Fighbox Arcade Controllers

[Jynks]

FightBox Arcade Website

So I picked up a fight bx recently. For those that do not know it is a Chinese Cheap-o brand of HitBox-Like controllers. They, unlike hitbox, are almost a "custom" controller company. Producing a metric ton of different models that I am sure they build on demand. They even have a legitimate "custom" model were you simply ask for exactly what you want.. say a controller with 500 buttons or something.

I elected to try the "M" controller.. for MIX.

It has a joystick, the buttons for a hitbox, and an extra button so it can also work like a MixBox (that controller that has a wsad keyboard interface for movement)

Problems

Strait out of the gate I have an issue with this box...

1. The usb Cable has a simple connector in the back, and a free cable. I am worried about accidentally pulling the cord out.
2. The Box, the Website and everything says that the buttons are Sanwa OBSF-24 and OBSF-30 buttons... but they feel different to me. Not as clicky. This might be an illusion, I'll know more once i play more and eventually take the cover off.
3. The box is pretty light. I think if I was using this outside of a home setting I would invest in some kind of home built frame to make it heavier. Hitboxes by their nature can be super light, but I like a bit of heft. This is not so much a problem with the device, more of a personal taste thing.

The Good

Well, at first glace it seems pretty awesome. I like that it has multiple inputs all at once. It will take a number of days of use before I can give a detailed review.

1. It worked on PC and PS5 in Street Fighter 6
2. The Arcade Stick and both "up" buttons worked fine and all at the same time. (no need to choose)
3. The Arcade Stick is "pop-off".. allowing you to easily remove it without any tools and only seconds needed.
4. I really enjoyed having the 2nd UP button above the movement keys. My brain still works better with the button being "above" the movement than the thumb button on a traditional hitbox being "below". I still use the thumb button though, particularly for 360 moves like Lilys command grab.
5. The hitbox layout seems to be nearly identical in relitive button positions.

The Bad

1. The arcade stick felt a little in the way for using the hitbox controls.. something I am more comfortable with now after MKx+ on hitbox, even though I was a arcade stick player originally. When using the hitbox controls, I felt that it was a little awkward compared to my actual hitbox. I have not yet tried it with the joystick removed... but if I remove it... may as well use the hitbox, though I guess my current hitbox dose not work on PS5.
2. The LED lights above the JoyStick are super bright.. This was not as big as an issue when I started playing and was looking at the screen, but they are super bright when looking directly at them. Playing in a dark room might be an issue.

Thoughts

I was impressed in how fast the device came, but the cost while seeming reasonable was more expensive as I thought. Basically to buy the edition of the controller that works on both PS5 Native (as in ps5 games and ps4 games on the ps5) as well as PC, basically doubled the cost. Then, shipping to Australia is a big deal, but I expected that.

Communication with the store was hard. They obviously were not the best at English and a long request was returned with short sometimes even single word answers.

After a short session before work I think the controller is interesting. To be honest I will probably use it as a hitbox and remove the arcade stick... but it is nice to have this option for playing beat-em-ups like Ninja Turtles or something. I doubt it will go into my fav controllers, but it definatly has a place in my collection for just being an odd ball. It will get a lot of use though as, at this time, it is my only PS5 controller, other than Pad.

 

[Rathalos]

Interesting.
that second up button at the top might make a good block button for MK.
That’s one of the only issues I have with hitbox and stick is block is always awkward.

might look into it and mod it a bit.

 

[Gooberking]

I had looked at their site not long ago. Did seem to have a lot of interesting layout options.

I don't really quite understand how much rallying around the Hitbox layout there is.

I did my own thing and am pretty happy having more traditional directional inputs and some hand spacing.

These guys were pretty unapologetic about even knocking off the logo.

 

[Vslayer]

Seems it's a pretty good deal for the price if you don't mind the stick in the way, but you could also remove it. Would just be weird to have a hole there. But the option to configure it like you want to seems really great. Thanks for the review!

 

[Jynks]

Interesting.
that second up button at the top might make a good block button for MK.
That’s one of the only issues I have with hitbox and stick is block is always awkward.

might look into it and mod it a bit.

hmmm... I didn;t try assigning different things to the buttons.. I will and report back. I am not sure if that extra "up" can be separated from the the other "up". I'll test and get back to you. (off to work : (

 

[Gooberking]

Interesting.
that second up button at the top might make a good block button for MK.
That’s one of the only issues I have with hitbox and stick is block is always awkward.

might look into it and mod it a bit.

I'd assume you would have to rewire it a little in this case, but that's one thing I did. I have a right thumb button which I think is left trigger. In MK and other button block games it is block. In SF6 I'm using it for Drive Impact. Strive it was dash. It's pretty useful placement to be able to use your right thumb for an input. It's basically the "Man I need to hit this thing a lot and with little warning" button


*** Some of the layouts look like they would work real well for that if you could get the button to map to a regular button an not a direction

 

[Gooberking]

Looks like you get to chose the PCB used. The cheap option is the Zero Delay (Zero Delay Arcade USB Encoder ) which I have a few of and don't recommend at this point. (Not that anyone serious is likely to be PC only)

They work pretty well on pc technically, but I woke up one day a couple of years ago after I think a Windows update and every game suddenly had totally different ideas what the default button mappings would be than the day before. You could only cover it up using the Steam input layer but I also feel like that adds lag and I try to not use it unless a game forces me.

I have several Brook Fighting boards and have been pretty happy with them so far. (used for PS4, PC, and Xbox)

 

[Evantabes]

I'd assume you would have to rewire it a little in this case, but that's one thing I did. I have a right thumb button which I think is left trigger. In MK and other button block games it is block. In SF6 I'm using it for Drive Impact. Strive it was dash. It's pretty useful placement to be able to use your right thumb for an input. It's basically the "Man I need to hit this thing a lot and with little warning" button


*** Some of the layouts look like they would work real well for that if you could get the button to map to a regular button an not a direction

How difficult would this be and would they be completely remappable e.g. Xbox controller paddles? I've always thought it was a little awkward to do block + button to do ex moves (mostly 3 or 4 + block) in mk games but this seems like it would solve that problem and allow for some optimizations like you said.

 

[Gooberking]

How difficult would this be and would they be completely remappable e.g. Xbox controller paddles? I've always thought it was a little awkward to do block + button to do ex moves (mostly 3 or 4 + block) in mk games but this seems like it would solve that problem and allow for some optimizations like you said.

I would think you would have to commit to what a given button does, and not like a programmable button that could be various, or combinations of changing things, but you might have some options if you were mildly adventurous enough to mess with a couple of wires.

Sounds like they use common boards of your choice so pin layouts should be accessible online. I think you can just hook more than one button to the same header and either button press will close the circuit, but in the case of the Brook boards they actually have more than one pin for each button and you could use both. You could also just swap the main wire between two buttons you wanted to be something else and move the extra up to some rando button you don't like using. All that kind of assumes the insides are accessible enough to work on which probably isn't the case in the smaller ones but maybe for standard size boxes

Here is a layout for a PS4 era Brook board. (still pretty similar). The row at the top wires to all the buttons, but so does that j4 set of pins which is more or less intended for a pre made wiring harness you can just plug in. Should be able to use both and have two of the same button if you like. Really all that is happening is running wires to whatever pin goes to that button. It's not like it cares where that button is on your box



IDK if that is answering the question or not, but is about the limit of what I know

 

[Jynks]

But isn't there all those extra buttons read by ps5 or xbox with those controls that add extra buttons underneat.. Wouldn't you be able to make the extra buttons those buttons and just assign them in the game ui?

 

[Gooberking]

IDK what the extra buttons would map to on the boards being sold would be. I don't see anything that suggests they are supported.

However, L3 and R3 that are the analog stick clicks are supported and if a game supports them as a basic button input, that should work.

This is all based off of what I can gather from what their website says is inside. It's still pretty ignorant advice overall