Kickstarter gear of the week: iControlPad 2, a fully open source game controller for pretty much anything

This:

Yes, this is the next controller for your, well any device really. Its the iControlPad 2 and it wants to massage your gaming gland.

It’s about the same size as the iPhone 4S, has two analogue nipples, a QWERTY keyboard, a D-pad, four face buttons, two shoulder buttons and it swivels out from the back of the phone for easier access.

We don’t take kindly to device mockups round here

For the few of us who owned the iControlPad 1, the new swivel access is a godsend. The first iControlPad clipped on to the bottom of the device, doubling the size of the phone. iControlPad 2 swivels up when not in use.

It can be potentially be connected to any device with bluetooth, as long as the code is written for the gadget in question. Any gadget, at all: Raspberry PI, Apple TV, Nexus 7, and even potentially the world’s first bluetooth phone, the Sony Ericsson T36.

Now that’s the business

Mission impossible

We know what you’re thinking. How the hell is the iControlPad 2 going to detect my onscreen controls? Easily enough it turns out. On iOS or Android, any touchscreen input can be assigned to a button on the iControlPad 2. So it’s accomplished the impossible then, it can literally control any Android or iOS device on the market. And when the time comes that the iControlPad 2 can’t control a new device, the firmware can be rejigged for quick support.

So donate. It’s US$50 for the vanilla package of one controller or US$600 for a pack of ten controllers. Pleasantly, there’s a different iControlPad 2 donation package for any taste. Gold-plated or wooden controllers perhaps? It’s a world-first according to the developers so watch the video, donate and grab an excellent-looking gamepad for your touchscreen devices. If an iPhone could talk back, and no Siri does not count, it would thank you.