Final Verdict: Brook Mars Wired Controller

Brook is a company synonymous with the DIY arcade stick market and is most popular for its multi-console PCB known as the Universal Fighting Board. The UFB's biggest selling point is that it is compatible with most consoles released in the 7th and 8th gen; older consoles are also compatible through the use of adapters or Brook's Retro Board. It's an interesting point to bring up because Brook came out with their very first controller which happens to be multi-console compatible. The Brook Mars Wired Controller is currently compatible with the PlayStation 3 & 4, Switch and PC via XInput. I see myself fully replacing my longtime faithful controllers, both the Logitech F310 and Saitek Rumble Force P2500, with a Brook Mars Wired Controller. So far my experiences using the Brook Mars have been great with nothing more than concerns. Every expectation I had for the controller was either slowly met or immediately exceeded.

 

Included with the Brook Mars controller is an approx. 10ft. micro USB cable and the three d-pad shapes 'cross', 'disc', and 'faceted'.

 

I don’t believe the Brook Mars Wired Controller was ever marketed as a fight pad; taking into consideration who Brook’s biggest demographic has been for previous products, but I found it perfect for other genres with the exception of platformers and brawlers which share a handful of foundations in their mechanics. Personally, typical scenarios where I find myself using gamepads on PC are for casual and couch gaming sessions. That doesn’t mean I also seek out games that offer the hand holding experience so I expect a controller that is able to deal with intense usage and allows me to conduct gameplay maneuvers consistently. The triggers and analog sticks have very good deadzones allowing them to comply with the needs of racing games or games where the character moves according to the pressure used. All of the buttons have no perceptible travel time in the middle of gameplay making actions happen as soon as you press something which is essential in platformers or games using menus that don’t halt the game.

 

The Brook Mars fitted with the cross shape. Looks closest to Nintendo's d-pad.

 

A huge factor many third-party controllers tend to fail on; probably on purpose in order to avoid patent lawyers coming after them, is the d-pad making it something I put so much emphasis on when deciding if a controller is gonna be my main input device or be used as a backup. The Brook Mars offers three shapes you can play with being a cross, faceted and a disc. The cross offers a very good reference point for what kind of precision you can expect from this controller if you’re into platformers. My only concern at all about this controller is the stiffness I experienced from the cross shape but oddly enough it registered the inputs just in time requiring some getting used to. The faceted shaped d-pad is pretty much a useless novelty aimed that recreating the XBO Elite d-pad. I was most surprised by how well the disc shape performed. During my tests with the d-pad shapes, I played Super Meat Boy, Super House of Dead Ninjas and Cuphead which all offer unique types of stress tests. Using Super Meat Boy, the cross and disc shape handled the wall hops with flying colors whereas the faceted shape was not up to the task making me miss many jumps. Super House of Dead Ninja is a fast-paced game that ties the d-pad to movement and directional based attacks, again the cross and disc both provided all necessary directional precision while the faceted d-pad had me more focused on my thumb placement. It was in Cuphead where I was torn between the cross and disc shape because it requires every technique to be timed and executed in a frame-perfect matter but both showed great promise in the long term. I used the DiRT games and Grid to test out the analog performance of the triggers and analog sticks seeing as these are the closest games I own to being realistic driving games. The sensitivity on these acceleration based inputs was so good, a light tap was all that was necessary to accelerate or steer the car. Overall, the Brook Mars has performed very well so far which makes it my favorite modern third-party controller.

 

The Brook Mars fitted with the disc shape. It's a very experimental shape and not seen very often in higher quality controllers. It's my default option.

 

The build quality of the Brook Mars Wired Controller can be best put as sufficient enough to compete with first-party controllers and I see this controller being just as durable too. Nothing about this controller feels cheap in any way, triggers have a smooth and soft resistance, sticks don’t have the super stiff feel and the d-pad is very precise but, again, takes time to get used to. Another aspect I find surprising is that it fits perfectly into my hand allowing a firm grip, not having any awkward edges or force me to hold it in specific ways. The red matte finish in the front and black rear are fucking awesome because those are my favorite colors to combine.

The Brook Mars fitted with the faceted shape. I have not used the XBO Elite controller in a game so I am not able to comment on the differences.

Honestly, I have always wanted to give this controller a try since last year because of a few reasons. There are no immediately available multi-console controllers out there with this kind of quality. I’ve been wanting to try a different controller that uses XInput on PC other than my Logitech F310. Lastly, this saves me money because it supports every platform that currently dominates my living room. I hope this review gives others a good enough idea of what caliber this controller is. You can definitely ask me about anything that did not satisfy your curiosity after reading this.

The Art of D-Padding

During the decades long before consoles established a foothold in the gaming industry, coin-ops were using arcade sticks to provide precise input for games and many genres would be designed around them; with some games evolving around them. As we moved forward in the industry, Atari would be one of the few console companies to exclusively use Joysticks in their controller designs until the crash of the gaming industry. During the revival, non other than Nintendo would design the extremely popularized and patented D-pad shape. Sega and Sony would follow suit and design D-pads for their first-party controllers which would also become standardized across the gaming industry. D-pads have come a long way going through a nearly limitless amount of experimental phases catering to specific player's needs and requirements. Some gaming enthusiasts have sworn by one D-pad shape their whole gaming career, casual gamers could care less as long as it gets the job done. I find myself in a position where even when I might have found what could be the most versatile D-pad, I find greater joy in simply trying out every peripheral that comes my way exploring its quirks.

D-pad research stems deeply in the theoretics realm because each player uses their thumbs differently. Besides, how often are you paying attention to your D-pad unless you’re looking for something to blame for your setbacks? It's a big list of speculative ideas that renders one shape redundant between a particular set of players while being perfectly fine for another set. This is where benchmarks become extremely handy and some games provide a decent amount of feedback that could help define what D-pad shape your thumb is going to work well with. In all of my benchmarks, fighting games are the last genre I will use because of the undeniable fact that this genre has been heavily influenced by arcade sticks, disregarding how many amazing D-pad players exists. I am of the belief that the most reliable testing can be performed on platformers with fast gameplay and are heavy in frame-perfect execution. What I personally look for in D-Pad shapes is long-term comfort while guiding the character through any given direction and the adaptability to my thumb allowing for proper and precise execution of direction and techniques. With that said, I am not claiming to be a competitive player, all statements made in this article originate strictly from observations made over the decades of gaming I have under my belt; documented or not.

[Note: The use of the term "shape" specifically covers the geometry of the D-pad.]

As more games are released, my lineup of benchmark games tends to change as soon as I find one game suiting the purpose better than the previous entry. Every game on my list provides the opportunity for frame perfect execution of certain techniques without fail in order to test the adaptability of my thumb to the shape. Each game must also do their job of highlighting key platformer marks required to get the feel of a D-pad for myself.

[Note: Here are some example questions I would ask myself while experimenting with a new shape
•How many times can I execute that technique consecutively?
•How well is my muscle memory adapting to the shape in order to execute techniques I’ve had down to the frame in the past?
•Is this shape comfortable enough for long sessions?]

While not genre defining at all, Super Meat Boy represents platforming in the rawest form which is why it's the very first game that comes to mind every time I encounter a new D-pad out in the wild. It will most definitely teach you to appreciate how far the horizontal flexibility of a good shape will get you in this game since the majority of the motions are almost exclusively left and right. This is where the underlying mechanism can come into play; Did the controller designers care enough to put a functional D-pad that is not plagued by misinputs or if it’s there for secondary functions? On a side note, horizontal flexibility is one reason I stray away from fighting games for shape feedback. Abilities like Ryo's Zanretsuken, which requires extreme horizontal precision and timing prove to be strenuous on D-pads, especially in the middle of a match, but is really easy to pull off on an arcade stick. On a fresh set of un-calloused thumbs, this consistently proves to be far too stressful but might otherwise make for a great horizontal flexibility test for people that use controllers in fighting games.

Cuphead is a multi-purpose entry in my benchmark roster because it brings about many elements from different 2D genres, not just platforming. Simply being able to comfortably beat a boss or run 'n gun stage without stressing out my D-pad or thumbs is a huge plus. It’s very hard to think of a game that can satisfy multiple needs that much at once so if you're looking for a reliabilty or versatility test then look no further than this gem right here. Another game you may want to experiment with for versatility is Duck Game due to its heavy use of the d-pad for certain maneuvers where a great shape will give you an edge at your next couch gaming kickback.

One game that might rival Super Meat Boy in the horizontal flexibility department is Super House of Dead Ninjas, but the reason it's one of my benchmarks is also because many actions outside of movement are tied to the D-pad. Other games that will provide similar feedback for directional based functions are Volgarr the Viking and Rivals of Aether. The D-pad is a tool there to assist you, not work against you. So when it comes to execution of directional specific actions, the shape will tell you right away how well it is willing to lend itself for that purpose.

[Note: D-pads that hold a permanent place in controller lineup are Sega’s for Genesis and Saturn and Sony’s SCPH-1080’s D-pad.]

During the Christmas of 2018, I came into possession of Brook’s Mars Wired Controller which is compatible for the Sony PlayStation 3 & 4, Nintendo’s Switch and PC. It comes with three Interchangeable cross, faceted and disc D-pad shapes. The cross shape takes inspiration from Nintendo’s own shape which has seen many revisions since the NES. Out of the three, the cross shape surprisingly falls short from a point in overall performance due to the stiff feel during gameplay even though all inputs register yet there is a lack of feedback. The faceted shape takes its form directly from the Xbox One Elite D-pad. I could not find any platformer or fighting game that lent themselves well to this shape, but in 3D games that let you use the D-pad for movement, like a racing game, fared sort of well but still not satisfactory. Finally, the disc shape was the least expected shape to perform to my liking. It’s super versatile and provides the comfort I seek in D-pads. I was able to fly through many of the early Cuphead levels trancing away from the thought that I was exercising a D-pad.

Logitech is much more known in the personal and business computer space but has also been around since gaming on a PC was being taken more seriously. If a genre exists on PC that requires expensive or specialized peripherals to get ridiculous levels of immersion, Logitech has something for you. The Precision and Dual Action Rumble Pads featured a D-pad shape similar to Sega’s which the F310/F510/F710 controllers also have. It’s one of the most versatile D-pads in existence and I hope that Logitech’s next controller follows the formula. Considering it shares this shape with fightpads who also took inspiration from the Genesis 6-button controller, there’s no question this is what you want to check out first if you’re new to PC gaming or just looking for a new controller. F310 controllers are extremely cheap to replace as well but do not offer the rumble function from F510 (discontinued) and F710.

Strictly an honorable mention, but Saitek’s P2500 Rumble Pad is a truly underappreciated controller that I have never heard praise about. Let's forget about the fact that it has analog sticks, the D-pad is why you’re even gonna look at this controller. Again, it all boils down to versatility, something other non-round shaped D-pads fail to offer me. It’s a shape that does appear to be functional but it pulls off every technique without fail. Whatever you wanna try, it does it satisfyingly well. I wish an XInput compliant version was released since x360ce does not work well with a few games though.

So what are your favorite D-pads? Are there any games that would also make great benchmarks?

Gaming on PC: "It's time to split!"

‘Shared Screen’ and ‘Splitscreen’ are non-network methods that allow multiple people to play a game using one machine, and typically one display. For a long time, these features were mostly exclusively found on home consoles and arcade games, making it nearly impossible to satisfy a niche breed of PC gamers seeking this feature. Today, you can easily find huge catalogs of PC games that include this feature on Steam and GOG. Accessories have also come a long way in the PC gaming market that helps make couch co-op extremely accessible. Although, in today’s market, video games are pretty much a guaranteed success if they include an esports oriented online multiplayer component. Yet we have a dedicated scene of indie developers and sometimes AAA developers that manage to integrate local multiplayer, even though it's a considered a novelty today. I tend to place myself in the spectrum of players who prefer games with LAN and Shared/Splitscreen, as they offer a more personal and tangible experience.

One of the early reasons why Shared/Splitscreen was popular is it allowed convenient head-to-head action in arcades. Arcade games were competitive by nature whether they were single or multiplayer. People would huddle around the big name games like Pac-Man and Galaga to watch players conquer high scores or join their peers in versus and cooperative games such as Street Fighter II and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

Consoles had a similar motion of events experienced on PC, where the greater focus was on the single-player experience with few somewhat successful attempts at having more than two players sharing a screen on a single console. Bomberman and several other games contributed to the popularity of local multiplayer with more than two players on the console market but wouldn't make headlining impact until later on. It wasn’t until the 90s and early 2000s that couch gaming sessions really took off in the form that I have come to love. Consoles like the Nintendo 64, GameCube, Xbox and Dreamcast had built-in 4-player ports. PlayStation 1 & 2 had a proper and more refined accessory known as the multitap which enjoyed much more success than previous attempts at external multiplayer adapters. There were so many flavors of games using this combination of accessories and the local multiplayer feature coming from every direction. It went as far as a few games achieving more success on home consoles than the arcades because of this. At this same period in time, the PC gaming market was going through a renaissance of technology making a huge jump in graphical capabilities surpassing consoles and setting the template for arcade hardware, which was just the beginning.

PC Gaming around this time was starting to enter the mainstream market thanks to certain manufacturers offering cheap PCs. LAN gaming sessions were dominating this ecosystem, but we still would not see major efforts for single machine local multiplayer in the majority of commercial games with the exception of emulation and a handful of indie games.

Fast forward to today, you can hook some controllers up to a desktop or laptop and enjoy countless games using Shared/Splitscreen as the main or secondary feature. There is hardboiled evidence that a market exists for the feature on a platform long stigmatized as being a peerless experience unless you were at a LAN event or playing a multiplayer game over the internet. It’s understandable that most PC gaming setups are optimized for individual use and are, therefore, not ideal for clusters of people even if the controller supply meets the demand. Which begs the question: Am I wrong for partaking in a phenomenon that consists of grabbing a few friends, my rig, a power cable, HDMI cable, and the required controllers to play games like Ultimate Chicken Horse, Risk of Rain, Broforce and other amazing games on the living room television?

People have been connecting their computers to huge displays (including projectors) just to play games for a long time. What has really hindered many enthusiasts from using those bigger displays regularly was high input delay and most sets being limited to 60hz. Nvidia has unleashed their BFGD (Big Format Gaming Display) technology into the hands of manufacturers like Asus and HP to produce 65” gaming grade displays offering G-Sync and 4k at 120hz+ all with low input delay and a built-in Nvidia Shield. The effort companies are putting into offering the PC gaming market bigger displays than was previously available makes me think they were also seeking to enhance local multiplayer sessions on PC.

When it comes controllers, we have always had an overwhelming range of options, but the optimal choices today would have to be any controller that supports the XInput API as it has become the standard in modern PC games with native controller support. My current recommendations all support the XInput API and they are as follow. First up is the Brook Mars Wired Controller for its ability to work natively on Sony and Nintendo consoles but also uses XInput when connected to a PC. Regardless of its budget range price, you get solid first-party build quality and my favorite aesthetic aspect is the hybrid shape combining the Switch Pro grip and DualShock layout coated in a beautiful matte red. Second in line is both of Logitech’s F310 and F710 (F510 has been sadly discontinued) which offer DirectInput and XInput APIs making them a versatile choice if you need a controller that has the best compatibility across the PC platform. These also offer the familiar DualShock layout which is trendy amongst controllers aiming to be versatile. There is no third recommendation so I would like to know what you guys use in your sessions and why.

At my local multiplayer parties, we always have a blast no matter what game or platform I load up but it’s hard to ignore the fact that there are many underappreciated reasons (to enjoy this method of playing games on PC than on consoles. I prioritize performance over anything so if I can play the same game on PC, guess what I’m gonna do? There is also the question of mods, not all PC games have official modding tools so there will be games with crude mod implementations. Regardless, in both cases you can expand upon the content you enjoy with your friends beyond what the game shipped with. Serious Sam Fusion is a merge of all the content in the Encounter HD remakes and Serious Sam 3 including DLC. Rolled over from Serious Sam 3 are mod support and splitscreen; which were not available in the official Encounter HD remakes, making it the perfect example of what a great PC game should be that suits our purpose. Following up with a list of amazing games is redundant at this point because I’m sure you understand why this feature is important and needs much more awareness than it probably has right now.

I can go on and on about games that lost plenty of potential by not including our beloved feature but only one game really burned me up to think about. The Mean Greens is a third-person shooter that takes direct inspiration from Army Men: Sarge’s Heroes’ multiplayer. What made the console releases of Army Men immaculate was the splitscreen, even if the series on PlayStation never went beyond 2-players. I almost want to say Warhawk on PS3 was the real spiritual successor to Army Men even though there are no ties between the two series. Comparing both The Mean Greens and Warhawk while bringing up their most immediate differences, Warhawk allowed you to take up to three friends online in Splitscreen while The Mean Greens was stubbornly a ‘one person per account’ ordeal. While you can no longer play Warhawk through PSN, the last time I played there were servers are still getting filled up. The Mean Greens though? I have not launched the game for a while but I haven’t been invited to play since the hype of it died down and I can’t even launch it to play offline locally. Road Redemption is the spiritual successor to Road Rash; easily Road Rash 64 if we get into specifics, and it has fully integrated splitscreen so even when there’s no internet to play online, I have tons of modes to enjoy in my couch coop parties.

Today’s gaming market has seen a push for more online play over local. More and more games are no longer including LAN [unless the community petitions for it, a strife in and of itself], even competitive games where players are at the mercy of their internet connection to make split-second decisions. I treasure games that give some control to the players on how they want to approach their sessions and I have greater respect for a developer that includes local multiplayer if the game has a multiplayer aspect; because not all games require it to provide value. When developers neglect a portion of their potential demographic for the sake of numbers on any one given server, it hurts the product in the long run once the game’s prime is done and over with. What are your favorite local multiplayer games and which games have you wished included Shared/Splitscreen in some form or another?