Apple making a physical controller is pretty much in line with other
silly moves experiments they have made in the past. AppleTV, TimeMachine, Pippin, QuickTake camera, etc.
The success of iPad/iPhone gaming comes from the anytime-and-anywhere accessibility of the games. Not only do users always have their phone with them, they can even purchase games whenever they see someone else playing something that looks interesting. However, they won't always have that separate controller with them, unless it's just phenomenally portable, but that would probably mean it's too small to be a practical, robust controller.
My main concern is that it is rarely successful to target anything other than the base hardware configuration. There were plenty of 4-player games for GameCube and its built-in four controller ports, but there weren't many for PlayStation2, as very few people owned the MultiTap. Then there is the EyeToy, PS2-HDD, Move, blah-blah-blah.
Virtual d-pads and buttons suck, sure. Developers need to focus on making games which work with the available iOS controls, and not try make everything conform to the overly complex control model of console games.
they should call it the ps flatline
/bizarro methodis
Pretty sure "bizarro methods" is just pronounced "superman"
