Thanks @mctaylorpants! Yeah hooking Xbox and PS4 controllers up isn't too bad these days. I was surprised I even got my Xbox controllers working on Linux!
Holding down shoot charges up your ship, which let's you do a couple different moves. So holding down fire to fire the regular shot won't work. We're hoping the combat and strategy is more dynamic than holding down fire!
Powerups are also something we're avoiding for now, but they may come in at some point down the road. What kind of powerup are you hoping for?