Splitfish’s FragShark FX: Call of Duty Gamers Wanted
As Call of Duty: Black Ops appears in stores, we found an interesting gaming device which might be most useful in manuevering through the unknown. The FragShark FX is a two part gaming device with a combination wireless mouse and an analog nunchuck. It’s designed to serve as a competitive replacement, allowing console gamers to mimic keyboard and mouse movements.
The Shark is toted as as more accurate interpretation and simpler gaming device than the PS3 controller. Your options are endless as far options- swapping buttons, programming motions, button and stick swaps… It runs on 2 AA batteries (not included), but battery life is excellent and the set will last for hours.
The Frag Shark FX boosts a lot in a small package. A six-axis motion sensing package like the original controller, a USB dongle, and a 1750 DPI resolution mouse with customizable features, not to mention a pretty solid mousepad that, according to the manufacturer, increases extra battery life thanks to the pale surface color, instead of the normal matte black. Don’t worry about mapping keys in a PC editor, which you no longer have to do- and the entire set works with PC or MAC by flipping a single switch. Simply hold down the “Function” and “Select” buttons and choose from the directional pad how you would like your defaults modified. You can’t really save a profile, but it’s really easy to change them. Simply plug in the USB dongle to your console and you are ready to go ape on some bad guys.
However, using the combo device took some getting used to and wasn’t as natural a feeling as we would have liked when gaming. The right-handed mouse is easy to hold, but hard to put down, kind of like every ex we’ve ever had. We felt the design was lacking as twisting our limbs (namely wrist) in a daunting way is surely going to cause carpal tunnel at some point. Black and blue buttons are located on the side of the mouse’s curve and correspond with the triangle, circle, square, and X on your PS3. Buttons don’t vary quite enough to know by feel and the texture is a bit stiff.
The nun-chuck a.k.a fragchuck is a better fit and more pleasing as you can determine joystick placement while manuevering the buttons in the front. A directional pad on the controller face provides text for how to remap the controller. The FX dongle has two settings, one for keyboard, one for gamepads. However, you can only make changes prior to the system booting up, so make sure you determine “gamepad” or “keyboard” before it’s plugged in or a restart is in order.
Though the Shark provided use with entertainment and certainly thrills in Call of Duty, we noticed it wasn’t quite as receptive or useful in games that aren’t as twitch based (non-FPSes). We were able to set the sensitivity level, but unfortunately, that did not always allow us to play without the Shark being more trouble than it was worth. Assassin’s Creed 2 is a fine example where a traditional controller was better suited to gameplay.
For those of you who love a challenge or tend to be married to Call of Duty, you can find the FragShark FX on Amazon for around $90, a bit expensive compared to some other controller options, but quite competitive with other pro gaming-quality peripherals.
About the Author
Heather Heather Millward is a contributor to the website as well as a stay-at-home wife (not by choice). She has lived in Iowa, San Francisco, and most recently, Arizona. Her goal is to travel, write a book, and quit killing Zombies as she has become quite obsessed with "Call of Duty" and might need an intervention. She enjoys food, wine, reading, and the return of Arrested Development. Heather considers herself to be a fashionista and though she didn't end up at FIDM as originally planned, she considers Trina Turk, Tory Burch, Burberry, and Chanel to be among her favorites. After she wins the powerball jackpot, she has planned a lengthy shopping trip to Neiman Marcus. Though she graduated from a University with the mascot of a Peacock and has never worked in Public Administration, she has done her fair share of sales and advertising.
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