It’s no wonder that Sony is blatantly attacking the iPhone on games. Mobile gaming is a phenomenon, and Sony is losing ground to innovators. Why wouldn’t I want the device I carry with me at all times to be able to make calls, text friends, play games, listen to music and watch video? As gaming becomes a bigger deal on the iPhone platform, then innovation in the market is sure to follow. Still, the primary concern with the iPhone is it’s lack of discrete control. No buttons. No joysticks. Just touch and motion. If my hands are holding the device, close to the screen, things can get pretty cramped. That’s where the Posimotion Helix comes in.

The Helix is essentially two-piece hunk of molded plastic. One of the pieces is a removable component made specifically for the iPod Touch. An iPhone can be placed into the Helix in portrait or landscape. Orientation is neutral, it doesn’t matter which side goes in where. Camera holes are on either side, and there are slots available for cable management (one for the dock connector, one for headphones).The plastic has a rubber feel. That soft-touch plastic that’s oh so popular these days. While making it comfortable to hold, it is a bit decieving. Don’t be fooled, that plastic is hard as nails. It feels like it should be flexible, so I was surprised when I tried to manipulate the unit to get my iPhone in and out and it was completely solid.

The instructions indicate that to remove the iPod Touch cradle, one must pinch these two clips and slide it out. Well, I pinched with all my might and the plastic didn’t budge nor give at all. I was suddenly questioning the instructions and myself. Using a butter knife for leverage, I was able to move one side of the clip, but surprise!, it snapped off completely. My problem isn’t unique. At least one other reviewer had a similar issue getting the iPod Touch cradle out. This made me really wary about putting my iPhone in. It takes a significant amount of pressure to pop the device out (going in is butter, though). I was constantly worried I was going to break my iPhone in half. Bonus, my iPhone never felt like it was going to fall out on its own accord though. Even the most vigorous steering in Real Racing won’t send my baby to a falling death.

Cable management is useful, I must add. While holding my iPhone, charging and using headphones has never bothered me, there was an obvious comfort improvement. Although, the Helix doesn’t give much room for the plugs themselves and the cables will bend at nearly 90• angles. This gave me some anxiety about the safety of my cables. I neglected to take photos of this phenomenon, so I will borrow some from Touch Arcade’s review.

Posimotion explicitly says that the Helix is “Ideal for racing, first person shooters, action RPG’s, flight simulators, side-scrollers… virtually any game.” That may be a bit too encompassing. Essentially, the Helix will offer two basic improvements to gaming. First, since your hands are farther apart, the amount of motion it takes to perform the same amount of movement is increased. This translates to more fine tuned control. If a tiny motion causes your race car to spin out of control, it will take a much larger motion to get the same effect. Second improvement is long term gaming. Sitting down to play marathons of Final Fantasy, Zenonia or Archetype can be cramp inducing. The iPhone itself is pretty small, getting that extra grabbing space adds to the convenience. The previously mentioned cable management makes long term gaming more enjoyable also.

I found the Helix to work insanely well on games that are 90% motion controlled. This would include Monkey Ball (I bought this a day before iPhone OS 2.0 was out!, ages ago), Real Racing (or any racing game), those labyrinth games, tilt to live, etc. It’s hard to explain the sensation, but it’s like manipulating larger plane. The motions made have a much more believable effect. Like putting apples on a table and lifting one end up. The apples will stay there for a certain amount of lift, then slowly start to give and finally, roll off. This sense is all but lost on a regular iPhone where the slightest lift causes the apples to roll at mach speed.

Unfortunately, entirely motion controlled games make up only a chunk of the overall titles. A dizzying number of games use virtual analog sticks (oxymoron?), buttons and selection menus (like RPGs). With these kinds of games, the usefulness of the Helix is a bit of a stretch. Literally. I have relatively small hands, but the design of the product makes reaching for analog sticks quite the chore. Dungeon Hunter, Chaos Rings, Eliminate, Rayman, NOVA, and so on, received no benefit from the grip. In fact, it made playing games unpleasureable.

Then there are games like We Rule, Godfinger, and Words with Friends where the Helix is so unhelpful, you’ll wonder why you got it in the first place. Why would one ever take their phone out of their case, pop it into this death trap (referring to how hard it is to take the phone out), to play Scrabble for two minutes. This is strictly a marathon only device, and I’m not sure there are many marathon iPhone gamers out there. Let alone those that would pay for a product that pretty much makes many games harder to play. Don’t even get me started on simply having to carry the thing with if one wanted to play on the go. Who wants to carry another thing?

Then there is the matter of portrait games. While the Helix has a “portrait mode” there is never a practical application for it. Even motion controlled games like Doodle Jump were made worse. Other games like Bejeweled become so complicated, that my Blitz scores could never be high. It becomes something that’s in the way, something that has to be worked around, for many portrait games.

The final, minor setback, is relearning motion control. After being accustomed to how my motions would affect games, having to relearn that I have to move more was a little bit jarring. This was a minor nuisance. However, I can envision a moment where I would not have the Posimotion Helix available to me, being accustomed to it, and totally sucking at my games. That’s not a thought I care to relish.

So ultimately, it comes down to how much you game, how many of those games are primarily motion controlled and if $20 (US) is worth adding some slight comfort.

Posimotion Helix

Disclosure: GuruClark received the Posimotion Helix as a review unit.