I was at gamescom in Cologne this weekend (thanks to one of you who invited me!) and had the chance to talk to Michael Mrozek, CEO of OpenPandora and DragonBox.
He told me the product was missing one thing to make it perfect: the clicky feel from the buttons.
He took a look at the prototype, took the time to actually take apart a controller to get the internal rubber membranes out, and explained the modifications he would make.
Turns out, the solution was actually super simple.
I have to change a few things, but I’m hoping to keep the final result looking exactly the same. If everything goes according to plan, I should have it finished this weekend.
I did a quick test without changing the silicone pad, just modifying one button — and he was absolutely right.
Turn the volume up and you can hear the click!
It might seem like a small detail, but some of you had already asked about the button feel. I’m really happy to finally be able to say that it now feels like a normal game controller.
If you saw my last post, you know I was hoping to launch the Kickstarter this month. I’m still hoping I can make it happen!
In the meantime, here’s the link to the waiting list if you want to be notified when it launches:
This is so cool! I have an old phone just laying around that could probably be my dedicated handheld with one of these. Great work! Wishing you the best!
Believe it or not, it's painful for me not being able to give right now a solution for shoulder buttons. I've prototyped things in that direction. In the picture you can see something I made. You can replace one of the buttons in the pad with it. It works but it wasn't elegant. It's bulky, and it's not a real button (if you touch it it triggers, you don't have to press). So I hope I can find a good solution. I just didn't want to stop the project just because I couldn't find a solution that I liked for that. But I'll definitely work on it!
I don't know how many different products you are planning. Personally I don't even need physical buttons, as I am pretty used to the touchscreen by now. But I accept I will die on this hill, because every one else seem to hate them and are in desperate need for physical buttons. :D
What is missing for me are shoulder things, because all modern games seem to require them. Usually the answer for a phone is a bulky telescopic controller.
Your design inspired me to that picture, as you proved bulky is not necessary, if you are willing to sacrifice some screen space.
So maybe it's possible to just offer a strip with a trigger at the end of it for the shoulder situation? I guess that's not as mechanically stable as I hope it to be, but maybe there is hope?
Would it be possible to use an android app as "Pixels" for example to shrink the screen area of your phone to like a 4:3 aspect ratio or it is absolutely nessesary that the unused screen area is able to register touches?
You see using ADB you are able to adjust the resolution of your phone's screen, that includes the aspect ratio, I generally find this most useful when I want to avoid black bars mirroring to a 16:9 display. I'm wondering if you would reduce the screen area of the device with this method you could still use this device with the phone or if touch registering behind the silicone is absolutely nessesary here.
I also have a great although very niche idea. There are multiple of these gaming phones that have touch shoulder buttons like redmagic phones and rog phones. Would it be possible to make a silicone for those touch shoulder buttons to male them into real physical ones instead?
Oh! Hey! I do remember your previous post. Just came to say the same. It is a really good idea, the most portable way to play, can even work with native ports that support overlay changing or just good mobile games. It has some issues, but it has to be cheap so it can be just a "Buy and try" situation.
It would be very rude to broach the subject to him (for reasons obvious to anyone familar with the project I'm about to namedrop) but I'll always be (at least a little) bitter that the Pyra failed to materialize.
Regarding YOUR item in development, I'll simply say that I would totally buy one :D I hate the hassle and bulk of lugging around a wireless gamepad (much less an Android gaming handheld) , but I more hate touch controls that are sans any sort of 'tool' i.e. a stylus or something. Soooo this looks very attractive to me.
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