Tech Review: Titan One | Geek Node Archive

Published January 28, 2016

Are you frustrated at the prospect of playing first person shooters on console? Have you switched to a new console, but forlornly miss the comforting feel of the controller of your discarded console? Or are you just determined to use non XBOX controllers for play on PC’s? Well, there’s a new solution to that problem, one that’s definitely easy to use, and actually works.

The Titan One is the Rosetta Stone of controller to console discourse. In a nutshell, the Titan One allows you to use mostly any controller on mostly any platform with relative ease. It acts as a hardware middle man, tricking the console into believing that the foreign and unknown controller you’ve plugged in is in fact the trusted and loved controller it’s always known. It emulates what should be, hiding the impostor behind a cardboard cut-out disguise. The Titan One set up process works in three steps: Plug the Titan One into a USB port found on the console you’d like to play with. Plug the native controller normally used with that console into the Titan One, so that the adapter knows exactly how to authenticate other non-native controllers. Then, unplug this controller, and plug the controller you’d like to use into the Titan One (still plugged into the console). It should work immediately!

The process for using Wii and Wii U controllers is different, as it requires one to use Bluetooth USB Adaptors. It’s still really simple, as all one does is enable a single option, connect the Bluetooth USB adaptor to the Titan One, and have the Wii controllers scan for devices.On PC it’s pretty much plug and play, as no authentication step is needed. You just plug the Titan One in, and plug in your controller of choice.

For the most part, the Titan One works like a dream. All controllers I tried worked on PC and PS3 without any issues. Using it on the PS4 works fine, but only for a while as the console regularly checks for validation from controllers plugged into it. While there’s been a firmware update that prevents your controller of choice from disconnecting every few minutes, there is a moment of lag as the validation request is reset. Not disastrous in any way, but it can be frustrating if caught in a game that requires immediate interaction.

The XBOX 360 is a bit trickier, as while the original wired controllers work perfectly, the wireless controllers require you to have the Wireless Gaming Receiver to either use other controllers on the XBOX 360, or use your wireless XBOX 360 controller on other platforms. And no, the cable that comes with those wireless controllers won’t help – those are used purely to transmit power to charge the controllers. The solution is pretty simple at least – connect the Wireless Gaming Receiver to the Titan One, and sync it to the controller.In addition to basic controller adaption, one can use the Gtuner software freely available on the manufacturer’s site to modify settings on the device, as well as install and use various plugins, such as input combo binding, easier button mapping, and (most impressively) allowing you to connect your keyboard and mouse to your consoles. However, to do this one needs to have the adaptor plugged into the PC so that it can relay the information to the console you’re playing on, so it’s a bit clumsy to set up, particularly if you’re not the type to have your PC and consoles near each other. You’ll also need to map the keys for each different game you’d like to play, a process that can be exhausting and frustrating, though once it’s finally done it doesn’t need repeating. It’s definitely fun to play with, and there’s a perverse joy in some of the weirder matchups, such as using an XBOX ONE controller to play JRPG’s on the PS3. In the long term, it’s definitely all about using the controller you’re most comfortable with on whichever platform you happen to have – potentially barring the PS4, as a result of that validation issue.

Personally, I see myself using this on the PC the most. When one grabs games of a specific genre, or simply a specific title or franchise, that one has mainly experienced on console, it’s a fantastic way of keeping that same familiar controller feeling without having to resort to specific controllers or 3 rd party products. On the other hand, it’s also great for when you switch from playing a specific franchise on one platform to another, allowing you to feel as “at home” as possible by retaining the association between controller and game.

The largest downside I can see is what one would get out of it, compared to what one pays for it. For the luxury of using a controller you’re used to, you pay close to the price of a newly released game. If you’re dead set on using PS3/PS4 or Wii U controllers for PC, or if you’re desperate to use Keyboard and Mouse for console gaming, then sure, though that seems like quite a small niche, and the value is largely determined by how much you actually make use of it.

In the end, it’s still great to have the option for variable controller use, and it’s definitely nice to have an option that’s easy to use and doesn’t involve any invasive hardware surgery that voids any warranties.

You can pick the Titan One up from CC Entertainment, for R899.

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Kharrak

Guest Contributor - Tabletop

Kharrak loves and owns a lot of boardgames, which have over time mutated him into a being solely sustained by schadenfreude and dice. Hopelessly addicted to Fantasy Flight card sleeves, and fears the inevitable intervention by geek friends.