Sitting at a retail price of USD 299.99, it’s not the cheapest option. It may be smaller and more portable than most other controllers like it, and while still checking every box that a leverless fight stick needs to, it’s also very expensive. Of course, fighting games are always changing exploits and techniques are still being unearthed for games over a decade old, so Razer will probably need to push new firmware updates as new discoveries are made. Razer’s spokesperson was adamant that the controversies surrounding other leverless sticks were a driving factor in the production and design of the Kitsune, telling me that the Kitsune will ship with the necessary firmware out-of-the-box. These controllers have become so infamous that some community members have started calling them “cheat boxes.” In response, tournament organizers and circuits, like the Capcom Pro Tour, have issued various forms of regulation for leverless sticks over the years, curbing some of the controllers’ most extreme exploits. In some instances, players have been able to use a leverless fight stick to do things like block in two directions at once or bypass certain time-based constraints for executing moves. This is particularly potent in fighting games because most games in the genre involve precise directional movements not only for moving and attacking but also for blocking. Leverless sticks, on the other hand, make it so that you’re able to input opposite directions at the same time. However, they’re still bound to similar constraints regardless of how many directions they can read. Some - like the standard analog sticks you should expect to find in a standard Xbox controller, for example - will read a few more directions than on something like a D-Pad. You can only input one direction at a time on standard joysticks, d-pads, and analog sticks. Hit Box allowed players to pull off inputs that aren’t otherwise possible with standard controllers or arcade sticks. This new controller type has been a lightning rod for controversy among fighting game players. I prefer to play fighting games locally, so knowing I wouldn’t need to lug around a much bigger and heavier device is immensely reassuring. That slim profile also makes the controller highly portable it weighs very little and would easily fit into the laptop sleeve of just about any bag. This is easily my favorite feature as someone with some serious wrist issues. The Kitsune’s almost nonexistent profile feels amazing. This may not sound like a huge difference, but it makes a difference in ergonomics. Where most fight sticks - leverless or otherwise - are usually around seven centimeters thick, the Kitsune is around one centimeter thick. Where the Kitsune sacrifices that iconic click, it gains something that very few of its competitors can boast: size. Pressing them doesn’t feel as clicky as a standard stick, but they still feel solid. Its large, round buttons have a nice texture on them. Razer knows how to make a good button, and with years of experience manufacturing keyboards, it’s no surprise that the Kitsune almost feels like a cross between a Hit Box and a nice keyboard. Think of it as the same reason people who play competitive shooters favor a keyboard and mouse layout over a controller - many games fighting games were originally designed to be played with a joystick in an arcade cabinet, not with a standard pad. The fighting game community overwhelmingly prefers them for their precision and layout. They’re the closest you can get to the arcade feel at home without cramming an arcade cabinet in your living room. Featuring a classic joystick, eight buttons on the front representing the face buttons, bumpers, and triggers found on a controller, and a few more buttons to fill in for any UI buttons you might find on a traditional controller. While Razer hasn’t announced a firm release date yet, a company spokesperson confirmed that they plan to release the stick later this year.Ī fight stick is a type of controller designed to emulate the feel of a traditional arcade cabinet’s button layout. While what I saw may not reflect the final version of the product, this version of the controller was playable at the Mortal Kombat 1 demo booth. I had the opportunity to go hands-on with one at the Summer Game Fest’s Play Days demo event. A leverless fight stick, the Kitsune is designed to go toe-to-toe with other fighting game-centric peripherals, like the Hit Box, without inviting the same controversies. (Image credit: Razer)Īt the beginning of June, Razer unveiled the Kitsune. Razer's 'Cammy edition' of the new Razer Kitsune.
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