The first official PlayStation compatible controller is the Backbone One

Sony has enlisted accessory company Backbone to create a PlayStation-ified version of the premium model Backbone One Mobile Controller for iPhone. It gives off a PS Vita vibe, except in a way, Sony was okay with Backbone keeping the Xbox-like analog stick arrangement. The $99.99 controller, which can be unlocked to fit iPhones as small as the 13 Mini and as large as the 13 Pro Max, comes in a new mix of white and black, just like the PS5’s DualSense controller. Sure, this is a more expensive workaround than hooking up a Sony console to your phone, but it’s a much more elegant way to play PlayStation games via Remote Play, the Sony mobile app that streams games from your PS4 or PS5.

It is identical in price and design with All-black 2020 Backbone One That’s still for sale, save them for one big change: cross, circle, triangle, and square buttons instead of A, B, X, and Y to match the in-game button prompts you’ll see in PlayStation games on mobile. You are Can Use it to play games on Apple Arcade, Xbox Game Pass, and Stadia, but the button prompts won’t match what’s onscreen unless the developer has programmed their game to support PlayStation button icons.

I spent a few hours with the PlayStation version of the Backbone One, and it’s the same great console as before, with a comfortable grip, logical button arrangement, good playback response, and convenient features like Lightning passthrough charging and a 3.5mm headphone and audio pass-through port. Additionally, its orange Backbone button doubles as the PS Home button within the Play Play when pressed.

“What are PlayStation games on mobile,” you might ask? Unlike Microsoft and Sony It does not have a powerful cloud-based offering For PS Plus subscribers on phones, we may have to wait a while until Sony delivers on any of its promises Bring many games from the PlayStation catalog to mobile between now and 2025. So at launch, Sony and Backbone are counting on this console as the most faithful (outside of Pair DualSense with your iPhone) to play PlayStation games from your existing PS4 or PS5 console.

For starters, Sony’s Remote Play mobile app lets you jump into PS4 or PS5 games while roaming around your house. It looks great, which is he is Able to provide a decent experience. I can download Tetris Effect: Online Just about anywhere and having fun while streaming on Wi-Fi at home, which I imagine most people would use remote play. Now, you can also play remote play outside your home via LTE or 5G as well (if this is your first time Hear this newsyou’re not alone) – although fast-paced games like back I haven’t played that hot over LTE or even 5G for me. Your enjoyment may vary depending on your Wi-Fi devices and network coverage.

I can get past the remote play latency, but there are some other constant annoyances here. Pressing and holding the orange button on the Backbone can take you back to the PlayStation 5’s home screen to switch games, which is great. However, doing so bypasses the toolbar which allows you to easily put the console to sleep. So, you’ll need to use your iPhone’s touchscreen to pull up the default PS Home button and go to the option, or when you manually disconnect from Remote Play, you can set the controller to automatically go into rest mode. This seems a little more annoying than it should be. It’s also annoying that if you switch away from the Remote Play app – even for a brief period – you’ll need to reconnect to your console.

One could say that this PlayStation version of Backbone is Sony’s way of putting its toe back into the world of mobile gaming, similar to InZone PC gaming monitor launched to capture some PC gaming market.

The release of this console is an interesting move, both for Backbone, a small company still relying on its first successful product, and for Sony, which has commissioned a third-party company to make some of the official-looking hardware on its behalf. I wonder if outsourcing would allow Sony to release mobile games more quickly than if they had followed their own portable console instead; Sony published patents Late 2021 for a console that looks like a DualShock 4 split in half. And, perhaps, it may be that there is a group of such consoles outside finally Persuading Sony to launch a suitable cloud gaming service on mobile.

Excited as I got myself thinking about the future, I can’t recommend that current owners only upgrade to get the buttons for the PS unless you’re a die-hard PlayStation fan. Even for the diehard fanatics, I was really wondering how much you love remote play. At the moment, no Sony mobile game strategy is out streaming from your console.

Backbone has confirmed that this PlayStation version of Backbone One will be exclusive to iOS. The company owns a file Android version of One in the Worksslated for release in November.

Photography by Cameron Faulkner/The Verge