The same applies to Gameloft. Gameloft, Modern Combat, Modern Combat 2, NOVA, NOVA 2.... you guys consistently make the best dual stick shooters on the iPhone. And yet, dual stick shooters are near unplayable on the slippery glass screen of the iPhone. To say that it gets annoying is a vast understatement. What you need for your games to be far more pleasant experiences to play is this... http://icontrolpad.com/ Something like that would make the iPhone into an actual gaming device and your stellar games would get the type of controls they actually deserve. Unfortunately, that device has been in production for 2+ years and seems no closer to releasing on anything close to a mass scale, just like the Pandora (from the same people) has been in production for 3+ years and is no closer to releasing on a mass scale. Like the Pandora, the current talk is that the iControlPad will be manufactured in batches of a few dozen or so at a time, and shipped out one by one over the course of many years. So I say, gameloft, you guys should take the initiative. Either talk to the people behind the iControlPad and help them get the device in mass production, or if not, make such an accessory yourselves. I just don't understand how no name accessory companies still managed to have accessories in mass production specifically for the iPhone 4 a full two weeks before it even gets released, and in consumers electronics stores around the planet by launch, and yet a company like Pandora could've spent 3+ years and still have trouble getting their product into production on anything close to a mass scale (I'm talking about the Pandora as much as I am about the iControlPad here). Gameloft, please work with Pandora. Make sure it gets supported in all your games, I promise that it would greatly aid in the sale of your games.
Well I can't speak for everyone, but I'd much rather use the touch screen or gryo controls than use any physical controller accessory for the iPhone. Touch screen controls are perfect for FPS games on the iPhone, I really don't see the point. I know the PSP only has one analog stick, but even if it had two I still think it'd be useless for playing FPS games.
There's a dedicated group of 100+ million gamers that love analog stick controls (PS3, 360, PSP, PS2 owners). They are so dedicated to gaming that they spent $100s of dollars on devices that do pretty much nothing aside from letting them play games, and don't mind dropping $60 on a single game. It would be foolish of Apple and Gameloft not to cater to this audience in order to leverage the iPhone into a widely accepted gaming platform even among these hardcore gamers. Considering that these hardcore gamers readily buy several $60 dollar games every year, you would think they would be an audience that Apple and Gameloft very much wants to appeal to. lol wut!!! No, they're not. They're really really really REALLY reaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllyyyyyy not. Not even close. Have you played either NOVA, or Modern Combat, or Nazi Zombies for any extended period of time. Your fingers start to slide and slip off the glass all over the place, or stick to the glass even after just a few minutes of gameplay. It also sucks not having any tactile feedback to your thumbs to let you know that the movement you did actually registered.
I've played basically all the main 1st/3rd person shooters on the iPhone. BIA, BIA2, MC1, MC2, NOVA, COD, Archetype, Carnivores etc. And I can honestly say that the touch screen is fine. You get more precision by sliding your finger around the screen, in a similar way to a mouse on a PC. I've played FPS games on my PSP and they are a joke. The analogue stick is way too small and doesn't allow for precise aiming like the touch screen does. And the analogue sticks on that crappy controller you linked look even worse. I think that controller would only be useful for arcade games and sprite based RPG games, but even the touch screen is perfectly adequate for those games. Not to mention it's way too bulky. I love my iPhone because it's so thin and compact. I wouldn't want to be lugging that ugly controller around with me. I never get the slippy screen like you described. Maybe the screen on the iPhone 4 is less slippery? Anyway I used to use an original iPhone and that was fine too. Unless you're eating greasy food 24/7 then I don't what's causing the problem.
I heard that Gameloft's gonna support the Game Bone control pad, as well as many other big name developers. Though, the game pad doesn't really look like it's meant for dual stick shooters, as there's only a D-pad and 4 buttons... But if the DS can handle FPS's, then I guess Gameloft can somehow figure it out.
Maybe the OP has sweaty hands due to over-excitement from playing too many FPS. I've never noticed a problem, either. Not on my Touch or on my iPad. I like the touch controls. If I wanted an external controller I think I'd be smart enough to figure out that a PSP or DS might be better for me...
Different strokes for different folks... I still cringe at the fact that people think analog sticks are a good way to control fps
I cringe at the notion that you guys are such apple fanboys that you are actually arguing that iPhone gaming controls are superior to PS3, PSP, Xbox 360 and PS2 gaming controls!! And I also cringe at the notion that just because someone has a different opinion than you regarding analog stick controls, you guys don't think they should be allowed/given the option to game the way they prefer to.
Your device needs to be jailbroken for the hardware to work. I don't think a large scale company would be behind this, even though it's not illegal in a sense.
And I think that's beyond idiotic. Apple should go out of their way to support accesories such as this. It is a fact that there are over a 100 million hardcore gamers that own either a PS2, Xbox 360, PS3, PSP or other gaming consoles. It is a fact that they regularly buy $60 games. And they love analog stick controls. Hell just the CoD franchise alone generated over 3 BILLION dollars in sales just on analog stick consoles. It's probably the most money generated by any entertainment franchise out there (including music, movies, whatever). There's really money to be made appealing to this audience that prefer to play FPSs with analog sticks. You would think Apple would be going out of it's way to welcome an accesory that would make their device appeal to this audience. Instead, apple shutting them out is the definition of bull headed.
Well you just contradicted yourself. I said that I prefer iPhone gaming controls to PSP controls when it comes to FPS games (nobody said anything about PS3, 360 or DS controls being worse, but that's beside my point). And in your second paragraph you say that you have a differing opinion, and that's fine. But please remember that what I said was also an opinion, so don't call me an Apple fanboy.
You need to reread what I quoted. Yes, I think it's idiotic that anyone would prefer the touch screen controls to dual analogs. But I certainly don't think they should take away that option for those that prefer touch screen controls. I would protest anyone that tries to do that. Let people game the way they prefer. If you prefer touch screen controls for some insane reason, good for you, I absolutely think that every iPhone game out there should support that option. You guys on the other hand are arguing that people who prefer dual analog controls shouldn't be allowed to game on the iPhone via their prefered control mechanism. And I do think that's cringe worthy. Let people that want to use something like the iControlPad use it. What do you have to lose by this happening? Absolutely nothing. If anything, by something like iControlPad becoming mainstream, many more of the 100+ million PS2/PS3/PSP/360 gamers that love analog FPS controls might just get iPhone's too, to game on using the iControlPad. They could well buy up NOVA 2 and Modern Combat 2 like crazy, just to get their Halo and Call of Duty fix when they are away from the house. And those increased sales and revenue translates to an even bigger budget for NOVA 3 and Modern Combat 3 and in turn, even more polished, lengthier better games.
LBG is right about 1 thing: analogue sticks have never been a good way to control a FPS. They work fine for movement, but aiming sucks. The best controls i've ever used in a mobile fps are in CoD Zombies. In that game they have an option to use a virtual pad for movement and tilt for aiming. This is combined with a simple shoot button, eliminating the need for triggers and also freeing up screen real estate, for actually targeting enemies! The tilt aiming is great because it is much faster and very precise - so much so in fact that you can do without aim correction if you so wish. I've tried gameloft's gyro controls in NOVA and don't like them much due to the axis of rotation being me (i.e. to aim behind me i need to rotate myself 180 degrees). A tilt option similar to Zombies, but with improved accuracy from the gyro would be much more usable.
Gyro, no gyro, tilt, touch whatever, I've tried them all. And I think they're all garbage compared to either dual analog controls or the KB+Mouse. But whatever, if you guys like it, good for you, they should keep supporting it. All I'm saying is that they should support the iControlPad too. You are contradicting your own point by citing that article. The article is saying that PC gaming with a mouse and keyboard is superior to all other game control methods. So are you saying that we should do away with touch screen gaming as well, since PC gaming is clearly better? Because that's exactly what you guys are arguing by saying that the iControlPad/dual analog control method on the iPhone should not be supported just because you personally never got into it. (Nevermind the millions of console gamers that love dual analog FPSs). No, people should be allowed to game how they prefer, that's my point. The iControlPad is already finalized. It should be widely supported. It's ultimately better for the iPhone gaming community if iPhone gaming appeals to the dual analog crowd as well.
Another thing to remember is that just because this controller has analogue sticks, it doesn't mean that they're going to be any good. I can tell just by looking at the picture that the analogue sticks are in an uncomfortable position. They also look like the PSP's analogue stick (which I hate), where you slide the stick around as opposed to it tilting like on a PS3 or 306. Also it doesn't have any trigger buttons which means that you'd have to take you thumb off the aiming stick in order to fire. There's a lot of difference between this control pad and a PS3/360 controller.
You know people add modifications to their controllers to get in edge in console gaming, and get better mouses, keyboards, monitors, etc for PC gaming? So, disagree with you there. @LBG, honestly they look a bit more like 3DS analogue sticks, although their placement seems more like the PSPgo. EDIT: Also, they do have trigger buttons.
I'm going to stop you right there. First, you already admitted that you think dual analog gaming is stupid and you never got into it. And now, you're acknowledging that you never actually tried the iControlPad. So how exactly do you think you're qualified to assess how good the iControlPad is. Don't you think that should be left people that actually LIKE dual analog controls (ie. the target audience for the iControlPad). I've been gaming with dual analogs for well over a decade now. I love them (unlike you). And I think the iControlPad looks fantastic. Even if you don't, are you that selfish that you think no devs should support it just because you personally don't like it (never mind the many many gamers that do like it).
