The Duo Gamer comes from US peripheral maker Discovery Bay, but obviously Gameloft has also been involved in the process.
So we caught up with its business development director Alexandre Tan to find out why the French publisher decided to get involved in the scheme.
Pocket Gamer: Considering iOS devices are designed to be controlled with touch, why did you want to get involved with a company making physical controllers?
Alexandre Tan: Physical controllers provide a different gaming experience than touchscreens and are particularly suited to action and adventure games.
As a result, in line with our historic strategy of innovating and bringing to the core gamer audience new and fun gaming experience, we decided to partner on the Duo Gamer project.
How do you decide which games will be optimised for Duo Gamer and how do they need to be modified?
The main focus for Gameloft is to provide the best user experience on any platform and any configuration available to the consumers.
This was also at the forefront of our work on the Duo Gamer controller, to ensure that consumers and especially the core gamer audience wanting to play our games using the Duo Gamer would be offered the best and most integrated experience possible provided by this set up.
That's why we choose from our portfolio our action and adventure games that targets the core gamers within the large base of iPhone and iPad players.
There are lots of companies now offering gamepads that support Android games from multiple publishers. Do you think Apple is missing a trick by effectively limited iOS peripherals to a single publisher?
The market for iOS and Android gaming accessories is still in its infancy. It is hard to say how it will evolve.
We are delighted that Discovery Bay Games, the company behind the Duo Gamer, identified Gameloft as the most suitable iOS gaming publisher to partner with on this venture.
More generally, what's Gameloft's view in terms of whether tablets (with or without gamepads) will become console replacements?
While smartphones and tablets have become quickly adopted amongst a mass audience, and the technology they utilise is becoming an increasingly viable option for those looking for a console-like experience, the two types of devices still address two different gaming situations.
While consoles allow users to play in their living room on a big screen, tablets can be carried around and used at anytime, anywhere.
Thanks to Alexandre for his time.
