4 ms·

Google need to open source and unlock the controllers - otherwise they just created a mountain of e-waste.

by snthd 4y ago

sphars 4y ago
I agree, I have the controller and it's pretty decent ergonomics-wise for me. Just hate that I have to use it wired if I want to use it for other PC games.
Grazester 4y ago
This! I would love this!
rocky1138 4y ago
They aren't just regular old Bluetooth?
- lokar 4y ago
  Wifi
- shadowgovt 4y ago
  They're WiFi, I believe.
  - Hamuko 4y ago
    If I remember correctly, they do have Bluetooth hardware inside them but I think it might only be used for pairing. Not sure if someone could hack it to work via Bluetooth as well. Of course, USB remains an option. EDIT: Yup, official Google Store specs list "Bluetooth" and "Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4.2".
- sphars 4y ago
  They have bluetooth and wi-fi hardware but currently locked and can't be used outside of Stadia. Wired USB works as a normal controller though.
- waltbosz 4y ago
  A friend gave me a Amazon Luna controller he didn't want. I was pleasantly surprised that the controller synced via BT. I was able to play non-Luna FireTV games with no problems. It even worked without the Luna software installed on my FireTV Stick (I don't recommend you buy a FireTV stick, nor any FireTV product really). The concept of the Luna software is interesting: Cloud streamed HD gaming on low-end hardware. Game play was really responsive. Very little video artifacts. But like all other FireTV products, the UX was geared towards sales, not user ergonomics. I plan to uninstall the Luna app and just play the few FireTV games that I have. Sadly Alto's Adventure is too resource intense for my FireTV Stick.
- 0x457 4y ago
  No, that how google was able to achieve better latency and allowed using it on Chromecast devices. The controller has Bluetooth used only for setting it up, from there it's Wi-Fi that used to send input directly to the cloud instead of "BT to showing the stream and then to the cloud". I wish they enable Bluetooth for it because it's an excellent controller. I use it to play Halo on xCloud via iPad...
  - SV_BubbleTime 4y ago
    >I wish they enable Bluetooth for it because it's an excellent controller. I use it to play Halo on xCloud via iPad... He's too dangerous to allow to live.
    - 0x457 4y ago
      haha, I know it's very cursed setup.
gpt5 4y ago
They can be used over USB
tpmx 4y ago
There must be several thousands of them!
MrWiffles 4y ago
You know, this gave me an idea: I'd love to see legislation that states that when a company the size of Google, Microsoft, etc. launches a product like this, then kills it off, that they MUST open source the proprietary parts inside of it. Not just for hardware like controller firmware etc. but also for software they used to create it. Obviously the games themselves in the case are IP owned by other firms so that would be exempt, but I think this would go a long way to forcing companies to stick it out with supporting products and customers they create over longer periods of time or not launch things flippantly in the first place.
- onion2k 4y ago
  they MUST open source the proprietary parts inside of it This would have no impact on anything. If they had to share IP after shutting it down they'd just restructure the business so that Stadia licensed IP from Google Streaming Gaming Technology LLP, and do the all the real work in that absolutely-definitely-a-separate-company-look-the-logo-is-a-different-shape part of Alphabet instead.
  - MrWiffles 4y ago
    Eh, there's probably ways to mitigate that from a legislative point of view. The point of this was to make the act of shutting products down all willy-nilly like this less attractive, and if they keep doing it at least the world at large gets a little something out of it. But you're not wrong in pointing out they'll do everything they can to sidestep accountability and screw the little guy, either. I'm just hoping there's some way we can make that more trouble than it's worth.
    - bogwog 4y ago
      Maybe it would work if it was based on the production volume and product category, not the size of the company. Not sure how the IP thing would work, but making it possible to reuse/recycle electronics that would otherwise end up in a landfill due to no other reason than software locks is a good idea. But forcing a company to relinquish its intellectual property just because they're successful seems counter-intuitive. Maybe they just need to make it possible to install alternative firmware (whether or not it exists) in a reasonable way for no additional cost.
PAPPPmAc 4y ago
I got one of the free promotional Controller + Chrome Cast Ultra "Premier Edition" bundles they were seeding to YouTube Premium customers out of sheer curiosity. I tried it for the free month, and hadn't taken the controller out of its box since (I do get a fair amount of use out of the Chromecast). The whole system is a _staggering_ technological achievement of (unnecessary) complexity getting a pile of devices closely synchronized over the network with ... absolutely no realistic use case. I just dug the controller out, it does work wired as a USB-C HID1.1 Gamepad device (18D1:9400). 2 analog sticks, 2 analog triggers, 15 buttons (including pressed/not pressed for the analog triggers), and an analog alias for the D-Pad (just returns min/max when pressed). Doesn't look like the 3.5mm headphone jack does anything when connected via USB, I'm not seeing a bonus audio device or anything. It doesn't look like it presents as a normal Bluetooth controller (by testing or by the docs https://support.google.com/stadia/answer/9338851?hl=en https://support.google.com/stadia/answer/9338851?hl=en ), I think the weird hybrid WiFi for comms/Bluetooth for pairing thing they did would require some hacking and/or published specs to use it wirelessly with anything other than a Stadia setup - or for Google to politely release a firmware update to enable normal BT controller behavior since they imply it's possible. They are apparently pretty nasty to get apart ( https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Google_Stadia_Controller https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Google_Stadia_Controller ) for physical tampering, though there is a fairly substantial computer system in it http://en.techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Google_Stadia_(H2B) http://en.techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Google_Stadia_(H2... . It's actually a pretty comfortable controller, but it just became an amusing collectors item so I think mine will continue to sit in its box.
- icelancer 4y ago
  It's a great controller, you're right! Very comfortable and my goto on emulators. I also looked into the weird WiFi/Bluetooth hybrid protocol stack. It's really impressive, and as far as I know, not jailbroken. Also massively overengineered. They tried really hard with Stadia, at least at the hardware and streaming level. It's just that no one wanted it. They are before their time; PS Plus and GeForce Go are seeing adoption for streaming games. I bet it'll be popular in 3-5 years, maybe sooner. It's just that Google isn't a reliable carrier for this service, and they don't have enough patience.

Google need to open source and unlock the controllers - otherwise they just created a mountain of e-waste.

by snthd 4y ago

Google need to open source and unlock the controllers - otherwise they just created a mountain of e-waste.

I agree, I have the controller and it's pretty decent ergonomics-wise for me. Just hate that I have to use it wired if I want to use it for other PC games.

Grazester 4y ago

This! I would love this!

rocky1138 4y ago

They aren't just regular old Bluetooth?

lokar 4y ago
Wifi
shadowgovt 4y ago
They're WiFi, I believe.
- Hamuko 4y ago
  If I remember correctly, they do have Bluetooth hardware inside them but I think it might only be used for pairing. Not sure if someone could hack it to work via Bluetooth as well. Of course, USB remains an option. EDIT: Yup, official Google Store specs list "Bluetooth" and "Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4.2".
sphars 4y ago
They have bluetooth and wi-fi hardware but currently locked and can't be used outside of Stadia. Wired USB works as a normal controller though.
waltbosz 4y ago
A friend gave me a Amazon Luna controller he didn't want. I was pleasantly surprised that the controller synced via BT. I was able to play non-Luna FireTV games with no problems. It even worked without the Luna software installed on my FireTV Stick (I don't recommend you buy a FireTV stick, nor any FireTV product really). The concept of the Luna software is interesting: Cloud streamed HD gaming on low-end hardware. Game play was really responsive. Very little video artifacts. But like all other FireTV products, the UX was geared towards sales, not user ergonomics. I plan to uninstall the Luna app and just play the few FireTV games that I have. Sadly Alto's Adventure is too resource intense for my FireTV Stick.
0x457 4y ago
No, that how google was able to achieve better latency and allowed using it on Chromecast devices. The controller has Bluetooth used only for setting it up, from there it's Wi-Fi that used to send input directly to the cloud instead of "BT to showing the stream and then to the cloud". I wish they enable Bluetooth for it because it's an excellent controller. I use it to play Halo on xCloud via iPad...
- SV_BubbleTime 4y ago
  >I wish they enable Bluetooth for it because it's an excellent controller. I use it to play Halo on xCloud via iPad... He's too dangerous to allow to live.
  - 0x457 4y ago
    haha, I know it's very cursed setup.

gpt5 4y ago

They can be used over USB

tpmx 4y ago

There must be several thousands of them!

MrWiffles 4y ago

You know, this gave me an idea: I'd love to see legislation that states that when a company the size of Google, Microsoft, etc. launches a product like this, then kills it off, that they MUST open source the proprietary parts inside of it. Not just for hardware like controller firmware etc. but also for software they used to create it. Obviously the games themselves in the case are IP owned by other firms so that would be exempt, but I think this would go a long way to forcing companies to stick it out with supporting products and customers they create over longer periods of time or not launch things flippantly in the first place.

onion2k 4y ago
they MUST open source the proprietary parts inside of it This would have no impact on anything. If they had to share IP after shutting it down they'd just restructure the business so that Stadia licensed IP from Google Streaming Gaming Technology LLP, and do the all the real work in that absolutely-definitely-a-separate-company-look-the-logo-is-a-different-shape part of Alphabet instead.
- MrWiffles 4y ago
  Eh, there's probably ways to mitigate that from a legislative point of view. The point of this was to make the act of shutting products down all willy-nilly like this less attractive, and if they keep doing it at least the world at large gets a little something out of it. But you're not wrong in pointing out they'll do everything they can to sidestep accountability and screw the little guy, either. I'm just hoping there's some way we can make that more trouble than it's worth.
  - bogwog 4y ago
    Maybe it would work if it was based on the production volume and product category, not the size of the company. Not sure how the IP thing would work, but making it possible to reuse/recycle electronics that would otherwise end up in a landfill due to no other reason than software locks is a good idea. But forcing a company to relinquish its intellectual property just because they're successful seems counter-intuitive. Maybe they just need to make it possible to install alternative firmware (whether or not it exists) in a reasonable way for no additional cost.

PAPPPmAc 4y ago

I got one of the free promotional Controller + Chrome Cast Ultra "Premier Edition" bundles they were seeding to YouTube Premium customers out of sheer curiosity. I tried it for the free month, and hadn't taken the controller out of its box since (I do get a fair amount of use out of the Chromecast). The whole system is a _staggering_ technological achievement of (unnecessary) complexity getting a pile of devices closely synchronized over the network with ... absolutely no realistic use case. I just dug the controller out, it does work wired as a USB-C HID1.1 Gamepad device (18D1:9400). 2 analog sticks, 2 analog triggers, 15 buttons (including pressed/not pressed for the analog triggers), and an analog alias for the D-Pad (just returns min/max when pressed). Doesn't look like the 3.5mm headphone jack does anything when connected via USB, I'm not seeing a bonus audio device or anything. It doesn't look like it presents as a normal Bluetooth controller (by testing or by the docs https://support.google.com/stadia/answer/9338851?hl=en https://support.google.com/stadia/answer/9338851?hl=en ), I think the weird hybrid WiFi for comms/Bluetooth for pairing thing they did would require some hacking and/or published specs to use it wirelessly with anything other than a Stadia setup - or for Google to politely release a firmware update to enable normal BT controller behavior since they imply it's possible. They are apparently pretty nasty to get apart ( https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Google_Stadia_Controller https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Google_Stadia_Controller ) for physical tampering, though there is a fairly substantial computer system in it http://en.techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Google_Stadia_(H2B) http://en.techinfodepot.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Google_Stadia_(H2... . It's actually a pretty comfortable controller, but it just became an amusing collectors item so I think mine will continue to sit in its box.

icelancer 4y ago
It's a great controller, you're right! Very comfortable and my goto on emulators. I also looked into the weird WiFi/Bluetooth hybrid protocol stack. It's really impressive, and as far as I know, not jailbroken. Also massively overengineered. They tried really hard with Stadia, at least at the hardware and streaming level. It's just that no one wanted it. They are before their time; PS Plus and GeForce Go are seeing adoption for streaming games. I bet it'll be popular in 3-5 years, maybe sooner. It's just that Google isn't a reliable carrier for this service, and they don't have enough patience.