Both the PSP Go and Xperia Play had a nifty slide out controller behind the screen that significantly reduced the overall footprint of those devices. Most modern phone controllers either place the phone between the grips (like the Razer Kishi, available on Amazon.com) or attach a phone to an existing controller via a clip making them significantly less portable.
However if you have ever lusted after a controller that doesn’t increase the overall footprint of your phone keeping it relatively pocketable, Josh King, the founder and CTO of M-Con has developed a prototype slide out controller that attaches via MagSafe to your iPhone.
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The prototype appears to have all the controls you would expect for a modern controller including L3 and R3 clickable sticks. The controller snaps handily to the back of the iPhone via MagSafe with easy removability for taking photos. It even includes a built-in kickstand for the times you might want to play with the controller separate from the phone. It adds nothing to the footprint and increases the overall thickness by less than couple of centimetres keeping things extremely pocketable.
Currently the controller is in the prototype stage, with the main parts being 3D printed, however for a prototype it seems incredibly polished. Josh already has a website up and running and you can sign up for pre-order notifications through KickStarter.
Josh comments that he is also looking at creating versions for Android phones and if he is able to bring the product to market we could have a small compact controller that can turn an iPhone into a do it all gaming device, especially now Apple has relaxed its stance on iOS emulators and is trying to focus on triple A gaming on its hardware.