EdgeFX Score: 85% Developer: Splitfish Gameware Inc. Device Type: Controller

Function: Many fans of First Person Shooters (FPS) claim that you can't get a good FPS experience from a console. They, instead, play their FPS games on their PCs and ignore the console market. Prior to the introduction of the EdgeFX, they might have had a point. The EdgeFX targets this need with a dynamic combination of an optical mouse and a left hand controller to offer superior precision and speed as well as the familiarity of mouse control for FPS games.

Performance: I'm not a big console FPS fan - and there probably aren't many out there. It's no big secret that FPS games are rare on consoles. While I did try some FPS games out with the EdgeFX, I found it to be excellent for third person shooters as well. Camera control became much more fluid in Armored Core games - something that I previously had found to be non-intuitive. It takes a little bit of time to get familiar with the way that the controls map to the EdgeFX, but only because it's not a typical gamepad. I think that the controls are actually more intuitive, but you have to learn not to think "gamepad" to really get the most out of the EdgeFX. The action buttons are handled in an interesting way: the X, TRIANGLE, CIRCLE and SQUARE buttons are in their normal orientation, but are located on the left side of the mouse, where a side button might be found on a 5 button mouse. This makes it easy to remember which button is which. Although the location is different, you're already familiar with hitting these buttons with your right thumb!

Features: Detachable Left Hand Controller and Right Hand Optical Gaming Mouse Combo Designed Specifically for First Person Shooter (FPS) games Molded Mouse and Controller Base "Focus" Button Provides Increased Mouse Accuracy On Demand User Manual

Drawbacks & Problems:: The design of the EdgeFX is very interesting, but has some shortcomings. While the left hand controller is designed to be removable from the cradle that is part of the mousepad, the cradle causes the bottom of the mouse pad to be uneven, preventing you from setting it down on its own on a flat surface. Additionally, the mouse and the left hand controller are connected by a cord, so they can only be so far apart to begin with. If you choose to use the EdgeFX in its docked mode, you'll find that since the cradle doesn't have any locking mechanism, the left hand controller will sometimes come out of the cradle if you don't make a conscious effort to keep it there. In particular, pressing on the Focus button will often dislodge the left hand controller from the EdgeFX if you're not careful. With a little bit of practice, the EdgeFX controller can provide excellent control for First Person Shooters, Third Person Shooters and Action/Adventure titles. This is especially suited for gamers who are more familiar with PC gaming.

-Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins