I’m increasingly of the opinion that onscreen buttons are not the way forward. Overlays are a poor substitute for a physical d-pad or buttons; it’s too easy for fingers to drift while attention is focused elsewhere onscreen or to obstruct immediate threats to the player resulting in unfair deaths.

Yep. The best games are the ones that fully embrace the constraints (and advantages) of the touch screen rather than porting existing games and mapping physical buttons to virtual. Shaun has the right idea, and so do many other independent game makers. It’s not an accident iOS devices are becoming the most popular gaming devices on the planet.