With a day left before hitting the Los Angeles Convention Center floor for E3 2013, PowerA has announced that a new line of MOGA Power Series game controllers will be revealed during the show (opens in new tab). Even more, they will hit the market this fall and feature MOGA Boost technology which will actually charge the user's mobile device while they play.
Previously the company released the MOGA Mobile (opens in new tab) and MOGA Pro (opens in new tab) Power Series controllers, designed to work on Android tablets and smartphones via Bluetooth. It comes packed with an extendable "S.M.R.T. Lock" arm on top that docks a smartphone directly to the peripheral. There's also a free MOGA Pivot app that configures the controller for the Android device, and highlights games listed on Google Play that's compatible with both controllers. Throw in HDMI output, and users have a portable Android console.
PowerA wasn't exactly talkative about its next-generation controllers, only boasting about how gamers will play longer without concern for running down their phone's battery thanks to the MOGA Boost technology. The new batch will also include support for multiplayer gaming on the same screen (Bluetooth Smart?), improved ergonomics, and improved Bluetooth radios. This latter feature should help connectivity issues not related to a stressed tablet/hardware set and/or unoptimized game engine.
PowerA said on Friday that the controllers will also be compatible with Windows Phone 8 devices. "Both Power Series controllers will be cross-platform compatible," the company said. "MOGA officially supports more installed devices than any other mobile game controller on the market. Not only is MOGA the only mobile game controller system that works with Android devices all the way back to version 2.3, but it will now include support for Windows Phone 8. The MOGA SDK for Windows Phone 8 is available to over 400 active MOGA developers."
PowerA said that it has also redesigned the smaller MOGA Mobile controller. It now features clickable analog thumbsticks, shoulder buttons, a D-pad and an improved form factor.
We'll have a closer look on Wednesday, as PowerA is our first scheduled session for the day, so stay tuned.