Corsair announces stickless combat controller with Hall effect and quick trigger, hoping to mash buttons faster than anyone else

I’m not good at fighting games. I have the main Street Fighter game (add Sakura to 6, please Capcom) and I don’t often jump to the lowest levels of button mashing, but it doesn’t take much panic to send me there. Well, luckily Corsair has announced a up-to-date, professional looking hunting stick and I can’t wait to beat it at a local tournament.

The Wireless Novablade Pro features Hall-effect magnetic switches that not only provide longer shelf life, but also enable custom actuation on the board. The keys can be positioned anywhere from 0.1mm to 4mm, which means you can make adjacent keys slightly harder to press and vital ones easier.

Corsair claims the switches can be tapped up to 150 million times, which is about three games for the average button press player. Speaking of buttons, this combat controller has quick release buttons, which means they stop pressing the moment you do. A more customary switch starts and stops pressing after a specific press, meaning you lose milliseconds with each hit. Thanks to this, you can not only hit the keys faster, but also more often.

Because it’s wireless, it can be connected via Bluetooth or connected to a device in 2.4 GHz mode, offering lower latency than the Bluetooth option. You can of course also give up the wireless connection and connect it with a cable.

Our Jacob had the opportunity to see the combat controller in person at this year’s Gamescom and talk a little about it with Corsair.

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A Corsair representative told us that the combat controllers’ exploit of keys and a quick trigger makes quarter-circle movements (and similar attacks) smoother than with a customary combat stick. Of course, this will depend on the individual player, but it is speculated that this is why players have been opting for leverless pads lately.

We also took a look at the replaceable front panels and RGB lighting around the controller. With 15 individual keys, all are RGB backlit, but the controller also has room for custom profiles and customizable keys.

Interestingly, this combat controller also comes with SOCD, allowing you to set key priority when clicking multiple buttons at once. This has been banned in games like Counter-Strike 2, but in the SOCD fighting game scene it is still an open question. I suppose you can always choose not to turn it on, but it will be fascinating to see if tournaments even allow the exploit of such a device.

If you enjoy playing fighting games on multiple devices, Novablade Pro is compatible with PC, PS5, and PS4 out of the box. And if you want to get the Novablade Pro Wireless for yourself, you’ll pay quite a bit $250 on Corsair’s website. All these features don’t come budget-friendly, right?

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