For some reason game developers have forsaken one of the main features that makes the first person shooter genre great – the use of keyboard and mouse controls. Any serious gamer knows that a FPS must have flawless, fluid movement as well as precise aiming. You should be able to strafe left, jump over a fence, then duck under a tree, all while accurately tagging your enemy with round after round, never having to pull off your aiming receptacle. But most developers have neglected to offer keyboard/mouse controls, and instead we are left with the clunky, inaccurate analog stick design. Even more upsetting is how the PS3 has been specifically designed to utilize easy plug-and-play devices through USB ports, but many games are without keyboard/mouse support. However, one company, SplitFish Gameware, has given us a way to circumvent this frustrating ineptitude by offering the SplitFish fragFX controller.

Upon inspection, the fragFX is an odd looking contraption. It has two devices splitting off from the central wire you plug into your PS3. The right hand device is basically a large optical mouse. The three R buttons take the form of the left, right and middle click buttons of a normal mouse. The start button is also located in the middle of the device and the X, O, Square, and Triangle buttons are positioned on the right side to be used with your thumb. The left hand device houses the Left Analog Stick with L3 capacities, the D-Pad, Select, L1 and L2, the PS button. In addition, SplitFish included a Frag button which, when held down, cuts the right hand device’s movement by half and allows for easier, pinpoint targeting, similar to DPI profiles on most contemporary gaming mice. There is also small dial where you can manually adjust the controller’s sensitivity to help “tune” it with the game’s speed and settings. The controller itself is also paired with plastic tray you can set in your lap if you are not at a desk or table.

Upon taking the contraption out from the packaging, I immediately thought, “cheap”. That’s not a good first impression. The buttons freely wiggled in the housing and shaking the mouse sounded like the maracas you used in your first grade music class. The wired aspect was also a big turn-off. Shortly after looking the fragFX over, I was busy untangling and unwinding the knot that had formed between both “controllers”. And the lap tray was too small and really not a good replacement for being on a more solid surface. But can these downsides be offset by the fragFX’s features?

Before I can answer that, one very important thing to keep in mind, is that the fragFX is meant to SIMULATE keyboard/mouse-like controls for games programmed to only be used with the standard analog controller. Those familiar with using keyboard/mouse layouts will immediately feel a difference. The fragFX does not fully mimic the fluidity and ease of control offered through the keyboard/mouse, but it comes close. However, it is important to remember that the fragFX was never intended to replace the keyboard/mouse, but was intended to replace those anti-FPS, precision hating analog controls.

After doing some quick maintenance by uploading the latest drivers for the fragFX (which I would like to add, I was assisted via SplitFish’s help line by, get this, a live person!) I turned on Call of Duty 4. I was now all set to rock n roll!

Or so I thought.

The fragFX is a little difficult to master and it was evident I was going to need to spend some time getting familiar with all the intricacies of the controller. First, I spent some time tweaking the in-game sensitivity settings along with the adjusting the fragFX’s manual dial. Of course, this is all personal preference. So expect to take a good portion of time getting the controller to function just the way you like it. And don’t expect the controller’s manual setting will always be the same for other games. You’ll need to make further adjustments for different games.

After getting the sensitivity where I wanted, I then spent time practicing how to use it during some online matches. At first, I was getting pwned. Remember the maracas sound the controller made? That’s from many of the buttons “floating” in their housing. And this does interfere with game play. Sometimes I would push the button and nothing happened. Other times, it was too hard and my weapon would go into full automatic mode, decreasing my accuracy. Learning to push the buttons in their “sweet spot” will take a while. And be prepared for a few hiccups from time to time.

Yet, with all the headaches caused from my initial inaccurate button mashing, the functional benefits from the controller far outweighed my frustrations. Sighting up targets was a breeze. Aiming while strafing had the fluid functionality rivaling keyboard/mouse setups. If an enemy popped up in a window, they were quickly dispatched. No more over or under sighting caused by clunky, thumb pushing analog sticks. I was able to place the aiming receptacle right where I wanted the first time. My previous best kill streak using the analog sticks was seven. And that was after a good month of playing. But a few hours after familiarizing myself with the fragFX, I was having multiple games of 15 plus kill streaks! Being at the top of the leader board was a just a foregone conclusion. Very rarely did anyone compete with me. And I’m pretty sure the guys who came close; they were using the fragFX on their end. I couldn’t be stopped and loved every minute of my rise to dominance!

So is the fragFX worth the $60 dollar price tag, the constricting wires, and the mushy buttons? I’d say yes, it is. It’s not perfect, that’s evident. But it definitely fills the gap left from all those FPS games not offering keyboard/mouse support. Oh…and listening to your friend’s maniacal, awestruck laughter while witnessing you rack up 52 kills to 3 deaths…well…that’s just icing on the cake.