Next up we have the fighting fan’s dream in which I had the pleasure of getting my hands on at E3 but not hooked up to a console to see how well it plays. I am talking about Razer’s latest fightstick, named the Atrox and this Xbox 360 fighting accessory was obviously made by a large fighting fan. The arcade fightstick is the luxury accessory for fighting and many arcade games as the Atrox comes packed with components hand picked by the professionals and built to allow modifications to the top panel, 10 Sanwa Denshi buttons and joystick, all accessed by a push of a button. After getting some time with numerous fighting games on the Xbox 360 and some of the HD remake XBLA titles, it is time to break down the Atrox and see how this bad boy held up to the beat down.
Razer's Artox is one seriously badass piece of equipment for the fighting enthusiast, from the build to the parts and topped with the customization abilities, quality was not compromised. There is a solid weight to the fightstick and a seriously effective non slip bottom for use on lap or table top. The moving parts is what makes this my favorite fightstick because the joystick has a nice recoil and click while the buttons have a light resistance without the click when pressed to know for sure that the command was recognized. In terms of customization you can design the top from a free downloadable template, egg or ball shaped joystick tops, and rearrange buttons or upgrade easily from the flip up top. The Atrox is wired, so of course my first question was how much cable, and stored away, so, under the hood stored a 13 foot USB cable.
On the downside, there were a couple of things I felt needed improvement and the first has to do with the shock on the lid to open and close smoothly. It is only on one side, so you have to be a bit careful with the lid, if not paying attention closing it seems rather easy to do some damage to the top cover or hinge. The other item in which I had hoped so dearly for would be the capability to play on either console. Most of my fighting library is on the PS3 because I despise the Xbox controller for fighters, but after this experience I wanted to toss the controller and ultimately having to get Injustice and MVC3 on the Xbox 360.
The Atrox is the one and only fightstick for me, after using a couple wireless fightsticks in the past. Sure, it may not be wireless but with how fast the current fighting titles are, you do not want a delayed response when playing online and 13 feet was more than long enough for my use. The customization was a big part of my praise with the ability to place custom artwork on the top panel and then swap out the buttons to match. Here is where some may gasp, the retail price is $199.99, but also be cautious to the fact that this is a tournament grade fightstick designed by the professionals, and may likely be the last fightstick you ever buy.