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Hands on: Nyko Free Fighter arcade stick (plus bonus Nyko booth gadgets)
During E3, contributing editor Jess Conditt and I met up with the folks at Nyko to take a look at the Free Fighter, the company's first real foray into the world of high-end arcade sticks. The Free Fighter's main selling point, beyond its Sanwa Denshi parts -- well, mostly Sanwa Denshi, as half the button plungers are in-house -- and programmable macros, is its modular design, which allows the joystick to be placed on either the left or right side of the buttons, or even be detached all together. Ambidextrous arcade sticks have been done before, but Nyko's offering is a bit more elegant than Qanba's solution.That being said, the Free Fighter isn't necessarily the prettiest arcade stick I've ever seen, but it is certainly striking in an angular, industrial way. The lack of surface area isn't as much of an issue as it originally seemed like it would be, and resting my hands on the stick felt comfortable, be it on a table or in my lap. Nyko says the stick's small footprint was designed with portability in mind, so as to make the stick easier to transport from event to event.Launching for the PS3 this holiday at a $180 price point, the Free Fighter is $30 more expensive than its strongest competition, the Mad Catz Round 2 Tournament Edition FightStick, which also uses Sanwa Denshi parts. Nyko told us that if successful, the Free Fighter could be adapted into a platform for other peripheral modules, like a flight stick or racing wheel. Xbox 360 and Wii U versions are expected to launch sometime next year.Check out our awkward hands-on video above, as well as pictures of the Free Fighter and Nyko's other E3 offerings (Power Grip for Vita, Power Grip Pro for 3DS, Powerpad and Powerpad Pro for Android) in the gallery below. Photo and video credit: Jess Conditt%Gallery-157594%
Nyko Free Fighter arcade joystick hands-on
Nyko's Free Fighter joystick was unveiled earlier today, and now that E3 2012 has officially begun, we decided we'd head out to the show floor and get our grubby mitts on the thing in person. Anyone who's spent time in an arcade will feel right at home laying hands on Free Fighter, as it uses authentic Sanwa Denshi components -- the buttons provide a pleasant, loose clicking sensation when pressed, and the stick itself is fluid, yet precise. We got a chance to play a bit of Soul Caliber with a pair of Nyko's controllers, where we found the programmable macros and turbo functions to be quite useful, given our meager digital fighting skills. Setting macros up is easy peasy: simply press and hold one of the keys until it changes color from red to blue, then input over 20 directional or button commands as you like. Custom turbo creation is similarly simple, just press both the turbo key and button you want turbo-fied, then tap chosen button up to five times in the cadence of your choosing and you're good to go. These two features will appeal to novices, as they make fighting games more accessible, but it'll also help pros rack up combos, too. And for those who aren't into one-on-one combat, Nyko informed us that because of the Free Fighter's modular design, the company may make a compatible flight stick or other controller modules in the future.%Gallery-157190%
Nyko Free Fighter joystick brings flexible controls, arcade flair to the PS3
Every June, Nyko outs all sorts of gaming peripherals at E3, and this year is no different. It's latest is the ambidextrous Free Fighter arcade-style joystick for PS3 that can be set up for either left- or right-handed gamers. It can be further customized to suit button-mashers of all styles with two variable-speed turbo keys and four programmable macros to let you perform complex combos with a single press. Plus, every button's backlit, and the whole thing comes with a detachable, expandable base to keep it from sliding around in your lap while you're hurling hadoukens and slinging sonic booms. It'll hit store shelves in September with $180 price tag, but if you can't wait until then, check the gallery of press pics below and stay tuned for our hands-on from the E3 show floor.%Gallery-157090%
