"The speed dial allows for instant fast or slow overall game play." That sort of seems, unfair and/or impossible for online play. The thing looks neat nonetheless.

Its as if microsoft mouse mated with a wii controller but had the sixaxis as a mistress on the weekends...you know..a guilty pleasure.

But does it work?

"The speed dial allows for instant fast or slow overall game play."

I had a Sega Genesis controller which did this...
But in fact all it REALLY did was toggle the START (pause) button repeatedly to obtain a slowing effect which didn't work with many games.

Yea, lots of controllers used to do that in the past... along with turbo buttons. I had NES and SNES controllers that worked in that way.

Probably lowers the sensitivity of the mouse silly :-p

LOL I remember the start pause button pulse. That was annoying as hellm and in some games, just messed everything up. This seems like a great device for people whom transition from the PC FPSes to the PS3, and if the mouse works at PSH then its just one less thing you have to get.

That looks more Wiimote than SIXAXIS.

so its basically a mouse with a nunchuck?

I've always thought the weak link in the mouse/keyboard combo was the keyboard. They got the right idea with this, but I doubt this actual product will be any good. I'm sure it's going to be cheaply made and poorly executed.

Just found that IGN had a hands-on with this thing weeks ago.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/769/769529p1.html

If this 3d mockup is the actual design there are already a couple of glaring flaws. The nunchuck-like bit seems to be attached to the mousepad for one, and the placement of the buttons on the mouse portion is awful. They really need to take a cue from the gaming mice that are already around.

Wow this validates some of Nintendo's design decisions, now doesn't it? I'm pretty excited to see what developers have in store for the Nunchuk + (insert other pointer-device-wink-wink-nudge-nudge) combo. Give it time, preciousss... yes time...

Oh my God, someone crossbred a mouse with a wiimote. What's next, a keyboard with a built-in rumble feature?

Actaully, that would be pretty cool...

On a serious note, that looks like a good idea. FPS precision is so much harder with consoles because of the built-in joysticks. I can't blame them at mass market prices. I think I really like it.

I'm still not buying a PS3 though. I don't care how cool that thing is.

I'm sceptical as to whether this will just be another silly peripheral that doesn't do it's job well. How well the mouse will be able to perform in games designed for an alternate control scheme will be questionable. Unfortunately, I'm not a software engineer, nor do I work for Sony, so I really don't know how well it will translate.
I'm getting sortof annoyed that everyone is copying the Wii, though. Same way I was annoyed with Mega Blocks copying Lego as a kid.
The analogy probably sticks here too, though.

For the same reason every other mouse-for-consoles thing sucks, this will suck. Here's a hint as to why: console games were made for console controllers. Plugging a mouse in will not, ever, speed up your movements. It will, in fact, make everything seem even more sluggish because you're used to 1:1 mouse movement and you sure as hell won't be getting it with this worthless thing.

The solution? Get used to the thumbsticks, or stick to playing PC games.

I saw this weeks ago. The guys who made this use some really good tech. It requires no devolper side drivers. It emulates the SIXAXIS completely. So that means any game you can play this with.

Ya, console fps are setup to make up for using a thumb stick, I see this thing feeling really weird to use.
Another thought, if you move around the "fragchuck" like a SIXAXIS is used in games, since the mouse pad is attached to the controller you'd be throwing your mouse around.
Lastly, the "fragchuck" does look and act an whole lot like nintendo's nunchuck. Isn't there some sort of patent on nintendo's baby?

The PS2 version came out a month ago and I bought one in hopes of making some unholy union between the controller and that piece of shit that was released by Team Extender, the XFPS360 mouse keyboard adapter. Unfortunately it only partly worked (on the 360). But for the PS2 the thing works really well. Too bad the 360 is the one with all the high quality shooters. I really hope to god MS will stop the bullshit of pandering to the minority of players with their knee-jerk reaction to something they refuse to look at objectively. the rest of the gaming public wouldn't blink if it were allowed. Allow Splitfish to port this thing over to the 360 and be done with it. Anyone who is playing the Shadowrun beta knows that both control styles can co-exist peacefully.

To the pea-brains who keep the rallying call of "consoles are meant for gamepads, mice are an unfair advantage" should take a step back from their desk and get some fresh air.

If the mousepad portion were replaced by a set of arcade buttons, this thing would be fantastic for shmups. I considered cannibalizing a Wavebird to build something like that for Ikaruga, but never quite got around to it.

@dowingba: Actually the IGN review sais that it is pretty good when they tested it with Resistance...

...What in god's name?

"But it just might be crazy enough to work."

No way. The tip of your thumb will normally be just behind and under the index finger button. Those 4-way buttons are set way too far back on the mouse, and as primary controls that means your thumb will not be gripping the side of the mouse as normal, which in turn means that you have a horrible time controlling it.

It's a sound idea in theory, but lousy implementation. What they should be doing is designing it with a vertical mouse, so you can grip it like a pistol and still have all of your fingertips free to work buttons.

Lots of jaded haters running amoc.
I got a few bucks to spare....I think ill pick 1 up and try it out when it comes out april-ish.

If you read the review, youll see that the fragchuck comes off the mousepad, so please, the argument about throwing the pad around too is funny as all heck.

I realize past equipment might have sucked, but by saying that, it suked in the past, then this 1 will suk too, thats just dumb.

You failed that math test last week. Did you go over the test, see where you went wrong and learn it. A smart developer does that. And hopefully learned from whatever mistakes made and makes a better product.

Looks cool. I bet it owns.

The real test will be how it does against people who actually are really good with standard controllers. IF, and I say IF (because Ive seen some really good standard console controller FPS players that I admit I'd have a hard time beating with a keyboard and mouse) it starts letting noobs own thier asses, I bet you see every hardcore FPS'er buying 1.

Will it even be compatible with ps3 games or is this just another silly crusade which fails.

Not my cup of tea but I can see how it would please my primarily PC gaming friend.

Purple Dave.... are you serious about the finger-part? I mean, gosh, how long are your thumb? To me, the buttons seems to be placed right..

so as is common to say, "MOAR!"

@fanatism:
Yes, those buttons will sit squarely under the last knuckle of your thumb, not the tip. Or about midway down the first joint on your index finger. Now, try this: Put your hand on your favorite mouse. Keep in mind that your index finger and ring finger will each be responsible for working one button each, your middle finger will have to do double duty with two buttons (it looks like the first knuckle should be squarely over the tiny button, with the long button reaching all the way to the last joint). Now, tuck your thumb in until the tip is almost perpendicular to the side of your mouse. And finally, try to move it around while repeatedly jabbing the side of the mouse with your thumb tip. Maybe if they added a strap to the top that will hold the mouse securely to your palm...

if i could use a mouse and keyboard for a FPS like Resistence against people with controllers, I would be #1 in every round =P

I bought this controller about 3 weeks ago; took a long time because of some sort of customs issue coming into the country. I must say first that I'm a big PC gamer and enjoy first person shooters the most, infact I compete in many of today's well known shooters so I can say I'm a good source for how a PC mouse should feel. Let's get one thing straight; this FragFX is by far NOT even close to what you would feel with a PC mouse. First problem I noticed right off the bat was the lack of precise movement; it was almost as if it was a guesstimate; like I would try to move a little and it would move slightly further than I wanted… I think this mostly happened when moving either diagonally up or down because it was having difficulty translating the equivalent of the digital movement I just performed to the analog equivalent of it?
Second thing that just basically blew the whole thing for me was the fact that you couldn't move the mouse quickly… like for example if you wanted to perform a quick 180 because you wanted to shoot someone that you knew was behind you but you needed to do it quickly; a quick turn wouldn't hardly register at all causing you to barely turn! In fact you were better off if you moved the mouse slowly to actually get your player to face in that direction which totally defeats the purpose of getting a mouse because you can turn just as fast with an analog joy stick.
I was extremely disappointed and I don't even find it worth playing the games with, I tested it with "The Darkness" and "Resistance fall of man".
I don't want to feel like I wasted my money so I'm trying to keep my hopes up by looking forward to this "firmware" update I keep reading about all over; but doesn't exist. The book tells you; you can get better control configurations out of downloading a firmware update and they give you a link to their main page; so you end up wasting time looking all over the damn site for this firmware update just to find out it isn't there. After you find out it doesn't exist you read in different forums that they are supposedly working on it and should be released soon but I read that like 2 weeks ago. (why wasn't this info in the book?) Hopefully this firmware update makes this controller everything IGN cracked it up to be because right now that review was a straight up lie; this controller is a joke out of the box.