We’ve seen it a hundred times. Advertisements stating that “One Size
Fits All“. In the case of gaming controllers, such is not the case.
For that reason, we’ve seen the introduction of the Controller S, and now from
Mad Catz comes the new MicroCON controller for the Xbox. It’s
20% smaller than the standard controller, and still packed with all the required
features and then some!

Chances are, you, or someone you know has commented on the size of the standard
controller for the Xbox. People with small hands have a difficult time adjusting
to it’s large size. Mad Catz has released their new line of MicroCON controllers,
which are 20% smaller, have forced feedback, fully analog control sticks, D-Pad,
and buttons, spring tensioned triggers, and a nifty macro feature to ease out
those 32 button combos in a single press. That’s not to mention the 9 foot cord,
rubber grips, and 2 expansion slot to comply with Xbox Live and all of your
game save info.

So, how did they cram all those features into such a small package?
Who cares! The important thing is that they did, and they have
successfully made a controller that not only looks cute, but feels and responds
like you would expect a first party controller to. [A feat we haven't seen
from third party controllers recently]

The button layout is basically a mock of the Controller S, with the addition
of the Macro button there in the bottom middle, fairly far out of danger. The
standard buttons, A, X, B, and Y, are elevated quite a bit higher than the original
controller, which requires a quick mental adjustment to get used to. Once you’ve
been through a game or two, you’ll notice that the spacing of the buttons is
almost perfect to allow thoughtless combos. The triggers seems to have a solid
feel to them, and a good amount of resistance.

The analog sticks seem a bit loose, but not too loose to affect gameplay or
control, and have defined set points that are easily noticed. The D-Pad rests
off the surface a bit higher than the standard controller as well, which makes
for a bit of an awkward feeling while trying to maneuver around using it.

Every girl gamer wants to have a MicroCON controller with forced feedback, but
the real question is “What colors are available?” We ended
up with a Blue one, other colors available are Smoke, Green, and Silver.

The inclusion of both expansion slots was a welcomed sight, as we were still
able to connect to Xbox Live and use the Communicator with ease, and maintain
the ability to save to our memory card.

All in all, the MicroCON controller is definitely worth the cash if you have
small hands, and being priced lower than the Controller S, by about $5-$10,
it certainly won’t hurt to pick one up. Highly recommended.

Overall Score

Overall Rating: 9.0 out of 10

Grab a MicroCON controller now!

Filed under: Reviews

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