Razer Announces Jungle Cat iOS Game Controller

[shizngiggles]

There was another post last week that someone mentioned that Razer had posted on their facebook about something new being announced June 3rd. Apparently this is it....

 

It's being priced at a whopping $99.99 and personally I don't see how they can justify that price for an attachable mobile game controller. Although it looks nice and well-built it is very expensive for a mobile accessory and I would not spend over $50 on an accessory that will still only provide a mediocre mobile gaming experience.

 

Overall, the biggest value I can see in this product is it is conveniently compact and attaches directly to the phone without really interfering with basic functionality besides making the phone a bit bigger.

 

Update: To those wondering, it unfortunately does not have a built-in battery.

 

Link to product page: http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-controllers/razer-junglecat

 

[BallGum]

I don't know, $99 is a bit steep. At the same time, it's the sort of price I expected. It's really nicely polished, so I think they should be applauded there. Reminds me if the Xperia Play.

I hope the Shield 2 has a lite version with this sort of form factor.

[shizngiggles]

I don't know, $99 is a bit steep. At the same time, it's the sort of price I expected. It's really nicely polished, so I think they should be applauded there. Reminds me if the Xperia Play.

I hope the Shield 2 has a lite version with this sort of form factor.

 

Agreed, but personally I think it's a little steep considering it's mobile gaming. I think it looks great and is probably of decent build quality but do we really need a $99 iOS game controller?

[Askew]

How many iOS games are going to work well with this?

Not many.

[BallGum]

Agreed, but personally I think it's a little steep considering it's mobile gaming. I think it looks great and is probably of decent build quality but do we really need a $99 iOS game controller?

I am probably considered a big mobile gamer, and the argument for that is pretty long.

On the one hand, good mobile games are just that; good mobile games. They use the touchscreen to their advantage and they're most certainly not casual games. (Gonna plug an article I wrote here: http://corruptedcartridge.com/pitch-mobile-gaming/ ).

On the other hand, there are a ton of developers trying to take what worked on PCs and consoles, like shooters, and bringing them to mobile. And mobile does have the power to create decent experiences. Never mind emulation. A good controller would help here.

[Heisenbleurgh]

Two of these gets you an nvidia shield. Just think about that for a moment.

[dragosudeki]

Looks like it doubles as a phone case as well. Looks quite neat, but I wouldn't get a case or something like that for my phone anyway.

[kuddlesworth9419]

A bit pointless when there are no good games on mobile phones. No kidding name one good game on a smartphone that is actually good not just good for a smartphone. Would you prefer playing games on a smartphone compared to any other platform including any Nintendo mobile platform. 

[shizngiggles]

I am probably considered a big mobile gamer, and the argument for that is pretty long.

On the one hand, good mobile games are just that; good mobile games. They use the touchscreen to their advantage and they're most certainly not casual games. (Gonna plug an article I wrote here: http://corruptedcartridge.com/pitch-mobile-gaming/ ).

On the other hand, there are a ton of developers trying to take what worked on PCs and consoles, like shooters, and bringing them to mobile. And mobile does have the power to create decent experiences. Never mind emulation. A good controller would help here.

 

Solid article! I honestly haven't been much of a mobile gamer due to the touchscreen format being a major annoyance for me and unless I am suggested to try a mobile game I find it incredibly difficult to actually find decent mobile games on the Google Play store, needing to sift through a ton of trash that borders on copyright infringement. The times that I do play games on my phone I'm usually traveling and I usually just use a bluetooth controller (moga) that cost me around $15. However, I guess if you spend a lot of time playing mobile games and you happen to have an iPhone 5 or 5S I could definitely see this being a solid buy that may actually justify the price.

[BallGum]

A bit pointless when there are no good games on mobile phones. No kidding name one good game on a smartphone that is actually good not just good for a smartphone. Would you prefer playing games on a smartphone compared to any other platform including any Nintendo mobile platform.

Let's see.

Frozen Synapse

Minecraft Pocket Edition

Terraria

Out There

Table Top Racing (once you get used to it)

Pathogen

Star Command

Trials Frontier

DarkDawn Encounters (considering it's a paid alpha, the concept is good)

[BallGum]

Solid article! I honestly haven't been much of a mobile gamer due to the touchscreen format being a major annoyance for me and unless I am suggested to try a mobile game I find it incredibly difficult to actually find decent mobile games on the Google Play store, needing to sift through a ton of trash that borders on copyright infringement. The times that I do play games on my phone I'm usually traveling and I usually just use a bluetooth controller (moga) that cost me around $15. However, I guess if you spend a lot of time playing mobile games and you happen to have an iPhone 5 or 5S I could definitely see this being a solid buy that may actually justify the price.

Thanks .

Google needs to get its s**t together. Search is incredibly broken, and they fail to out legitimately good games on the store. I write a bunch of reviews on my personal blog for the good stuff, but with the little readership I have I doubt it helps much.

I agree with you though, its probably better to either invest in a Shield if you're really serious, or a moga pad,

[TheRetiredSlave]

One of the reasons I went with an iPhone 5S instead of a big Android phone was because the 5S is hella small, which makes it easier to use with my small hands (yes, I know there are really good and small Android alternatives).. These controller accessories seem way too big to carry around because they seem too awkward to fit in my pockets and I'm not going to walk around everywhere with a bag of gaming gear. The only time I could ever see myself using one of these would be if I was at home, but if I'm at home I'd be gaming on my desktop..

 

Ehhh maybe a few months from now a company will design something like this that I would see myself buying. Until then, they seem to bulky and expensive, and don't show enough use cases..

[GamerDad]

Actually, 99$ is the cheapestlaunch price for such an add=on. Yes, others have dropped dramatically in price, but look at their cost when they launched.

[shizngiggles]

Actually, 99$ is the cheapestlaunch price for such an add=on. Yes, others have dropped dramatically in price, but look at their cost when they launched.

 

Ah yeah sorry I was also considering android device controllers which quite a few of them were cheap on launch. However, it appears most iOS controllers run anywhere from $60-100. The moga controller I purchased was around $40 when it launched, but I have an android device.

[CtW]

This brings back memories of my Xperia Play, except that phone has the layout of a full controller as well as a decent library of games that supported the controller. Like that phone, this will probably feel like a not that heavy brick in your pocket. This gets a thumbs down from me

[Kevinkt]

A bit pointless when there are no good games on mobile phones. No kidding name one good game on a smartphone that is actually good not just good for a smartphone. Would you prefer playing games on a smartphone compared to any other platform including any Nintendo mobile platform. 

I'd play gta if i had something like this for my g2.

[Misanthrope]

For once, one of this controllers doesn't looks stupid.

[JLCitadel]

Put it at 60$ and i'd buy it myself (if i had an iphone lol)

[BallGum]

You could go ape s**t and make your phone a PC, with a mouse and keyboard, and play the shooters or GTA

[hal9001]

Does it have an extra battery for charging? Can anyone confirm?

[kuddlesworth9419]

I'd play gta if i had something like this for my g2.

Would you play it long enough to warrant buying an overprices controller with good build quality. The controller is as much or more than a PC peripheral. It's even more than razer's own PC controller.

[kuddlesworth9419]

Let's see.

Frozen Synapse

Minecraft Pocket Edition

Terraria

Out There

Table Top Racing (once you get used to it)

Pathogen

Star Command

Trials Frontier

DarkDawn Encounters (considering it's a paid alpha, the concept is good)

But are they actually good games or are they just good for a mobile phone. Terraria is good though but the PC version is better. And Minecraft pocket edition is crap. There are way more Nintendo games that are better so why even bother playing games on your phone. 

[LinusTech]

Two of these gets you an nvidia shield. Just think about that for a moment.

 

this.

[BallGum]

But are they actually good games or are they just good for a mobile phone. Terraria is good though but the PC version is better. And Minecraft pocket edition is crap. There are way more Nintendo games that are better so why even bother playing games on your phone.

They are actually good games. Frozen Synapse was available on PC and won awards for strategy game of the year. Doubt it'd come to a 3DS any time soon.

It depends on what you like. "Good games" is subjective, kinda like how you said Minecraft Pocket Edition is crap, while I think it benefits hugely from being on a mobile. You're not going to get something like the last of us on a tablet, but you are going to find good stuff if you look hard enough.

[kuddlesworth9419]

They are actually good games. Frozen Synapse was available on PC and won awards for strategy game of the year. Doubt it'd come to a 3DS any time soon. It depends on what you like. "Good games" is subjective, kinda like how you said Minecraft Pocket Edition is crap, while I think it benefits hugely from being on a mobile. You're not going to get something like the last of us on a tablet, but you are going to find good stuff if you look hard enough.

Yea but the desktop version of minecraft is better. It's not opinion it just is better in every way. It's like saying a Fallout game is better on console when that simply isn't true in any way. But yea I understand that there are some good games on mobile but there really aren't enough out there to warrant spending this kind of money on a controller.