You’ve got a powerful processor chucking out 2.26GHz of quad core muscle and 2006-class desktop graphics performance. You’ve got a glorious and amazing full HD 1920×1080 display at your disposal. You’ve got an app ecosystem that is so developed and vibrant that even top console titles like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Final Fantasy IV is in it. And you’ve got all this in a miniscule little smartphone that is miraculously pocketable. But the moment you try and game on that powerhouse wonder-device, a hugely unexpected sense of underwhelming-ness kicks in. Why is that so?
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| What’s wrong with gaming on mobile phones? |
You guessed it. It’s because of those dang touch screen controls.
Everybody hates touch screen controls for games that are not casual games i.e GTA, NOVA, Modern Combat, etcetera – there is simply no substitute for the gamepad/keyboard when it comes to gaming. But, there lies the inherent issue, there is no substitute for the touch screen in mobile games. Until the MOGA Pro, that is. The MOGA Pro is a wireless gamepad, controller if you will, for Android phones and tablets. It’s selection of compatible games is nothing less than spectacular – almost every big name game, and even indie games, release fresh from the oven with support for PowerA’s MOGA gamepads. In fact, to convince you that what I am saying is true, here is a incomplete list of the big name games that have been released with support for the MOGA gamepads:
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Galaxy on Fire 2
- Asphalt 8: Airborne
- Ravensword: Shadowlands
- N.O.V.A 3: Near Orbit
- Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation
- Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour
- Gangstar Vegas
- Real Boxing
- The Bard’s Tale
- Angry Birds Go!
- Call of Duty: Strike Team
- Respawnables
- Bastion
- and more…
That’s only a few of 240 games that have been advertised on PowerA’s mogaanywhere.com. Add that to the hundreds of unofficially supported games that are not advertised on PowerA’s webpage and you have a mobile gaming beast.
Value
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| A copy of N.O.V.A 3 and PAC MAN is a freebie with every MOGA Pro! |
PowerA’s lineup of Android MOGA gamepads is as follows: MOGA Pocket, MOGA Pro, MOGA HERO POWER and the MOGA PRO POWER. The MOGA Pro is the most popular of the four MOGAs as it is pretty affordable at just 50USD or 99SGD and with all the features you’d expect from a gamepad – a directional pad, two analog thumbsticks with good tactility and index buttons (L1,L2,R1,R2), it is the one that offers the most value for your money. The MOGA Pro also comes with two paid games that PowerA has kindly sponsored with every purchase of the MOGA Pro: N.O.V.A 3 and Namco Bandai’s Pac Man which in total is an $8.99 value!
Hardware and Operability
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| The extended clip |
As I just wrote just now, the MOGA Pro with its dual analog thumbsticks, directional pad, index buttons, start select buttons and a rather grippy um… grip, really is a console controller which connects to a smartphone. Of course, the MOGA Pro isn’t just a controller, that would be plain stupid – where would you hold your phone then? The MOGA Pro has a little “centerpiece” that flips about 150 degrees out. This “centerpiece” is a telescopic arm, or a clip as termed by PowerA, that holds your phone steadily – just extend the arm, place your phone in and snap it back to place. A simple and elegant, if not downright cool, solution to holding your phone in place to game effortlessly. There is however, one downside to a flipping telescopic arm, it snaps to one angle and only one angle and that angle is just slightly too vertical for my liking. Ideally, it should flip out to about 160 degrees as that is the optimum viewing angle while holding the controller. But anyway, the clip is extremely serviceable for its purpose despite its slightly less than optimal angle.
Setting up your MOGA Pro for the first time will require some patience and a cuppa coffee, or a stress ball should you attempt to pull your hair in frustration, You are required to download the MOGA Pivot app from the Google Play Store which allows you to seamlessly connect to the MOGA controllers. Just launch the app and follow the instructions on screen to connect your MOGA Pro to your device. It all works as advertised but, the waiting times for the MOGA Pivot app to recognize your MOGA Pro is intolerable – a whole minute at times. For a bloody input device to take one minute just to be recognized by the device and another 15s to connect is unacceptable. My first time setting up the MOGA Pro took 15 minutes as I thought my Nexus 4 was faulty due to the excessively long connection times.
Once it is connected, you can use the MOGA Pro to browse through the MOGA Pivot app that contains the decently sized collection of MOGA optimized games. One interesting thing to note about the MOGA Pro is that it has two modes for operation, Mode A and Mode B where Mode A makes the MOGA Pro work like a MOGA Pro and Mode B makes the MOGA Pro work like HID-compliant (Human Interface Device) USB gamepad. This enables games that work with USB gamepads (pre-MOGA games) to work with the MOGA Pro, enhancing game compatibility.
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| San Andreas works like a peach with the MOGA Pro |
You can already tell that I love the MOGA Pro to bits. I certainly do. I do love it to bits, no, TO THE WORLDS END!
Moving away from the operability of the MOGA Pro, lets take a look at the build quality and design of it. Sporting a matte black plastic shell with rubberized grips and a curvaceous but handsome look, it certainly won’t look out of place even with a HTC One or a Nexus 5/4 mounted on the clip. If design influences your purchase more than the usability, the MOGA Pro won’t let you down. It even comes with backlighting for the action buttons so you can game in the dark! The heft of the MOGA Pro is comparable to the PlayStation Dualshock controllers and the build quality is quite similar to a Dualshock as well.
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| A lovely piece of design |
Final Words
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Just one thing to note, if you have a Galaxy Note 3/Mega or a Sony Xperia Z Ultra, it may or may not fit the clip. Make sure to measure the width of your phone to find out if it can fit the MOGA Pro’s clip (MOGA Pro’s clip fits phones up to 3.2 inches wide) The MOGA Pro’s clip works well with almost every other phone including the Galaxy S3/S4, HTC One, One X/S, Sony Xperia Z/Z1/ZL/ZR, etcetera, basically every phone with a display size of under 5.5 inches. And if you have a tablet or a device that can’t fit the clip, you can opt to use the included tablet stand which is a very nice addition.
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| The included tablet stand |
All in all, if you game a lot on your phone or tablet, you do deserve to splurge on a MOGA Pro. Go, treat yourself this Christmas to a sexy MOGA Pro. You won’t regret it.
LINKS
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if you are like me and reside in a country that Amazon doesn’t ship to, go browse around your local tech forums. I bought my personal MOGA Pro from Uniqueful in Singapore. Little shoutout to the guy who sold it to me, you’re a champ! Thanks for bringing it down to a convenient location
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