Fanatec Headshot Controller

Fanatec’s hëad$h0t controller represents an entirely different breed of gaming mice than what we’re used to seeing. We put it through the gamer’s test to see whether or not change is good.

Category: Input Device
Manufacturer: Fanatec
Product: hëad$h0t controller
Gallery: Click Here
Price: $99.99

The hardware world is built on competition. Without AMD, Intel would be nowhere near where they are today. Without ATI, NVIDIA would be running a one horse race. Competition disallows a singular product from running the gamut and being the only option for consumers. Because of this competition, there is more than one choice available on the market for each component that you put in your system. By no means is this concept limited to the hardware world. In sports there are multiple teams vying for your attention, and in the television industry there are several big companies competing for your money. One thing that inevitably coincides with competition is the formation of the “worst” competitor. In Formula 1 racing, the perennial bottom dwellers in the manufacturer’s championship have been teams like Sauber and Midland. In all the major American sports leagues, certain teams find themselves near the bottom year after year. Even in the hardware world there are those companies that just seem to not be up to scruff with the competition. Beyond the companies, there is usually a product that is somewhat of an outsider. These products seem to be left out of the limelight that is cast on other similar products simply because they do not have the brand recognition or any kind of reputation.

The sad part about this is that often these unknown products are actually quite good. Unfortunately for said products, performance is all too often not the most important thing that consumers consider when making a purchasing decision. Many potential consumers end up buying inferior or overpriced products based on brand name rather than actual product merit. An example of this would be someone purchasing a $200 video card from Company A while Company X, which the person has never heard of before, offers a video card with equal performance for $150. A more dramatic instance of this type of mentality was clearly evident about 2 years ago in the processor scene. Intel’s Pentium D processor based on the Prescott core was a power-hungry, heat spewing, decent performing excuse for a CPU. AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 based on the Toledo core was an efficient, high-performance part that excelled in gaming, office productivity, and general computing. Even with the obvious performance advantages of AMD’s processor, Intel maintained the lion’s share of the market for dual-core processors. While some of this seemingly counter-intuitive trend can be attributed to Intel’s close relationship with giant system integrators like Dell, it is reasonable to speculate that advertising played a very large roll as well. Think of the last time you saw an Intel commercial on TV. Multiply your world? Now think of the last time you saw an AMD commercial on TV. In my many, many years of TV watching, I think I can safely say that I have never seen an AMD commercial… Ever. Granted, I have seen the AMD logo associated with other marketing campaigns, like the Livestrong initiative from HP and Lance Armstrong, or the AMD logo pasted on the Ferrari Formula 1 cars, but never its own dedicated commercial. Brand exposure plays a huge role in the success of hardware companies – whether they like it or not.

The product on our bench today is relatively new to the market but has already generated a lot of buzz. You have probably seen this product before in a picture, made an opinion (positive or negative) about it, and moved on with your life. Although you’ve seen the product, chances are very good that you have no idea what it is called or who makes it. The hëad$h0t controller from Fanatec is a mouse/mousepad/driver combination that attempts to make two peripherals into one. It is an ambitious product with the goal of simplifying the gamer setup with an all-in-one solution. Whether or not this product actually does what it is supposed to is something you can only find out by reading our review!
{mospagebreak heading=Introduction&title=First Impressions, Features}

Initial Impressions and Features
Before getting into any kind of meaty part of this review, we need to make one preliminary statement. From this point on in the review, the hëad$h0t controller will be referred to as the headshot controller. This is not because we particularly dislike the name of the product as it is, but because it takes forever to type it out correctly. After removing the headshot controller from its hard plastic, briefcase-like packaging, we were left with some mixed feelings. Here was something that resembled a mouse, but had so many differences from a normal mouse that we were almost forced to call it something else. In essence though, the headshot controller really is a mouse. In terms of shape, the headshot controller sort of resembles… well it doesn’t really resemble any of the mice we have reviewed in the past. If we had to say what mouse it looks the most like, we would say the Saitek Laser mouse that was part of our mouse roundup. The headshot controller shares the “fat” oblong shape that is so drastically different from most mice on the market today. The Fatal1ty Pro Series Laser Mouse (2020) also has a sort of short and fat shape to it, but neither mouse really has the same sort of spread-out, flattened shape of the headshot controller. The result is not the most aesthetically pleasing mouse in existence, but then again, the headshot controller is not really just a mouse. The shape of the mouse makes the headshot controller very comfortable to use in practice; the right-handed design fits the contour of the hand well. One thing that the headshot controller does differently than any mouse we have tested is it takes your hand (palm, pinky and ring finger included) completely off the mouse’s surface. As gamers, we are very accustomed to having our pinky finger dragging or partially dragging on the mouse pad. With the headshot controller, there are wide flanges on either side of the mouse that are designed to prevent this contact. The flange on the thumb side is also adjustable in that it can be loosened and extended to increase the width of the mouse to accommodate for large hands. This done by loosening two screws on the bottom of the mouse (we were able to do this with fingernails but it can also be done with a coin or key or even a screwdriver). The result is probably the most frictionless mouse we have tested to date, though this is not due to well-designed mouse feet (the mouse feet design of the headshot controller is average at best).

In terms of buttons, the headshot controller is fairly well laid out. Instead of having thumb buttons on the side of the mouse, there are 6 main buttons within the easy reach of the index and middle finger (assuming you use the standard mouse grip of two fingers, otherwise substitute whatever fingers you use). If you include the depression of the mouse wheel, and clicking it to either side (left or right, as with the IntelliMouse Explorer 4.0 from Microsoft) there are actually 9 buttons all up in front of the mouse. Depending on your individual dexterity or style of play, this organization may or may not be advantageous. However, the positioning of the buttons is largely ergonomic. Our only complaint with the configuration is that the two main mouse buttons are somewhat thin, which might cause frequent miss-clicks.

The part of the headshot controller we have yet to address is the mouse pad/USB hub. Fanatec markets this part of the headshot controller as the aURa. The defining characteristic of the aURa is the semi-translucent arch that extends from one corner of the mouse pad to the other. This arch is illuminated via a tri-color LED at the either base. The effect is actually a lot more impressive than we had expected to be, and will be discussed in more detail when we get to the drivers for the headshot controller. The arch on the aURa doubles as a cable management system for the mouse. As you will have noticed by now from the pictures, the headshot controller’s cord is not your typical mouse cord, it is a bungee! There are some major problems with this design that we will get into a bit later in the testing section, but the bungee is secured by snapping it into the groove at the top of the arch structure. The final feature on the aURa is the inclusion of two USB2.0 ports. Because the aURa is powered via its own AC adapter, it is able to replicate the USB2.0 input from the computer and emulate two more ports. Of course the speed of these ports is limited by the speed of the input connection, and they will operate at USB1.1 if the input signal is USB1.1. Depending on your individual configuration, these extra ports may or may not be a useful feature.

The drivers for the headshot controller, by themselves called emul8or (emulator), are one of the main advertised features of the headshot controller. Typically with other mice, the driver package is not a heavily advertised feature. The emul8or driver package is very detailed and even self-updates. This is a very nice feature considering our recent experience with updating Razer drivers. The emul8or driver basically consists of three different areas that are toggled via a dropdown menu. The first area is called LEDs and Resolution. In this section you can change the color, intensity, and the magnitude of pulsation of the three different LEDs on the headshot controller. These controls work very effectively and allow a tremendous amount of customization to the overall appearance of the device. In this same section, you can adjust the resolution of the mouse via a slider. This can also be accomplished by depressing buttons on the mouse, but those buttons can be remapped so it is nice to have the ability to change resolution in the driver window. Also, the headshot controller is apparently capable of 4000dpi according to the marketing material and the option in the driver package. 4000dpi is significantly higher than the capability of the most dpi capable mouse we have tested so far, the A4Tech X-777F at 2500. We have no way of actually testing the validity of this sensitivity, but after comparing this mouse to others via various methods, we suspect it may be more along the lines of 2000dpi with some fancifully imagined dual-boost feature. The final ability that this section provides is to adjust the x and y sensitivity of the mouse in order to create a more joystick-like feel. We have previously discussed the potential of this feature in flight simulator games and fps games alike. The next selection from the drop down menu is the Macro settings area. The Macro settings and button remapping features of the headshot controller are far superior to any of the other mice we have tested to date. Not only do you have virtually free roam in terms of what you want each button on the mouse to do, you can also map each button to perform any set of functions (such as typing out hëad$h0t) with one click. While other mice offer similar features, the headshot controller is a much more open system and it actually works most of the time. The final area in the emul8or driver is the Edit profiles section. As with most other mice, the profile editor with the headshot controller works well and is a fairly straightforward means to jump to different settings instantaneously for the purpose of playing games or using different applications.

{mospagebreak title=Specifications}

Specifications
Headshot Controller

Ergonomic size adjustment to fit any hand comfortably.
Latest generation hi-grade precision laser sensor.
6 buttons plus 5-way scroll wheel.
PlasmaGlyde^TM mouse feet.
Innovative design allows your fingers to rest comfortably on the mouse eliminating friction.
Up to 4,000 dpi (2,000 native) resolution; switchable during game play.
Lightweight, non-tangle cable.
Non-slip high-injection mold TPR rubber grip.

aURa Mouse Pad

Illuminated cable arch and mouse are separately adjustable; multi-color, brightness, and pulsing frequency.
Advanced gliding technology through the combination of the low-friction PlasmaGlyde^TM mouse feet and aURa^TM mouse pad.
Cable arch management system.
High-speed USB 2.0 hub.

emul8or Drivers

Joystick emulation-compatible with all racing games, flight simulators, etc…
Universal programming of mouse and all standard keyboard keys.
Macros executed with correct timing, allows for purchase scripts, grenade throw, communication, looping events, etc…
Double assignment of all keyboard keys with long-click or double click.
On-the-fly programming during game play.
Automatic creation of profiles for all software applications.
Auto-switching between profiles, depending on the active program.
Created with Germaneering.

Hardware Configuration

Mousepad: Razer eXactmat (smooth)
Surface: Engineered Wood Desk

Software Configuration

Driver: emul8or (latest version via autoupdate)
Operating System: Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2

{mospagebreak title=Testing}

Testing
As mentioned before, the headshot controller is a very comfortable mouse to use. If you’ll recall, the wide flanges on either side of the mouse allow for your entire hand to rest on the device instead of on the mousing surface. While this provides an extremely frictionless (and mouse feet killing) effect, it also makes for a rather weird experience. We dare the say the learning curve for the headshot controller is considerably longer than with most other mice, including the notoriously hard-to-adapt-to Razer Diamondback and Copperhead. However, once you get used to the full-handed design of the headshot controller, it is a joy to use. One thing we did notice, however, was that this design tends to increase the reliance of the wrist to move the mouse across the pad. The result of this was perhaps the overextension of the wrist in the left direction, which led to fatigue and even minor pain after long gaming sessions.

Since the headshot controller is based on a laser engine, we expected it to exhibit the same skipping issues we have encountered with every other laser mouse we have tested. However, after setting the Windows sensitivity to the lowest tick and increasing the dpi of the mouse to “4000”, we did not experience any skipping whatsoever during a testing period that spanned several weeks. While we cannot guarantee that anybody that purchases this mouse will not experience skipping during game play, our best efforts failed to produce such an effect. Based on these results we can say that the headshot controller is the first laser mouse we have tested that does not (extensively at least) exhibit skipping.

So far we have said a lot of good things about the headshot controller. This is clearly not by accident, as the headshot controller does have a lot of good features that perform as advertised no matter how ridiculous the setup looks on the desk. However, there are a couple of problems with this mouse that will probably keep it from ever becoming widely adopted by the competitive gaming community.

The first such problem is the bungee cord that connects the headshot controller to the aURa mousepad/USB hub. We have to imagine the original goal when designing this feature was to get the mouse cord out of the way and prevent it from becoming an impediment to motion in any scenario. While in theory the current implementation of this design is solid, in practice it has one critical flaw: length. The length of the bungee cord is such that there is a negative spring-effect created when the mouse is located in the far reaches of the mousepad. One of the principal necessities of most competitive gamers is the full use of their mousing surface. If the mousepad is there taking up space on the desk, the gamer expects to be able to use the entire surface area. Granted, most gamers do not frequent the extreme corners of the mousepad in normal use, but the area of mousepad that is rendered useless by the bungee on the headshot controller is far greater than what would be defined as extreme corners. There really is a significant amount of the mousing surface that is made practically useless due to the cord pulling the mouse back towards the top center of the pad. In order to combat this unfortunate effect, we bypassed the cord holder (the translucent arch we previously discussed) and set the mouse cord on the desk surface behind the mousepad. While this eliminated the pulling effect we experienced before, it created a plethora of new problems that were mostly associated with the bulky shape of the bungee cable. The aURa is designed with an elevated area at the rear that accommodates the power and USB ports. The thick bungee cable repeatedly became hung up on this feature and made it rather difficult to use the mouse at all. We then bypassed the aURa device altogether, using it only to plug the mouse in. We used the smooth side of the Razer eXactmat (as this surface is very similar to that of the aURa’s) and were able to move the mouse much more freely. However, the shape of the cable once again created some problems with this configuration. Due to the bungee portion of the cable far heavier than an equivalent length of normal cable, the friction produced while the bungee was lying on the desk was much greater than we would have liked.

The second big problem we encountered while using the headshot controller was software instability. I know what you’re thinking, “How can there be a problem with software instability when you are reviewing a mouse?” Well, it turns out the drivers we spoke so highly of in the features section of this review also have some issues that need to be worked out. While gaming with the headshot controller, we experienced far more BSOD errors than with any other piece of hardware we have ever tested. This is saying quite a lot considering we have tested several components while they were newly released and their corresponding software was still in the early stages of maturity (Read: AGEIA PhysX, Bigfoot KillerNIC, NVIDIA 8800GTX). When we first encountered these blue screens, we were unsure as to their origin. After taking a picture of one, we found that the FanatecGameController.sys file was causing the errors. To make sure it was not something else that was in turn causing this software to fail, we uninstalled the emul8or package completely from the test computer. Upon doing this, the frequent blue screen errors ceased. This could only mean that the emul8or drivers were somehow quite unstable. We are unsure as to whether or not Fanatec knows about or has addressed this issue, but it may have been fixed in the time that has expired since we tested the headshot controller (several weeks).
{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}

Conclusion
The headshot controller from Fanatec represents a fairly radical change in the way we view gaming mice. Merely the appearance of the device is enough to differentiate it from the clone-like masses of the gaming mice we have become accustomed to. The headshot controller, made up of the mouse itself and the aura dock that consists of the mousepad and doubles as a USB 2.0 hub, has several features that many gamers may well consider beneficial. The driver package, aptly named emul8or, is very well designed and is probably the most capable mouse software we have come across to date. The shape of the mouse, while quite different from anything we have ever used and as a result has a rather long learning curve, is very well thought out and provides and extremely frictionless mousing experience. However, there are two very big problems with the headshot controller that will most likely prevent it from becoming widely adopted by the competitive gaming community. The bungee-like mouse cord, one of the distinguishing characteristics of the product, actually inhibits movement along a substantial amount of the aURa mousepad. This problem would not be so much of a deal breaker if this inhibition was limited to the isolated extreme corners of the mousepad, but alas, it is not. The second big problem is related to the drivers. The same emul8or driver package that had previously been touted actually has some sort of serious issue that caused our system to blue screen repeatedly while the device was in use. We made sure to verify that the driver was indeed the source of the problem, and after uninstalling the driver package altogether, the problem ceased.

In the end the headshot controller packs an impressive feature set, very well-designed driver software, and unique characteristics that make it really stand out from the crowd. However, the problems we ran into during testing were the kind that can make or break a fantastic product. The intentions with the bungee cord are genuine and innovative, but the concept has huge shortcomings in practice. The driver package that is so well designed has instability problems that make the use of the entire device frustrating and extremely difficult. As good as the headshot controller is, we simply cannot recommend it to gamers, competitive or casual, that value the stability of their system and the real-estate of the their mousepad.

Pros
+ Wide design
+ Feature-rich driver package
+ On-the-fly adjustments
+ Best performing laser mouse tested so far
+ Adjustable physical size
+ Built-in USB hub
+ Extremely frictionless
Cons
- Software (driver package) causes system instability
- Expensive
- Bungee-style mouse cord inhibits motion significantly in too many cases
- Left-handed gamers that use left-handed configurations are excluded.
Rating
7.0 out of 10