Turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a gamepad with stick-on buttons

Software developers have been able to do some amazing things with games on portable devices like the iPhone and iPod touch, but just as some people prefer to type on a physical keyboard, gamers occasionally miss using a gamepad. A Japanese company has come up with a stick on plastic nubs that you can apply to your touch screen device to “replicate” the feel of the buttons on a game pad.

While the transparent appliques are applied like a screen protector, they really seem to be of dubious benefit. While having tactile feedback is helpful when playing on a console or computer and looking up at the display and having the pad out of your line of sight, it doesn’t seem helpful in this case. On a touchscreen handheld you are already looking at the controls on the display and the controls may not be in the same place for different games.

If you still feel like trying out the Tactile+Plus stick-on gamepad controls, they can be ordered from Japan for ¥630, or around $7.80.