers.
Keep in mind, MFi controllers have only been out for about 2 months. 175 games are supporting this ânicheâ product In 2 months. Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft would kill for a âfailureâ like that.
A Different Conclusion
9to5mac concludes that unless Apple steps away from their draconian MFi policies, this entire experiment is doomed to failure:
With Apple TV, MFi controllers, and mobile devices becoming increasingly powerful every year, iOS devices could quickly become a serious competitor to traditional console gaming in the living room. Before that happens, however, Apple and manufacturers will have to go back to the drawing board to come up with something developers and gamers will embrace.
Thats not what I see happening here.
This first crop of controllers arenât sub-par because of Appleâs policies. Contrary to how the controller manufactures might be framing it, analog pressure switches donât cost THAT much.
There is no need to look for conspiracy here – these controllers are less than perfect because they are first generation products that were (probably prematurely) rushed to market by their manufacturers in time for the holidays. This isnât the first time products have been rushed out for Christmas, and it wonât be the last.
Even with rushed and buggy controllers, far from flopping with developers, controller support has been embraced by a huge number of major publishers – Sega, Namco, Rockstar, Zynga, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Rovio – and thatâs just the console guys. Important, respectable independent studios – Hello Games, Crescent Moon, Team17, Bulkypix, True Axis, FDG – all have jumped on board and launched major releases with controller support. All this within 2 months of the launch of this new platform.
This is not developerâs ignoring a platform – not by a long shot.
Apple has historically failed to understand gaming. Their success in gaming has historically been accidental, sometimes even in spite of some of their decisions. I donât see anything different about now. No matter what Appleâs MFi policy is – no matter what mistakes they make – it hasnât mattered much before, and it wonât now.
Developers are already supporting the platform, hardware manufacturers will figure out how to get the prices down and the quality up, and a whole generation of gamers who grew up on iOS games will be begging for these things next Christmas.
The latest update to Bike Baron is here. If you havenât had enough of your side-scrolling stunt bike fix from Joe Danger Infinity, be sure to check out this classic gem from Mountain Sheep. This is more of a platforming game, as opposed to the emphasis on speed in Joe Danger.
This has been one of the classics of the App Store for several years, and Mountain Sheep has faithfully updated it with features and compatibility to the point that it feels the equal of any game released today. Well-implemented controller support is just the latest in a line of great features. Be sure to check this one out.
Shadow Blade Shadow Blade is the newest game from Crescent Moon Games, creators of many classic iOS games – many of which now support controllers.
Crescent Moon has a great track record when it comes to making games, but many of their games only work with one MFi layout. Iâll be sure to test this one as soon as it becomes available.
Joe Danger Infinity is an excellent sequel to an excellent game, and joins the already decent lineup of iOS side-scrolling bike games with MFi controller support.
This is a significantly more impressive game than most of the others of the genre, though. The graphics, controls, sound, music, level design – everything is top notch, making for a polished and fun package.
Joe Danger Infinity would be a great game even without controller support, but the integration of physical controls put it over the top. Both the standard and extended layouts work great, and both feel superior to the (already good) touch controls.
In a sea of side-scrolling stunt racing games, Joe Danger Infinity stands out as a classic.
Clash of Puppets launched a few weeks ago with support for standard and extended MFi controllers, and itâs one of the better examples of a game that is improved through the use of hardware controls.
Touch screen platformers arenât easy – you either wind up with true platformers that are very difficult to control or you wind up with touch first platformers that have been stripped of much of the fun and depth.
Clash of Puppets isnât a great game. Although it has excellent graphics, gameplay, and production values, those strengths are squandered on somewhat boring levels. The thing is, playing this game with hardware controls feels better than playing many âbetterâ games that rely on touch controls. That isnât a minor strength – thatâs important. Playability makes up for a lot, and Clash of Puppets plays great with an iOS game controller.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is one of the biggest and best selling games of all time, and itâs available on the App Store with full controller support.
This particular game is probably one of the most important releases the App Store has ever had, and it launched with controller support.
GTA is playable with both the Logitech and the MOGA, and takes full advantage of both. Using the standard layout of the Logitech, movement is controlled with the directional pad, actions with the face buttons, driving with the shoulder buttons, and various supplemental controls with onscreen buttons. The extended layout of the MOGA includes all of those functions, changes movement from the directional pad to the joystick, allows camera control with the right joystick, and maps many supplemental buttons to the directional pad and extra shoulder buttons.
Standard and extended controllers are both significantly better than touch control (which is actually quite playable), but GTA really is a game that takes advantage of every button you throw at it. In this instance, playing San Andreas with the extended controller is the best way to play.
In fact, there is a good chance that playing San Andreas with an iPhone in the extended controller is the best portable GTA experience there has ever been.
Terraria is a side scrolling sandbox game in the same vein as Minecraft and Junk Jack, though with a little bit of additional inspiration from traditional RPG games – there are NPCs, boss fights, and light plot elements.
Terraria integrated controller support early, but the controls didnât work correctly on the Logitech, and werenât particularly great on the Moga. This latest update polishes the controls a bit and fixes the game to work with the Logitech – a particularly important fix, considering that Logitech has been using a picture of the non-functional Terraria on the box of their controller.
Tomb Raider. The original. The classic. This is one of the first truly Killer Apps for the iOS7 game controller platform. This game is close to unplayable with the touch screen, but is one of the best adventure games in the store when played with a controller.
At 99 cents US, this is a no brainer for anyone with a controller. Trying to play this game without the controller attached is one of the quickest ways I can think of to make you feel better about spending too much money on a controllerâ¦