Over there years there have been a variety of Game Controllers. Ranging from almost any size to any shape. We’ve move past our simple 1 Button needs to the 8 button needs of today. What’s clear is Game Controllers will continue to evolve. That’s where the SplitFish Dual SFX Evolution comes into play, we first got a demo with Splitfish at CES 2010 and were pretty impressed. With Evolution being in it’s name how does this controller compare?

Handle

I find myself in the larger hand gaming demographics, so finding a comfortable controller has been a little difficult. One controller in particular that I’ve never been a huge fan of was the Playstation Controller. I always found it a bit small for my hands and it’s comfort only last in short 1hr bursts of game play. The Dual SFX Evolution takes the concept of the PS Controller and breaks it in two. I was pretty impressed with the concept but on first play through it felt a little awkward. The left controller feels really natural while the right feels a bit strange at first. There were a couple of design choices that really effect the feel of the controller. The buttons are a little small and it takes a while to get used to their arrangement. I found myself looking down to make sure I was hitting the correct button. On top of each button there is a corresponding raised shape, to allow you to know which button your on. Being as small as the buttons are it doesn’t seem to help very much. My only other problem was the placement of the shoulder buttons on the right hand controller. They are substantially larger then the left and they don’t seem to meld well with the right hand. After a while it’s something that you’ll begin to forget about. When I first started with the controller it was a little difficult, though after long amounts of gameplay I adjusted completely to the controller and it felt pretty solid.

Features

The Dual SFX is a wireless controller, the wireless is controlled through a little USB dongle that is plugged into the PS3. Once the PS3 is on it has no trouble recognizing the Controller and there was no lag present. There are on switches on each of the controllers, once switched each controller has an indicator light that will switch on. It will also make a short beep to indicate that it’s been switched on. I found this to be a nice way of knowing if your draining the batteries. The Dual SFX utilizes AAA batteries, if you shell out for rechargeable AAAs the controller has the ability to recharge them when plugged into a USB. The Battery life for Dual SFX is about 10hrs of gameplay. I think I’ve come pretty close to that amount during the review process and haven’t seen any indication that I might need to change them out. The Dual SFX has motion controls that work with the PS3 SixAxis. The Controller also features various modes for swapping out controls. My personal fav was being able to swap a button out for motion control. In Fallout 3 I switched the reload button for a motion swipe. You can also adjust the motion sensitivity. It worked really well and made things feel a bit streamlined. The controller also features the ability to switch the Analog Sticks. While I don’t think I would use this feature, it’s still nice to have. In our CES 2010 demo with SplitFish we saw it used in a Racing Game. Which seems like a pretty good use of it. The controller also works with PC Gaming which is a definite added bonus.

Overall

The Dual SFX Evolution is a pretty interesting addition to the Controller Market. It’s really nice for the larger hand demographics and more hardcore gamers. Just be warned it isn’t something that you simply pick up and start running with. The controller takes a little bit to get used to but once your there the experience is pretty solid.