midwayarcadeMidway Arcade, a collection of classic Midway video games ported to the iOS, has received an update adding support for the iCade iPad gaming add-on. The iCade started life as a ThinkGeek April Fool's joke, but has since become a well-supported iOS game controller. Ion Audio, the company behind the iCade, announced new versions of the product at CES this year.

TouchArcade, writing about the update:

Morphing drug pushers into plumes of viscera and leg parts has never been easier, thanks to the latest update to Midway Arcade. The arcade collection app, which features tons of classic arcade titles including NARC and Rampage, now features iCade support. We spent a moment or two in the app this morning and can confirm that the added support is sharp. We can also confirm that NARC is still the greatest game that has ever been made.

The iCade is available from ThinkGeek for $99.99.

Midway Arcade is available for $0.99 on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

JAT Avatar
167 months ago
I assure you, your finger is aware of whether it's going left or right without a joystick.

Regarding virtual buttons, they should be done away with. Use gestures aware of relative motion (direction, speed, duration... number of fingers... you can get well into the hundreds for number of distinct gestures a single hand can make... you need only come up with a dozen or two to emulate even the most complicated of controllers.)

All of your comments are spoken like an educated person that understands software/hardware interaction.

And not like a person that has ever played a video game.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Moonjumper Avatar
167 months ago
It's to give you a joystick and buttons so you can play these emulations the way the way the originals were played.

I, as a developer, wonder whether it makes sense to make all new games that use the iCade instead of a multitouch surface. (Clearly offscreen joystick is better than onscreen multitouch in some cases, but wouldn't an offscreen multitouch be better than an offscreen joystick in those cases?)

A joystick provides physical feedback, something a multitouch screen does not. That is the main point of iCade.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macrumorsuser10 Avatar
167 months ago
Why is it I can't help but feel the real winner here is ThinkGeek?

The iCade is $99.99... How much of that is Midway collecting? Apple? How much covers the bills at ThinkGeek and how much is pure profit?

Every company has a right to price their products or services as they see fit. If you don't like the price, then don't buy it.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JAT Avatar
167 months ago

A joystick? That's not new. And TBH, I think the iCade should just be multitouch surface that doesn't obscure the iOS screen.
You apparently have no idea what the purpose of the iCade is.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Moonjumper Avatar
167 months ago
Is it necessary to have physical feedback, though?

What if you could just see what was happening?

I think the issue with onscreen touch isn't so much the lack of being able to feel it so much as the lack of being able to perceive it in any way.

Your thumb is on the screen, thus obscuring a portion of the screen... potentially the only portion where the visual cue is. Separate the touch surface from the screen, though, and you can always see everything. You don't need to feel the joystick, because you already felt how far / fast your finger moved, and you can see the results on the screen.

Physical feedback is important for many games. You just don't have the precision without it. On arcade games you want to know precisely how close you are to changing the input from left to right for example. And fingers can miss virtual buttons with ease.

Some games don't need it, some can be made to work without, but would benefit from tactile controls, while others are greatly compromised.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
satcomer Avatar
167 months ago
I'm looking at it from a developer standpoint, not a consumer standpoint.

I'm wondering whether I should make my apps compatible with the iCade. Ultimately, I decide not to.

Then again, I'm planning on making my future Mac OS x games require multitouch (not just support - require.) Why? I feel multitouch has some real potential that hasn't been realized yet in desktop video games. Simply using the gestures in Mac OS is fun - I think replacing keyboard / mouse with a multitouch surface can lead to some intuitive and fun (and new) gameplay mechanics.

A joystick? That's not new. And TBH, I think the iCade should just be multitouch surface that doesn't obscure the iOS screen.

Well classic games (such as Pac-Man, Astroids, etc.) that were developed for smash buttons and joystick would be a great app for the iCade!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Expected to Release iOS 18.3 Next Week With These New Features

Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public next week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones. Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3. Notification Summary Changes Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries Apple Intelligence...
iOS 18

5 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.3

Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Beta Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner. Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri ...
Apple Pay Walmart Feature

Walmart Stands Firm on Why It Doesn't Accept Apple Pay in the U.S.

Thursday January 23, 2025 7:32 am PST by
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today. A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient...
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Launching This Year With These New Features

Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device. The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full Release Notes for iOS 18.3

Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes. The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

Kuo: iPhone 17 Models Won't Have Smaller Dynamic Island

Friday January 24, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The upcoming iPhone 17 models that Apple plans to release this year will not feature a smaller Dynamic Island, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today. On social media, he said that he is expecting the size of the Dynamic Island to remain "largely unchanged" across the iPhone 17 lineup. His statement is contrary to prior rumors that we've heard about planned changes for the iPhone 17 models. ...
iPhone 16 Apple Store Levels

Gurman: Apple Stores Receiving 'Merchandise' Updates Next Week

Saturday January 25, 2025 5:07 pm PST by
Apple's retail stores will be rolling out "merchandise/floor marketing updates" next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman did not explicitly say if the store updates are related to any upcoming product announcements, but he did mention that next week is around the time that Apple rolls out its annual Black Unity watch band for the Apple Watch. In each of the past four years, ...
apple power beats pro 2

Apple's First Product Announcement of 2025 is Imminent

Thursday January 23, 2025 2:48 pm PST by
It's also time for Apple's first product announcement of the year. Last year, Apple said it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and the wireless earbuds are expected to launch very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter last weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the...