We've seen plenty of methods for emulating
PC input schemes from a couch, but nothing's really beaten the tried and true "put a board across your lap" method. We're not sure the new iGUGU Gamecore has a leg up on the competition, but you can't fault it for trying. The system is actually a three-fold approach to the problem: there's a 50 foot VGA cable or wireless USB method for beaming your PC video to the TV and some TV-friendly software for managing your games library, but the obvious centerpiece is the monstrous wireless controller (pictured). Bearing a slight resemblance to an Xbox 360 controller and retailing for $80, the beast packs in a trackball, d-pad, joystick, full QWERTY keyboard and six accelerometers for making a mess of just about any PC game imaginable. Seems interesting, and we'll try to give it a look here at CES, but the completely ridiculous promo video (embedded after the break) makes us think twice about taking these folks seriously.
posted January 5th 2010 12:22PM
Will MS be happy with this very much same liking controller?
@Theuntje *looking*
@Theuntje
Looks like a Xbox 360 knockoff, chatpad and all.
@Theuntje
well it is for Windows
@Theuntje
Maybe if Microsoft had released a fucking windows driver for the chatpad like they said they would, thus making they 360 controller incredibly useful for gaming/htpc they would have some justification for complaining.
@Theuntje
What are you talking about? I see no resemblance...
http://www.thegamereviews.com/userfiles/image/xbox360chatpad.JPG
@Theuntje Actually, since Microsoft also produces Windows, the leading PC-gaming platform, they probably won't mind.
Good lord that is ugly.
@Synergi It may be ugly but I find the 360 controller one of the most comfortable I have EVER used. So if they are ripping off their design I'm OK with that. Don't know if MS will be though.
"Bearing a slight resemblance to an Xbox 360 controller"
It IS a 360 controller, with a Superglued-on Chatpad and a Photoshop hackjob adding different buttons and joysticks to the thing.
@dragonfli
Yeah, seriously. It looks damn near IDENTICAL to the controller with a chatpad!
-Taylor
No!
wow - this looks like a great Media Center controller.
I like the milky-eye in the top right
*Yawn*
Just attach your choice of 360, PS3 or Wii controller to your PC and call it a day.
@reallynotnick
you can use AND instead of OR.
also a wireless keyboard+touchpad device can help control the PC output to HDTV very well as well.
hmmm i just will buy a xbox 360 controller and call it a day
Quite.. educating. Gugu-gaga!
"Bearing a slight resemblance to an Xbox 360 controller" ... *snurk*
That's an Xbox 360 controller shell, Xbox 360 thumbstick, Xbox 360 D-pad, and Xbox 360 Chatpad (with Photoshopped keys).
This is what you get when your Xbox 360 and Atari Jaguar controllers mate!
This is what happens when your Xbox 360 and Atari Jaguar controllers mate!
remember kids, your crappy old PC is still the most powerful gaming system... IN. THE. WORLD.
Ok, how do they expect anyone to take them seriously when they use a old rendering of a PS3 controller... iGUGU is dead to me...
Come on onlive!!!
lol, "clicking a spacebar"
Meh ...
I think they should have made the keyboard un-dockable for good controller play
@Dan Fruzzetti Or even wireless directly to the controller in the same way as the newfangled education tools I use do it. it's all proprietary but it all works reliably.
Microsoft is gay, if they would just release a pc driver for the chatpad ripoffs like this wouldn't exist
I am still a die-hard mouse and keyboard user. The mouse lets your turn faster and make more finite movements.
Idunno... I just never got used to thumbsticks.
@Hawk Pidgeon Which is why this controller is supposed to have a trackball.
@slaingod I really don't think a trackball would give you that genuine mouselook experience. A trackball's accuracy and range is limited by its size and, if these pictures are anything to go by, that looks like a very small trackball
@Hawk Pidgeon The real issue is for some people a mouse isn't an option (RSS/carpal tunnel), and a trackball while not as good as mouse, is still a million times better then a stick. And putting it all together on a controller is awesome.
I actually have a blog post where I address the trackball issue :P
blog.slaingod.com/articles/2008/10/15/descent-into-hell-one-mans-journey-to-find-the-perfect-game-controller
lol, anyone notice they used Tekken 6 as the example game on the PC. It's a CONSOLE exclusive.
Gosh, you mean there's finally some alternative to me having to keep tapping the space bar when i want to fire in a pc game? Sign me up.
Gosh what's "completely ridiculous" about the promo vid? It's perfectly sensible other than a little self-promotion (duh).
If this actually has a trackball in game controller format, it will be one of a kind and full of win. The Alphagrip doesn't count because you can't FPS because of the simultaneous key conflicts. This is almost as sexy to someone with RSS as the original Bodie Lobus trackball controller, which undoubtedly never saw the light of day due to patents. The only thing that would make this even cooler would be for the trackball to be exposed on both the top and the bottom of the controller. Presumably you would be able to use the XFPS-One keyboard/mouse USB adapter to have it work on a console as well.
Despite the ridiculous promo that looks like a horrible game pad design. Why are there only two buttons? What if I want to play a fighting game, I need more buttons! Are those even buttons for game play? Why is the d-pad configured for a lefty? Do you really need an analog stick and a track ball?
The concept seems cool but the execution just seems half baked, lets hope they put it back in the oven to bake for a little longer.