When I first saw Nintendo's official Xbox 360-ish Pro controller I thought, "You know, I would probably like this better if it featured the same controller layout as the 360 one." Apparently Mad Catz feels the same way. This is the FPSPro, a third party Wii U controller developed completely independently of Nintendo.


In fact, Mad Catz's Alex Verrey told me that Nintendo's announcement this weekend caught the company entirely off=guard. They had approached Nintendo with the idea, and Nintendo said they planned on focusing on their classic controller. And then boom, Xbox 360-looking thing.

Mad Catz' Xbox 360-looking thing was developed for much the same reason Nintendo created their won version; they saw the more hardcore game experiences coming to the Wii U, and figured folks would want to have a more traditional option. It's just that tradition in the case of Mad Catz doesn't mean they have to avoid completely aping the layout of a major competitor.


So the FPSPro has the offset analog sticks that many gamers crave. It's also got a pair of middle finger-accessible tap buttons, another reason it's functionality superior to Nintendo's own hardware.

So fret not, Wii U hardcore. If you're still hanging around after this week, there is choice on the horizon.