Zeemote for BlackBerry Preview

*I did not have a video of the Zeemote in action, so I jacked one from BBCool. Thanks guys!

One of my favorite things that CES had to offer the BlackBerry community is an awesome Bluetooth gaming remote called Zeemote.  Zeemote allows you to play Zeemote compatible games on your BlackBerry with the remote joystick controller.  If you are a gamer and you want more than trackball control, then the Zeemote is for you!  I must note a few things however; Zeemote is not available for BlackBerry yet, they are hoping for a 2009 launch, and unfortunately you will not be able to purchase one by itself.  They will Zeemotes will be bundled with phones so that it will be a phone/game package deal and it will be up to each carrier whether or not they want to carry it or not.  This is how they do it for Nokia phones in Europe which is unfortunate for BlackBerry users because no one wants to have to buy a new phone just to get a game.  If they separated the Zeemote from a bundle, then any BlackBerry user could buy one.  They could then reach a way larger market instead of alienating millions of already BlackBerry addicts and millions more to come.  Enough on the business practices of Zeemote let’s get to the actual product.

One more note is that although the Zeemote is fully developed, the games for BlackBerries are not, so there are a few major issues still as I was testing, but I will try not to get into them because they will not exist once the product is ready to launch.

The Zeemote remote itself looks like a mini version of a Nintendo Wii joystick remote and takes two AAA batteries to power.  It has a power button and a thumb joystick on top for navigation, on the front there is an A and B trigger like buttons for executing commands, and further on the bottom is a recessed C button.  My first impressions were, wow this thing is so awesome, it’s a portable Bluetooth gaming controller for a phone!  That is pretty sweet in itself.  I noticed a big ergonomic issue however, when I first started using it.  No matter how much I like miniature devices, for usability purpose, I feel that the Zeemote is a tad too small.  The reason I say this is not because if you have a huge hand it is too small, because it is obviously not marketed specifically to the full grown business man.  The C button that is on the bottom is positioned to be like a sub-trigger for either your middle finger, however if you can see by the image above, the button is a crater and is set flush with the device!  This forces you to move your middle finger so that you push the button with your finger tip and is awkward because if it were a regular non recessed button, you could push it more like a trigger.  Aside from that, everything else is pretty solid.  Now that we have taken care of the aesthetics of the device, let’s look at using it.

There were not a lot of game options that worked correctly with my phone, so I haven’t had the chance to utilize more than the joystick and the A or B button (for clicking menu options).  Okay, so when you first open up a game you will be asked to connect to your Zeemote via Bluetooth.  The Zeemote will be listed as peripheral and this will happen either before the game loads or after the initial credits.  Note: after you connect it the first time, it will automatically recognize your Zeemote and try and auto-connect whenever you load a game.  Although there is no way around it, it is kind of annoying when you have to wait for your device to connect to the Zeemote, but there is no way around that so we will have to endure.  My favorite game at the moment is Nintaii and it just so happens that Zeemote allowed me to test a beta version of the Zeemote Nintaii.  Needless to say, I was pretty stoked.  Now this game by no means needs a Zeemote, but for me it isn’t about making this game cooler or more fun.  The coolest part is simply having a peripheral device to control my BlackBerry!  A game that better utilizes the Zeemote is My Little Tank which is a game that has you blow things up with a tank.  I have been playing this game with and without the Zeemote to see which is easier.  I have come to the conclusion that with games that need vehicle controlling it is better to have a joystick than a trackball.  The joystick control is more precise with navigating than a trackball because the trackball doesn’t navigate left and right smoothly since the more you roll the more it goes.  Also having a Zeemote allows you to navigate and shoot at the same time.  With a trackball you would have to stop navigating and press it to shoot.  I am not going to further go into games because this is not a game review, it is a device review.  With having said that, if you want to get a glimpse of the games Zeemote already has to offer go to Zeemote.com, they have racing games (I can’t wait!!), shooter games, puzzles and more.

Besides my criticism of Zeemote bundling the remotes with phones, and the recessed C button, I think that Zeemote should think about adding an accelerometer to make it more like a Wiimote.  This would allow games to be more interactive for the gamer and it would help boost the mobile gaming market.  Other than that, I think that they have a very awesome product because like I said, it isn’t all about controlling the game better, but it is also about having the sense of interactivity with a game especially on a portable device.  The Zeemote not only makes the gaming experience richer, but it furthers progress to make entertainment mobile.  I can’t wait until this product gets launched for BlackBerry, but it is sure to be a hit.

To check more out about Zeemote follow the link.