Mayflash Max Shooter (PS2 to Xbox 360) Reviewed

Tech Talk
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Please read through the entire thread before running out and buying one of these. I’ve had great results with mine as have others. A few people are having mixed results so be sure to make an informed decision before spending your money.

Use PS2 controllers/sticks on the Xbox 360

My Max Shooter came in today. As lame as it sounds, its the most hyped Ive been to receive a converter since the Xbox Magic Box (Saturn to Xbox, also made by Mayflash). Id only heard good things about it. Thankfully they were all warranted.

A little background The Max Shooter will inevitably be compared to the XCM XFPS. Its a cloned product with the same purpose: using a keyboard and mouse rather than a joystick. I wouldnt normally be the target audience for it since the last FPS I cared about was GoldenEye on the N64. Between the two USB ports however is a PS2 controller port that will be the focus of this review.

Like the XFPS, the Max Shooter is a passthrough device that requires a wired 360 pad for operation. The licensed controller convinces the 360 that the Shooter is a legit peripheral. The 360 controller can be plugged into either of the two USB ports on the front of the converter. Either a wired MS pad or third party controller will work. A play and charge cable will not because it does not send input to the console.

Once the system is powered on an indicator led lets you know that the 360 has authorized the controller. At this point you can swap a USB keyboard or mouse in place of the 360 controller. Fortunately no swapping is necessary for the PS2 port. Once you reach the dashboard youre ready to use your PS2 pad or stick. On to compatibility

The Max Shooter works brilliantly with official Sony PCBs. This means that it will perfectly compliment a custom stick with either a Sony PS1 digital PCB (no analog sticks) or a Dual Shock. It also works just as well with a PS2 DS though these arent frequently used in custom sticks. I played on it using all three controllers throughout the day without any inclination of lag or dropped inputs. I was able to pull off multiple button presses without a hitch.

How well it works with (insert name of PS2 stick) remains to be seen. Im optimistic because Mayflash are known for quality converters. It worked perfectly with my SFAC 3.5V. It has also been reported to work fine with a HRAP 1 which leads me to believe that Hori PCBs will be fine. I cant recall any converters that worked with one Hori PCB and not the lot of them.

The button mapping is exactly as it should be. It matched the default Controller Type A setting in Street Fighter IV. You will want to remap them in HD Remix because it assigns R1 as HK and L1 as HP. This takes all of 5 seconds to do unless you want to play it like a SNES pad.

PS2, Command, Xbox

SQ = LP = X
TR = MP = Y
R1 = HP = RB
X = LK = A
CI = MK = B
R2 = HK = RT

SE = BACK
SE + ST = GUIDE

Holding the Select button and pressing Start activates the Guide menu. This was a clever and welcome addition. Before I stumbled on to this I was reaching for the 360 controller to hit the guide button.

If youre a pad warrior who favors the Sony dpad over the 360 controller Id even go as far to recommend this over purchasing a Mad Catz Fightpad. Theyll both set you back a similar amount ($60) if you have to pay the eBay tax. Its also compatible with the PS2 Saturn pad if youre lucky enough to have one of those.

My lady who actually plays console FPS also gave it a glowing review. She played through a few levels on RE5 and said that everything was kosher. So you’re also set if you just want to play a FPS using a PS2 pad. The only downer is the lack of rumble. That obviously won’t matter with a stick.

http://www.mayflash.com/maxshooter/max%20xb360/max003.htm

If you purchase one of these on eBay be certain that it looks like the one on the Mayflash page. People use the term Max Shooter and XFPS interchangeably. They are definitely not in the same league.

Unlikely the XFPS I can give this little guy my strongest recommendation. Thats it for this babbling review. Feel free to throw any questions you have in my direction. I’ll be happy to answer them if I can.

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Nice! I’m rather happy this thing got good reviews. I’ll definitely be picking one of these up for my MAS stick and I’ll give it a whirl.

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That’s hot.

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Hopefully it works with your MAS. Let me know. Otherwise you should be able to swap out a PS PCB in that stick.

I’m buying more PCBs to test on this. I currently have a T5 on the way. I’m also trying to get the other SFAC (7.5) so I can test them all.

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i bought one, waiting on it. when it comes in i’ll let you know if it works with the namco stick

edit- oh and excellent review

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wow I wasn’t expecting good news here

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Is there any input lag or dropped button presses?

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Yeah, I was skeptically optimistic about this one. I’d only seen three or four reviews of it on the converter thread but they were all enthusiastic.

I didn’t encounter this at all. I played HDRemix and SF IV without experiencing any general screwiness or whiffed moves. I’m not a Virtua Fighter player but I loaded it up and the on-screen display matched with what I was doing. If someone like MarkMan wants to give me a stupid hard combo I’ll give it a try.

Thanks. Hopefully it will since it worked with the digital PS1 pad.

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is ebay the only place to get one of these? how much should i be looking to pay?

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Mine came from eBay. The going rate is around $60. I’m sure there are web shops that stock it. I just don’t want to throw any names out there without having ordered from one.

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Are you saying you don’t need to use a wired 360 controller in order to use the PSX/PS2 port?

My XFPS Sniper 3.0 Plus worked almost flawlessly with no noticeable lag…its just the directional input left would get stuck after the stick goes back to neutral. It could have just been bad hardware that I received.

So far your review has given me some hope and I like Mayflash.

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You definitely need a wired controller for it to work.

I don’t mind hearing people defend the XFPS. Its its defensive that thing is damned expensive. I’m just convinced this is a better product from a more reputable company.

Check out the Converter Compatibility Thread for a ton of XFPS reviews. Here’s a post where someone confirmed your left direction sticking.

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At least I know its not just mine now and in no way have to spend another $100. The keyboard and mouse portion works great for FPS games but even then it would drop all signals and I’d have to remove and re-insert the usb to get it working again. But thats not too big of a problem compared to lousy PS2/X support.

As soon as someone can confirm that the Mayflash version works good with a Namco stick I am going to order this for sure.

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Do I have to use the wired MS 360 controller or can I use the MadCatz (the retro arcade to be specific) controller? If I have to use a MS 360 wired controller then I may as well just buy a new stick. $60 + $40 = $100 already!

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It worked fine with my Mad Catz pad. The retro stick should also work.

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Sweet, thanks! I ordered one of these bad boy converters then, it should fix my problem of not wanting to play SF4 on 360.

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Still waiting on mine to arrive in the mail. On the XIM forums someone did a test with the Max Shooter and said they got about 35ms of lag I think. Would you mind running some tests? I know you say there is no lag, but that just means that you aren’t noticing it. There’s going to be SOME lag and some people might be pickier than you. :wink:

edit: And I’ll definitely be testing out the HRAP with it as soon as I get it. I don’t have high hopes that because I’ve had problems with the HRAP and more than one type of converter for other consoles.

And is there any way to remap the home button? I’m going to be using this in a cab so no select button. :confused:

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Link me to what you’re looking at for the lag testing and if it’s something I can reproduce I’ll be happy to try it. Did they list how the XCM did comparatively?

On the latest discussion of lag, the recommended method was to hook up a wired controller to player 1, the converter to player 2, and hit the same buttons simultaneously. If the actions occur at the same time then the lag is said to be negligible. [media=youtube]lqP36HP5wkU"[/media].

I did this in both Virtual Fighter and SF4. In both cases the action triggered at the same time. Good enough for me…

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Hmmmm… 35ms of lag would mean it’s always a frame or two behind. It’s possible that you simply didn’t notice one frame of difference.

I think the XIM software has a feature that tests controller latency.

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It’s very possible that I’m not a bad enough dude to perceive a frame of lag. In my defense I’ve owned a PC Magic Box (PS2/Saturn/DC to PC) and an Xbox Magic Box. Both of these are Mayflash products and neither of them have given me any trouble.

I can also play a twitchy shmup on the 360 without blaming the controller. In my opinion lagging on a shmup would be just as perceivable as a fighting game if not more so. If the controller lags in a shmup you die.

I looked into XIM as I’d never heard of it prior to this. Like I said, I don’t play FPS. They make another competing product that allows you to connect a keyboard/mouse to the 360. I’m sure that it’s in their interest to rip on the Max Shooter. If they offered something with a PS2 controller port I might be reviewing it instead of this.

Someone needs to get theirs already and come vouch for it. I’m starting to feel like I shill for Mayflash.