If you saw part 4 of my Nexus One questions and requests post, you’ll remember what a hard time I had playing game console emulators on a device with so few buttons. The touch sensitive buttons beneath the screen could not register a tap at the same time as an on-screen button so the experience was hobbled, at best. Motorola Droid users face a different challenge: playing with QWERTY keys surrounded by other keys that feel exactly the same as those needed for game play is really hard, at least for me it is. Even when you can setup your own button assignments, fluid gameplay can be difficult.

Enter Game Gripper, a rubbery strip that lays on top of your Droid’s keyboard and maps its buttons to keys you’ve assigned. Pretty slick, if you ask me, though I would love a solution for the N1. A dock accessory, maybe? Game Gripper can be purchased here for $14.99. Check it out:

I don’t know how many more times I can embed an advertizement from YouTube and say that I hate posting ads, but the Motorola Droid “Unlock Code” videos found here (three more after the break) are a pretty cool example of corporate sponsored viral marketing. The viral campaigns that really draw me in are often indistinguishable from footage shot by your average Joe/Joanne on a day like any other, and are just as believable. Nevertheless, each of these are worth at least one view. They sort of lose their novelty after that though. The codes obviously don’t do what’s suggested in the videos, but do they do something? Display some sort of Easter Egg? I don’t have a Droid on hand.

Well this isn’t good. After being endlessly toyed with regarding the release window for the Android 2.1 update, Droid owners are now finding that the OTA has significantly slowed 2D graphic performance, as evidenced by the video below. Pinch-to-zoom in various apps, Live Wallpapers, and other long awaited goodies are now happily rocking Droids around America and I’m wondering: is the new sluggishness really that noticeable in daily use? Would you gladly return those delicious new features for the higher frame rate? Are you sorry that the update finally dropped? Well, I’m sure the issue will be addressed, if not sooner, then…well, you know.

I’m not real big on posting commercials, but it’s difficult to ignore the appeal of Verizon’s Droid Does spots, two more of which have just been released into the wild. How do you think the often busy CG-laden advertisements fare against the stark beauty of a hand holding an iPhone backed by simple, child-like melodies? I would probably prefer something in the middle, but given that choice, I would pick Droid. I also prefer these focus-on-the-phone spots over alien invasion teasers. Second video after the break:

We’ve heard this several times now, if not a dozen, but it appears that the 2.1 update for Droid will finally, actually, begin to roll out Thursday. I’m not going to bother linking to all the false reports we’ve seen recently. No one needs to relive the nightmare.

Android Central has a snap of an internal system that indicates the date, and we have an official pdf from VZW that tells us what changes are included in the mandatory system update. Yes, it’s mandatory, and I can’t imagine anyone arguing against installation. You can get the full details on the update as well instructions on the procedure over at Verizon’s Droid support page. I’ve pasted a snippet from the pdf below. Yes, Live Wallpapers are in there. In part, the document reads…