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Game controller recommendations?

S

seamusk

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 23, 2007
95
29
So, i'm a gaming novice. I mean, 30 years ago I whooped decathlon on my atari 2600. But since then i'm not so clued in. Does anyone have good recommendations for game controllers for the apple tv?

I saw this one pop up in another thread:

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...rue&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_2&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Anything that is high quality but cheaper? I don't need it to be awesome, just reliable.
 
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I'm just hoping it gets jailbroken so we can use PS4/PS3/8BITDO controllers and the like.

MFI stuff is "meh"
 
Have a stratus xl for iPad, haven't tried on new ATV 4. Feels remarkably close in build quality to my xbox one controller but without offset them sticks.

Pricey though.
 
I have the Mad Catz Ctrl. Pretty close to the 360 controller but good enough for the games I've tried. Plus has a clip to play iPhone games with
 
I thought we would be able to use an iPhone as a second controller - did anyone figure this out?
 
Yes I thought that we could use the iphone too. And allegedly you can with Crossy Road, though we followed the steps and couldn't get it to work. I'm sure there is a bug there that will get worked out. But I hope that they expand the ability to use iphones as controllers. I imagine there must be a new remote app in the works that will assist with this. Or at least you'd think there would be one...

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I decided to order the remote loop and got the Nimbus while I was at it. So game controller on the way. It's fun having games on my tv again. It's been a long time.
 
I use the Mad Catz C.T.R.L.i and have no problem with it, it's a decent pad. Although I am thinking I might buy a Nimbus as well, I like the look of it.

As for Crossy Road, it does work, if a little temperamental at times.

For me the steps to get it working reliably are. Quit both apps completely from the task switcher and start them up again. On the games main screen on Apple TV, swipe up from the bottom to open the character picker and scroll along to the two player game on the left.

Click to get it started on the Apple TV and click to make Player 1 ready.
Then on the iPhone tap the button on the bottom right of the screen and choose the GamePad icon at the top of the list.
At this point it sometimes takes a second or two to connect.
Once it does, tap the play button on the iPhone and that's it, the games ready to start.


I guess that's what everyone will be doing, but I figured I'd just do a wee write up as some people have been having trouble with it. Only other thing of course is to make sure both Apple TV and iPhone are on the same WiFi Network if you have more than one enabled.


Oh, while we're on the subject of controllers. There's a good website here that keeps up to date with all of the MFI Game Pads, does reviews, has compatible game lists and so on. It's well worth a look.
 
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Thanks TrueBlou. That is exactly what we were doing though I hadn't tried quitting and re-starting both apps. Which would seem like an obvious trouble shooting option so i'm not sure why I didn't. I'll try that and see if it works.

ETA: quitting both apps and opening them together worked.
 
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seamusk said:
Thanks TrueBlou. That is exactly what we were doing though I hadn't tried quitting and re-starting both apps. Which would seem like an obvious trouble shooting option so i'm not sure why I didn't. I'll try that and see if it works.

ETA: quitting both apps and opening them together worked.
Click to expand...

That's good that it worked, annoying that you have to quit them though. Hopefully they'll sort that quick enough.
 
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Steelseries Nimbus for me, charges using lightning and connects to everything apple (mac, iPad, iPhone). I've used it little on the ATV4, more so on the iPad, this weekend I restarted playing GTA Vice City and it is comparable to the Dualshock 3, if anything the triggers are better.

EDIT: To add if you are used to Sony controllers (Dual Shock 1,2,3,4) then at first you might find the 4 buttons A B X Y a little too large in comparison but I got over that after a short period. The buttons are solid and ergonomically it is more similar to the Xbox 360/One controller, which is not a bad thing at all.
 
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Wouldn't it get even more people playing controller based ATV4 games if they'd simply allow it to pair with PS4/XB1 controllers that many, many, people already have laying around?

Seems like it would help get people over the hump and help to get the market size for devs to target increased (for more complex control scheme games)
 
turbineseaplane said:
Wouldn't it get even more people playing controller based ATV4 games if they'd simply allow it to pair with PS4/XB1 controllers that many, many, people already have laying around?

Seems like it would help get people over the hump and help to get the market size for devs to target increased (for more complex control scheme games)
Click to expand...


It would be nice, but it's not just an Apple issue, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo generally don't want their hardware used with other manufacturers systems. So they actively try to prevent that from happening with varying measures.

It's significantly easier on a PC, or even Android to bypass the systems they put in place due to the more open nature of the operating systems. To do it on iOS needs a Jailbreak to get into the Bluetooth stack.
 
TrueBlou said:
...Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo generally don't want their hardware used with other manufacturers systems. So they actively try to prevent that from happening with varying measures.

It's significantly easier on a PC, or even Android to bypass the systems they put in place
Click to expand...


What "systems" are in place by Sony/MS to prevent pairing one of their bluetooth controllers?
 
turbineseaplane said:
What "systems" are in place by Sony/MS to prevent pairing one of their bluetooth controllers?
Click to expand...

All of them at the least use specific drivers for their controllers which aren't available to anyone else. Thats why you normally have to use apps like InputMapper on the PC if you want to connect a DualShock 4. If it were open standards and just normal Bluetooth you'd be able to pair any controller to any system, but try pairing an Xbox one controller with the PS4, it won't work.
 
TrueBlou said:
All of them at the least use specific drivers for their controllers which aren't available to anyone else. Thats why you normally have to use apps like InputMapper on the PC if you want to connect a DualShock 4. If it were open standards and just normal Bluetooth you'd be able to pair any controller to any system, but try pairing an Xbox one controller with the PS4, it won't work.
Click to expand...

But is there anything legally stopping someone like Apple from implenting drivers for those controllers?
 
TrueBlou said:
More than likely, the drivers will have been proprietary software created by Sony or Microsoft, so covered by their patent and licensing laws.
Click to expand...

If that's true, how come Sony/MS don't go after any of the people that pop out software to use the controllers with Mac/PC setups?
 
turbineseaplane said:
If that's true, how come Sony/MS don't go after any of the people that pop out software to use the controllers with Mac/PC setups?
Click to expand...

That kind of thing is usually done by one coder, it's not worth their time do they turn a blind eye. If Microsoft were to suddenly allow DuslShock 4 compatibility on Xbox One. Well that would be different, Microsoft has a nice fat check book to go after.

Any software a company, or individual, creates is their own. No one can legally use it without permission unless it's released as open source and even then there can still be limitations applied to it.
 
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TrueBlou said:
That kind of thing is usually done by one coder, it's not worth their time do they turn a blind eye. If Microsoft were to suddenly allow DuslShock 4 compatibility on Xbox One. Well that would be different, Microsoft has a nice fat check book to go after.

Any software a company, or individual, creates is their own. No one can legally use it without permission unless it's released as open source and even then there can still be limitations applied to it.
Click to expand...

Hmm - Lots of speculation there with really no facts.
 
turbineseaplane said:
Hmm - Lots of speculation there with really no facts.
Click to expand...

I don't often speculate on such things.

Sony:
Playstation 4 Software Licence Agreement
Software Usage Terms

Pay particular attention to this paragraph.

17. Copyright Ownership
17.1. All Software contains library programs, the copyright to which is owned by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and exclusively licensed to us. Other copyrights and intellectual property rights subsist in the Software and may be notified to you from time to time.

You can do the Microsoft one yourself.
 
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TrueBlou said:
I don't often speculate on such things.

Sony:
Playstation 4 Software Licence Agreement
Software Usage Terms

Pay particular attention to this paragraph.

17. Copyright Ownership
17.1. All Software contains library programs, the copyright to which is owned by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and exclusively licensed to us. Other copyrights and intellectual property rights subsist in the Software and may be notified to you from time to time.
Click to expand...

Couldn't find the words "controller", "dual shock" or "drivers" at either link.
I searched - Did I miss it?

Those links are about the software on the console itself - I didn't see anything pertaining to interfacing with a controller over bluetooth using your own drivers on a non PS4 device.

Where is that addressed? (I'm honestly asking)
 
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