It's been in development for quite a long time, but I wasn't too excited because it would only be available to JB games and my iPhone is non-JB. But when firmware 3.0 was announced, I think it might actually be used by AppStore games too. This way, games like Mario Bros or Tekken or Real Soccer could work properly. Cons is that it's not comfortable to carry around, but I really wouldn't mind having it to play the aforementioned games I'm interested to have a discussion on that and hear what the TA family think about it. I personally feel it's an exciting possibility in iPhone gaming world.
The problem I have with this gamepad is, that it is too wide. There's no need to not cover the sides of the iPhone. They could easily make about 4cm smaller, if the gamepad would cover the left and right side of the iPhone, so that you only see the display. The D-Pad for example would then be where the Home button is.
One thing I would like out of this is a control stick. It would make all those 3D games a breeze to play.
If it were that narrow, it would surely have to a lot thicker. The D-pad/buttons have a limit to how 'thin' they can be, as they need sensors to be placed behind them. The sensors being too thin will limit how responsive they are/how well they work. Also, the home button might be pressed accidentally. Oh, and you are potentially going to damage your device by pushing against either ends for long periods.
That actually looks pretty cool. once 3.0 comes out i'll be looking for this. more games will probably appear because of the fact that developers don't have to be so creative with the controls anymore.
Sadly, the only way a gamepad is going to catch on is if Apple releases one first for the rest of the third party manufacturers to use as a reference design. Otherwise we're going to end up with games which were built for (hypothetically) Belkin's gamepad which only has three face buttons, Griffin's gamepad which has an analog stick but only two face buttons, etc. Without someone setting the standards, it's going to get hairy.
Analog stick? yes that would be great to play games like Payback and Ninja Gaiden. We don't have to sacrifice our screen anymore for virtual buttons. But putting the D-pad near the home button is like the original DS design flaw (putting D-pad near power button). Anyway, they don't have Apple engineering team behind so let's give them credit for what they've done. I'm more interested in the possibility it offers than judging it as a final product. Let's not be too literal Posts copied from 'iPhone 3.0' thread: What if one company manufactures it and sets it as de facto standard? It would surely be a mess to have different pads for each game. Game Gear was ahead of its time. If only it had been more well thought and had a decent battery, it wouldn't have been a failure it was. Anyway, from the rendering we can see it's not ugly. Yes the one on the youtube clip is ugly, but that's just prototype for testing. I believe it can look as good as some iDevices accessory (like those speakers or battery extender).
The problem with the Game Gear was the hardware wasn't similar enough to the Game Boy to make porting games to both a realistic development choice. If you were designing a game, you chose the massive Game Boy user base as potential customers instead of the fledgling Game Gear user base. Pretty much the story of Sega's post-Genesis life. Release decent hardware that no one wants to waste time developing for.
Exactly. This would be a beautiful thing for all those lazy big companies who want to make money with minimum efforts by porting their decades-old franchise.
Hodapp's right, maybe instead of any random company, it's Apple who should make de facto standard. It's in their interest to attract big game companies, and this thing would surely help. But I feel bad for the guys who've developed the prototype, they will get nothing if Apple introduce their own game controller.
meh I don't like the idea of a gamepad for the iPhone. It'll just lower potential features of gameplay that could be found with people trying to develop a way around touch screen gameplay. Plus it's just this outer shell that snaps on the phone which just makes it bigger and cluckery in the pocket. I think Gameloft created a great analog stick in Hero of Sparta that more devs should incorporate rather than the virtual d-pad. Also there are some great games with dedicated screen room for buttons that work well as is the same with motion controls. Having a snap on gaming pad I guess would help those traditionalists that demand every game to play the same but it would take away the spazas that you can get with the gameplay of the iPhone.
This controller is my dream for the iPhone. This could broaden what is possible with an iPhone game even more. How does this handle sound? Does the system have a speaker output as well? I know if my finger so much as touches the iPhone speaker it'll go mute, let alone having a plastic cover over it.
I think that this is a great idea but I personally wouldn't use it since it defeats the purpose of unique iPhone gaming. If I wanted a D-pad and buttons I'll pick up a PSP
Yeah I feel the same way. I mean, I'm sure many will want to own them, but for me, I got an iphone as a replacement device for all the crap I used to lug around with me. I want to be able to just toss my iphone in my pocket. If I start adding all sorts of stuff then it defeats the purpose and I may as well just get a PSP or DS.
If I seen it and were able to try it out I definitely would but I like the traditional iPhone way of playing.
This is all true, but with the present methods of input, we're resorted to puzzle, casual, and racing games. No decent fighters have come out because they require a bit of precision. N and N+ haven't been ported because a decent control scheme couldn't be thought up. People want platformers. The ControlPad is inevitable.
