An Atari Joystick For The iPad

I suspect I'm one of millions of iPad owners who occasionally wishes for physical controls. Apple's touchscreen UI is brilliant, but it's bloody awful for playing arcade games. Think Geek's iCade case is an expensive and somewhat bulky solution to the problem -- it integrates a Bluetooth transmitter into a miniature arcade console that uses the iPad as its screen and brains. The only problem is that it costs $100.

Enter the Atari Arcade Duo Joystick, a compact iPad stand that offers an 8-way joystick and four buttons. It's not particularly pretty, but should be significantly cheaper than Think Geek's offering. Besides, liberating the internal controller board might be an excellent way to create an arcade-quality gaming surface for the iPad with genuine Happ components.

Of course, Apple could also wake up and provide their own wireless gamepad for the iPad / iPod / Apple TV instead. It would sell like hot cakes.

Atari Arcade Duo Joystick [via Technabob]