There’s no doubt that gaming on the iPad and Android tablets is extremely popular. But if you’re like me, you really miss the feel and control that an analog joystick provides. I’ve tried a couple stick-on joysticks like the Fling and Joystick-it (see links below), but they always leave me wanting more. The Roam MobileOS Game Controller from LevelUp looks like the perfect gaming accessory in my opinion. It’s small, connects to iOS and Android devices via Bluetooth and offers dual analog sticks, D-pad, 4 action buttons and 2 shoulder triggers. I want one. NOW. Unfortunately, it’s not available quite yet. It’s going to be unveiled at E3 in LA next week. MSRP is listed at $39.99. Who else wants one?
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There is already similar products out there.
http://www.icontrolpad.com/
http://gametel.se/
The problem is that outside of Xperia Play, phones do not come with game controls by default. As such, few companies take the time to implement support for optional controls.
This is the same reason why one do not find strategy games on games consoles often. They are best played with a mouse and keboard, and those are highly optional on consoles. Even high end flight simulators are ignored as the number of controls needed either need specialized controllers, or something like a keyboard where one can make out combinations.
Here is another that will make an appearance at E3 as best i can tell.
http://androidcommunity.com/moga-combines-universal-bluetooth-game-pad-and-dev-tools-20120601/
@digi_owl According to the LevelUp info, the Roam will be able to work in different modes: iOS mode, keyboard mode, mouse mode and game pad mode. I’m hoping that means it will be compatible with any game. Wishful thinking maybe…
Nab I cannot wait to see how well this interacts with games already out on the ipad (GTA, MASS EFFECT to name a few). I am like you Julie I love playing games on the iPad but some are just too cumbersome without a controller…
@Julie the Gametel one has the same feature. Now if games provided at least some way to assign keyboard keys to in game controls, this would be nice. But they do not even do that. Some barely support the use of the Android buttons and dpad for controls. Most only implement onscreen keys as that is the lowest common denominator between various devices.