By Caitlyn Muncy
Playing games on the iPad is terribly fun and takes up a lot of my time. One of the main problems I have; such as the common problem with Dance Dance Revolution, is forgetting where buttons are located, as it’s on a flat surface. With a dance pad, it’s easy to constantly forget where the arrows are as you try to follow what’s on the screen more than you look at your feet. This is the same case with the iPad, as in a game, you focus more on what’s happening on the center of the screen as opposed to where the controller is. There are many times that I’ve been trying to go through a door and moved my hand ever so slightly away from where the on-screen controller is.
Recently the Ten One Design: Fling iPad game controller showed up on my doorstep and all I can say is thank goodness. It’s sometimes hard to play a game when there’s no tangible controller. The Fling is a very simple but effective way to help you keep track of your controller and make your iPad gaming experience 10 times better than it would be otherwise. The design is simple, lightweight, and extremely effective.
It’s body is pretty much a giant spiral with two suction cups attached at two opposite ends making a sort of coil. In the center of the spiral is the actual controller that has a conductive material on the bottom that will accurately get all your thumb movements transferred to the screen. Both the spiral and suction cups are made from a clear plastic, so if there is anything important on the screen underneath, it will still be visible. The controller itself is very comfortable, but I found myself afraid that I would break its plastic home if the gaming experience got to be a little overwhelming.
This little controller has been perfect for almost all the games I have, except one. There is another button beneath the controller on the screen in this game and it was the equivalent of start. Needless to say, getting suction cups to stick was annoying, but having to slide them around just to get to necessary buttons was a little ridiculous. It is a little bulky, but that is only dependent on what games you’re playing. Other than that, this has been a very helpful little accessory for the iPad and greatly improved my gaming ability on it. Thankfully this is doesn’t need an app or some other sort of plug in that will up battery or memory. A little spit and the suction cups will be in place until you try and pry them off. These cost about $20 a pop or $30 for a pair. This is a tad pricey for such a little piece of plastic, but it is helpful for gaming, so you can take that however you’d like.
[ TenOne ]
