Why Do I Want To Do This?
Forty bucks for a game controller for your streaming media box/stick is a bit steep, especially if you’re not sure if you’re even ready to commit to turning your Fire TV/Fire TV Stick into a game machine.
While we typically outline what you need for a tutorial first thing in the tutorial, the materials list varies based on what kind of controller(s) you’re pairing with your device. As such, we’ll go over what you need in each section.
Also, if you’re here to pair a controller with your Fire TV Stick you should jump down to the last section focused on Bluetooth controllers as the lack of USB port on the Fire TV Stick precludes users from using anything but Bluetooth-based solutions. Again, for emphasis, you cannot pair wired or wireless (2.4GHz) controllers with the Fire TV Stick; you can only pair Bluetooth controllers.
Wired Controllers
Although the USB port on the Fire TV is unfortunately hobbled at the moment (it doesn’t, for example, support mounting of USB media) it’s still useful for the purposes of this tutorial as you can plug in USB input peripherals including game controllers.
RELATED: How to Choose the Perfect USB Hub for Your Needs
Right out of the box the Fire TV supports a variety of wired controllers including the official Xbox 360 controller and the Logitech F310 and many other Logitech controllers like the F510 and Dual Action (no longer in active production but many people own them and they’re widely available used). Although you can’t pair wireless PlayStation 3 controllers without rooting your device the Fire TV includes a keymap for the PlayStation 3 controller; although we didn’t have a third-party wired PlayStation 3 controller on hand to test it out we’re inclined to think it would work given the presence of the keymap file for the controller.
To use a wired USB controller you can simply plug the controller into the USB port on the back of the Fire TV. Multiple controllers with a USB hub also works; not only were we able to plug in more than one wired Xbox 360 controller this way but the support for 360 controllers is advanced enough that the correct player number was even illuminated on each controller.
Even if the controller doesn’t work well for navigating the Fire TV menus, we’d still recommend trying it out with some games before giving up on the controller (especially if the games/emulators you’re using allow for key remapping).
Wireless Controllers
RELATED: How to Hook Up a Wireless Xbox 360 Controller to Your Computer
Although we didn’t have any trouble pairing wireless Xbox 360 controllers to the Fire TV directly, some users have reported that they need to plug the dongle into a computer and pair the controllers to it first before swapping it over to the Fire TV. Like with the wired 360 controllers, there is full support including illuminating the correct player number.
Bluetooth Controllers
If you have a Fire TV Stick this is the only way to add on a controller to your device. To demonstrate the steps we’ll be using the Bluetooth controller that came with previously reviewed Ouya microconsole, but you can use just about any generic Bluetooth controller. If you already have a controller on hand, we’d suggest attempting to pair it and see how it works before buying a new one (or attempting any sort of firmware updates if available).
The Playstation Dualshock 4 controller works out of the box (and the Playstation home button in the center of the controller even works as a Fire TV home button). Some users, however, report odd key mappings that can only be fixed if you have a rooted unit wherein you can install new key maps. If you’re using the controller with games that allow for in-game remapping this isn’t an issue.
Unlike the plug and play ease of the wired controllers (and the plug and sync options for the wireless controllers), the Bluetooth controllers do need to be synced properly to the Fire TV or Fire TV Stick. Let’s take a look at the pairing process; the steps are identical for both the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick.
Navigate on your device to the Settings menu (the last item in the main left-hand navigation list you see when the device starts up). Select the settings menu and navigate to the right until you reach the “Controllers” section as seen in the screenshot above. Select the entry and then select “Bluetooth Game Controllers.”
Select “Add Bluetooth Controllers” in the subsequent menu.
At this point the device is actively searching for available Bluetooth devices. Press and hold the pairing button on your Bluetooth controller and wait for the controller to sync to your device.
Typically the controller will be identified generically as a “Gamepad” when the sync begins but will then, assuming the controller supplies a name, be given a more specific name as seen in the screenshot above where our controller was correctly identified as the “OUYA Game Controller.”
At this point you should be good to go if you have a known compatible controller like the OUYA or the DualShock 4, otherwise it’s time to take the controller for a spin and test the functions. Remember, even a controller that works poorly navigating the default menus in the Fire TV can be remapped in some games (and most emulators) to work flawlessly for that particular game or emulator system.
For further reading and troubleshooting tips we’d recommend checking out the general Fire TV discussion boards over at XDA Developers with an emphasis on this controller compatibility thread.
