At an event in Japan today, Sony unveiled the new PS Vita TV, a tiny set-top box that will sell for around $95 and look to compete with devices like the Apple TV. Not only will it let you stream content from services like Hulu and Sony’s own Video Unlimited service, but if you connect a DualShock 3 controller, it will also allow you to play PSP and PS Vita games on your TV.
Remember Gameloft’s $80 Duo Gamer Controller? It was launched in October 2012 and it brought physical controls to our favorite Gameloft games on iOS — but it had a number of major flaws. The biggest one was that it was only compatible with Gameloft games, and that made its $80 price tag all the more bemusing.
But it’s not such a bad purchase at $6.36, which is all you’ll pay for it on Amazon right now.
Look, I’m not gonna like to you—we get weird on this week’s CultCast. But, before the wheels fall off completely, we do work in some great Apple news stories and topics such as: why iPhone 5S could have two flashes; how the iOS game controller could change everything; new Thunderbolt displays on the way; the guy who sold the iPhone 4 prototype recounts the tale; iOS 7 gets shinier in beta 2; and Tim Cook gets a back massage with Erfon after brunch.
Have a few laughs and get caught up on this week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.
Show notes up next.
I don’t know about you, but I’m finding it hard to keep up with all these awesome Black Friday deals. If you’ve picked up a reduced iOS device from Apple — or another third-party retailer — during today’s sales, you may want one of ThinkGeek’s iCade controllers to accompany it. The company is now offering up to $50 off.
Yesterday, we showed you how to use an XBox 360 controller on your Mac, using a wired controller. We’re pretty sure it will work with the wireless controller and a Microsoft wireless adapter, as well, but we weren’t able to test it.
Today, however, we’ll take you into new territory and show you how to use your PS3 controller via Bluetooth for some wireless gaming joy with your Mac. Don’t try to use the PS3 controller with Steam’s Big Picure, just yet, though, as it only officially supports the XBox 360 controller. Other Mac games, like all of the ones ported by Feral, are reported to work well with a PS3 controller, though.
Here’s how to set it up.
Reliving your childhood with retro games on iOS is, I find, one of the best ways to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon — until you get frustrated with the virtual controls that keep getting you killed and you threaten to throw your iPad out of the window. But thanks to the iCade 8-Bitty, a new Bluetooth control pad for iOS, you can now play your favorite titles with real controls.
If you’re a mobile gamer, then you already know the pangs of those on-screen controls. That’s why any serious gamer heads straight for some form of bluetooth controller to get his/her game on. Snakebyte (Sunflex), a company that makes gaming-related peripherals, has announced their plans to sell a new bluetooth gaming controller for Android and iOS. The idroid:con looks to differentiate itself from other bluetooth conrtollers by being the first to have five different functions and come with no app obligation.
As a gamer, I’d love nothing more than to see a proper physical controller for my iOS devices. Sure, the touchscreen works great with titles like Angry Birds or Words With Friends, and accessories like the iCade work well with retro games. But for first-person shooters, soccer sims, 3D platformers and the like, nothing beats a physical controller with real analog sticks and real buttons.
Google’s Android operating system already supports external game controllers, and that’s one of the few things it has over iOS. But maybe not for long. According to one source, Apple is working on a physical controller of its own that will make iOS gaming even more incredible.
We recently showed you how to control iPad games using the Joypad app on your iPhone, and today we have another Joypad trick that’s guaranteed to impress your friends: controlling games on your Mac. That’s right — you can use your iPhone as a touchscreen gamepad for your Mac.
Here’s how to get set up.
Isn’t it frustrating when you’re playing a game on your iPad and your hands keep spoiling the view? That’s the problem with virtual controls on touchscreen devices, but there is a way around this.
Joypad allows you to control a selection of iPad games using your iPhone, so you can enjoy your favorite titles without your hands blocking the view. It features a selection of control pad layouts that are individually tailored to certain games, and you can customize things like the touch radius for each button.
Here’s how to get started with Joypad.
While this may not be quite as awesome as that NES controller concept for the iPhone we showed you last week, it’s still pretty amazing. Paul Rickards, a blogger behind biosrhythm, has hacked a NES controller to work with iCade games on his iPad using a Camera Connection Kit.
If, like me, you’re yearning for a physical controller that works well with iOS devices and games, then you’ll be pleased to hear Gametel’s wireless gamepad for smartphone and tablets now supports the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. The device connects via Bluetooth to devices running iOS 4.0 or later, and supports hundreds of arcade titles from the iCade suite, in addition to other selected iOS games like No Gravity and Super Crossfire HD.
While there are many benefits to gaming on an iOS device, such as cheap games and an impressive handheld experience, there is one downside: no physical control pad. That won’t be much of a problem to some, but to gamers like me — who like to play first-person shooters and retro platformers — a physical control pad compatible with our iOS devices is truly missed.
That’s why the 60beat GamePad is a dream come true for iOS gamers.
Ever since the iPhone was first released, there’s been at least one mouth-breathing dweeb nasally whining that the lack of physical controls completely castrates the device as a serious gaming console. Well, dweeb, three years later and the iPhone’s only the biggest handheld gaming platform ever, but you do raise an interesting point: why hasn’t someone managed to graft a D-Pad onto an iPhone after all this time?
It’s not like people aren’t working on it, of course: the guys doing the iControlPad have been plugging away at the project for years, only to be set back on the eve of release by fears of Apple’s legal team. That appears to have been the last straw for Benjamin Morisse, who has just launched the Controller or Bust project to try to quickly crowdsource the design, production, funding and manufacturing of an iPhone controller.
