Hands on with the Zeemote JS1 controller

We've been writing about the innovative Zeemote JS1 joystick for several months now, without ever really getting quality time using it, other than a few goes at trade shows.

Well, that's changed now. I've spent this afternoon playing a bunch of games with a Zeemote, to see how it performs and draw some early conclusions.

If you haven't heard of it, the Zeemote is a Bluetooth joystick that looks a lot like one of the nunchuk controllers for Nintendo's Wii console. It's got an analog nubbin on the top and a button to turn it on, and then three buttons on the underside: 'A', 'B' and 'C'.

The device feels comfortable in the hand, with a weight that's just about right. Meanwhile, its size means it can slip into your jeans pocket alongside your mobile, although I'm a bit worried about that analog stick getting bashed around too much. Only time will tell if it's robust enough, of course.

The pairing process is niftily handled whenever you start a Zeemote-capable game. You're asked if you want to connect the controller, click 'Yes', and it connects automatically. Job done.

Nine games were preloaded on the Sony Ericsson K810i that I was sent to test. ZeeWalls is a pretty basic Breakout clone developed in-house at Zeemote.

It has the feel of a technical demo, but at least shows that the Zeemote would work well with a more whizzy example of the genre, like Block Breaker Deluxe 2.

Sonic The Hedgehog Part I and Tomb Raider: Anniversary have both been made Zeemote-capable, as have Fishlabs' Heli Strike and Planet Riders.

Playing these four titles proves the Zeemote's main strength for action games in which you have to move and do something else (shoot, usually) at the same time.

There's no noticeable lag, and it really is an advantage playing using the Zeemote rather than the phone keypad. Meanwhile, Finblade's BMW Racing also showed the Zeemote's suitability for driving games, providing a more intuitive steering mechanism.

However, a couple of other games – Player X's GuitarStar and Vivendi/Finblade's Pub Darts 180 – showed that for games designed for simple keypad controls, the Zeemote doesn't provide much of a benefit.

For example, on a normal phone, GuitarStar involves pressing up, down, left and right in rhythm (well, '2', '8', '4' and '6'). There's no advantage in doing this with an analogue stick. Indeed, it's possibly a bit less snappy.

As for Pub Darts 180, it was originally designed to just use one button for throwing, so there's no benefit at all using the Zeemote.

That's not Zeemote's fault, of course, but it does show that we shouldn't get carried away – using the controller will only make a clear difference for certain kinds of game.

The final game on our test handset was Small Arms Mobile, a game from Reaxion that I hadn't seen before, although it's based on an Xbox Live Arcade title called Small Arms.

Anyway, the mobile version is marvellous. It involves running around 2D platforms shooting the bejaysus out of an opponent, while picking up extra weapons. This video shows a taster. There are online options, too, including multiplayer.

In fact, it brings back strong memories of Fatal Force: Earth Assault, which we recently inducted into our mobile Hall of Fame.

Anyway, Small Arms Mobile shows the strengths and weaknesses of the Zeemote. The strength is that you can run and shoot at the same time easily, which is crucial for this particular game.

However, the weakness comes with moves requiring a 'double tap', such as tapping up twice for a big jump, or right twice to run. An analogue stick isn't ideal for this sort of thing.

Although then I remembered that you can still use the keypad of your phone with your left hand while clutching the Zeemote in your right, allowing you to handle some actions with traditional key presses.

So, what's the upshot of this ramble through a bunch of Zeemote-capable games? Well, the controller works well – something we knew from previous experience.

On certain types of games, it definitely makes the experience of playing better, but that doesn't apply across the board. Which is why we say we should be wary of getting too carried away with its innovation.

Don't forget, either, that developers will be adding Zeemote support into their existing mobile games designed for keypads, rather than creating entirely new titles that require it. So in that sense, it's not going to have the same impact on mobile gaming that, say, the Wiimote has had in home console land.

Still, getting a proper hands-on with Zeemote has reinforced my view that a) I want one when it officially goes on sale, and b) I hope it gets real traction amongst publishers and developers, including the biggest mobile games companies.

Roll on the launch! And hopefully a UK release for Small Arms Mobile, too.