Luckily a diamond in the rough has revealed itself that not only does what it claims, but exceeded expectations. The FPS Freek, from Kontrol Freek, is an analog stick enhancement designed to offer gamers a greater degree of control and motion sensitivity to improve a player’s accuracy. Sitting atop the standard analog sticks for either the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, the adaptor snaps into place with a bit of pressure minus awkward or obtrusive changes to the appearance of the controller.

At the most basic level the controller has taller analog sticks. With this simple adjustment the controller has more sensitive analog sticks that either lessen or remove many of the complaints commonly levied against first person shooters on console. The extra height decreases the amount of force a player uses to push the sticks, thereby limiting the amount of overthrow a player could experience in a heated firefight. The greater degree of accuracy can be appreci ated by any serious  first-person shooter player, but  the improvements aren’t exclusive to that genre alone; FPS Freek also works well with any game that makes use of the right analog stick.

Due to added height the FPS Freek adds to the controller there is a definite learning curve players will experience when they first adopt the product. It took about three hours before we really became comfortable using the device and another three to when shots had markedly improved and surpassed prior FPS prowess. This becomes all the more evident when the FPS Freek is removed. There was an immediate decrease in performance. Shots were less accurate and we regularly overthrew our reticles and required quick adjustments. The Freek was quickly snapped back on.

Players looking to step-up their performance quickly and efficiently need look no further than Kontrol Freeks’s FPS Freek add-on.

We here at KontrolFreek wanted to take a minute between bites of turkey to offer-up our thanks to you for making 2009 our best year ever.  This year we launched our store on Amazon.com, landed a few World Championship Gamers, hit the 500 friend mark on Facebook, continued sponsoring MLG team “Fear,” and most importantly, procured a kick-ass blogger (pats self on back). 

None of this awesomeness would be possible without all of you loyal gamers who obviously love our products and spread the word.  It’s because of you that our community gets stronger everyday.

But we realize that talk is cheap.  So to show our thanks on this thank-y-est of days, we’d like to give you money (well, money in coupon form anyway).  So without further ado, we give you our own Black Friday deal:  Get 15% off any KontrolFreek product now through Sunday.  Enter coupon code “kft584” at checkout.

Thanks again!  Keep on doing what you’re doing and keep following us—more good stuff is coming!

I used to be good at Halo.  So when ODST came out I decided to plug in the Halo 3 Multiplayer disk and relive some of my former glory.  Sure, I figured that I’d be bit rusty from not playing for a while, but I never thought that I would still be getting straight-pwned after multiple hours.  Ouch!  This concerned me.  So after a lot of frustration—and maybe even a few tears—I decided to get to the root of the problem.

My first thought was the obvious: I suck.  Then, right before hanging myself, I decided that I wasn’t really as bad as my stats were demonstrating.  I mean, I’m not god’s gift to gaming or anything, but I do have nearly a 2.0 kill/death ratio in Modern Warfare.  My conclusion: everyone must be cheating (well, maybe not everyone--but you can see what I'm getting at).  I have certainly fallen victim to cheaters in the past but it was usually something relatively obvious.  When you are constantly getting shot from outside the map in Call Of Duty, Ghost Recon, Halo, Gears of War, and every other popular game in the history of multiplayer gaming, you know when the C is O (“cheat is on…” stay with me).  But this was different; I was being outgunned—by the same guns that I was using!  I decided that I was being beaten by hardware mods (rapid fire controllers, specifically).  Had this exception to the rule become an epidemic?

Now, I’m all about obtaining advantages (that’s why I use FPSFreeks, after all) but when does this lust for the upper-hand become cheating?   Where do you stand on the issue?  Where do you draw the line in your quest for that tangible edge?

Like it or not, the era of motion controlled gaming is upon us.  With a ton of excitement coming out of the Tokyo Game Show, news of the impending motion revolution has risen to the top with a clear message:  watch out Nintendo!  Sony announced the first batch of Motion Controller supported games that will be hitting store shelves next spring.  So far, more than 10 games will lead the charge with plenty more to come, I'm sure (especially with the million-plus new slim PS3's in people’s homes).  Microsoft, not to be outdone, also announced all of the third-party publishers supporting their own motion device, Natal (no release date as of yet).  Their announcement was astounding, to say the least, as 70% of third-party game developers were named to be currently working on games.  This news is indeed proof that motion control gaming is not just a fleeting trend, but is undoubtedly, the future (immediate future, anyway) of gaming.
KontrolFreek wants to know your take on the imminent motion controlled gaming future.  Do you like the idea of standing and moving around while you play games, or will they have to pry that controller from your cold, dead hands?