Hasta La Gadget!

Likely the result of an April Fool’s joke turned serious, the new JOYSTICK-IT iPad Controller from ThinkGeek addresses a problem that a number of iPad gamers have with their games: that virtual thumbsticks on the iPad screen aren’t that much fun to use. The JOYSTICK-IT controller looks and feels like a real arcade joystick, it just sticks to the iPad’s display right over where the virtual joystick is positioned, and you can play like normal. 

The JOYSTICK-IT isn’t the first iPad controller we’ve seen this week: yesterday TenOne Designs unveiled the Fling controller for iPad at the Consumer Electronics Show with a much different design. Alternatively, the JOYSTICK-IT actually looks and functions like a joystick, and is completely removable and replaceable depending on where the virtual controls in your game of choice are on-screen. 

While you can’t pre-order the JOYSTICK-IT, you can sign up to be notified when the JOYSTICK-IT is up for sale at ThinkGeek’s Web site. The company says it will be available in late January for $24.99 retail price.