iControlPad... Would you even use it?

[RoyalCanadian]

why would you get a touch phone and add on accesories with buttons? it just doesn't make sense. as you can see in the front page video the control pad looks like a gameboy... weird...

would you use it?

[hex_me]

No dice. Looks real clunky

[Caltsar]

I can see a market for it, especially if ports of old platform games support it. Things like earthworm jim and nicky boom could really benefit from physical buttons, and if it were cheap enough (under $40), I might buy it myself so I could enjoy those types of games when I have it with me. It isn't something I'd carry around with me, but if it was well designed, it might have a place in my laptop bag so I can get better control of games not originally designed for a touch interface.

I liked the original PSP style design better though.

[Ravenblack]

Kinda defeats the purpose of owning a touch-only device, imho. I have a psp and ds, why would I want to play anything else that looks like them. I'll probably avoid games that require the use of this thing too.

[don_k]

If it's under $50, I'd buy it. I definitely won't carry it around, but it's good to have it to play more traditional games like Assassin's Creed or FIFA 10 at home where I can sit and play it for long hours.

However, I'd only buy games that support external controller, not ones that require it. That way I can play it whether or not I have the huge black stone with me.

[Diablohead]

OLD design yes I would use it

NEW design no looks ugly and an odd shape for my pocket, it should be minimal.

[kugi_igi]

yes,the old design is still better
putting dual analog is cool but portability and style is still what matters in the market
minimal buttons is enough coz we already have the touch screen
and i really think my idea of just separating d-pad and other buttons in two sides might be the best design for me

[souskei]

OLD design yes I would use it

NEW design no looks ugly and an odd shape for my pocket, it should be minimal.

I agree.. The old design is WAY better

[Hmar9333]

I can see a market for it, especially if ports of old platform games support it. Things like earthworm jim and nicky boom could really benefit from physical buttons, and if it were cheap enough (under $40), I might buy it myself so I could enjoy those types of games when I have it with me. It isn't something I'd carry around with me, but if it was well designed, it might have a place in my laptop bag so I can get better control of games not originally designed for a touch interface.

I liked the original PSP style design better though.

+1 to everything you just said

[sjleworthy]

i'd certainly buy it if it was under 50 big ones.

i prefer playing games by touch. or more importantly i should say without the acceleronometer thingie.

i much prefer to use my finger to control things instead, but sometimes when playing like this my stubby fingers just cover up everything on the screen and i cant see anything. this is why i'd love to give one of these babies a bash.

the design looks pretty shite though. i've seen a much nicer, slimmer and ergonomically pleasing concept than this somewhere before.

[Brazilian Rider]

If Zottd got that N64 emulator working, I would pick this up in a heartbeat.

[Kintaro360]

If Zottd got that N64 emulator working, I would pick this up in a heartbeat.

That's exactly what I was going to write.
But it should have L & R Buttons too and maybe a sega megadrive layout (6 instead of only 4 action buttons on the front)

Hoping to play Mario 64 an Mariokart 64 with 60fps on my iPhone ^^

I'll pay any price!

[Veratek]

yeah i'd buy it, i wouldnt take it with me anywhere though. Mostly for a better emulated games experience..which alone is worth it.

[mrcc]

no it defeats the purpose of owning a touch device. if i wanted to own a device like that id get a ds or psp2

[NetRitual]

Battery and external controls? It doesn't look that bad and expands the gameplay from touch casuals to more in depth games. Now if only I could get a Bluetooth keyboard to do my lecture notes on!

[Lluvia]

A poll would be nice ;).

I would use it, if it's not too expensive. Just for more comfort and more accurate controls. Although I wouldn't carry it around with me.

[matgzx]

I think the iPod Touch and the iPhone are, touch devices, using that thing would be like trying to simulate a Game Boy, which doesn't make sense for me, and the size of the thing is too big, I think the iPod/iPhone touch control scheme is very nice, I don't need that big piece of hardware to play, that's my opinion.

[Diablohead]

I think the iPod Touch and the iPhone are, touch devices, using that thing would be like trying to simulate a Game Boy, which doesn't make sense for me, and the size of the thing is too big, I think the iPod/iPhone touch control scheme is very nice, I don't need that big piece of hardware to play, that's my opinion.

In a way it's why I prefer the older design, it just made the device a big longer but also giving a D-pad and some buttons. I like the touch as it is but it's always nice to have some optional buttons, just a shame it looks so huge in the video, ruins the point unless you just want to play emulators on a jailbroken device...

[Derochea72]

I also like the old design better and think it would make all sports titles much more playable, I would love to have just a case that made the phone easier and more comfortable to hold for longer periods of time.

[aleksa-94]

of course the old design was waay better.this will be awesome for SOME games but it will be REALLY awesome for emulators from zottd:rolleyes:

[Outkast1]

Nope wouldn't use it. Defeats the purpose of why I have my iPhone. All in one device- no need for a separate cell phone, mp3 player, game boy, etc. I have it all on 1 device that fits snugly in my pocket and is with me wherever I go. Not going to carry this thing everywhere, and so am not going to purchase it. The only thing that may change my mind is if lots of dev's start supporting it, or if the N64 emulator pans out and works well. Then I may get one just out of curiosity... would probably use it while at home, but still wouldn't plan on bringing it anywhere.

[Symbolist]

Why should I change that beautiful and elegant and expensive IPod Touch 3G 64 GB into something, which looks and feels like childrens toy?

[Will090]

If they had the buttons slide under the phone and good games supported it, then I would definetley look at it

[Kamazar]

Why should I change that beautiful and elegant and expensive IPod Touch 3G 64 GB into something, which looks and feels like childrens toy?

It's still a beautiful, elegant, and expensive, iPod, it's just that now, my player in FIFA will head in the right direction and not STRAIGHT INTO THE GODFORSAKEN LINE OF DEFENSE!!!

[cranker]

No !!

[Stargaze]

Looks like its just about ready to ship (or so they say)

this has been going on forever..

overall i like the design but its totally personal preference...

there is also a new one on the market that goes with the "PSP style" but no purchase info or anything on that one either..

http://www.22moo.com.au/GameBone.html

[KushyKush]

If it was around $35-40 I would buy it without hesitating. Fighting games, platformers, RPGs, so much would benefit from a physical D pad!

[Derochea72]

I'm picking this up the moment it hits the shelf, very excited. I love my touch screen but it will never replace real buttons.

[Max_TO]

Looks like its just about ready to ship (or so they say)

this has been going on forever..

overall i like the design but its totally personal preference...

there is also a new one on the market that goes with the "PSP style" but no purchase info or anything on that one either..

http://www.22moo.com.au/GameBone.html


It does look pretty sweet lol !

Doubt I would use it but having said that , there are many games that do lack in control do to the current touch control setup used by many of the game designers .

Perhaps in steed of needing something like this controller the game developers can solve this problem through a new control setup ?

This could simply be a matter of designers copying one another on a control system that works rather then working outside the box to create something that rocks .

[Pistol1]

Interesting to see the route they've taken with this. I don't think it's for me, for one reason: it doubles the size of the iPhone.


I keep my iPhone in my pocket and only play bite-sized chunks; I have little interest in carrying around something unwieldy just for games. My ideal solution would be something like the gPod, which looks absolutely perfect for me, but I'm not sure whether it'll ever make it into production...

That said, I do think the iControlPad has some excellent design features, and will be a big success. Things I like about it:

* The modular design - it'll work with all your future iDevices!
* Analogue controls - you couldn't fit those on a case-style device.
* Built-in battery - clever!
* Looks like an ideal form factor for comfort.

I think the big market for this is folks who were up to now carrying round an iPhone and a handheld console, like a DS or a PSP. Get one of these and you really wouldn't need to carry a 'proper' handheld around (except for exclusive games, of course).

One thing that will make or break devices like this is developer take-up. For that reason, I'm kind of hoping that craig uses an open-source implementation for the dock connector interface, or at least allows others to use the same methods he does. I could see developers adding support for generic dock connector controls, but not realistically adding support for more than one standard. If they all shared the same interface, these devices could really take off!

[Beto_Machado]

Looks amazing. Will wait to see if some of my favorite games are supported well, though. Hope it'll catch on (and that the d-pad is good, of course - simply adding a d-pad doesn't mean it'll control well).