PUBLISHED ONFebruary 04, 2020 8:32 AMByIlyas Sholihyn
Sorry, PC diehards and console fans, mobile gaming is serious business and it's here to stay.
No longer thingamajigs that can only manage simple time-killers with iffy graphics (we’re a long way since the days of Candy Crush Saga), today’s smartphones have a respectable enough computing power to run legitimate games.
But therein lies a conundrum for serious mobile gamers — especially for gamers in Southeast Asia who can’t afford desktop rigs. How does one elevate the experience of playing with a rectangular slab of glass and metal?
Razer wants to fix that with a little peripheral called the Junglecat, a set of wireless controllers that can turn a smartphone into something that resembles a Nintendo Switch.
Like the Switch, the gamepads are supposed to snap onto each side of the smartphone, offering a full view of the game without needing to touch anything on the screen. A pretty decent concept until you realise that you’ll need a specific phone case for the controllers to slide into place. Which is made a little more confusing when Razer only put out three cases for three phone models: Razer Phone 2 (of course), Samsung Galaxy S10+ and Huawei P30 Pro.
But no matter, it can still be played like a mini controller if you can’t attach it to your Android smartphone — did we mention that it only works for Android phones? Yeah, sorry iPhoners. Still, at least you can use it to play games on the PC.
It’s a great option to consider if you’re a Serious Mobile Gamer, but for everyone else who isn’t, it’s hard to argue why you should be spilling over $150 dollars on the Junglecat. You could, after all, just wait for the upcoming Razer Kishi that’s actually compatible with almost all Android Phones and iPhones.
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Check out what our resident unboxer Timo had to say when he played around with the gizmo in our latest Unwrapped episode.
ilyas@asiaone.com