Saying that you could just develop for Windows (or even desktop Linux will have a bigger install base) if you desire openness is a very valid point, but there is one caveat.
This thing ships with a controller, people who are used to playing action type console games prefer to use a controller for pretty much every game type including FPS. Sure you can plug a joypad into a PC but in my experience this is a shockingly rare thing to find people doing "in the wild".
I have a feeling us on HN are sceptical of this device precisely because we want it to succeed in principle but have been burned so many times in the past by "magic open tech" that fails to live upto our expectations.
They might be able to flog some units in the emerging markets, but they better make sure they are making a profit on the hardware because 99% of those customers are not going to be buying legit games from your app store.
I have done the same, though for some strange reason my Xbox360 pad (an official one as far as I can tell) actually has a standard USB on the end and requires an adapter to plug into a 360.
The great thing is that pretty much every game on steam supports it and even recognises it as a 360 Pad so game tutorials will display the correct labels and colours for buttons. Works great under Linux too.
What surprises me though is the number of people to whom this ability is surprising "You're playing a PC game with a joypad? What? how?"
It's also surprising that even gaming specialist manufacturers like alienware don't offer joypads as an option when building a system.
Saying that you could just develop for Windows (or even desktop Linux will have a bigger install base) if you desire openness is a very valid point, but there is one caveat.
This thing ships with a controller, people who are used to playing action type console games prefer to use a controller for pretty much every game type including FPS. Sure you can plug a joypad into a PC but in my experience this is a shockingly rare thing to find people doing "in the wild".
I have a feeling us on HN are sceptical of this device precisely because we want it to succeed in principle but have been burned so many times in the past by "magic open tech" that fails to live upto our expectations.
They might be able to flog some units in the emerging markets, but they better make sure they are making a profit on the hardware because 99% of those customers are not going to be buying legit games from your app store.