Google's 100m Hurdles Doodle Works with a Gamepad

By now, you've probably taken a swing at beating some world record in the 100m hurdles Google doodle. What you may not have noticed is that the game can actually be played with a gamepad, straight from the browser.

The latest Chrome stable update, Google Chrome 21, added support for the Gamepad JavaScript API. It also works with Firefox, but you need as special build.

The API enables websites and apps to make use of any gamepad connected to the PC. This opens up a ton of opportunities, for game developers in particular.

So, what better way to showcase the new functionality than to use it yourself. That's the thinking behind today's doodle. So, if you have a gamepad hooked up to the computer, all you need to do is hit play in the doodle and then use the gamepad to run and jump. Granted, that may actually be more difficult than with a keyboard.