It was 2012 when Matt Seslar first conceived of the GameBeat. Back then he was sure a similar product already existed. He searched eBay, Amazon, Alibaba and found nothing. Back then he did some sketches of what the GameBeat would eventually look like. Fast forward two years to November 2014, and nothing like it had been introduced to the market, so he thought it was time to change that. As a person who works at technical support for a telecommunication company and runs his own technology related blog, he knew how he wanted the GameBeat to connect and work with smartphones.
Concept
The concept of the GameBeat is really straightforward. It is a small (10 x 5 x 0.5 cm) Bluetooth game controller with a trick up its sleeve. It is attached to a specially designed smartphone case that locks in place at any angle the user wants, right to the full 360 degrees. At first the case was only supposed to lock in place at 135 degrees and at the full 360 degrees, but then Matt realized users like to play smartphone games not just standing up or sitting, but also lying down, and the concept changed to hold the screen cover at any degree the user wants.
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The GameBeat controller alone wouldn’t make much difference to the world of smartphone gaming because there are many other Bluetooth gaming controllers available. The difference really lies in its size and the fact that it sticks to the smartphone case. That way it is portable, user-friendly and protects your phone from any scratches. The buttons of the controller are also made out of soft plastic so the smartphone screen is safe, too. Immediately after release, it’s anticipated that the GameBeat will only work with Android 4.0+ phones, but support for iOS will soon follow.
Design
It took three 3D-printed prototypes to pick the final design. The first one was only designed to test the measurements and how it would feel to play on such a tiny controller. The prototypes proved it was actually pretty easy to use and didn’t hurt your hands. Then Matt went ahead and redesigned the entire thing. The joysticks are bigger, a two-color black/white design was implemented and the buttons were redesigned, with the biggest change focused on the D-pad. When it came to the design of the smartphone case, we wanted to be available to all kinds of audiences, not just the ones rocking the latest flagship devices. The cases are therefore universal, which means any phone from 4.5″ to 6″ (no matter what the brand is) can be placed on the case. The cases will also be available in black, white, blue and pink colors. One “bonus” function was also added — the OK button, which also acts as the camera shooter.
Team
A few months ago he showed his idea to his friends. They all loved it but two of them showed a real interest and are now part of the team. They all attended the same high school. Matt is the founder of the GameBeat idea and the most tech-oriented person on the team. Rok has just graduated from college and will handle customer support, and Mirza, who is attending management college, will handle most of the business and legal strategy.
Conclusion
When the official GameBeat site was put online, a lot of great feedback started coming in from people all around the world, which made them work even harder to get the controller on the market as soon as possible. The first funds to get the business really going will be collected trough IndieGoGo, and the campaign will start Tuesday, Sept. 8. They will also offer special discounts for the early backers, so they recommend visiting their site, gamebeat.org, and submitting your email to get notified when it goes live.
