Max Shooter Keyboard & Mouse Adapter For PS2 & XBOX

The third and latest XBOX/PS2 keyboard & mouse adapter to hit the market is the Max Shooter. Before this adapter was released there was a good chance that the guy destroying you in Halo 2 was using a regular XBOX controller and not one of the previously released keyboard & mouse adapters. Enter Max Shooter stage right. Now you should be afraid, very afraid, as the Max Shooter basically turns the console FPS into a PC FPS with all the accuracy that that entails. After spending a good few days playing Halo 2, Socom II, and Unreal Championship 2 there is little doubt that FPS games were mostly made to be played with a mouse and keyboard.

What's In The Package

The Max Shooter, both the XBOX and PS2 versions, come in a small package that holds the actual hardware and an instruction manual. The adapter only accepts PS/2 compatible keyboards and mice so if you have USB peripherals you'll need to get an adapter or head over to the old used PC shop and pickup an old keyboard and mouse combo.

The actual adapter is small in size and doesn't hog any serious amount of extra space. The XBOX version features an extra slot on the backside of the adapter for a memory card to plug in.

Features

The Max Shooter, both for XBOX and PS2, is packed with a wide array of functionality which can be accessed by using certain keyboard key combinations listed in the manual. It is fully programmable and also comes with game presets for many titles. The XBOX and PS2 presets are listed below.

XBOX Game Presets

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

PS2 Game Presets

Socom II
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

If your favorite shooter isn't listed above, the Max Shooter also has three programmable controller setups to fill your needs. The variables that can be adjusted include key assignment, deadzone adjustment, mouse speed, and mouse inversion. Most seasoned gamers know about all these terms but might not be familiar with the deadzone. The manual describes the deadzone as the zone within an axis range that is interpreted as being at rest.

Along with the game presets, the factory default preset automatically assigns keys in the following way.

The selection of game presets and programming for custom games is all very straightforward, if not time consuming, and is well explained within the manual.

All these features are great but what really matters is how it holds up in the games. So without further ado let us jump in to our first game.

Halo 2

My first experience with the Max Shooter and Halo 2 was less than stellar, but that was completely my fault. Like most gamers I know I jumped in head first without reading a single page of the instruction manual which was a really bad move. The factory default setup is pretty much only suited for menu navigation.

So I popped open the manual and found out about the presets, sadly no Halo 2, and decided to try out the Halo 1 preset so I could get a quick start. Everything worked ok but it wasn't better than the XBOX controller I had become so accustomed to. In fact, it was much worse. The mouse sensitivity was horrible and the keys were mapped semi-incorrectly. But again this was my entire fault and I dove back into the manual to see how to fix my problems.

An hour and a half later I had finished tweaking one of the user programmable presets included in the Max Shooter and things were starting to feel much much better. The mouse responded close to what I would expect from a PC FPS and the keys were all mapped to my liking, but I was still sprawled out on the floor in an awkward position. I wasn't quite in FPS bliss.

Another thirty minutes later I had a table setup with the TV, mouse, and keyboard in the regular PC positions and things were feeling even better. The Halo 2 bots didn't know what hit them, but the mouse movement was still a bit off. Then I noticed in the manual that this is one of the biggest issues that needs to be resolved when setting up the Max Shooter and that I should max out the sensitivity settings within the game for optimal "PC Like" results. So I did that and it proved to be the one tweak that turned Halo 2 into my first PC FPS on a console. The controls are that good.

I finally decided my setup was ready for prime time and I headed online to face the masses. I must note that my ranking in Halo 2 was quite low before I got the Max Shooter and that the PC FPS setup has always been better for me than any console controller. So with that said, I jumped into an online match and low and behold I got my rear end handed to me like always, but it was just the first match so I pushed on.

I changed my weapon setup from what I usually used to what I thought would be great for accuracy based shots and wow did that make a difference. Now all I use is the Battle Rifle. Four hours later I emerged with a better ranking and an awesome kill to death ratio. My hit rate and shooting speed went way up with my new found accuracy and the competition was destroyed because of it.

Once the Max Shooter is tweaked to a gamers liking, it is an incredibly deadly controller for Halo 2. But Halo 2 is just one of the FPS games out there so lets see how it holds up with the others.Unreal Championship 2

I confess this is my favorite all time XBOX game, so I was extremely excited to see how it would hold up with a mouse and keyboard. I once again tried out a preset which didn't hold up so well and then went on to create my own setup. Once the setup was done I headed online for a FPS shocker.

I used the same mentality I had in Halo 2; go for the accuracy based weapons. I loaded up the sniper rifle, headed to a dark corner, and started sniping. My TV echoed "Headshot" many times before the match was over, but that was mostly because no one ever found me. The next match was much different.

The rest of the matches I played online with the Max Shooter were populated with very good players. They would find me sniping and then destroy me. It seems the problem with Unreal Championship 2 is that it was designed to only be a console FPS. Much of the gameplay really relies on the button configuration on the controller. Thus I couldn't bounce around the walls, dodge, and reflect as well as I could with the controller. This could be because I have spent so much time with the controller that I couldn't break my habits, but I believe this is one case where the Max Shooter isn't superior.

So one game is completely changed by the adapter and one is built too much around a standard controller to benefit from it. Next up is the PS2 and Socom II; let's see how the PS2 version of Max Shooter fairs.

Socom II

Once again I connected the keyboard and mouse to the adapter, plugged it into the PS2, and immediately got a good connection. I surfed through the menus with ease and entered an online game. This time around there is a preset available for the actual game I'm playing. I loaded up the preset and was pleasantly surprised to find the preset layout to be perfect for Socom gameplay.

It felt good and worked just as well as it did in Halo 2. I don't play a lot of Socom but I found myself playing quite a bit in this setup as I could never get into using the PS2 controller for FPS gameplay.

With the large amount of customization, the ease of use, and the low price this adapter is really worth every penny. If you really want an advantage in games like Halo 2 or just want to try a new controller setup I would definitely recommend picking the Max Shooter.

Pros

Plug and Play
Customization and presets
Low price

Cons

Lack of new title presets

Overall Score: 9.5

About The Author
Jeromy is the webmaster of http://www.gamebrink.com/ GameBrink.Com Import Video Game Compare.

Swap Magic For Slim Playstation 2

Recently my Japanese PS2 that I got way back at the Japan launch died on me. Seeing as I need to have a machine that plays Japanese PS2 games I went looking around at prices for a new one and unfortunately found the price tags to be in the $180 range. With that in mind I set out to find a more cost effective method of playing import games. I've always been fond of tinkering with my consoles which is evidenced by my blue see through modified Dreamcast and the mod switch on the side of my Gamecube, so I looked around at the current PS2 mod options since I already own a Slim US PS2.

I'm absolutely terrible at soldering and I'm not a fan of the PS2 modchip scene seeing as it's rampant with piracy so I didn't want to install a modchip. After searching a bit I came across the Swap Magic product. It looked interesting but upon further inspection I realized that it required opening up the console to install. I looked a little further and found a new version of the product which required zero modification to the console. This looked to be the solution to my problems. Luckily I had the PS2 version it supported, the Slim PS2, so I took the plunge and ordered it up from ModChip.Com.

Then I got to play the waiting game. I waited for weeks for this thing to be delivered before I finally gave up on it. I also tried many times to find and e-mail the staff of this website store but their support e-mail is so well hidden, if existent, on their website that I could never find it. So with one scam under my belt I looked for a more reliable store. I found that store at modchipstore.com. It took less than three days to arrive and the product was in perfect condition. With the import enabler in hand, I set out to play some Japanese PS2 games on my US Slim PS2.

The kit comes with a CD, for CD based games, a DVD, for DVD based games, and three small plastic parts which are to be inserted into crevices under the popup cover of the Slim PS2. There were no instructions included in the package so I headed over to the website in search of directions but came up with only a dead link. After about a half hour of searching the web I finally found a PDF with instructions that were very detailed and contained great pictures of the installation process. With instructions in hand, so to speak, I give the installation a try.

The first thing I had to do is install the three small plastic pieces. The first plastic piece required that it be pushed into a small hole. My fingers alone didn't do the job so I had to grab a screw driver and shove it into position. After quite a bit of fiddling, it finally stayed in place. The next piece had to be slid in between a latch of some sort and was somewhat difficult to make stay in place. The third piece slipped into place easily. With all the plastic pieces installed the physical work was done. Unfortunately I dropped the PS2 after this and all the pieces flew out. I tracked them all down, reinstalled them, and was ready to go once again.

When all the plastic pieces are in place the next step is to go ahead and boot up the swap CD or DVD. The game I was testing with was a CD so I popped in the swap CD and turned on the PS2. With the plastic bits in place you don't have to keep the flip top closed, so I left it open. A flash screen appears followed by a second screen that allows you to adjust the video mode. If you are using a US PS2 set the video mode to NTSC and not the default "Normal" mode otherwise it won't boot the game you're trying to play.

Playing

Next the swap CD or DVD will stop spinning and you're ready to swap in your import PS2 game. With the import game placed in the PS2 all you have to do execute the load command from the menu on screen and the game will start up spinning and load. Once I had the game loaded it played and looked perfect. Another big plus is that you don't have to buy another memory card just for import games due to the fact that you can save all different regions of save games on one memory card.

Swap Magic for Slim PS2 has allowed me to play import PS2 games for a fraction of the price of a new Japanese PS2 and I have to say it works great. I have yet to come across a game that doesn't work using this product. That said, it's not something for the lazy out there as it does require swapping discs every time you want to play a game. So if you're short on cash and already have a USA or PAL Slim PS2 then get this product but if not and you have the cash go ahead and grab a Japanese PS2.

Pros
* Relatively Easy Install
* Low price

Cons
* Requires Some Effort
* Requires A Slim PS2

Overall Score
9.2

About The Author
Jeromy is the webmaster of http://www.gamebrink.com/ GameBrink.Com Import Video Game Compare.