Review: XCM XFPS Mini Guitar (PS2/360)

[bandit]

XCM XFPS Mini Guitar (PS2/360)
Manufacturer: XCM
Site: Buy from Goldenshop
Price: $59.00-79.95

Overview : Enjoy all guitar games on Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 with XFPS Mini Guitar. Reduced size but with a great feeling, it is perfect for home but can be carried around easily!

Only half the size of a classic PS2 guitar, the XFPS Mini guitar is compatible with all Playstation 2 guitar games but also with Xbox 360 when used with XFPS 360 (regular, Pro or Sniper version).
Made of wood, it has a nice authentic feeling and is very convenient to play.

Features :

• Half the size of classic PS2 guitar
• Compatible with Playstation 2 and Xbox 360
• Includes all buttons for PS2 and Xbox 360
• Made of wood for authentic feeling

Requires XFPS 360 or XFPS 360 Pro to be used on Xbox 360.

Quality/Usability : Everyone has heard of Guitar Hero. Whether you're a gamer, a parent or both, you heard the name before. Its one of the hottest music games to date and probably sold the most. There are Guitar Hero bundles where it includes game, guitar, strap and stickers. When a new game is released, sometimes its either game or another bundle or even both.

What if you just want the game and not have another huge box/guitar take up room? XCM has stepped in and released a XFPS Mini Guitar. The Mini Guitar is constructed out of actual wood. The main plug is a PlayStation 2 plug but can also work on the Xbox 360 with the addition of XCM's XFPS PRO or 3.0 Sniper. The guitar is fairly small and measures approximately 12 inches. Although the guitar is made of wood, it is actually lightweight.

On the front are 5 fret buttons, two selection buttons, strum bar, whammy bar, start and select buttons. On the back of the guitar is a switch that lets you choose between Guitar Freak & Drum Mania games (Option A) and Guitar Hero games (Option B). Below are usage instructions:

So how good is the Mini Guitar? Where do I even begin? The size and weight is great but it just feels too awkward. Its way too small and feels like a ukulele. The fret and selection buttons are too small and too close to each other. If you have the fret buttons on the left hand, its fine but if you have the fret buttons on the right hand, it will feel uncomfortable as you have a piece of the guitar obstructing your gameplay.

Its cool that the fret and selection buttons light up but you wont be looking at the guitar when you're playing the games so I think its useless. Theres also no need to press on the strum bar which by the way feels awkward. Feels like its going to fall off. Just pressing the any of the fret buttons alone will register as a button press. If you look at the video below from XCM, you'll see what I mean. Just watch the fingers on the fret and strum.

Around 45 seconds into the video, you can see that fret buttons are the only ones pressed and the strum bar is not and this happens every so often during gameplay. (video from XCM)


Around 1:14 into the video, you can see that fret buttons are the only ones pressed and the strum bar is not and this happens every so often during gameplay. (video from XCM)

The whammy bar is different as well. On the Guitar Hero guitars, you can swivel the whammy bar to your preferred location which the Mini Guitar allows you to do also. But what it doesnt let you do or as much is press down on the whammy bar. There is no spring reaction. The whammy bar on the Mini Guitar was more parallel to the guitar itself than the stock image below (must be registered to view).

Activating the Star Power can be an annoyance if you prefer to tilt the guitar. I personally prefer to hit the SELECT button even on the Guitar Hero guitars. On the Mini Guitar, sometimes it activates and sometimes it wont. The Star Power will sometimes even activate with a slight tilt or shake of the controller which sucks especially if you're trying to build up on Star Power for that perfect moment.

Conclusion : Overall, the XCM XFPS Mini Guitar (PS2/360) didnt do so well in our testing. The only good thing about the Mini Guitar was that its light and small. Pressing of only the fret buttons is easier for some as you only have to worry about the buttons but it takes the fun out of the game. Its like playing Dance Dance Revolution but with only your fingers. For the prices that online stores are charging, it might be better to pick up a normal sized controller from a 3rd party manufacturer from a retail store for an extra $10-20. If XCM followed the style of the Guitar Hero's, they might have a good product as the GH guitars were perfect for playing. Revamping the style and look backfired on them.

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