The iPod touch and iPhone both work beautifully as handheld gaming devices…until you get so into Need for Speed that you fumble the svelte iPod touch and drop it on the ground. Even if it doesn’t break, you just lost your game.
The GameHandle's especially good for racing games.
The GameHandle gives you more to hang onto, thanks to friendly plastic grips on either side that make your iDevice feel more like a standard gamepad. This is especially welcome when playing tilt-to-steer racing games, Street Fighter, or any other fast-paced action-packed game where keeping a firm grasp on things is important.
The plastic has a rubbery finish that’s easy to grip and didn’t make our hands sweaty just by holding it. Vents underneath the device let the sound resonate inside its hollow chamber and come out the back, which makes it a little louder. The problem is that when you snap your iPhone 3G or 3GS, or second- or third-gen iPod touch into the GameHandle, you can no longer use the device’s volume switch, although some games have onscreen volume sliders in their settings menus. You also can’t use headphones when your device is inside the GameHandle, which feels like an oversight. And the iPhone 4 doesn’t fit at all.
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Parents of butterfingered children will appreciate the extra grippiness the GameHandle adds to Apple’s slim devices, but blocking the headphone jack is a definite misfire.
GameHandle
COMPANY: Tunewear
CONTACT: www.tunewear.com
PRICE: $19.95
REQUIREMENTS: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, or second- or third-gen iPod touch
Gives you more to hold during gaming sessions. Sound vents.
Blocks volume controls and headphone port.
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