| Written by Mark C. Barlet, on 18-02-2008 23:45 |
| Editor's rating |
 |
|
| Average user rating |
 (1 vote) |
|
| Views |
495  |
|
|
|
 We got an inviite to the lauch party for the ZeeMote JS1, a controller for your cell phone. This solid one-handed controller had us thinking how useful this thing would be. We had a chance to talk to the CEO of ZeeMote, a real treat for AbleGamers.
Mark Barlet: I am standing here talking to Beth Marcus,
CEO of Zeemote, how are you today?
Beth Marcus: I am great, how are you?
MB: Doing well. So, we are here at the launch of your new
product, why don't you tell us a little about it?
BM: This is the Zeemote JS1 controller, the first
compact controller for mobiles, and it lets you have a console-type experience
on your mobile phone. It takes advantage of the graphics, speed and quality of
the images that are there already with what you are carrying everyday.
MB: It's a Bluetooth device correct?
BM: It's Bluetooth, yes.
MB: So this is a big party right now, I have a drink in my
hand--
BM: A Zeetini!
[It is a big red drink, the same color
as their logo and very good.]
MB: You guys are putting on a great party. What is the
market here, who is your target audience?
BM: Our target audience eventually is the world! Everything, and every platform. Our first target it the 18 to 28 year old gamer, who is
already paying for and downloading games today. Making a more engaging
experience for them to buy more games and sign up for data services, and have a
console in their pocket.
MB: Mobile gaming is pretty new to everyone at
AbleGamers because we are still trying to get PC games to work correctly. We
are still having challenges with the Wii; we are still having challenges with
Xbox 360, which is still fairly new to the market, so there are not a lot of peripherals on
it. I saw your product, a one-handed controller, very compact in form. Is the
one I saw today production-ready?
BM: This one is a step ahead of the one you
saw, which wass one step away from production, in Q2.
MB: Okay, so this one actually has the A / B button, it's a
little bit different.
[See pic below]
BM: This button is a little bit different, so you don't accidentally
touch it, like for special events. There are four assignable
buttons, and a joystick. It's an analog joystick just like you would find in
any other game platform, but it is a thumb stick, you can easily operate it.
MB: Yeah, I used it in my left and right hand, it worked
perfectly. We are a site for disabled gamers. Have you thought about how
disabled gamers approach gaming in general?
BM: No, but in my prior life, I was involved. My PhD is in
Bio-mechanics--
MB: Oh!
BM: --and so, several of my team are involved in long-term careers
that have to do with how to make everything easier for everyone, which means
disabled people as well.
MB: We have always said that if you make a game disability-friendly, everyone wins.
BM: That's right, it becomes easy and engaging for
everyone.
MB: So one of the questions we have: would you ever think about moving this device
to a PC-type device, or one that has a USB plug-in for a mouse alternative?
BM: All of that stuff is in our lab but these are not
products we are releasing yet, because it's a matter of the market driving us
to do the things you want first, and so that is why we are doing Java first.
MB: Stephanie just joined us!
[There is a story on why she
was late, if you ask nicely she may share it with you--it has to do with a
German man.]
BM: Hi.
Stephanie Walker: Hi, nice to meet you, Stephanie Walker.
BM: Nice to meet you.
MB: Do you have any questions as well?
SW: Do you plan on making the Zeemote to be used on the PC?
MB: That is what I was just asking.
BM: By the nature of what it is, it can be used, but we are
not focusing on that today, and we are not releasing that today. But, anyone
who gets an SDK can make it for whatever platform they wanted.
MB: So if I had a Bluetooth card in my PC I could pair it up.
BM: You can run some of these Java games on your PC and pair it up. This is a discoverable device on your PC.
MB: Well you are having a great party, a great Zeetini, and
some interesting swag. We wanted to thank you for your time and thank you for
the invite.
BM: My pleasure, tell your community that we are
very supportive of disabled people doing interactive things. You know if there
are developers out there developing for that community, have them sign up and
we'll support them.
MB: Thank you.
BM: My pleasure.
Recommend this article... Last update: 25-02-2008 15:36
| Published in : Disabled Gamers News, Hardware News |
| Keywords : accidentally, alternative?, discoverable, downloading, interactive, interesting, peripherals, ablegamers, assignable, challenges, |
|
|
Users' Comments (2) 
|
|
|
Way too much undie drama going on in San Fran. hehe Plus an awesome one handed controller for Mobile gaming, the Zeemote, that I have to get my hands on to do some serious testing asap. I really love that controller and the possibilities that it opens up for us.