All posts tagged: gamepad

Josh King’s viral slide-out MagSafe gamepad found a home at OhSnap and looks amazing

Josh King’s viral slide-out MagSafe gamepad found a home at OhSnap and looks amazing

Published by Webster

It’s no taller or wider than an iPhone, so it should slide into a pocket. It’s got a MagSafe pattern of magnets to attach it to your magnetic ring device. You don’t have to remove it to use your phone like a phone, because the whole gamepad retracts underneath, a little like the slide-out keyboard phones (or PlayStation Phones) of old — and now, it’s mounted on a spring-loaded arm that pops out at the push of a button and also slightly angles your device towards your face. The OhSnap Mcon’s hinge in action.Video by Josh King / OhSnap OhSnap even found room for a pair of Nintendo Switch-esque analog sticks, with drift-resistant Hall effect sensors, and pair of fold-out grips so you can (theoretically) hold it more like a full-size gamepad. The sticks are clickable buttons, and it’s got a full set of shoulder buttons and triggers as well. An illustration with the grips unfolded.Image: OhSnap Two months ago, Retro Game Corps came away impressed with a prototype, and it seems King has been …

Windows 11’s new gamepad keyboard lets you type with an Xbox controller

Published by Webster

Microsoft has started testing a new gamepad keyboard layout in Windows 11 that’s designed for Xbox controllers. The gamepad keyboard layout improves the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11, so you can use an Xbox controller to type or navigate around the OS. The gamepad keyboard is now in testing as part of the beta channel for Windows 11 and even includes button accelerators so you can use the X button for backspace, the Y button for spacebar, and the menu button on an Xbox controller to hit enter. The keyboard keys have also been vertically aligned, so it’s easier to type with a controller. Microsoft’s new gamepad keyboard for Windows 11.Image: Microsoft It’s encouraging to see Microsoft add a feature like this, particularly as Windows-powered handheld devices need these types of improvements. I wrote last month that Microsoft is now in a handheld gaming PC race against Valve as the Steam Deck maker gets ready to capitalize on its SteamOS work and bring it to more Windows-powered handhelds. Microsoft still needs to address basic things, …

Turtle Beach is buying gamepad maker PDP

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Gaming accessory company Turtle Beach has announced it’s getting into the controller collecting game and buying PDP for a cool $118 million. PDP getting bought could be a good thing, depending on how you feel about its slate of generally affordable and fun-colored controllers. Turtle Beach has added a lot of accessory irons to the gaming fire in the last couple years, including forays into flight yokes and the recently-announced Velocity One racing wheel. It sells controllers too, but it only began doing so in 2021, and doesn’t sell any for PlayStation or Nintendo consoles. Correct layout, best fighter. Image: PDP Gamepads are PDP’s bread and butter — and it’s got licenses to sell them for every major console. The company’s most recognizable ones might be its GameCube-style Fight Pads for the Wii U, themed after Nintendo characters and nakedly intended for Super Smash Bros. enthusiasts. You know, those who insist that the gigantic green A button, small red B button, and kidney bean-shaped X and Y buttons represent the One True Layout for that …