
AirConsole – Your browser is the game console, your smartphone is the gamepad - morgam
http://www.airconsole.com
======
Mithaldu
This is technically impressive, but as a game console falls flat for action
games. The 3 NES games i tried did acknowledge my inputs, but were unplayable
due to three factors:

    
    
        1. latency
        2. lack of tactile feedback from my phone
        3. the weird decision to have the d-pad work on a swipe
           basis instead of press&hold, which increases input
           latency even more and forbids quickly switching input direction
    

For RPGs and other turn-based games it would probably be fine.

Edit: Just remembered that not all games are action-oriented.

~~~
Lialice
I recommend trying the games that were specifically developed for AirConsole
;)

~~~
alceufc
My first impression was the same as Mithaldu, but then I tried one of the
other games and it was more responsive.

I think that the NES emulator is bad advertising for your (very nice) product.

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bob-2
My first impression: Had my volume turned up and accidentally moved my cursor
over the power button. Now I'm deaf and never coming back. I can't think of a
recent example where playing sound effects when hovering over an element has
been a good idea.

~~~
PSeitz
Yeah, except in games ...

Don't blame others for your fault.

~~~
to3m
Devices don't usually make a sound _before_ you press the power button...

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ola
I wrote something similar to this for playing NES games, just start the server
and navigate to it with a desktop and mobile and it should work out the box.

[https://github.com/olahol/greasyphone](https://github.com/olahol/greasyphone)

~~~
endergen
Me too. See Emotely/BrassMonkey products that came out of it:
[http://francoislaberge.com/blog/my-time-at-brass-
monkey/](http://francoislaberge.com/blog/my-time-at-brass-monkey/)

~~~
arcatek
And me too :) Except that it's not a server that you have to run: it's a cloud
application where you can host your games to play them later (using either
your keyboard or your smartphone as controller)

Website: [http://start9.io](http://start9.io)

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Lancey
I don't know if I'd agree with branding it as a "console". Platform might be a
better word. Console implies it's a self-contained set of hardware, which this
isn't.

Good proof of concept, probably not a good business though. What makes this
different from something like Kongregate, where I don't have to use my phone
as a controller?

------
jonnynezbo
What would be really cool is: your browser is the game console, your _gamepad_
is the gamepad.

~~~
moreati
That should be possible soon. Chrome Canary has experimental support for the
Web Bluetooth API.

[https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2015/07/interact-w...](https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2015/07/interact-
with-ble-devices-on-the-web?hl=en)

[https://webbluetoothcg.github.io/web-
bluetooth/](https://webbluetoothcg.github.io/web-bluetooth/)

~~~
aaronbasssett
Or you could always use the Gamepad API - [https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/API/Gamepad](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-
US/docs/Web/API/Gamepad)

------
SimeVidas
There is no QR code to connect the smartphone? I had to type the full URL
_and_ that code ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

------
louhike
I cannot test it now, how is the latency? It sounds like the biggest problem
you could have with this kind of technology.

~~~
Lialice
Our game servers are running on Google Cloud Compute Infrastructure. We are
running in all available datacenters to be as close to the user as possible to
reduce the latency. Sending all our commands through the cloud allows us to
make everything browser based, without any setup required, like downloading
apps, connecting bluetooth or joining specific WIFI networks. We'll try to
improve it even further later this year by introducing WebRTC.

Many of our games try to make up for the controller latency by adjusting the
position of the player to where they would have been without the lag
(Quickminds, AirShields, Hitparade).

~~~
ollysb
I'm on a 300mb fiber connection and there was zero noticeable latency, very
impressive.

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that70sshow
why no support for firefox ?? A bit of a latency but could be a network
problem. Kudos to the developers.

~~~
timgluz
I once built firefox app, that works also on firefox browser.

[https://github.com/tauho/pult](https://github.com/tauho/pult)

------
ins0
reminds me of the experiments from chrome a few years ago.

[https://chrome.com/supersyncsports/](https://chrome.com/supersyncsports/)

[https://chrome.com/racer](https://chrome.com/racer)

------
yread
None of the NES games seems to work for me they just show the first screen
(not even completeting the shade-in animation) and freeze

edit: I'm on Opera 31 and Windows phone 8.1 (I know, weird)

~~~
jarcane
It wouldn't even let me open the page on my WP8.1 phone.

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ConnorG
The Jackbox Party Pack on Xbone uses the same concept. It works well since all
of the games are trivia/word games so latency doesn't affect gameplay much.

~~~
stoplight
It also makes it easy to write a bot for it:
[https://github.com/smoak/jackbox-bot](https://github.com/smoak/jackbox-bot)

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sandworm101
A touchscreen as an NES controller? Forget the latency and touch issues. NES
controllers and game controllers generally are built like rocks compared to
touchscreens. I see fields of cracked screens. A new controller is far cheaper
than a new smartphone, making this concept a financial nightmare for users.

~~~
GrinningFool
I have to ask - what on earth would you do with a virtual d-pad and two
buttons that would cause your screen to crack?

~~~
sandworm101
Bossfights.

If you have two thumbs, two hands, wrapped around a device it doesn't take
much to break things. Phone touchscreens are built on the assumption the user
is looking at the screen, targeting an icon of some sort. I think people will
use much more force when the aren't looking at the screen, when they are
jabbing at a stationary icon/button hundreds of times during a play session.

~~~
corysama
If you manage to crack your screen by jabbing it with your thumb, I would
expect the ghost of Bruce Lee to appear and ask you to teach him your way of
kung fu. The PSI required would liquefy your thumb.

I could maybe see accidentally bending your phone with a death grip. But, even
that requires a serious strain:
[http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FwM4ypi3at0/maxresdefault.jpg](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FwM4ypi3at0/maxresdefault.jpg)

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greggman
Here's several more

HappyFunTimes [http://docs.happyfuntimes.net](http://docs.happyfuntimes.net)

Open Source. Unlike AirConsole it requires installing on a Mac/PC/Linux but
conversely it doesn't require internet at a museum/installation

Idibex [http://www.ibidex.com/](http://www.ibidex.com/) Unlike both
HappyFunTimes and AirConsole requires you to install an app on the phone

Eddie Social Committee [http://eddiessocial.com/](http://eddiessocial.com/)

------
kin
I like it, and it works for now, but there's definitely a latency issue for
some of the games. Looks like the phone and browser are connected to the
server through web sockets. I've tried something similar and I don't know if
it'll scale. Why is phone input mandatory? I get the novelty of holding a
controller but then this appeals only to console gamers.

As a side note, Apple's new Apple TV may pack enough hardware to run its own
games, w/ the phone as a potential medium for a controller, so it'll be a
tough space!

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talldan
This worked pretty well, and good to see an API is available. I work for a
company called Kahoot!, and we have a very similar approach for our learning
games ([https://getkahoot.com/](https://getkahoot.com/)).

I've noticed the company behind this is called n-dream - it looks like there's
no relation to the games company nDreams, though a very similar name.

~~~
NegatioN
Are all development-positions for Kahoot based in Norway, or am I misinformed
on this?

~~~
talldan
We're also hiring in London, and for a few roles in Austin.

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samjc
This is awesome, had the same idea not too long ago. Was about to start a
kickstarter campaign based on it, until life got in the way. Here's the
prototype we built if anyone wants to mess around with it:
[https://github.com/SCastaneda/swipe-
prototype](https://github.com/SCastaneda/swipe-prototype)

------
r4pha
Nicely done! I wrote a small app to connect phone <-> computer and use it to
control your mouse and keyboard. I've been having an extremely hard time
getting users. It might be asking too much, but I would really love if you
guys could share some numbers :)

Great work!

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ganessh
Would really love it if it has some single player games. Currently, I start a
game and wait for minutes for other players to join but never find them.

Couldn't play a single game in the past 30 minutes

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leuu
Was able to pair fine but when the game started my phone went to the lock
screen, then the screen went want and only way for it to respond was to reset.

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fataliss
Impressively smooth. I'll spend more time messing around with it. One more
reason to plug a Raspberry Pi to your TV!

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titfn
I've seen Google do this a year or 2 ago... don't have the link handy though

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PSeitz
this works impressively well

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iagooar
Are you guys hiring in Zurich? Sounds like an amazing project.

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jheriko
the sudden fullscreen on pressing the button can be a bit terrifying for entry
level users...

neat though.

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camhenlin
Really a very cool idea

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morgam
Your browser is the game console. Your smartphone is the gamepad. AirConsole
is FREE!

It's time to round up your friends for the latest multiplayer action. We're
launching AirConsole with six awesome games: Hit Parade, Tic Tac Boom,
PolyRacer, AirShields, QuickMinds and PadPoker. Check it out!

~~~
iagooar
You should learn that on HN you don't need marketing speech to get your
message delivered.

You could try giving some insight about the technical stack you are using,
challenges you have been facing and things that are more appealing to
technical people.

~~~
Lialice
AirConsole game developer here - A colleague and I made a game called Hit
Parade which you'll find in the store. We work with Unity 3D, using it's webGL
export. One challenge for me personally was optimising the game enough so it
would run smoothly even on older computers.

~~~
morgam
Here is the link to our developers page:
[http://developers.airconsole.com/#/](http://developers.airconsole.com/#/)

