Apple Working With Companies To Make Third-Party Game Controllers For IDevices

During a 45-minute presentation at WWDC on Tuesday, Apple essentially committed to supporting third-party game controllers for iDevices. The company announced that it was working with both Logitech and Moga on game controllers to work with iOS games.

The presentation included many different subjects, from frameworks for apps to allow controllers, to even hardware mockups of what ideal controllers may look like. The company offered up two different hardware designs for controllers.

The first, being called a “form fitting” controller is one that is actually made to fit around an iPhone or iPod Touch. The device fits in the middle, with a D-Pad on the left, and the gaming buttons on the right side.

The second type of hardware described by Apple is a “stand alone” controller, which would not have any physical attachment to the device, but would work through wireless connections such as Bluetooth.

This design offers the same buttons as the form fitting controller, just much closer together due to the lack of iDevice in the middle of the controller. The stand alone controller also offers player indicator lights, pointing to multiplayer games similar to those found on full game consoles such as the Xbox 360, PS3, or Wii.

For gamers, this is great news because it shows that the Cupertino firm is supporting the gaming culture for iDevices and is attempting to help third-party manufacturers make quality controllers. The presenters at WWDC also mentioned that controller specifications and APIs will be available by the official iOS 7 launch this coming Fall.

What do you think about Apple’s dedication to gaming? Are you happy to see the company standing behind the gaming culture? Leave a comment below and let us know.