10 Essentials For Building The Ultimate iPad Gaming Rig

The iPad 2 may boast a battery life of over 10 hours, but you never know when you'll be stuck without any juice—especially for if you're a world-traveling mobile gamer (they exist, we're almost sure of it). Try this 16,000 mAh ultraportable backup battery. That big number means you can keep on Sword & Sworceryin' for up to 480 hours without being interrupted by that annoying Apple logo that taunts you for not plugging in. The device is small enough to fit in your pocket, and makes for a must-have if you’re constantly in and out of town and need something to keep your iPad and other devices whirring via its five USB slots.

It's no secret that the iconic white headphones provided with iProducts are less than savory. In fact, they’re as good as gone within a year. You can go with higher-end wired headphones, but take a good look at some of the Bluetooth headphones out on the market. AKG, a company well established in the personal audio industry, has taken a step into the wireless space with their new AKG 830 Bluetooth headset. They offer above average quality audio for wireless cans (which often experience interference due to operating on a simliar frequency to other wireless devices), and fit comfortably on your ears, with easy access to built-in volume and playback controls that work flawlessly with the iPad 2. One drawback is the price, which is on the high end for similarly spec-ed devices, so it may be just about time to visit that rich uncle you’ve been meaning to see.

If you’ve had the pleasure of playing Street Fighter IV on the iPad, you know it’s great...except for the strange feeling of having to swipe at the screen to perform hadoukens. The nerds at ThinkGeek have come up with an ingenious solution in the JOYSTICK-IT, a removable joystick that actually works very well for the iPad. It doesn’t conjure up the days of yore when we were feeding quarters into arcade cabinets, but it adds a bit more tactility to your game and keeps your grubby-ass hands off the screen a bit, which is always a plus. Seriously, what have you been doing, having a mudball fight?

One of the hardest decisions to make when buying a new gadget is providing it with a protective coat strong enough to withstand the eventual drops, crushes, and wear from everyday use. In the case of the foldIO, it does that and provides a solid, repositionable stand that's great for playing games like Words With Friends that don't require constantly holding the iPad. It also provides solid screen protection when you’re toting your device around, while not bulking the whole thing up too much in the process. After all, fat mobile devices are soSaved By the Bell.

For those who need a bit more durability in their portable iPad 2 case, the Hive Honeycomb dermaShot is our pick. The rubberized exterior is molded into a honeycomb shape, which is ideal for gripping the device during heavy sessions of games like Real Racing HD. Some may be put off by the case not providing any protection for the screen itself, but it’s a small price to pay when you can pair this sweet iPad body suit with any of the many screen protectors out there.

Americans may be gearing up for the hot season, but it’s never too late to prepare for Old Man Winter’s next visit here (or his upcoming arrival in the Southern Hemisphere). One of the most annoying aspects of the cold season is using devices like cellphones and iPads outside, forcing you to fumble around with your device while your fingers enter the early stages of frostbite. Ditch the winter-weather kabuki and pick up Freehands—gloves made of various fabrics that allow your full use of your index finder and thumb, while keeping the rest of your hand nice and toasty.

A new iPad iteration brings a slew of new first-party accessories from Apple. This time around, we’re actually recommending their Digital AV Adapter, which allows you to replicate your iPad's screen onto larger devices like TVs and monitors. This simple adapter attaches to where the power cord inserts and provides an HDMI-out port that connects to any device that supports it. It may not sound like a big deal, but do yourself a favor and check out Infinity Blade on a 50-inch HDTV. We’ll give you a second to regain ownership of your jaw.

Who knows where your filthy mitts have been? Lucky for you that the iPad 2’s screen is extra resistant to dirt, but that still doesn’t make it impenetrable from the constant rubbing of it during its use. We’ve used a number of various fabrics to clean off the surface, but nothing comes close to microfiber cloth’s ability to pick up crap without scratching your stuff to bits. Cloth Addiction’s microfiber is about the size of the iPad screen, making it a perfect candidate for taking care of cleanup duties. Plus, it'll help you avoid being the idiot trying to clean his iPad by rubbing it against your pants. Trust us: we were those idiots once.

Sure, this may seem like overkill as a gaming accessory, but if you’re like us and have a stockpile of retro and retro-inspired games in your iPad, this is a must-have for your gaming sessions. Originally an April Fool’s Joke on the ThinkGeek site, Atari and ION teamed up to make it a reality, and it's going on sale in June. Even better, Atari will be putting out Asteroids, Space Invaders, and PacMan for use with the case, as well as additional compatible titles later this year. Let’s just hope that old time-y arcade stank comes optional.

The iPad has tens of thousands of applications available for download, which means that there are many games that simply go unnoticed. For every Angry Birds, there's X-Plane 9 ($9.99), a game that allows you to take control of real birds in the sky and fly around with realistic controls.

If old-school arcade games are more your speed, check out War Pinball HD ($2.99), which features classic pinball action on war movie-themed levels like Platoon, Missing in Action, and Navy Seals.

Plants vs. Zombies is one of our favorite games, but we can only take so much undead brain busting. Tapper World Tour HD ($2.99) is a similar “assembly line” tower-defense-type game, pitting you—a one-man army of a bartender—against a horde of incoming patrons in need of some sudsy thirst-quenching.

Collision Effect ($0.99) takes its cues from predecessors like geoSpark and adds in a layer of crackish addictiveness, challenging you to solve puzzles by exploding similarly colored orbs in timed succession.

And, our final pick: Land-a Panda ($1.99) combines the barrel-blasting fun found in Donkey Kong Country with cute, exploding, bi-polar pandas in a strategy-based timing game. Need we say more?