In the last few years, games available for our consumption on mobiles and tablets have evolved by leaps and bounds, but their input mechanism has pretty much remained the same and ultimately their Achilles’ Heel. Sure, there are plenty of Bluetooth controllers available in the market that have made lives easier for the gamers, but they’re bulky and expensive and often come with their own compatibility issues.
To address this problem, Craig Sheldon Thomas has started a new campaign on KickStarter to raise funds for a new product named ScreenStick. It’s a handy joystick for your smartphones and tablets and is so simple, that we’re surprised no one thought of this before. According to the product description on the KickStarter page, ScreenStick is an ultra-sensitive and precise joystick that can be used on iPad/tablet or any other phone to play games.
It holds on two the device using two suction cups which hold on to the bezel, while the main part made out of aluminium rests comfortably over the screen where the input for the game is collected. ScreenStick has been designed after an RC stick and has an effective diameter of 35 mm and a height of 30 mm. We’re not sure if the size is great for smaller screen phones, but for tablets and phablets, it’s a great gaming solution.
Since it doesn’t require any power source or connection with your device it can be used with all sorts of devices like the iPad, the iPhone, Android and Windows Phone devices and other tablets.
The developer is also giving a carry pouch along with the purchase. With 22 days still to go, the project has already met its goal of £6,000 from 469 backers at the time of writing this post. You can book one for yourself for as low as £8, which is a full 50% less than the retail price once the product gets launched. Users will get a gaming stick as well as a simulation stick as a part of the package.
Check out the KickStarter page of the project here.