What about the Mac?
It’s not just iOS 7 that got an official controller framework – the Mac did, too. Except, where are the all the games and controllers?
pple’s game controller framework supports OS X as well as iOS 7, yet there’s no support from Mac developers, and no controllers being released for the Mac. You might assume that the Bluetooth wireless controllers that work with iOS 7 would work with Mac, but that’s not neccessarily the case – at least for the early ones. The SteelSeries Stratus doesn’t, and the Signal RP1 won’t.
Exactly why these controllers aren’t compatible remains something of a mystery, with manufacturers cagey on details. “It’s actually a function at the OS level,” says Olsen. Prince adds, “What I can tell you is that the Bluetooth protocol is a little bit different for iOS and for OS X. You’re basically talking about creating a dualmode device. Right now, there is no Apple guideline for creating such a device.”
Even though these current controllers wouldn’t work, manufacturers could create a Mac-specific model – but they aren’t keen.
“The market for controllers in the PC world is relatively small. The market for controllers in the Mac world is even smaller,” explains Szubski.
Of course, things can always change. “We’d love to do it, all we need is a little bit of visibility on what Apple plans to do for that ecosystem, just as they’ve provided visibility for the iOS ecosystem,” says Prince. “A very similar statement on the Mac side would open up the floodgates.”
ASteelSeries, at least, seems interested – but only later. “I think it will happen, and we’re enthusiastic Mac users as well as other platforms at SteelSeries,” says Olsen. Part of the problem is there is not much incentive for manufacturers to start making them – unlike iOS, developers aren’t clamouring to add support to their games, especially given that no manufacturer is making them – but then, why would a manufacturer commit to making them if no games will support them?
Perhaps the biggest issue with getting developers interested lies herein: most Mac games are cross-platform, also launching on consoles, meaning that they’ve already been optimised for certain controller setups – and it’s the simple case that Apple’s controller spec are missing a few buttons.
Most Mac games are cross-platform, so they’ve already been optimised for certain controller
setups
“If you look at the Xbox and PlayStation, they have exactly the same number of buttons, analogue sticks and so on,” explains Edwin Smith, senior producer at Feral Interactive. This means that games are designed for a certain number for buttons, and use all of them. “Compared to consoles, even the advanced, extended profile doesn’t have as many buttons as most top-tier games expect,” Smith says. Apple’s controllers lack buttons on the analogue sticks, a second ’pause’-type button, and the style of analogue shoulder buttons will be different. It means that, for many big-name games, using Apple’s controllers just wouldn’t be an option.
“We’d have to come up with some kind of solution where you could play most of it on the pad, but sometimes press a button on the keyboard or the mouse,” say Smith. “Most of the time that makes it hard to play, and not worth it.”
On top of all that, unlike iOS, gamepads aren’t a novelty on Mac. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gamepads both work with many games, and soon Valve, the company behind the Steam game service, will be releasing a pad that will work with all Steam games. However, Smith thinks even a high level of compatibility like that won’t make it the most popular gamepad option for Mac. “If you ask me, the new king will be the PlayStation 4 pad,” he says. “The PlayStation 4 is looking like it’s going to be popular. If you’ve already got a PS4, you can just use your controller with the Mac.”