Phones are in a weird spot right now when it comes to gaming. They’re easily the most popular gaming devices on the market, but they also kind of suck to play on. Despite phones having the power to run some pretty demanding titles, the lack of built-in physical controls force most mobile games to make a lot of compromises to fit the format. Worse, even the best phone controllers are bulky, add a lot of width to your device, and usually require you to take off your case. 20-year-old YouTuber Josh King has had enough, and together with peripheral company Ohsnap, he’s releasing the first phone controller I actually feel like I’d want to carry around with me on a daily basis—the MCON.
The MCON combines two ideas that I’m surprised nobody had taken to market before King and Ohsnap. Essentially, it uses MagSafe to ensure an easy and solid grip on your phone, even with its case on, and slide-out controls akin to the slide-out keyboard on old Android phones to help cut down how much space the whole device takes up when not in use.
The result is a phone controller after my own heart. I’m one of the few people who bought Sony’s Xperia Play, which also featured a slide-out controller, and I miss it dearly. I love the idea of getting in a few stages in a platformer or a couple of matches in a shooter during my free time much more than idly plugging away at Candy Crush; and yet, I thought the industry had moved past me, always teasing me with increasingly more powerful phones that were nonetheless less useable as gaming devices (at least for my tastes) than a Game Boy.
The MCON finally feels like it unleashes the full power of my device in a way that makes me want to use it. Again, it’s not the first gaming controller for phones, but I’m simply not taking my case off every time I want to play, especially if I’m going for quick, pick-up-and-play sessions. This is the first real solution for that I’ve seen (no, attaching a clamp to your phone and hooking it up to a console controller isn't for me, either), and it helps that it’s real slick.
While I’ve gone hands-on with the MCON at CES, it’s not strictly brand new for the show. Its story began seven months ago, when King posted a video to his YouTube channel running through the same gripes I stated above, expressing astonishment that nobody had beaten him to a MagSafe phone controller, and walking viewers through how he built his own to answer that unserved need. The video went viral, and he tells me that, shortly afterwards, he reached out to peripheral company Ohsnap on LinkedIn after being impressed by videos of their manufacturing process, and started working with the company on mass producing his design.
Fast forward to now, and MCON has a new prototype at CES and an already funded Kickstarter that went live for the show.
The new version of MCON, which I got to test just today using my own phone in its own case, is everything I want in a phone controller. It works with your case on. It has a full suite of controls, complete with clickable, drift-resistant Hall Effect sticks. And while it works natively with the iPhone’s MagSafe, it comes with an adapter for use on just about anything.
The idea is simple: When the controller isn’t slid out, the MCON looks kind of like a portable MagSafe battery bank, and you can attach your phone to its magnetic surface like you would one of those. But upon pressing the slide-out mechanism, the device will unfold to reveal a full controller, with your phone resting securely on a magnetic mount above it. Said controller can connect to your phone over either Bluetooth or a wired USB-C connection, and there’s even enough real estate for your phone to be mounted vertically as well, although that placement will cover the sticks.
That magnetic connection is strong, by the way—during my demo, I saw it used to connect the MCON to a tablet, and at no point did I worry it was going to fall off.
Because it’s still being Kickstarted, King and Ohsnap told me that MCON is still a little bit away from release, with an estimate set for August. That makes sense—the one complaint I had with the demo units at the show is they feel a little unfinished, and that’s because they are. I’ve only used prototypes with 3D-printed parts, but more conventional manufacturing will be used for the final product.
Still, the MCON looks like it’s come a long way since King’s original video. The new version adds optional flip-out grips and swaps out King's original, iPhone exclusive MagSafe plate for a universal sliding magnetic puck, two of which can be stacked on top of each other to support especially thick phones. It also has stacked shoulder and trigger buttons, which were missing on the original prototype.
But there are still a few items left on King and Ohsnap’s to-do list. While the final device will come with the sliding magnetic puck as its connector, the MCON team does plan to release optional magnetic plates meant to fit specific phones that you can use instead, starting with certain popular devices like the iPhone. Additionally, a slim version with shorter joysticks is on the list, as is a potential pro version, although the upgrades there are still a bit under wraps.
Further, when the device releases, Ohsnap will post free 3D printing files for modders, so that the community can help support the MCON as well. While the MCON will only sell in either black or white at launch, other colorways are being considered.
First, though, it has to come out. Kickstarter supporters can pre-order an MCON for a $99 pledge, and King tells me the price for the final product will probably be somewhere between $99 and $150, although it’s still being worked out. For that, you’ll get the controller itself, two magnetic pucks, and a MagSafe adapter for use with devices that don’t have MagSafe built-in.
It’s a humbler device, but that’s part of the fun of CES for me. For my needs, this is easily my best-of-show so far. It’ll make me actually want to game on my phone, which basically means I’ll suddenly get a small portable gaming console that can run big games like the most recent Assassin’s Creed right in my pocket. As someone whose pockets definitely can’t fit a Switch, and who doesn’t want to carry around a bulky traditional phone controller, a phone case, and my phone in my purse or backpack, that’s everything my Game Boy and Nintendo DS-loving heart wants.
