I've been rocking the XIM2 for a few years now, and it's exceed expectations in every way. What was originally hours and hours of frustration on the sticks, translated into hours and hours of fun playing on a mouse & keyboard (mostly on Call of Duty).
When the XIM3 was released, I passed on purchasing the device. I was THAT much in love with my 2. Since COD was my primary game, I felt no need to upgrade. But then Valve announced CS:GO on console. I began to dread the thought of hitting release day with the XIM2, knowing Valve's crazy look mechanics. Their games are so wacky, and it makes aiming with a stick or mouse very difficult.
Last week, I bit the bullet and ordered my Edge. It arrived today, and here are my first impressions:
Initial setup was an absolute breeze. Seriously. I read through the quick start guide once (provided in the packaging), and already felt like I knew what I was doing. And I didn't even watch any of the videos (yet). I downloaded the latest software, updated the Edge, saved, closed, and disconnected. Only took 3 or 4 minutes total.
Connecting it to my XBOX, was again, very simple. There's a diagram right on the quick start guide that even shows you the preferred ports for your controller, mouse, & keyboard. Bang. Plugged it up, fired up the XBOX. Launched COD4.
Once in game, I noticed my sensitivity was crazy high. At first, I thought navigating a menu of colored lights may get confusing. I was wrong. Being able to change my sensitivity on the fly, and being able to feel it as I go is just a great great feature. Gone are the days of switching my monitor input over to PC, adjusting my config, saving, switching back, testing...yadda yadda.
Changing the binds for my buttons was very simple as well. IMO this is a well engineered device. It's blown me away. And like I said, I was a XIM2 user afraid to make the jump. Well worth the money spent.
Now, for the actual feel of the product. This device honestly makes Call of Duty feel like a PC. The 1:1 movement is very consistent with my PC version of the game. This is great, because now I can play both versions and never have to "adjust" my aim to match the mechanics of the game. But we knew it would be awesome in COD, what about a really tough game to translate?
CS:GO
Before I say anything, any potential buyer that is reading this, understand that CS:GO has a very very wacky look mechanic. Wacky. Time based acceleration. Aim dampening. You name it. That being said, I was shocked at how well the XIM Edge felt in this game. Granted, it's not 100% perfect, due to the limitations of the game itself. But there is absolutely NO product in the world that could match the XIM Edge's precision in this specific game. If I have any complaints, it's with the game developer, Valve. Not the Edge.
To top it all off, the Edge is nice and compact, and helps neaten up my gaming space a little bit. The LED's provide an extra little glow that's not too bright, but easy to see in the day and night. The structure of the device is light weight, but very durable.
Bottom line: It's the best mouse & keyboard adapter on the market. Doesn't matter if you use a PS3 or an XBOX (it supports both, natively, btw). If you don't buy one, then you hate cute puppies.
