Ion iCade Core Arcade Game Controller for iPad and iPad2 (ICG05)

I was sent this last year, and thought it was time to post a quick review. At $19, this is a great way to play games on an iOS device. It won't work with an OUYA due to requiring a 6-digit pin code, but it fires right up with an iPad with no pairing required. Works great! Update: See the response below for a link to a message board note on steps that may let this pair and work on Android/OUYA, though I have yet to get it to work.

I bought the Midway Arcade game pack, and trying to control things with the on-screen controls is terrible. This controller works great; pretty much just like the old arcade games. A couple issues that keep it from getting 5-stars: - Listed on the company's "Legacy" page, which I assume means it's no longer a supported product. - Only particular games work with it, so it's not as universally usable as I'd hoped. One thing to note, if you have the 12.9" iPad Pro, it won't fit in this in landscape mode. You can still use it (the connection is via Bluetooth), but you'll need to prop it up with something else.

Works excellent for the games that support it. Have tested it with Vectrex, Metal Slug 3, Plasma Sky, and Velocispider and they all rock with this controller. I looked around and decided on this iCade Core controller because it's cheaper than the regular iCade AND more portable. There is a slot on the top where you can run your charging cable so the iPad can be on charge while playing. Got this to take on road trips and to parties. I can even use it with my phone if I want :) I have an iPad Air wrapped in Otterbox Defender and the iPad Air + case fit perfectly snug into the iPad slot on the top. I either use it the expected way or I use the Otterbox Defender shield stand that comes with my case to hold the iPad upright on a table and use the controller in my lap. Both ways work fine. Note, when this controller 1st came out it was crazy expensive and supported 100+ App Store games. The 4 I have above still work with it, but I noticed others that used to work with it aren't available at the App Store anymore, so do your research on each game you consider for this and know that this controller DOES NOT WORK WITH ALL GAMES. The app developer has to code the game/app to work with this controller, so very few games do when you compare them to all the tons of games available. Check out ION's website to verify compatibility, but I found several games they still list as compatible that don't exist anymore on the app store, so be careful and do your research. That said, I see many clueless people leaving some negative reviews on the games I have mentioned above and they simply don't understand that this 4 games and others are meant to be used with an iCade Controller, not tilt or touch, etc.

I was really excited to play retro games when by iCade arrived. It's really great for retro gaming, however there are few quality apps that are compatible with the iCade that aren't vertical shooters. Disappointed with the available apps, I eventually jailbroke my iPad and installed retro console emulators on my iPad. Playing emulated retro games with the iCade was fun and made the purchase totally worth while. However, my Ipad was really unstable with the jailbreak, and I was forced to revert to stock iOS. Now my iCade is a novelty that collects dust most of the time. That being said, I can only recommend the iCade to those with a jailbroken iPad.

I bought this after some reviewers reported being able to use this with their Android devices, but apparently it will not pair with any devices running recent versions of android os (ICS or higher). Why any bluetooth device would refuse to pair with any Android device is beyond me considering the fact that Bluetooth is supposed to be a STANDARD that shouldn't rely on being compatible with a particular device. Sigh. Considering the fact that android devices are now massively outselling ios devices, you'd think the manufacturer would be working overtime to release an android-compatible version of this device, but you'd be wrong. People are stupid.

First off, this ONLY works with Apple iPads. While I agree that's probably obvious... the original icade worked with just about anything. I tried it with android, and it's read as a bluetooth keyboard... however there's just no way to get this thing to pair. I had the same problem with a pc. This is just dumb.. I'm 100% sure if the security code wasn't needed this would pair and work just fine with anything. This was an intentional decision from ion, and a really crappy one at that. That aside, I'm still giving this a 2 star rating. I managed to open it up and replaced the controller board (using an Arduino Leonardo) and got it working over usb with my PC. So from this point forward I can only really review the feel of the hardware and not the interaction they provide as that would not be a fair review. The buttons are require a great deal of pressure to tap in comparison to what I'd call standard arcade buttons. This may not seem like a big deal, but if you're playing a fighting game or a beat-em-up game... button mashing is pretty essential. And I can't play on this for more than an hour without feeling some strain on my hand. I had number of other people agree with me. 2nd because of how close the buttons are to the bottom, there's really no place to rest your right palm. This adds to the hand fatigue. I start noticing it after about 15 mins, it's really uncomfortable. (I do understand they're going for portability here) The joystick isn't really too bad at all, however the ball top continually comes loose and begins to unscrew... which is really just irritating to me. Finally, (for me) the left and down switches (top and right switch) sometimes seem to have a problem registering correctly together. Fair Warning: This could be the result of my programming (which it probably isn't given the simplicity) or perhaps I just got a bad one. Both switches register fine together. I'm pretty sure were I to use this how it was intended I wouldn't be happy with it.

First time in decades I've been geeked about opening a gift (just a couple hours ago). Talk about reliving the past... it takes me back to the arcades in the 80's. Only thing that would make it better is a cigarette odor emitter to truly simulate those days. Kidding... but it really is amazing and if placed on a countertop it surprise me that it stays stable on the counter even with moving the joystick around. Great gift... at $20 it's hard to believe. So... back to the games.

When i was a kid, I spent countless summer hours, and countless quarters, feeding the video game machines at the local arcade. Ah, the time I spent, battling 8-bit space aliens and exploring strange but oddly repeating lunar landscapes... There has been a void in my heart since the era of the classic video games faded. A void I have never been able to fill...until now. I have an iPad with MAME4iOS on it, and when I saw this gizmo, I thought, "At last! The empty, aching place in my heart can be filled!" As it turns out, this gizmo will fill it...but only half way. First, the good news. It works great with MAME. It's incredibly easy to use. It works by the magic of Bluetooth, so no cables. Now, the bad news: More of those antique video games than I remember used custom controls. This thing gives you four buttons and a joystick. That's what I remember most of the old classic arcade machines requiring. Oh, how our memory fades. It doesn't work well, as it turns out, with games that need a trackball, like Marble Madness. It doesn't work well with games that use a joystick that's mounted at an angle, like Q*Bert. And don't even try playing games that use one of those spinny things, like Tempest! One day, the great gods of the industrial complex will invent something just like this, but that allows you to take out the joystick and plug in a trackball or a spinny thing or a joystick at an angle or even a second joystick, so that games like Battlezone will become playable. Until then, I will use this to play Wardner and Altered Beast, and dream of the games I want to play but can't....