Google's attitude towards controllers is so "ruthless". Is there still hope for Android TV games?

A smooth gaming experience is inseparable from excellent game control devices. From the mouse and keyboard on PC to the touch screen and gravity sensor on mobile phones and tablets, the way people control games is constantly evolving.

As for the TV games that have become popular in China in recent times, controllers have undoubtedly become the best choice for players. This has also led to a large number of Android-based game consoles and smart TV products beginning to make great use of controllers.

However, game manufacturers’ enthusiasm for controllers does not seem to make Google, the “master” of the Android system, become friendly towards controllers.

Official technical documentation shows Google's "ruthlessness"

Although game consoles and smart TV terminals based on the Android system no longer have the product form of mobile smart devices, they are still Android devices in the final analysis, and the use of handles requires the cooperation between the peripheral itself and the Android system.

Regarding the handle, Google wrote in the latest official technical documentation:

For a joystick, reports the absolute position of the left trigger control. The value is normalized to a range from 0.0 (released) to 1.0 (fully pressed).

(This function reports the absolute position of the joystick's left trigger control. Its value is normalized to an integer ranging from 0.0 (released) to 1.0 (fully pressed).)

For a touch screen or touch pad, reports the approximate pressure applied to the surface by a finger or other tool. The value is normalized to a range from 0 (no pressure at all) to 1 (normal pressure), although values ​​higher than 1 may be generated depending on the calibration of the input device.

(This function can be used to report the approximate pressure applied to a touchscreen or trackpad by a finger or other tool pressing on the surface. The value is normalized to an integer ranging from 0 (no pressure at all) to 1 (normal pressure), but values ​​greater than 1 may be generated depending on the calibration of the input device.)

For a trackball, the value is set to 1 if the trackball button is pressed or 0 otherwise. For a mouse, the value is set to 1 if the primary mouse button is pressed or 0 otherwise.

(For a trackball, this value is set to 1 if the trackball button is pressed; otherwise, it is 0. For a mouse, this value is set to 1 if the left mouse button is pressed; otherwise, it is 0.)

Simply put, Google's feedback standard for external device buttons in the Android system is just "yes" or "no", that is, using the button to produce a response, regardless of what kind of response it is.

A button is like a power switch. There may seem to be nothing wrong with setting the buttons of gaming peripherals and controllers in this way at first glance, but in fact it greatly limits the form of button interaction.

Today's game controllers usually have a joystick and L and R buttons on the back of the controller. In traditional game consoles such as XBOX and PS, when running racing games, players can control the strength of the accelerator and brake by pressing the depth of the L and R buttons. When running ACT or FPS games, players can control the speed of the character's turning by controlling the tilt of the joystick.

But according to Google's standards, this kind of gaming experience is not possible on Android devices.

Is it time to give up on Android TV gaming?

From Android gaming devices failing to appeal enough to hardcore gamers, to Android console pioneer OUYA repeatedly being hit by bankruptcy rumors, to Google itself now limiting the use of game controllers on the Android system, has Android TV gaming really been sentenced to death?

Actually, you should think so.

First, with an estimated $33.7 billion in revenue in 2015, PC gaming remains the most profitable gaming platform, but do we have key depth or tilt on the PC? Obviously not.

Relying solely on keyboard taps and mouse clicks, gaming experts can still achieve continuous drifting on the mountain roads of Carbon Canyon in "Need for Speed ​​10", and Tencent's "dream of gun battles involving hundreds of millions of mice" has not lost its popularity.

Secondly, should the current positioning of Android platform TV games really challenge Sony and Microsoft right from the start? Not necessarily.

The openness of the Android system provides the possibility for unlimited outward extension of software and hardware. After entering the Chinese market, Microsoft XBOX ONE added the Bestone video service in an effort to become the core of living room entertainment in the smart home era. As for Android, it is naturally endowed with such attributes, and games are only one of the ways for Android consoles and smart TV products to achieve this goal. Therefore, it is far from the stage where TV games developed for the Android system need to be refined to the point where even the key travel has to be meticulous.

What's more, even if some people are looking forward to the appearance of large-scale and heavy games on the Android platform, wealthy, technologically advanced and influential manufacturers represented by NVIDIA are also actively striving to be the "first to try".

Finally, from Ice Cream Sandwich to KitKat, and then to Lollipop, the Android system itself has been constantly iterating, and the modifications and changes have become increasingly greater. Google's current "simple and crude" adaptation of the handle on the Android system does not mean that there is no possibility of change in the future.

If the industry still has enough confidence in Android-based games and TV games based on the Android system, then the 2015 Google I/O conference in the near future may be a turning point worth looking forward to.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.