Atari Arcade Duo-powered joystick for iPad review: Atari Arcade Duo-powered joystick for iPad

When it comes to gaming on the iPad, it's generally a touch-based affair. Retro gamers have an alternative: external joystick docks have started to emerge, but they have limitations to go with their geek appeal. The Atari Arcade is a joystick and four-button dock for the iPad that turns your Apple tablet into a mini gaming shrine. At $60, it's nearly half the price of the larger, bulkier Ion iCade, an arcade cabinet for the iPad we reviewed earlier this year. It's also more than half the size, and can slide into a backpack--something the tabletop iCade could never do. But, there are limitations: the battery-free device might be compact, but it only works with Atari's retro-gaming app, making it a one-trick pony. Still, this could be a novelty stocking-stuffer worth considering for the iPad gamer who already has everything.

7.0

Atari Arcade Duo-powered joystick for iPad

$48 at Amazon

The Good

The <b>Atari Arcade</b>, a small, compact docking joystick, detaches easily from the iPad and can fit in a backpack; no batteries are required, either.

The Bad

Buttons and joystick feel stiff and less comfortable than true arcade equivalents like the iCade. The dock forces the iPad into portrait orientation, and it's only compatible with the Atari Greatest Hits app.

The Bottom Line

The compact Atari Arcade joystick dock ably converts the iPad into an old-school video game machine that doesn't require batteries, as long as all you're planning to do is play Atari games.

The Atari Arcade has a decidedly hollow-plastic feel, like a budget fighting arcade stick at GameStop. The curved white design with emblazoned red-stripe Atari logo has its heart in the right place, but it looks too racing-futuristic, lacking some old-school charm that the iCade provides.

The Atari Arcade has distinct design advantages over the iCade. It's significantly smaller, and it could be carried in a bag. The iCade, by comparison, is a tabletop device. The Atari Arcade also doesn't use batteries: a 30-pin connector docks an iPad or iPad 2 in vertical portrait mode, while two side tabs lock rubberized feet into place to keep the iPad from shifting. The Ion iCade's Bluetooth connection removes a need for docking, but chews up battery life in the iCade and on the iPad.

Once the iPad is docked to the Atari Arcade, it instantly launches the Atari Greatest Hits app. All 100 Atari 2600 and arcade games on the app have been updated to work with the Atari Arcade's joystick and buttons. Limiting the iPad to a portrait-only mode, however, letterboxes the games down to a fraction of the whole iPad screen real estate. Only a few games, like Centipede, take advantage of the portrait design. Meanwhile, the iCade can orient either way.

Playing Atari games on the Arcade is generally fun, but the appeal can be limiting. A slightly stiff micro-switch joystick and large, mushy buttons don't click as comfortably as the iCade's more professional hardware. You can feel the difference when button-mashing through Asteroids or Yar's Revenge. The hard turns on the joystick are also difficult to pull off without the Atari Arcade shifting a little on the table: make sure those rubber feet beneath are set firmly down on a grippy surface.

The biggest knock against the Atari Arcade is its limited library. The peripheral is a one-trick pony for the Atari app, which costs $10 for 100 games, or 99 cents for any of several four-packs of related games. A total cost of $70 isn't outrageous for a complete retro package of Atari games and a controller to play them with, but it borders on the fetishistic. After all, you could always play these games on the iPad itself using touch controls.

This brings us to a final gripe: it's an odd fit to pair a joystick with Atari's arcade legacy. Many of Atari's most famous games, featured in this collection--Asteroids, Missile Command, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Breakout--used nontraditional controls like trackballs or paddles. A joystick just doesn't give you the real arcade experience for Centipede or, especially, Crystal Castles. Now, a trackball peripheral? Hmm, now we're talking.

Indie game developers--a precious few of them--have started making games compatible with the Ion iCade. They're hardly great, but they add to the value package. The Atari Arcade will need to add compatibility for other games to really be worth its price of admission. Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Dig-Dug...these are the games we need a joystick for, and none of them supports the Atari Arcade. Hopefully, they will. Retro game makers need to stick together.

Buy the Atari Arcade if you're an Atari obsessive, or if you're into quirky iPad novelties or fun retro gaming toys. Otherwise, you're not missing a whole lot. The Atari Arcade is a good idea, but it's not enough of what the iPad truly needs.