To start out, I want to mention that this review is solely based around use of the FRAGnStein with a PS3 while playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I have not attempted to use the device with other consoles or other gaming software.

I am a computer (PC) gamer. I adore classic computer interface and control. Mouse and Keyboard? Yes please. Joystick with HAT, yaw, and at least 8 buttons? You bet. Unfortunately, I got tired of trying to keep up with the software requirements for hardware... I was going broke buying a new PC every 3 years, then constantly upgrading RAM, and Video cards. So I broke down and bought a PS3 (and its loathsome 6-Axis "paddles").

Long story short, after catching a glimpse of the Frag-FX I shopped around, and from the reviews I read, the FRAGnStein was, in my mind, the best choice in this genre of controller (Mouse and Nun-Chuk). Excited about the prospect of some classic PC control for my PS3, I bought.

As we all know, first impressions are everything, and the FRAGnStein did not make a good one. Out of the box, I plugged it into my PS3, and started up CoD:MW2. While the devices synced up with the dongle straight away (expected) the mouse did not like my choice of mouse pad (the broad arm of my living room sofa). I worked on the mousepad issue for a good hour - my new and improved mouse pad, which was the only thing the mouse seemed to respond well on, was a clip-board with a piece of plain white paper on top. Lame and uncomfortable, but hey, I could start pwning silly paddle users on MW2, now right? Wrong.

The chuk, is a bit small, and the d-pad is in an awkward place. But otherwise, its good. I added some bulk to it by wrapping the non-buttony parts with a lightweight cloth-based "tape" similar to the stuff the nurse will wrap around the hole in your arm after you give blood. This had the bonus effect of letting my hold on the chuk "breathe", which alleviated chuk slippage from hand sweat.

The most glaring shortfall of this could-otherwise-be-useful product is the mouse control. Once you’ve got the mouse pad situation under control, you get reattacked with bad firmware. Once you've upgraded the firmware (an unfun adventure in and of its self) you still want more from the device. The persistent problem is the total lack of "micro-control". Infinitely small precision mouse movements go unregestered. Whether or not this problem is a product of lag between the mouse and the RF receiver, a shortfall with the firmware, of the laser within the mouse or some combination of the 3, remains to be seen.


To be honest, I could overlook the mousepad issue and the chuk-hand cramping/annoying button layout - IF and that's a BIG IF - The mouse control worked the way it does on the PC. It does not. This product would score a full 4 or 5 points better than the 4 i'm giving it, if they would just provide what users want: Mouse control on the PS3, the way it exists on the PC.