SmartJoy FRAG: Play your First-Person Shooters with Mouse and Keyboard (for Xbox and PS2)
Sat Oct 2 2004 00:18:08 Hong Kong Time - PlayStation2 - Xbox

For all of you out there waiting for Halo 2, Killzone, Doom 3, Unreal Championship 2, Half-Life 2 or any other of the highly anticipated First-Person Shooters, we have good news for you. For all of you who still couldn't dare to step back into the real life from HALO, Counter Strike, Medal of Honor, SOCOM II, Rainbox 6, Return to Castle Wolfenstein or any other addiction keeping you away from daylight, we have got good news for you as well.

SmartJoy? FRAG? is a unique adapter that allows you to connect standard PS/2 compatible mice and keyboards to your PlayStation?2 or Xbox? console. You will be able to enjoy First-Person Shooters (FPS), or any other game where targeting is important, the way they are meant to be played.

Both versions, for PlayStation?2 and Xbox?, are fully programmable and come with pre-installed key configurations for the best games available on PlayStation?2 and Xbox?. Advanced features such as Deadzone adjustments and mouse control inversion guarantee best gaming experience with your favorite titles.

Team Lik Sang has been playing with both versions of the SmartJoy? FRAG? for a couple of days. Not only have we doubled hit rates in all tested First-Person Shooters (you'll never want to lead your squad without it again!), we have also given other games such as Rez ("music shooter") a test run using the adapters to experience them as never before. The adapters survived our Xbox Life Marathon tests without problems, including using of up to four adapters per console!

Advanced Features

You will love the advanced features and the available options (such as the programming mode). The SmartJoy? FRAG? adapters are probably some of the most sophisticated gaming accessories ever built. Gaming can be as simple as loading a built-in preset (for instance hitting F3 loads a perfect preset for The Chronicles of Riddick), or advanced users can customize any keyboard and mouse control or even adjust deadzone, inverse mouse buttons and control sticks and save their own presets in available memory slots. SmartJoy? FRAG? was built by pro gamers for only one reason: pure game enhancement.

The retail version of the Xbox? and PlayStation?2 units of the SmartJoy? FRAG? adapters are supposed to hit the shelves before the end of October, perfectly timed for the upcoming big titles. Place your pre-order now for US$ 28.90 per unit.

The tested beta units of the SmartJoy? FRAG? came pre-programmed with the following game presets. According to the developers, there will be a page where gamers can exchange experiences and game presets very easy. New presets can be entered (and saved!) by simply typing a key sequence from the site. And of course there are instructions coming in the box (multi lingual, English, French, German and Spanish).

Presets for Xbox?

HALO
Medal of Honor: Frontline
The Chronicles of Riddick
Counter Strike
James Bond 007: Nightfire
Tom Clancy?s Rainbow Six 3
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Unreal Championship

Presets PlayStation?2

SOCOM II: US Navy SEALs
Medal of Honor: Frontline
Time Splitters 2
James Bond 007: Nightfire
Tom Clancy?s Rainbow Six 3
Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
REZ

Closing Comments on Keyboard/Mouse vs. Joypad

We know that not all gamers agree on the usage of keyboard and mouse with a console. So do many with playing a First-Person Shooter with a Controller. Some might not understand the point in using a mouse and a keyboard with a console, others would make some ridiculous claim like "I'd rather have my hands cut off with a rusty axe than play an FPS with a joypad".

But in the end, using a keyboard and a mouse, completely changes the way the game is played. Use of the mouse takes away the need to concentrate on aiming and leaves you free to concentrate on pure tactics. Also, the speed of the mouse opens up new tactics which are not available with a pad.