Reviews / previews
You want buttons? The 3D Striker from
QuickShot has buttons. This digital stick
integrates a gaming keyboard designed for easy
access to lots and lots of keys. As a result,
instead of a game port connection, you plug the
cable into the keyboard socket and your
keyboard into the 3D Striker. An included utility
configures your sound card and keyboard settings
to avoid conflicts your system may encounter.
This list contained configurations for 10 games
that could be problematic with the Striker, such
as Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Shadow Warrior,
SkyNET, Blood, Descent II, Redneck Rampage,
Tomb Raider, and Fate.
I wanted to try out the rudder feature of the handle
and cranked up G-NOME, because everyone here
had taken their copies of Mech 2
home. The torso pivoted fine, but that's about all
that went smoothly. I had trouble configuring the
trigger button, and the first time I started the
game, my robot went around in circles.
After a bit more configuration at the options
screen, I was up and running, but not without
something else going wrong. When I'd pivot the
torso and then fire a weapon, my torso would
automatically center itself. I gave up and tried
Duke. The config file worked, and buttons on the
stick seem to do what they were labeled for
(jump, crouch, etc.). The keyboard worked
smoothly as well, such as for enlarging the
screen and using the jetpack. Surprisingly,
considering the stick comes with a config file, the
same couldn't be said for Redneck Rampage,
which uses the same setup interface as Duke.
The preconfigured keys just do what they're
supposed to.
The 3D Striker is durable, with a solid feel except
for a fragile hat switch. But the quirkiness of its
design nagged me the most. The positioning of
the trigger button on the top right side of the stick
is an awkward adjustment for those bred on
ThrustMasters and SideWinders, where the
trigger is on the underside. You can never truly
grip it. And the large surface area-where the hat
switch four other buttons are located-means that
you'd have to readjust your hold on the stick to
get to them all.
As for the integrated keyboard, getting it to work
with every game can be frustrating. If the design
appeals to you, you play mostly DOS games,
and you like to configure glitches, then the 3D
Striker may suit your needs.-- Danny Lam / GamePro
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