JOYSTICK-IT for iPad or other Capacitive Touchscreen Tablets - Portable Joystick to Play Tablet Games

Electronic gaming – from the time some are age 5 or so – they are hooked. Mom’s cell phone, sister’s pink PSP3 or dad’s iPad it does not matter. Once the gaming bug has bitten, the need for new, exciting and increasingly challenging game play is a necessity. Since the iPad is one of the largest touchscreen devices out there (10.1 inch) the JOYSTICK-IT raises the bar for other gaming devices. If the game has a virtual joystick on the screen you no longer have to pretend. The JOYSTICK-IT is a real joystick that you simply stick on top of the screen and play as you would with any other game controller. There are no wires or cables and nothing is permanently left behind when you shut the game off.

With what looks more like a chess piece than a joystick you can shoot rockets, fight the bad guys or walk cartoonish characters through a maze. If the Touchscreen is capacitive, the game has a virtual on-screen joystick, and there is a large enough patch of real estate the JOYSTICK-IT will work. An iPhone screen would work – but it would probably be a bit small to easily and accurately play an action game. Although I am most familiar with an iPad other electronic tablets will do fine as long as the Touchscreen is capacitive.

The JOYSTICK-IT will not replace the feel of a high quality and expensive joystick. The control of your character (especially those that require wide, quick and repetitive actions will not be as accurate either). However, you will get the tactile feel of playing a video game with a joystick.

Looking at pictures of the JOYSTICK-IT I wondered how in the world it would stick to an iPad screen. My mind was made up - if there was any adhesive involved I would not have been interested at all. There is no adhesive. Instead, a suction cup holds the JOYSTICK-IT in place. There is a special material (I am not sure what it is exactly) that surrounds the suction cup. This fabric acts much like your finger does when it touches the capacitive Touchscreen. This may be its weak spot since it only touches the screen when you move the JOYSTICK-IT at a fairly strong tilt. If you remember – I said that it is best used with a slower action game.

Will the JOYSTICK-IT win a best design award? Probably not, but it should be fun to use. It is made of solid lightweight aluminum and it looks pretty cool. If $29 does not wreck your budget you might enjoy the novelty of it. If you really like using the JOYSTICK-IT you can use two – one on each side of the screen. The other choice you have is to use your finger to play games on your iPad.

The JOYSTICK-IT is not the only kid on the block. Check out the Fling.