Fling adds a joystick to your iPad

Fling joystick for iPad

The Fling tactile game controller is a real joystick that attaches to your iPad so you can instinctively feel what you're doing with your thumb and increase your accuracy.

Xbox and PlayStation controllers taught console gamers to use a left thumb joystick for movement or aiming. Action games on the iPad simulate that with a virtual joystick controlled with your thumb on the touch screen. Problem is, there's no touch feedback from the iPad's flat glass screen. It's hard to keep track of exactly where your thumb is, making games like GWars:Touch or Rage HD harder than they need to be.

Fling is a physical joystick giving you real feedback. Use the suction cups to position it properly centered for the game, then use your thumb on the thumbstick to control the game. The joystick is made by Ten One Design who came up with the Pogo Sketch stylus for iPad, so they're experienced in making touch input devices with great accuracy.

The Fling FAQ confirms you can use two of these for "dual joystick" games, but points out that most first person shooters and role playing games only use the left joystick, while the right side of the screen has virtual buttons instead.

Watch the Fling iPad joystick in action on YouTube and visit Ten One Design on January 6 to pre-order.

[via CrunchGear]

View Tags

Source: http://tenonedesign.com/fling

Categories

Accessories Gaming iPad

The Fling tactile game controller is a real joystick that attaches to your iPad so you can instinctively feel what you're doing with your...

Add a Comment

Sign in »

7 Comments

Filter by:

Chris

The first true analog 3D gaming joystick was on sega Saturn, the game pad debuted with Nights into dreams. Nights and the gamepad launched shortly before the N64.

The atari 5200 and Vectrex both had analog game pads 10 years prior though.

March 30 2011 at 7:47 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

naldien

"Xbox and PlayStation controllers taught console gamers to use a left thumb joystick for movement or aiming."

Actually, they taught us to use the left thumbstick for movement, and the right thumbstick to aim.

Sounds like you need to play more first person shooters!

January 04 2011 at 1:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to naldien's comment

Michael Terretta

On Xbox, generally depends on whether you're using a southpaw config.

But as other commenters mentioned, console FPS really kicked off on N64 with Turok, and its right-handed config had you aiming with your left thumb on the analog joystick.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Games/Products/N64/turok/userreviews.html?reviewid=33993

Anyway, you're right, I do need to play more FPSs. I'm waiting for the followups to R6V2 or GRAW2. Think I should I try Black Ops?

January 04 2011 at 6:57 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Steve

Nice. However, let's get back to work on bringing that brilliant software based pressure-sensitive solution to the iPad you teased us with way back in July. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgTcyjzXfTg

How 'bout letting us know which of the private API's you need made public so that we can all petition Apple and request 'em for ya? As someone "in-the-know" recently told me:

"The more squeaky a certain feature gets, the more attention it receives. TenOne shows something cool, but they go on the bottom of the priority list if they keep quiet. If iOS Engineering isn't being pressured by developers (via bug reports) then they're not going to be putting too much emphasis on implementing it."

Good advice to heed, no?

January 04 2011 at 1:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Matt

N64 did it first; before Playstation and Xbox.

January 04 2011 at 11:35 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to Matt's comment

tdowling

What about the ol' NES?

January 04 2011 at 12:41 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

TheCastro

He's talking about the Joystick, not video games. Actually Atari was master of the joy stick, sure it was a thumb one, unless you had big hands like the guy that made the original xbox controller.

January 04 2011 at 1:07 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply