Are any game pads supported?

[strider_mt2k]

Some of the games and emulators seem to run great on my Haipad M701-R until the moment I use the touch screen to control them.
I've tried a Logitech Dual Action and a generic USB SNES-esque controller with no luck.

Has anyone had any success with gaming controllers?

 

[OffWorld]

Was the generic USB SNES-esque controller a "retrolink" one?

Retrolink says their USB reproductions of the NES and SNES controllers don't require any drivers (drivers, of course, being what's missing on Android). Usually when a USB input device doesn't need any drivers it's because it is recognized as a keyboard or mouse. But I don't have one to plug in and try.

I did buy a case with an integrated USB mini-keyboard that works quite well for playing games - so long as you can assign buttons to actions. If it's a touch-screen-only game you're stuck.

 

[strider_mt2k]

I'm not sure who made my SNES one. It was a cheapie ebay purchase.
I might actually have another one of those tucked away in a pile of USB stuff. Now I'm going to have to dig it out and try that one too!

Or...
Maybe modify something like the guts of a USB number pad into a controller body and like you said, simply re-mapping the keys.
I'm a hardware modder so that isn't as weird as it may sound.

That keyboard case is really something! Wow!

 

[Kepler]

does the haipad have bluetooth. in that case a wiimote might be the way to go.. works like a charm on my folio100 using an app called wiimote controller (c.c.p. cre@tions), free from the market.

 

[OffWorld]

Nope, the Haipad doesn't have Bluetooth, so we're stuck looking for USB solutions.

Before I found that keyboard case I was going to swipe the USB keyboard controller circuit board out of a cheap/junk USB keyboard (the controller boards are usually pretty small) and wire the buttons on an old NES gamepad to the contacts on the controller board (so button pushes on the gamepad emulated keyboard keypresses), and then map those keypresses to the game controls. Which is sort of how MAME cabinet and controller builders do it - wire arcade buttons up to a keyboard controller board. But now that I have that mini-keyboard case I don't need to go to all that trouble.

 

[OffWorld]

I wonder if this new input device - the Shogun Brothers X-1 wireless gamepad mouse - would work with an Android tablet?

It is an optical mouse that flips over to reveal a gamepad on the underside!

There is a hidden USB wireless dongle under the battery cover. I think this is just a place to store it so it doesn't get lost, because this sort of dongle would typically be plugged into a port on the computer, not on the mouse. The Shogun Brothers website indicates it is a "Plug & Forget" 2.4 GHz interface - which is used on some Logitech mice and is similar to Bluetooth, but is not Bluetooth.

There also appears to be a micro-USB port under that cover too but packaging seems to indicate it is for recharging the battery.

The downfall of connecting USB game controllers to Android devices is the lack of driver support and the inability to install drivers to support the device. This gamepad/mouse combo DOES have a driver disc with it, but in looking at the Shogun Brothers web site it appears to be for enabling Windows DirectX force-feedback. If it otherwise is just an optical USB mouse with a lot of buttons there's a possibility it might work. Though I'd be more inclined to think the mouse functions will work but the gamepad part won't.

These don't appear to be available yet, but I may buy one (assuming they aren't going to be outrageously expensive) and see if it works with a tablet or not. If not, I guess I'd have a new mouse/gamepad for my "Media Center/Retro Gaming" computer in the living room.

 

[pretypetythief]

I built my own Happ-brand custom control panel for a MAME project that I was working on using the i-PAC2 USB interface and have tested/ verified that it works with my rooted Viewsonic G-tablet, running MAME via Jarcade... plan on testing out MAME4driod as well soon. You can follow my progress/ findings with pics and video at: The Arcade

 

[OffWorld]

Just installed MAME4Droid on my Haipad. Installs fine, looks pretty high quality (I like the on-screen controls - would love to know if they'll allow me to shoot AND move at the same time, or if like in other emulators I can only do that with hardware controls). MAME4Droid apparently needs specific version ROMs though or needs them converted by some means I don't quite understand to make them work?

 

[pretypetythief]

@offworld... yes that is true, MAME4DROID needs romset .37b11 whereas Jarcade uses romset .37b5 This is because the version of MAME used in these apks is a much older version built in the year 2000. In order to get roms to run, you may be required to use the "clrmame.dat" subroutine to convert romsets from other MAME versions to the ones used by the version in MAME4DROID. Understand that only roms that worked in the older MAME version or ones previous will run... newer roms that worked in later versions of MAME will not.

I know of a place to download the complete .37b5 romset, if you need it PM me.