Taito's Japan-Only Paddle Controller for Nintendo DS

I blew a few quarters on Arkanoid at Barcade last night, so perhaps I'm a wee bit saturated in nostalgia at the moment, but nonetheless: this paddle controller from Taito, which plugs into the bottom of the Nintendo DS for use in games like Arkanoid and Space Invaders Extreme, sounds great. Sure, you could fake it really well with the DS's touchscreen, but read out what Chris Kohler, who got a hands-on, had to say:

it's fantastic. It's not just a little plastic dial. It's sitting on ball bearings or something, and it's got momentum and a little bit of kickback to it. That means that it spins incredibly smoothly -- if you spin it and let go, it'll keep whizzing for a good five seconds or so. The response time is perfect.

Yet no plans for a North American release! Criminal. They'd sell dozens.

Hands-On: Why Taito's DS Paddle Controller Rocks So Hard [Game|Life]

[#1 posted by A New Challenger , September 21, 2007 11:43 AM]

They may just have a sale in me anyway. I've seen this before but had no idea it wasn't leaving Japan.

And, unlike the Wii Zapper, this provides extra functonality.

[#2 posted by superba , September 22, 2007 9:50 AM]

The thought of not only you but many, many other materialistic scenester assholes (in hippest Brooklyn, of course) all playing Atari all at once makes me want the revolution to come that much sooner.

You and your cohort are enormous walking punchlines. It's funny watching old people desperately try to hang onto their long gone youth.

Move back to the suburbs from where you came and give the city back to the people who grew up there. Stop jacking up my rent, asshole.

[#3 posted by strider_mt2k , September 24, 2007 4:18 AM]

Nice that folks can use these posts to vent.

Hope you feel better.

[#4 posted by jim , September 24, 2007 2:40 PM]

Only scenesters use the word "scenester". I'd love to have one of these paddles for my DS. My stylus hand tends to obscure my view when I use the touch screen, or maybe I'm doing it wrong because I'm old and live in the suburbs. Oh well, at least there's plenty of free parking for my SUV.

[#5 posted by Dr. Freex , September 24, 2007 3:30 PM]

If there were a DS version of Tempest, I would so be hitting the import sites...

[#6 posted by Tommy , September 25, 2007 7:06 AM]

Oh yeah! Tempest! I want both classic Tempest and a port of Tempest 2000 from the Jaguar. (I still regret selling mine.)

And then I want a roller-ball for Reactor!

[#7 posted by Teresa Nielsen Hayden/Moderator , September 25, 2007 7:37 AM]

Superba, nobody's obliged to listen to you when you're being a jerk.