Hasta La Gadget!

If you’re a mobile gamer, there’s a pretty good chance you’re familiar with the MOGA pocket controller for Android. Born out of a desire to provide gamers with a better method than typically spotty touch controls, the MOGA controller has made a name for itself in the mobile gaming space. In fact, many of you will remember a little incident from late last year, in which PowerA decided to offer the MOGA controller free for 24 hours. The rush to claim one was so great that it ended up crippling PowerA’s website within minutes of the promotion’s kick off, so it’s safe to say that the MOGA controller has found success with Android gamers.

Not content with simply offering a physical controller for Android, PowerA today introduced the world to the MOGA Pro Controller, a new version of the MOGA that brings us even closer to console-quality controls. The MOGA Pro Controller is somewhat similar to the original MOGA, except this time around, PowerA seems to be offering even more features. With the Pro Controller, you’ll be getting “full-sized console-style grips,” four face buttons, a d-pad, dual analog sticks, two triggers, and two shoulder bumpers.

Little surprise there, considering a similar layout helped make the original such a success. With the MOGA Pro, however, PowerA is also offering rechargeable batteries, Bluetooth sync, and a tablet stand so you can game comfortably on larger devices that wouldn’t fit in the controller’s smartphone clamp. A USB cable is included to recharge your batteries, and of course, the Pro Controller comes with support for MOGA’s existing ecosystem.

It sounds like a pretty cool controller for mobile gamers, but we’ve got a bit of a wait ahead of us before this bad boy becomes available. PowerA says it won’t begin shipping the MOGA Pro Controller until sometime in spring 2013, so it’ll be at least a few more months before you can pick one up. PowerA also hasn’t announced a price yet, but considering the original MOGA comes with a price tag of $49.99, we can probably expect the Pro to be a bit more expensive. Stay tuned for more details, and be sure to keep it here at SlashGear for more from CES 2013!

PowerA goes pro with new MOGA controller is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Heads up, PlayStation fans. Sony filed an interesting patent last year and it has just been made public today. The patent is for a hybrid DualShock/Move gaming controller, meaning that you could use it as a normal controller just like any of Sony’s other DualShock devices, or you could split it apart to make two Move controllers.

The controller is officially called the “Hybrid Separable Motion Controller”, and while it’s a bold idea, the execution is mostly what you’d expect. It’s simply just two Move orbs attached on top of a DualShock controller. Then, the controller is detachable in the middle, with each half stuffed with an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, vibration capability, and even a speaker.

Obviously, the hybrid controller can be operated either separately or locked together into one unit, and it’s designed in a way that games will be able to detect which configuration is in use. If you’re worried about the thing flying out of your hands, some of the drawings even show a wrist strap attach to each of the two sides.

We’re not sure if Sony intends to use this concept in the PlayStation 3 or maybe even future devices. It’s also possible that this could just be an idea that they may never end up using, so keep your fingers crossed and we’ll see what Sony comes up with in the future. It’s possible that we could see something new from them at E3 2013, but we’ll keep an open mind until then.

[via GameSpot]

Sony files patent for hybrid DualShock/Move controller is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Wii U Pro Controller is obviously aimed at gamers who want a more traditional experience, but it may just be perfect for hardcore gamers in more ways than one. Listings on both Amazon and GameStop are saying that the Pro Controller’s rechargeable battery can last a ridiculously long time. Spotted by Nintendo Life, both listings claim that the Pro Controller can keep chugging along for up to 80 hours on a single charge.

If that’s true, then it will be a huge leap over the current generation’s rechargeable controllers. The batteries in the PS3 and Xbox 360 gamepads can last anywhere between 20 and 30 hours, while the Wii U gamepad will only last around five. Naturally, the Pro Controller doesn’t have a touchscreen to sap its power, but still, the fact that it could potentially last 80 hours on a single charge is – in a word – insane.

While that’s certainly good news, this revelation comes with a bit of bad news as well. It turns out that the Pro Controller isn’t backwards compatible with original Wii games, so if your games call for a more traditional controller instead of the Wii remote, you’re going to have to use the Classic Controller. That isn’t the most preferable situation, but what can you do? Nintendo has to make that money, after all.

The life of the Pro Controller’s battery immediately reminds us of the Gamecube Wavebird, otherwise known as the best controller to ever grace Earth. We’ll have to wait a little bit longer to find out if there’s any truth to these claims, but for now, things are looking pretty great for the Wii U Pro Controller. What do you think? Is it possible that Nintendo’s claims of an 80-hour battery life are legitimate, or is this a bit of pre-release embellishment?

Wii U Pro Controller battery lasts 80 hours, retailers claim is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Right before E3 2012 kicked off, Nintendo revealed the Pro Controller for the Wii U, something which a lot of gamers (including myself) were happy to see. According to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, the Wii U’s Pro Controller might might not exist today were it not for the insistence of Activision, which said it would not be putting Call of Duty games on the Wii U if Nintendo didn’t give developers a more traditional controller to work with. Thus, the Wii U Pro Controller was born, or at least that’s the way the story goes when Michael Pachter tells it.

He shared this tidbit of information during the Develop Conference in Brighton last week, telling Edge that Nintendo was essentially forced to come up with an alternative to the Wii U’s tablet controller if it wanted to see big third party titles come to the console:

“I think that essentially this is a solution in search of a problem. I mean, somebody had an idea – ‘let’s make the controller a tablet’ – and there aren’t many games that are going to take advantage of that. Activision never said anything to me, but I know that [for] big games like Call Of Duty they said, ‘No, we’re not putting it on there if you don’t give us a conventional controller’. So they gave in.

Pachter also let his own feelings on the Wii U slip out, saying despite the fact that hardcore Nintendo fans will buy it just so they can play Mario games, he thinks that the Wii U won’t be able to come close to the success of the original Wii. Of course, stranger things have happened in the past, so until we have some solid sales numbers in our hands, all we have is speculation, and speculation isn’t worth much in the wide world of video games.

Regardless of the reason why Nintendo chose to offer a conventional alternative to the Wii U’s tablet controller, it will be nice to have it available, and it will likely make the process of porting a game from Xbox 360 or PS3 go much smoother for developers. It’s imperative that Nintendo keeps third parties happy this time around, so making porting easier for them can’t hurt anything.

Pachter: Activision forced Nintendo to create Wii U Pro Controller is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.