Power A has two new products hitting shelves just in time for the holiday season. Both deal with Gaming Controllers, but in very different ways.
MOGA
The MOGA is a Mobile Gaming controller for Bluetooth enabled Android 2.3+ devices. It works in harmony with the MOGA pivot app to instantly connect you with the expanding library of MOGA Enhanced Games. This library will continue to grow through Power A’s work with developers and publishers to create compatible versions of their games. Upon launch, any game that will be compatible will have an update ready to let you start using this amazing device.
The MOGA is a full featured controller that has dual analog sticks, shoulder triggers and four action buttons. You are able to easily secure most, if not all, Android phones into the device with the fold out arm, but securing the device is not necessary to use the MOGA Gaming Controller (which is a relief as it is compatible with tablets as well).
As I experienced the controller first hand playing Virtua Tennis, I could help but feel how comfortable the controller felt to use. The second thing that I noticed was the response time from the controller to the game. The delay was practically non-existence with very, very responsive controls. You won’t want to put it down once you start using it, which is okay because it gets up to 16 hours of gameplay on 2 AAA batteries.
Fusion Tournament Controllers
Power A is also getting ready to release their own pro-series controllers called the Fusion Tournament Controllers. These controllers will be offered for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Power A worked very closely with professional gamers to get the ergonomics and quality of the controller perfect, and the end result really shows this well.
As compared to the traditional controller that come with plastic insides and hard plastic… well everything, these controllers are built to last. They have made everything inside the controller with metal and they offer both plastic and rubberized grips. The d-pad has been redesigned to feel more natural than the ones from the standard issued controllers. The bumpers on the Xbox controller wrap around and the triggers jut out giving a much more comfortable feel. On top of all this, the controllers are slimmer, which for me makes it easier to use the Xbox controller as it just sits better in your hands. And of course, because it is a tournament controller, it is wired. But a lot of professional gamers have issues with cable management, and many times lose any type of rubber band or wrap that comes with the controller. The neat thing about the Power A Fusion Tournament Controller is that the wrap for the wire doubles as a bracelet; so you can wrap it around your wrist when it is not wrapped around the controller.
I had the opportunity to use the Xbox version of the controller to play Halo against one of Power A’s professional gaming consultants. While I did get creamed playing the game, I did feel more confident as I was playing thanks to this very easy to use and natural feeling controller. And I could definitely tell it was built to take a beating as I tried to abuse it as much as I could during the demo (with Power A’s permission of course.
Look for both of these products to hit the retail shelves in October of 2012, just in time for the holidays.
