Hardware

SteelSeries Unveils the Stratus Wireless Controller

Sean Gibson / Jan 20th, 2014 No Comments

SteelSeries, winner of numerous Editor’s Choice Awards at Gaming Illustrated and other top review sites, announced a new product to their distinguished line. The SteelSeries Stratus Wireless Gaming Controller is a console-like controller that can connect to iOS 7 devices. Specifically, it can connect via Bluetooth to iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch devices running the latest major release of Apple’s mobile operating system. With iOS 7, game developers can now leverage the platform to create games that use a traditional console controller to extend the iOS experience.

The layout will be familiar to console gamers, as it features a pressure-sensitive D-pad, four action buttons, and four shoulder buttons. There are also two analog sticks and a dedicated button for pairing the controller to iOS devices.

“The Stratus Wireless Controller, the first wireless gamepad controller ever to be supported in iOS 7, forever alters the mobile gaming landscape,” said Bruce Hawver, SteelSeries CEO. “With Stratus, gamers have easy and direct access to a growing roster of great games on iPad that were intended for an immersive, controller-enabled experience. We’re incredibly excited to be the first gaming peripherals company to develop a standalone controller for iOS devices and are thrilled to see an abundance of high quality game titles rolling out from publishers everyday.”

SteelSeries announced the new Stratus Wireless Controller for iOS devices, offering a console-like controller for iPads, iPods, and iPhones.

The SteelSeries Stratus Wireless Controller for Apple’s devices is available for pre-order for $99.99 MSRP. From images received in the PR kit, it would appear that the unit comes in both black and white colors.

Quick Take

The Gaming Illustrated team looked at the SteelSeries Free a while ago and that unit was also a wireless controller for iOS devices. The Stratus basically looks like the next evolution for the series, but at a $99.99 price point becomes incredibly price prohibitive to consumers. The unit certainly looks cool and with pressure-sensitive controls and buttons, offers a better experience than other controllers we’ve used on smartphones and tablets. Advanced new games, and re-releases of console titles on iOS (like GTA San Andreas) adopting controller support remains more of a question of “when” rather than “if” at this point. But will gamers spend this amount of money to support a device that might have cost $200-$400 to play a game that cost them $1-$10? In a few short months, the market will let the industry know.