The Eagle Eye Has Landed
Before getting into my experience with the Eagle Eye, I suggest you take a look at the product web page. It has a nice breakdown of the device’s features and several images and even a few short Youtube videos on how to set the unit up and how it works in operation. The forums are buzzing too with a variety of compatible and un-compatible devices, especially wireless keyboards and mice, so check it out.
The Eagle Eye comes packaged with the unit, Windows program on a mini disc, and a small fold out manual. The first thing you’ll want to do after verifying you have compatible devices is copy the contents of the CD to your computer — this program does not register itself with Windows, it’s just a single executable file with a couple of supporting files that just need to be located in a single directory. This program is used to map your keyboard and mouse keys to the PS3 controller. You can create two key maps and switch between them instantly with a slider-switch on the Eagle Eye itself. Different keymaps can be created and saved to your computer, but only two can be on the Eagle Eye at one time. You can also store up to four combos, or macros directly onto the device. These may be especially useful for fighting games. In on of their example videos, they talk about how they have programmed in Zangief’s spinning pile-driver as a macro, meaning that with a single button press on your keyboard (or mouse), you can execute this maneuver. I also tested this with Mortal Kombat II, and it worked nicely.
Its worth pointing out that when you use the Eagle Eye software, you don’t need to have any USB devices actually plugged into it. You just need it plugged into your computer. That’s a nice feature, allowing you to simply unhook the Eagle Eye from your PS3, take it to your computer, make your changes, and then bring it back to the PS3. Obviously, it’s best to have a separate keyboard and mouse from that of your computer so that you’re not constantly plugging and unplugging your computer’s mouse and keyboard.
Getting back to the software, it’s straight-forward and easy to use. What you will see upon launching it is a complete list of all PS3 controller functions. Next to them is a blank text field that you must fill out with the button that you want to use. For the LS, you might want to use the common WASD scheme for example, maybe use R for Triangle and the mouse for RS, and so forth. The software will prevent you from accidentally tagging more than one command with the same button, or action, too. When you have your keymap, simple press the button on the interface to send it to your device, which literally takes about a second.
Once you have your buttons assigned for either one or two full mappings, the combo or macro editor can be used. It too is easy and fast to use. You can even specify delays in milliseconds for commands for those combos that require certain timing.
The Eagle Eye can be used as full controller replacement or as a supplementary one. You can use your keyboard and mouse right away from the XMB, to a game, and back again, so there is no ‘special’ time to plug in the Eagle Eye or anything like that.
As one of their videos mention, and that I was able to verify with a couple of FPS games like Killzone 2, you will need to crank the sensitivity up, in-game, for most applications. Otherwise, movement, as far as the mouse or RS, is slower than normal. That’s a pretty easy fix though and just about every game should support that. Many games won’t even need that though, but given that the vast majority of people who would be interested in using this product are probably looking to play FPS games, it’s just something you should know.
Another feature I had not mentioned to this point are the Turbo slider-switches on top of the unit. These map to each button on the controller and they basically allow you to get two presses for every one press. This may be seen as cheating by some or just a tech advantage, but this too is a feature probably best used in FPS games.
As for the construction and appearance of the Eagle Eye, it feels sturdy and well made. Nothing felt loose, cheap, or otherwise disagreeable with the construction. The attached 13′ USB cable is similarly of good and expected quality. I also like the silver and black color scheme, although I would have ultimately preferred just an all black model, or at least one with only silver highlights for the slider-switches. Still, it’s looks quite good.
With that, let’s get to the summary…