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When Goldeneye came out for the N64, I was less than impressed, considering that First Person Shooters (FPS) were nothing new on PCs, and that they were far less limited than Goldeneye’s invisible barriers, lack of jumping, etc. When I actually played Goldeneye, I was even more appalled by the controls, which felt so sluggish and inaccurate that the experience soured me on console FPS for years to come.

While I attempted to deal with console FPS’ poor analog controls, I was never able to shake the idea that the keyboard/mouse combo was far superior, and that the inefficiency of using gamepads would ultimately prompt the industry to re-evaluate how FPS are played on consoles.

Sadly, after the release of the XBox, Microsoft was too concerned with convincing everyone that the XBox was not a computer, and so never embraced PC gaming control schemes. In typical fashion, Sega was one of the first to support the keyboard on the Dreamcast, but with their death, efficient control schemes on the console were set back for too long.

Now, however, available for the Xbox and PS2 is the SmartJoy FRAG, an adapter that allows gamers to attach a PS/2 keyboard and mouse to the respective console. How does it fare? Reviews seem pretty positive, with the overall consensus that accuracy and effectiveness in FPS go up compared to using analog sticks for aiming and movement. Some people are even complaining that it’s “not fair” that XBox Live! doesn’t prevent users of SmartJoy FRAG from signing on, since it gives gamers an upper hand. Sorry, lads, that’s what we call survival of the fittest.

The only downside is that the SmartJoy FRAG isn’t available for the GameCube or XBox 360. While I quite enjoyed playing Call of Duty 2 on the latter, I might be more tempted to pick up a ‘360 if I could play Call of Duty 2 and the more mediocre FPS titles on the ‘360 if I had a decent control scheme; the cost of upgrading my PC has kept me away from modern FPS titles, but the availability of a SmartJoy FRAG-like device on the ‘360 would be a cheaper solution for online FPS play than a significant computer upgrade.

While the Nintendo Revolution may redefine how FPS are played (and possibly introduce a similar efficient control scheme as the keyboard/mouse), in the meantime let’s hope the ‘360 (and the Revolution itself when it comes out) gets some SmartJoy FRAG love. Until then, this little device may convince me to try out a number of FPS titles I’ve ignored on the XBox since its release.

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