NykoFreeFighterArcadeController
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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%
