I try to ghetto up a gaming smartphone with the magic of 3D printing. (Once again, a junky old Makergear Prusa Mendel spitting out PLA.)
Originally shared by Sean Bires (Renzu)
XPERIA PLAY REBIRTH
The state of smartphone gaming is deplorable. Nobody makes phones for gaming, and therefore the software market offers little more than insidious puzzle game shovelware. In 2011, Sony slapped physical gaming controls on a mediocre Android slider. It was automatically the best gaming phone of all time. I activated an international version on US T-Mo, sacrificing 3G for the ability to play emulated Mario 64 and Neo Geo on the go.
Sony never released a new version. With a 3D printer and the smallest, flattest controller I could find (the “iMpulse”), I attempted to make a pocketable gaming phone.
1. It’s coat / cargo / khaki pocketable. Jeans are difficult, so this is my winter time phone.
2. The ergonomics of backside controls aren’t great. Wipeout Pulse and Katamari are doable, but Mega Man and Neo Geo is asking too much. Also I wish my phone was a little smaller.
A backside controller was the only solution I could come up with that was sufficiently durable and pocketable. Other solutions like side controls would take a much thicker, large-margin “skin” to safely hold up the phone. At that point, I could just buy one of those clamp-based giant controllers that are already widely available.
Another design I considered was a Zeemote in each hand, like a Razr Edge, but I’d want a much smaller phone for that!
3. I suddenly really care about phone performance. PSP emulation is decent (but with stutters & slowdowns) on the Note II. Usable Wii/Gamecube emulation will arrive someday soon, but for now I want to explore the PSP / Nintendo DS catalog.
4. Phone makers have completely retreated from physical controls. The Motorola Droid, the only flagship phone with an actually good hardware keyboard, is a Verizon exclusive (ugh) and hasn’t been updated in nearly two years. A friend of mine plays Mega Man decently on his Droid 4 though… That’s how good its keyboard is.
Motorola’s “Project Ara” is my next best hope for a gaming phone. I can already picture modules that add controls.
5. I haven’t “field tested” this setup yet.
