Previously I went through several hand held game controllers. This time I'm going into some USB controllers that are manipulated by the feet. This should make sense because those of us that drive already use a form of foot controller. The use of foot controllers along with the keyboard and mouse can be beneficial--particularly in gaming or in programs in which your hands are already doing something.
On this post we will cover the Stinky Gaming Footboard. This is one of the few foot controllers that is gaming dedicated. The construction quality of the board is superb and the device should last a long time. The origins of this board come from crowd funding via Kickstarter--I'm glad that they reached the goal! Let's go over the box contents and cover some of the key details.
Images
On the box you will find several pieces of useful information.
More info on the TBOX mode.
More info on the C-Point mode.
Back of the box.
Specifications and product description.
The packaging of the Stinky Gaming Footboard is ok. The design of the package means that you can place the items back in the box easily.
There are several springs included.
The box contents includes: the Stinky board unit, the three sets of springs, USB cable, instruction manual, and the little tool (allen key) to customize the spring resistance. The cable length is about 6.5 feet long.
Next to the Logitech G700s gaming mouse. The unit weighs in at about 3.57 lbs, and is quite wide--which means that the unit will be very stable and thus reliable. Also, the Stinky Gaming Footboard has four switches (top, bottom, left, and right).
When compared to the Logitech mouse the board is thinner.
The board can feel a bit "wide," but that may depend more on your body attributes. If the horizontal layout is not working for you then you can rotate the board so to be in a vertical direction.
You can route the USB cable through so that it does not have damaging pressure if you were to move the unit--this is a good safety feature.
There are four spots for springs on the board. You can choose to change the springs so that they have the resistance that you desire. The red springs means that you must push harder, the green is the medium, and the blue springs are the softest.
I have to say that after testing the board the sensation of pressing down onto the board was not as natural as when I played with the FS3-P Tri Pedal. The FS3-P had a slight angle on each pedal that felt very natural--in a way slightly similar to pedals in a vehicle. The Stinky Gaming Footboard does take a bit of time to get used to--and you may have to change how you sit in order to press the switches properly.
Software
Most foot controllers do not have profiles, but the Stinky Gaming Footboard does. This means that you can create profiles specific to a certain game or program. With this in mind the board gives you great value for money--it's not "just" a gaming device.
There are four actions that can be assigned to each individual switch:
- Normal--which works the same as a normal keyboard press.
- Key Down--which works as a single action that is "down and release." So if you press and hold the key then it will count as a single action.
- Pulse--which sends a "clicks per sec." The rate can be modified to go from 1 to 30 per second.
- Unbound--means that no action has been assigned.
With this in mind you can assign one switch to do a Normal action and another to do a Key Down action, and so on. You can get quite creative.
You can assign a profile to each program/game. With the Auto-Switch option the board will switch to the correct profile when you change program/game. So cool!
This is the Settings tab. In the tab you can enable minimize to tray, minimize on quit, auto-start, and you can also update your board's firmware.
The Stinky Gaming Footboard has it's own firmware. I'm not sure what the advantage is of this, but at least the process is easy.
For the more unusual features check the manual at:
https://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/stinkyboard-uploads/downloads/Stinky_Manual_1.0.pdf
There are many other foot controllers available in the market. The Stinky Gaming Footboard though is one of the few dedicated gaming controllers.
Is the board worth the money? Well, that depends on what you desire. Most of the other controllers can be good enough for a single game or program. The Stinky's strengths are in superior stability, customizable button actions, and the automatic profile switching. The unique part of course is the automatic profile switching, which means that you won't have to open the software and change the settings every single time you want to change to another game or program. Gaming companies are incredibly creative and the Stinky Gaming Footboard is a great example of the combination of quality hardware and well-designed software. It would't surprise me if other gaming hardware companies suddenly begin releasing similar products.
Hope that helps!
The motto video to get you pumped up to buy this board... some of the statements in the viceo are a bit funny. ;-)
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