60beat Gamepad for iOS Offers Dual Analog Joysticks

[MacRumors]

There's been quite a few attempts at creating a physical game controller for the iPhone. The most successful of which has probably been the ThinkGeek iCade.

Despite a few other promising starts, it seems the main hurdle has been Apple allowing unfettered access between said game controllers and the iOS devices themselves. As a result, most game controllers have relied on emulating a Bluetooth keyboard to interface with the iPhone or iPad. While it works well enough for digital controls such as the iCade, full analog stick control has remained elusive.

A company called 60beat is now offering their solution which does offer dual analog sticks as well as a number of other standard directional controls and buttons. The 60beat GamePad connects through the headphone jack of your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to accomplish this task:

Games have to be programmed to support the new device, of course. At present only 2 games support the 60beat GamePad, but a "full collection" of supported games are said to be added in February 2012. The GamePad is priced at $49.99 with supported games sold separately.

Article Link: 60beat Gamepad for iOS Offers Dual Analog Joysticks

 

[rei101]

I mean... is like finally driving a car with your mind and now you are giving a mind controlled staring wheel?

Steve Jobs would have said no-no to that.

 

[xFenixKnightx]

Make it support the most popular iOS games and I'll but it.

Real Racing 2
Modern Combat
COD Zombies
Nova games
GTA

Why doesnt Apple just make theyre own knock off of an Xbox 360 pad, make it bluetooth and make all game devs program the controller into their games? I'd be in Heaven and they'd make a ton!

iGamePad FTW!

 

[Zulithe]

Something like this needs to happen. I don't know if this will finally be the product to catch on, but I mostly like what I see.

Real issue here is adoption. How is a non-Apple peripheral going to gain much support from developers?

 

[arn]

Something like this needs to happen. I don't know if this will finally be the product to catch on, but I mostly like what I see.

Real issue here is adoption. How is a non-Apple peripheral going to gain much support from developers?

iCade has been getting pretty good traction:

http://www.ionaudio.com/products/icade-games
http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?threadid=96023

 

[r-m]

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I wonder how "analogue" the sticks are though.
When he pushed the right stick on the demo at the end, it seemed to be all or nothing. Was a bad demonstration to show off the stick, it needed to be slowly pushed and moved around the edge, to show how variable it is.

 

[0098386]

Why doesnt Apple just make theyre own knock off of an Xbox 360 pad, make it bluetooth and make all game devs program the controller into their games? I'd be in Heaven and they'd make a ton!

iGamePad FTW!

Because hopefully, and rightly so, Microsoft would sue. Just as Apple would/is doing.

On paper this sounds like a good idea. But I'd hope the controller is good. Spend time with an Xbox, Wii or PS3 controller and it's very hard to go back to ones that aren't as well designed. The dpad on that controller looks horrendous.

 

[LimeiBook86]

The more options out there the better! Hopefully Apple will soon un-restrict their Bluetooth capabilities on iOS devices. There is no real reason why devices like the iControl Pad shouldn't be able to use those analog control sticks and why more games shouldn't support these awesome controllers. But this controller is pretty cool as well.

 

[timotay89]

I mean... is like finally driving a car with your mind and now you are giving a mind controlled staring wheel?

Steve Jobs would have said no-no to that.

It's because it's very difficult to control multiple sets of button when there's no reference point on the device for your fingers. Mine constantly slip away from the controls if I'm only paying attention to the screen.

The key here is that it remains optional. Without Apple encouraging it, developers will most likely accept the control without requiring it to play the games. This simply gives people another option.

 

[Consultant]

Make it support the most popular iOS games and I'll but it.

Real Racing 2
Modern Combat
COD Zombies
Nova games
GTA

Why doesnt Apple just make theyre own knock off of an Xbox 360 pad, make it bluetooth and make all game devs program the controller into their games? I'd be in Heaven and they'd make a ton!

iGamePad FTW!

Not sure about you but racing games are more fun with accelerometer / gyro.

 

[winks360]

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Does this mute games, being plugged into the headphone jack?

If so this product is a dud.

 

[kinderdm]

Something like this needs to happen. I don't know if this will finally be the product to catch on, but I mostly like what I see.

Real issue here is adoption. How is a non-Apple peripheral going to gain much support from developers?

Hopefully stuff like this will catch on because a lot of people, like myself, wont buy the games unless there is a good control method like this. Ive held off buying a lot of games, even at discounted prices, because i have no desire to try to use an emulated control stick on screen. Touch controls work best for some games but other games like FPS's just need to have more buttons and a physical keypad or joystick. Until apple can figure this out, IOS will never be anything more than fun time waster for me when it comes to games. Its sad too because it really has the potential to be a serious gaming platform if they could work out a good control scheme like every console out there has had to do in order to be successful.

 

[nedman]

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Bluetooth controller, ipad2/3(spec bumps etc), apple tv box and you got yourself some fun!

Expensive fun considering a ps3 or xbox360 cost less than an iPad alone lol

 

[nickvisic]

headset?

so, how do i use my headset and use this product at the same time?

 

[nedman]

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so, how do i use my headset and use this product at the same time?

You buy an adapter that allows 2 3.5mm head phone jacks plug in to 1. They cost like £2 lol

 

[whatevs]

usb adapter?

wouldn't it be easier to just make a USB to Headset adapter... that way I could use my excellent wired Xbox 360 controller. Why reinvent the wheel?

 

[Consultant]

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Does this mute games, being plugged into the headphone jack?

If so this product is a dud.

Typically it would still have headphone out, and the device uses microphone for input.

 

[APlotdevice]

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You buy an adapter that allows 2 3.5mm head phone jacks plug in to 1. They cost like £2 lol

Actually according to the product page it comes with an audio splitter.

 

[nedman]

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You buy an adapter that allows 2 3.5mm head phone jacks plug in to 1. They cost like £2 lol

Actually according to the product page it comes with an audio splitter.

Audio splitter would be the correct term lol

 

[Kewlstewieguy]

Thats cool I hope gta gets supported.

 

[robertosh]

Not interesting for me...

It has no sense for me, we have a revolutionary devices with innovative and versatile control methods (gyro, touch) and seems that some people want to step back and build this old control methods!

 

[APlotdevice]

Not interesting for me...

It has no sense for me, we have a revolutionary devices with innovative and versatile control methods (gyro, touch) and seems that some people want to step back and build this old control methods!

Because those "innovative and versatile" controls are a rather lousy substitute in certain genres. I mean like I've yet to find a virtual d-pad that is as responsive as a physical one for platforming games. And it is really hard to multitask in a FPS game without shoulder buttons.

 

[theelysium]

Omg!

I am so happy right now! I can't wait for EA to adopt the controller! I want to play dead space for iPad without touch crap controls!

 

[HarryKeogh]

I can't wait to buy this, plug it into my iPad, start playing a game with so-so graphics then glancing across the living room and thinking to myself "why don't I just play my PS3?"

 

[Yvan256]

Not interesting for me...

It has no sense for me, we have a revolutionary devices with innovative and versatile control methods (gyro, touch) and seems that some people want to step back and build this old control methods!

It makes perfect sense. All games have their "perfect" controlling methods.

I've found that games such as Galcon are best played with a touch interface and racing games are pretty good when you use gyroscopes.

However, platformers like Mega Man and shooters like Ikaruga are best played with a gamepad and first-person shooters like Quake, Unreal Tournament and others are best played with either a keyboard and mouse or a setup similar to the Wiimote and nunchuck, i.e. pointing device to aim, physical controls to move.

There's a reason why games need to simulate a gamepad on their screen. It's because they need one.

Apple should just open up Bluetooth for controllers only, if it's for security reasons. I don't know if it's like USB HID, but there must be a way to limit connectivity to controllers.