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.
I also didn't like the swiping, though had no problem with latency.
The swiping does make sense from one perspective - it's hard to hit an exact spot/region on your phone repeatedly without looking at it. Swiping removes the chance you're going to tap in the wrong place/wrong direction. It's a trade-off.
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.
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.
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)
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?
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).
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.
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.
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.
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 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!
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/).
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.
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
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 :)
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.
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!
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.
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.
I am an engineer at AirConsole and we are soon gonna write about some tech stuff too. We were just busy with the launch and all that stuff and wanted to let you know what we are here ;)
Edit: Just remembered that not all games are action-oriented.