Neil Hughes
Horipad Ultimate, a new Apple-licensed gaming controller for both iOS and the fourth-generation Apple TV, is now available for purchase, sporting a built-in Lightning port for recharging its internal battery.
As of Friday, the Horipad Ultimate is only available for purchase direct from Apple priced at $49.95. New orders are advertised to ship in one to two business days.
The Horipad Ultimate has the distinction of being the second-ever controller to feature recharge capabilities via Apple's Lightning cable. The first was the SteelSeries Nimbus, which debuted last month alongside the new Apple TV.
Like the SteelSeries Nimbus, the Horipad Ultimate appears best suited for Apple TV and iPad games, as the controller lacks any sort of clamp to hold an iPhone for gaming on the go. Both offerings from Horipad and SteelSeries also hit the same $50 price point, which is half of what the first iOS-compatible gaming controllers cost when support launched with iOS 7.
The Horipad Ultimate is a fully-featured gaming controller featuring dual analog sticks, four face buttons, four shoulder buttons, and a D-Pad. It connects to an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV or Mac via Bluetooth.
The controller does not ship with a Lightning cable, but users can rely on the cable that ships with any new iPhone, iPad or fourth-generation Apple TV to recharge the device.
Manufacturer Hori advertises a battery life of about 80 hours for the Horipad Ultimate. Time to recharge the accessory is listed at 2.5 to 3.5 hours. The controller requires iOS 7, tvOS 9, or Mac OS X 10.9 or later.
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37 Comments
I see they're keeping the theme going on the ugliness side of things.
[quote name="sog35" url="/t/190150/horipad-ultimate-is-the-second-lightning-rechargeable-game-controller-for-ios-apple-tv#post_2806215"] no gamer cares how the controllers look, just how they play. [/quote] Hardly! Do you have a teen to mid 20's son or relative? Ask 'em yourself.
no gamer cares how the controllers look, just how they play.
That is untrue. This thing looks cheap and looks crap. Did you ever hear a serious gamer talk about controllers? Listen to John Siracusa discuss controllers at length in the second latest episode of ATP.
"I'll wait for the second generation." /s
[quote name="sog35" url="/t/190150/horipad-ultimate-is-the-second-lightning-rechargeable-game-controller-for-ios-apple-tv#post_2806215"] no gamer cares how the controllers look, just how they play. [/quote] The quality of the buttons, the springiness of the analog triggers, the "dead zone" in the analog sticks, general shape and battery life are all more important.