SplitFish FragFX controllers continue to evolve, now more fishy

by James Ransom-Wiley on Sep 8th 2010 11:00PM

While "10.10.10" made for a dramatic release date, oddball peripheral manufacturer SplitFish has announced a revised November 1 street date for the next iterations of its FragFX controller (think: Wii Nunchuk, sans accelerometer, tethered to a mouse). Having already introduced a "Pro" edition last year, SplitFish went with the "deadly [aquatic] predator" motif for the 2010 series, which includes: the wireless FragFX Shark and its wired counterparts, the fire engine red FragFX Piranha (pictured) and more subtle FragFX Barracuda.

The Shark, compatible with PS3, PC and Mac systems, will retail for a whopping $90. The Barracuda and Piranha, only for PS3, will go for $70 and $50, respectively. Splitfish notes that its 2010 FragFX lineup will coincide with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops on November 9.

"It may look like the Pro," says endorser Dennis Dozier, the "#1 Global CoD Champ," comparing the Shark to last year's model (itself an upgrade of the 2007 original). "It is definitely not the Pro."

SplitFish 2010 FragFX Controller Series (Shark, Barracuda & Piranha)

Show full PR text

Energy Saving Wireless FRAGFX SHARK Ultra Weapon and Wired Counterparts, FRAGFX BARRACUDA and FRAGFX PIRANHA Optimized for First-Person Shooters will be arriving in Stores in Time for Call of Duty: BLACK OPS Release

Zurich, Switzerland / Edmonton, Canada, SEPTEMBER 8, 2010 - SplitFish Ltd., today announced a November 1st, 2010 street date for the much anticipated new FRAGFX SHARK, BARRACUDA and PIRANHA. The street date for Splitfish's new line of First Person Shooter game peripherals will coincide with Activision's® CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS release.

SPLITFISH unveiled this new line up of innovative wireless and wired controllers to rave reviews last month at GAMESCOM 2010 in Cologne, Germany. What makes the flagship FRAGFX SHARK controller special is the newly developed, high performance, energy saving wireless system, newly designed and ultra accurate mouse, and it's multiple platform compatibility with PLAYSTATION 3, MAC and PC.

"The FRAGFX SHARK is an all new dimension of controller that SPLITFISH is offering to first person shooter gamers," commented Werner Demetz, Splitfish president. "The Shark brings the best design elements of the dominating FRAGFX mouse and adds a solid, full featured wireless system, a new mouse design with ultra sensitive buttons, and a playing time of 50hrs or more on a single AA battery. We are very proud of how this controller performs and are excited to be able to offer it to gamers on PS3, MAC and PC. We are also proud to be able to offer two excellent and economical new wired options with the FRAGFX BARRACUDA and FRAGFX PIRANHA for PLAYSTATION 3 gamers."

FragFX Barracuda and PiranhaFRAGFX SHARK, BARRACUDA and PIRANHA can be purchased from any of our suggested retailers or ordered direct at: www.splitfish.com.

The manufacturer's suggested price of the Shark is $89.99 and 79.99 Euro, the Barracuda is $69.99 and 59.99 Euro, and the Piranha is only $49.99 and 39.99 Euro.

About SPLITFISH:
Splitfish Gameware develops, manufactures and distributes innovative peripherals to enhance console gaming. The company's philosophy is to deliver products that provide gamers with input devices to fit their gameplay styles and improve user experience. The company has distribution through major European, U.S. and Canadian retailers, along with other distributors worldwide. SPLITFISH AG is headquartered in ZURICH SWITZERLAND. Please go to www.splitfish.com or call + 41 44 586 77 33 for more information.

Tags: controller, dennis-dozier, fps, fragfx-barracuda, fragfx-piranha, fragfx-shark, mac, pc, peripherals, playstation, ps3, release-date, splitfish

Reader Comments (65)

Eww...

Wait... so who are they aiming at with this?

@Prboi with the mouse?

@tekboy

I mean like consumers. What PC gamer would buy this & what PS3 owner would buy this? I'm sorry but mixing a console controller & a mouse is a no go.

@Prboi

what? Moving with the keyboard sucks ass.

Main reason why i dont game on a pc.

@BigFat IsBack

You're kidding, right? WASD and mouse is the best movement combination you can get in gaming.

@BigFat IsBack
First off, that's wrong. Keyboard is awesome.

And secondly, you can use controllers for computer gaming. Plug in your Xbox controller and away you go. But you won't like it since there is no assisted aiming on PC. The joystiq will be inferior to everyone else who uses a mouse.

@Prboi
It's not a no-go. It's for console exclusives, or to play with your xbox buddies when you suck with a controller. If it were cheaper, I'd have bought one by now. But I'm cheap. If there were no buyers, this wouldn't be their third revision of the controller...

@Themoreyouknow
oh, and before we start getting into an argument about M&KB vs controller, read this. Mouse > joystick, movement doesn't friggin matter, only aiming.

http://gizmodo.com/5593116/were-pc-gamers-too-good-for-microsofts-cross+platform-gaming-project

@Ballistic H
All digital movement is terrible. Terrible. Terrible. Ancient and gimped. It is in no way shape or form the best of anything. What makes a keyboard good is that it has so many buttons. WASD is an inferior, massively inferior form of movement.

@Otimus

How?

It's better than a d-pad or joystick for sure at least for FPS games. You have three fingers dedicated to moving on a keyboard where as the others it's one. That is game right there.

@Themoreyouknow

Not all PC games allow you to use a controller.

@Deschain

I fail to see how requiring more fingers to perform the same task is a feature...

Everytime there is an article about a device like this, on any website (I've seen it happen a number of times), the amount of vitriolic hatred it provokes never ceases to amaze me. The console fanboys absolutely refuse to leave the comfort zone of their controllers and the PC fanboys insist that the mouse and keyboard combo is god's gift to the universe or something.

I am a former heavy PC gamer who gave up PC gaming for religious reasons (er...I started running Linux full time) and basically just game on consoles now. I have the original FragFX and I love it to death. I can't stand playing FPSs with a controller. I will say without the slightest hesitation that the keyboard and mouse combo is superior, but it's because of the mouse, not the keyboard. Analog movement *is* better, just not better enough to make up for the lack of a mouse. But why not have both?

What the FragFX offers is really the best of both worlds. Why is it that people hate the idea so much? The only real problem when using it with a console game is that because so few games actually support mouse input (it can function as a completely normal mouse if need be), the FragFX resorts to translating the mouse movement into the equivalent joystick movements. It emulates a joystick so that it can work with any game, but in order to get the feel right you will have to spend some time messing with sensitivites, both in-game and and there is an adjustment on the controller itself. Generally it's best to crank the in-game sensitivity adjustment to near the maximum and then tweak it with the on-controller adjustment.

When you get it working right the feel is great, though. I do with the mouse itself wasn't quite so flimsy, but I don't have any major complaints.

@Kevadu

tldr

There is no reason to make a post that long given the topic.

@Kevadu

All I meant was that PC gamers will stick to using a mouse & keyboard while PS3 gamers will stick to using a PS3 controller. Why mix the 2 when clearly you can tell PC gamers don't like joysticks & console gamers don't like keyboards & mice.

@BigFat IsBack

Like living in Dark Ages. Besides, so much for an evening playing field pitting mouse and keyboard vs controllers (which naturally can't turn on a dime nor aim as quick as a mouse).

@Deschain There is no reason to complain about an informative post given the topic.

@(Unverified)

Because it's pointless. I'm not reading 3 paragraphs about a guy QQing over opinions and preferences.

@Lucky48

I don't have to back up my opinion, and If I wanted to I wouldn't need three paragraphs to do it. Since everyone is harping on the three fingers thing though, I'll at least explain that. My logic is rather simple. If you have more of something doing a single task the results will be better. You can apply that to pretty much anything. Efficiency is built on redundancy. If you like the feel of an analog stick that is just a preference of taste. A keyboard is still more efficient.

I used be a PC gamer and loved the kbm setup. Though as someone here has already noted, any digital movement is outdated when you have games that allow for slow analog movements. Rather than tap, tap, tapping to inch up to a corner or move slow.

The FragFX Shark is the best controller they have made so far based on my beta testing of it. The respone is 1:1 just like the Sixaxis controller and the accuracy is WAAAAY better than an analog controller stick for aiming.

I can honestly say that I think the FragFX Shark will raise the bar for online console FPS gaming. Whatch out for all the PC gamers that will cross over. If they can get out of their comfort zone of using the outdated wasd for movements.

@zDD

A lot of games on PC have the ability to move slower with the press of a button. Counter-Strike for example you just hold the shift key while moving. I see what you are saying, but it's not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. how often do you NEED to move slowly like that in a game? Well in some games it's actually pretty useful like say splinter cell or something, but for an fps I don't see it being that big a deal.

@Deschain So with three fingers on a keyboard you can move in four directions (or some combination thereof!) at a single speed, perhaps at half or double that speed if you hold down another key with a fourth finger. With your thumb on an analogue stick, you can move at any number of angles at any number of velocities. One of these options is intrinsically better. I wonder which one?

@phizzyphizzy

Clearly the one that uses three fingers.

@Kevadu Awesome post. Let me hug you!

i can see how it would work: mouse = aiming and shooting and controller (or half a controller by the looks of it) would be used for movement and whatnot but jeeeze that looks uncomfortable...

@mu93n It's not the shape of the input that matters or how you hold it or anything like that.

It functions very, very similarly to how a stick does. In other words, instead of behaving like a mouse (you move the pointer to the spot you want), you move the mouse in the direction you want the aimer to move in.

If you make the sensitivity super high, it functions similarly to how a mouse with a super high sensitivity functions, but then it doesn't allow for very small movements that are needed for FPS play.

I mean, I played TFC back when it was THE FPS to play. Won UGC Plat with my team. I have the FragFX and rarely use it :(. I only use it for MAG, but only because it somehow works very, very well there.

@mu93n

I have one. Problems are the mouse is small and the cursor speed is limited by the console version of the game.

@Credge

...did you WATCH the video? Looked like he was using a mouse on a PS3 game, to me.

The old controller works, just not that well. It just doesn't function like a mouse.

And yet we still don't have a 360 version. I would buy one, but apparently my money is no good to them.

@ItsameMatt03
they do make one for the360 its called the Frag-N-Stein. Its a different company, but the same concept.

This could make MAG better than PC shooters

@OdinsAvatar It's really nothing like a mouse =\.

@OdinsAvatar
Except that it's not actually a mouse moving, its a mouse moving in a joystiq way. It's not as precise as a mouse.

That and no community content, no custom scripts, and no server admins means this will never be better than PC shooters.

@OdinsAvatar

This won't fix MAG. The only thing you could do to make it better is to make it not MAG.

Or, you know, games could just have usb/bluetooth mouse and keyboard support on ps3. if i remember correctly Unreal Tournament 3 did (as well as many other awesome features). so developers should just put it in, to shut up a small keyboard and mouse fanbase.

at least imo.

@Zezzler

I wonder why other developers who have a PC version of their games doesn't implement the keyboard & mouse programming lines into their PS3 versions.

http://www.bannco.com/

Another mouse and nunchuck controller, one for both 360 and PS3. Reviewed higher than the FragFX v2.

@Levi

I didn't know that one existed, but since I do now, I may want to get one for the 360. Thanks.

STOP IT WHO EVER IS MAKING THIS. JUST GIVE US A KEYBOARD AND MOUSE IF YOU WANT YOUR TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC TO CARE WHAT YOU'RE DOING. THANK YOU, HAVE A GOOD DAY.

@Deschain Please stop using caps if you want us to care about what you are posting. Thank you.

@Faceless Troll

But, I was yelling.

haters gonna hate

Can't Sony sue if they are using the controller button shapes without their permission (unless I am mistaken and they did ask Sony to use the design).

@Lerkero I think they can get away with it because there are small spaces in each shape and not a solid looking one. If that's the best way to describe it.

I actually played some games on PC for a while like this. 360 controller in left hand and mouse in right hand. Having analog movement control and mouse precision aiming is great.

What has science done?

It's amazing how you guys have completely missed the point, only coming from one school of shooters or another.

Having started out with GoldenEye and worked my way up to TF2, I understand the intricacies of control stick and M&K better than most, and what the keyboard lacks is any semblance of a walk feature. Oh sure, there may be some shift or ctrl bound setting that lets you move at half the speed, but that doesn't really cut it when you need to move just that little bit to get the sniper rifle reticule where you want it without screwing around with the mouse track speed you have set.

I won't get into the right control stick versus the mouse; the mouse clearly wins, but in terms of world navigation, the control stick is the definite victor.

If you're playing FPS games, and even some third person shooters like Mass Effect 2, the mouse/chuk combo is superior in every way to the standard, console gamepad. I much prefer using this combo with my PC games as well. Saves a lot of wear and tear on the wrist and fingers. That said, the FragFX hardware is junk. If you want a quality, wireless controller, but a Fragnstein from Bannco. I've tried both and ended up buying two Fragnsteins, one for my PS3 and the other for my gaming PC. Your kill/death ratio will thank you. :)

@tampawrx

Thanks for mentioning the Fragnstein. I never heard of it until you did so and it is basically the perfect solution for my PC gaming (since I hunt and peck, sometimes gaming on PC is a bitch, but the quality and options for such games is too much to pass up)

I was going to get a gaming mouse anyway for the programmable buttons, but the Fragnstein looks way better.

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SplitFish FragFX controllers continue to evolve, now more fishy

SplitFish 2010 FragFX Controller Series (Shark, Barracuda & Piranha)

Reader Comments (65)

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 11:06PM Misanthropic Gamer said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 11:07PM Prboi said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 11:15PM tekboy said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 11:21PM Prboi said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 11:42PM BigFat IsBack said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 11:45PM Ballistic H said

Posted: Sep 8th 2010 11:51PM Themoreyouknow said

Posted: Sep 9th 2010 12:01AM Levi said

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Posted: Sep 8th 2010 11:41PM Zezzler said

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