Playing browser based games with alternative controls and interfaces

A device for playing a game, the device comprising:

• a game processor for playing the game;
• an input processor for receiving inputs from a user;
• and
• an input conversion module that receives the inputs from the user and generates game inputs for the game processor while the user is playing the game, wherein the input conversion module is operable to:
• detect an alternate device for playing the game, the alternate device generating alternate inputs, wherein the game is not predefined to be played with the alternate device;
• send to a server a query for information to map the alternate inputs to play the game;
• generate a mapping from alternate inputs to native inputs with the information received from the server when information is available from the server, the game being predefined to be played with a native device that provides the native inputs to the game;
• generate at random the mapping from the alternate inputs to the native inputs when information is not available from the server;
• and
• translate the alternate inputs generated with the alternate device to corresponding native inputs for the game processor.

A device for playing a game, the device comprising:

• a game processor for playing the game;
• an input processor for receiving inputs from a user;
• and
• an input conversion module that receives the inputs from the user and generates game inputs for the game processor while the user is playing the game, wherein the input conversion module is operable to:
• detect an alternate device for playing the game, the alternate device generating alternate inputs, wherein the game is not predefined to be played with the alternate device;
• send to a server a query for information to map the alternate inputs to play the game;
• generate a mapping from alternate inputs to native inputs with the information received from the server, wherein the input conversion module uses probabilistic assignments to map the alternate inputs to the native inputs, the game being predefined to be played with a native device that provides the native inputs to the game;
• and
• translate the alternate inputs generated with the alternate device to corresponding native inputs for the game processor.

A method for playing a game at a client device, the method comprising:

• detecting an alternate device for playing the game, the alternate device generating alternate inputs, wherein the game is not predefined to be played with the alternate device;
• sending to a server a query for information to map the alternate inputs to play the game;
• generating a mapping from alternate inputs to native inputs with the information received from the server, wherein generating the mapping from alternate inputs to native inputs further includes using probabilistic assignments to map the alternate inputs to the native inputs, the game being predefined to be played with a native device that provides the native inputs to the game;
• and
• translating the alternate inputs generated with the alternate device to corresponding native inputs according to the mapping to cause corresponding actions in the game.