For the last few months there has been a mysterious “Gamepad API” sitting on BlackBerry 10’s native roadmap. Now that it is launched BlackBerry is ready to peal off the mystery and show us what is possible. They just confirmed on the DevBlog that BlackBerry 10 offers developers support for the following hardware if they use the Gamepad API:
- The SteelSeries Free.
- The Gametel.
- The Wii Remote. Note that currently only the core buttons on the remote itself are supported – that means no attachments and no motion controls, just the D-Pad and other buttons.
BlackBerry has offered up some great instructions for developers to implement gamepad support on BlackBerry 10 since it is just an abstraction above the Bluetooth HID profile. Unity 4 is also getting gamepad support shortly so expect the games built on the Unity engine to add it! BlackBerry also plans on adding support for more game controllers as they come out and mapping the controls so don’t worry about future device support.
Check out some videos of the gamepad API below:
dpr ( View Profile) - Posts: 768
Posted: February 21, 2013 at 1:56 PM EST from my BlackBerry PlayBook | OS 2.1.0
Great stuff here! I think eventually the Z10 phone will be the ultimate hybrid of business and gaming.
Caspan Not Registered
Posted: February 21, 2013 at 2:19 PM EST
Would love to see PS3 devices added, they are Bluetooth so should not be an issue i would think. Love seeing this kind of support!
ofutur ( View Profile) - Posts: 1144
Posted: February 21, 2013 at 2:25 PM EST
Yawn… Wake me up when they support the PS3
Eric ( View Profile) - Posts: 279
Posted: February 21, 2013 at 2:44 PM EST
Get this to work over DNLA, and you don’t even need a console.
This is the future of gaming…
Dean Not Registered
Posted: February 22, 2013 at 2:31 PM EST
Well, you probably would still want a stand, because I can imagine that playing the games would be power hungry. I’ve also heard that DNLA is still a little bit slow.
Also, if they get the motion controls working on the Wii Remote, they could use the Z10 as the infrared beams instead of the Wii bar.
Jay Harker ( View Profile) - Posts: 1365
Posted: February 21, 2013 at 3:59 PM EST
Awesome. I love the Gametel clip on controller. Although some games have great touchscreen controls, sometimes having the physicals buttons makes things way better.
Amir Saad ( View Profile) - Posts: 516
Posted: February 21, 2013 at 9:21 PM EST from my BlackBerry PlayBook | OS 2.1.0
I am not easy to impress and i have to say, l’m impressed…