There was a time when many were calling for the iPad and its smaller siblings to get a dedicated gamepad. Plenty of otherwise good iOS games still emulate traditional console controls to varying degrees of success, but the masses seem to have cooled down on the notion of needing a full-blown peripheral.
60beat's GamePad (iPad, iPhone 4 and 4S, 4th gen iPod Touch) is targeting those players who remain interested. This controller connects via headphone jack, of all places, and seems to work as advertised; problem is, only Bugdom 2 and Aftermath work with the device. Yep, two games.
One can only hope that, on the developer side, including support is fairly painless. At $49.99, we're going to need to see a bigger library of titles.
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This doesn't end the bad control complaints on ios. Only 2 games support it, and it probably won't get any more than that, because it costs $50. Also, it would be very awkward to use this. You have to set your phone on a surface, prop it up, and it can't be too close or far away. Just stick to 3DS/Vita.
That's a hefty price tag for such an ass-looking product that requires specific implementation for each game. My guess is that 60beat is looking to capitalize on the icraze more than they are looking to provide gamers with a viable alternative to touch controls...on a touchscreen-dependant platform....why do we even want controllers for our phones again?
Shouldn't we demand greater ingenuity from developers who can't make touch controls that font make us yearn for a controller?
Doesn't this say something larger about the nature of touch controls and viability in replacing the handheld gaming (see: none)? Until we have touchscreen with tactile feedback that mimics the feeling of pushing buttons, keys, etc. typing and gaming on glass plates will be limited to either more-or-less what we see now.
What i wish is that apple would get its head out of its @ss and just release the onlive app finally. Im giving it another two weeks or so then iI'm going android. Since when did apple become the evil empire? Seriously, this kind of crap will sink them in the long run, when memories of steve "remember tablets were invented before apple" jobs are faded. One good apple virus and people will start to realize this whole "we close our platform for your own safety" line apple feeds its customers so that they can charge them cash for free flash content is just a load of donkey sh$t. Folks will quickly realize that apple's just a bunch of good marketing, and these kind of bad customer moves will have customers they could have easily held on to flying off to android (oh yeah... Thats happening already, i forgot). So yeah, nice controller, but good luck clearing this for widespread dev support with darth apple.
It's funny how the 3DS gets slammed for having an attachment that adds a circle pad and a couple buttons, yet there is no problem with adding a whole controller to iPhone that connects through the headphone port.
Interesting concept, but I'll take a native-focused, touch-designed game like Sword & Sworcery or Infinity Blade over clamping (or on-screen emulating) console controls any day.
Meh. It kind of defeats the purpose of mobile gaming when you have to have a freakin' controller to enjoy it. Who wants to stuff that thing in their pants pocket?
When I play iPhone games, I just stick to the ones made by people who understand the system they are designing for - the ones that stick to taps and swipes. Rubbing glass in tiny circles until I can smell my thumb skin burning is not how I want to play a game. And using a full-sized controller is not how I want to play a mobile game.
Would be cool to have a flatter simplified style controller that fits neatly into it's own iPad case. This is cool but like Nephlilym said, you can't lug this around.
All I want is a case that slides out a gamepad just like the PSP Go. They already make cases that slide out with bluetooth keyboards for the iPhone. Just add a couple analog nubs, a D-Pad, and some shoulder buttons and we've got ourselves a legitimate gaming handheld which currently has better graphics than the PSP. Give it a couple more years and it'll surpass Vita and 3DS in graphical capability.
Sony had the right idea with the XPeria Play. They should have gone all in with it and made THAT the next PSP.
FIFTY dollars for a gamepad that's not wireless? That's horseshit! You can buy a dualshock3 for less than that and that has rumble and tilt and a rechargeable battery and bluetooth. $29 would be reasonable; $49 is awful.
When you're going to such desperate lengths to solve a fundamental flaw with your chosen gaming platform, you know it isn't really that good in the first place.
"Virtually no latency"? The actual latency shown by the controller scheme looks horrible! Just look at his button presses and the flickering graphics until about 300ms later.
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Contest:
2:30 PM on 01.02.2012 | 
Shouldn't we demand greater ingenuity from developers who can't make touch controls that font make us yearn for a controller?
Doesn't this say something larger about the nature of touch controls and viability in replacing the handheld gaming (see: none)? Until we have touchscreen with tactile feedback that mimics the feeling of pushing buttons, keys, etc. typing and gaming on glass plates will be limited to either more-or-less what we see now.
And no, I'm not just talking about the gaming side.
Buttons. Dedicated BUTTONS.
It has the same button layout as the Dualshocks, but the bulkyness of the 360 controller.
When I play iPhone games, I just stick to the ones made by people who understand the system they are designing for - the ones that stick to taps and swipes. Rubbing glass in tiny circles until I can smell my thumb skin burning is not how I want to play a game. And using a full-sized controller is not how I want to play a mobile game.
I think running on-live (bandwidth one-day permitting) is a better setup all over.
http://www.icontrolpad.com/.
Sony had the right idea with the XPeria Play. They should have gone all in with it and made THAT the next PSP.
Buy a 3DS or Vita you fair weather fucks.
Never reproduce. In fact, swallow your iPod so you never get the chance.