Comments on: Using the iPhone as a gamer interface

By: Lisa P

Lisa P — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:16:45 +0000

With innovation of new technology let us be consider what was the good indicator of this iphone that can give us the convenience or isn’t just a luxury we all notice that everyday there are latest innovation.
Through the consumer and retail company NPD Group, Engadget reports that Apple’s iPhone 3G has taken the number one spot for U.S. domestic sales of cellular handsets. According to NPD, Motorola’s RAZR has fallen second for the first time in 10 years. The shift seems to indicate that U.S. consumers are more interested in intricate mechanisms that offer a wide array of features. Massive advertising campaigns certainly haven’t hurt Apple’s chances, either. Apple is still the best when it comes to taste making and trendsetting gadget styles, even through a 15 percent drop on overall handsets sales that took place since the 2007 Christmas season. In the long run – with the help of Steve Jobs – America’s handset may truly be full-featured when compared with what consumers in Asian countries have enjoyed for years. In comparable, when it comes to choices for things like short-term payday cash loans, Americans also have a wide array from which to choose. With Christmas shopping approaching alongside a faltering economy, people are going to need some help this holiday season. Similar to an iPhone, payday cash can be a very useful tool if taken with care and responsibility.

Click to read more on Payday cash

By: DocPop

DocPop — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:29:00 +0000

At least with the release of Google's G1, Apple has really stepped up their game. Removing the NDAs from developers, creating dev forums, tethering apps to come, who knows what else.

By: ffxi gil

ffxi gil — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:46:09 +0000

If the iPhone just had flash I'd be happy. I just want to be able to use sites that have flash on them, then it would be just about the perfect phone. 2.2 looks like it will not deliver on some long awaited additions. I can't say I really care about getting podcasts over the air, that's why I have iTunes open 24-7 to get the podcasts as soon as they are released and when I plug in my iPhone for it's daily charge, they get uploaded.

By: David Johnston

David Johnston — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:00:40 +0000

It is an interesting gadget due to its nice features.

Innovation in technology has great achievement.

By: Cory

Cory — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:47:59 +0000

Any luck with this yet? I was searching for an iPhone-as-controller solution when your site popped up. I would love to be able to control a game on my Mac Pro with my iphone. I am a fan of driving games - if I could use the iphone with the same actions I use with Asphalt 4 with a Mac game, that would be great. An app that could adapt to ANY game using the accelerometer and touch interface would be even better.

There is an app called QwasiPad that makes the iPhone into a multi-touch trackpad or keyboard to remotely interface with PC machines. This was a small step in a similar direction. I have nothing more to contribute because I know absolutely nothing about software. Just wanted to voice my support. Cheers

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:02:06 +0000

Yeah, its third person.

But there is no shoostings going on so it is a first person view but not an FPS.

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:53:28 +0000

Hey Doc, that’s cool! It would be interesting to “see” how it feels. I dabble with these sorts of interfaces - I once built a virtual reality system where I could fly around (analogous to walking/running) by tilting a motion sensor forward or backwards - it kind of felt like a virtual motorcycle throttle without the spring-loaded tension. A couple of problems I encountered:

1. Tilting forward and back to go and stop is a bit harder without an opposing force (i.e., spring-loaded tension). With an isometric joystick you can just relax to stop, in a relatively unconscious way. With the motion sensor interface its relatively laborious to stop since you have to deliberately reverse course.

2. If you want the forward-backward tilting to include backing up then stopping becomes even harder since its a position in between moving forward and going backwards. [Probably not hard for a yoyo champion]

3. The setup caused my wrist to hurt after a while. But the setup was not exactly like the one you describe since I was holding the motion sensor in one hand.

Your idea for gestures sounds very good - much better than touchscreen buttons which are typically used. I played a couple of games on the Nintendo DS that had buttons or gizmos on the touchscreen that you were supposed to use while looking at the other screen - they were difficult to use because lacking tangible shapes and haptic feedback you needed to look down to make sure your fingers were in the right place. Using muscle memory and gestures will probably work much better.

Regarding player PoV terminology: I haven’t played WoW but I believe its a Third-Person view, where you can see your avatar’s body. If your browser has Java installed you can see a 3rd-person demo on a web page here: http://www.vizmo.com/gallery/dpadNavigator01.html
However, if you hide the avatar (uncheck “character” checkbox) then its essentially a First-Person view.

By: App Store for Apple TV?

App Store for Apple TV? — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:20:24 +0000

[...] came across a great post by Doctor Popular (via Laughing Squid) about Using the iPhone as a gamer interface. Very cool stuff. And it got me [...]

By: doc

doc — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:48:00 +0000

“Damn, gonna be a long credit list if we keep this up.”

Sure it would be a long list if we listed any game with a unique interface or any console with a new controller, but I don’t see what those have to do with my suggestions here.

In terms of iPhone apps being used as an alternative user interface, I believe the list would be fairly small.

By: qDot

qDot — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:58:35 +0000

The controller ideas listed above are free for anyone to use, but if you do use any of them, I would appreciate a mention in the game credits and link to my site (www.DocPop.org).

And Lionhead might want to some credit for gesturing (though Black and White was most likely not first, just the earliest I can remember right now, and Aquaria is getting a lot of attention and also uses it)… And Nintendo might want some credit for the gba usage in Crystal Chronicles… And Sega for the VMU in the dreamcast…

Damn, gonna be a long credit list if we keep this up.