The GameSir G6s gaming controller for mobile devices is there for all those times when your gaming on the go needs more than just a touchscreen.
What’s this mobile gaming thing all about anyway?..
The rise of mobile gaming is more than just people playing Candy Crush on their commute. With games like Fortnite available on mobile devices, these now being powerful enough to cope with the gameplay, the market is definitely there and increasingly expanding.
What devices like the GameSir G6s provide, is a set of physical controls for these games, allowing the player finer control than they would get with just a touchscreen. Along with something more substantial to hold.
Why would I need an extra controller?
The short answer is, if you’ve ever tried playing games on your phone that require any degree of fine control, you’ll know already! 🙂
Personally, I’ve always found playing games with just a touchscreen a frustrating experience. Having both an original PSP and PS Vita, physical controls are the way to go for the best experience. Even attempting something Super Mario Bros in RetroArch can be a bit hit and miss if your fingers keep sliding over where the on-screen virtual controls are supposed to be and you get eaten by a plant at an important moment…
So this is where something like the GameSir S6s is most useful.
It pairs to your device over bluetooth and is recognised as a ‘input’ device.
Then, depending upon whether your target application supports the default settings, you may or may not be required to download/install the “G-Crux” app that will allow you to customise the settings for the gamepad, and also upgrade its firmware. As long as you’re comfortable downloading an apk (at least for me, being on Android) from China onto your mobile device… 😉
When updating the device, it’s best to keep it plugged in, as they seem to have a habit of turning themselves off.
Once this is all set up, you can customise the stick/buttons for general usage or remap for specific app’s. Then you’re all set to get your game on!
Or it would be if I could actually get the thing to work!
At the time I bought the device, I thought it’d be a good idea to buy two, as this was via indiegogo. Right now, I’ve only really been able to connect them to my phone, but that’s it.
For the one that connects, I’ve not been able to get it to recognise or be recognised by any of the ‘gaming’ apps that I have installed. But then maybe it isn’t supposed to work with RetroArch or Mame4Droid?? I don’t know…
Basically it’s not terribly user friendly.
To be honest, the G-Crux app that you have to download from their site in China seems a bit off in the way you are supposed to be able to configure custom profiles.
Instead of map button to virtual ‘key’ – which would be the obvious choice for someone like me – it gives you a big long list of functions such as “Float when swimming” and “Trumpet” that you are then supposed to map to the physical buttons.
So really, WTF???
I get the impression that it’s really only meant for mobile gaming with games that are designed for it natively like Fortnite & Minecraft.
It’s also suggested that you can connect it to other devices or operating systems. For my NVidia ShieldTV, I’ve not been able to get it to connect. For Windows, it’ll pair over BlueTooth, but attempting to use it in Quake2 RTX isn’t terribly successful.
So maybe it’s not really for people like me…
But if you think it’s the one for you:
Available at amazon.co.uk £36.99