Califonia-based manufacturer Mad Catz have been producing third-party gaming peripherals for many years now, and last month to mark the release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 they released several fully licensed products for gamers to get their hands on, two of which are available for Xbox 360.

 

Camo Combat Controller

First up is the wired Combat Controller, available in Snow White (no, honestly, that's what they call it) and Black.

Aside from the appealing camouflage design, these controllers are quite different from your standard Xbox controllers. The most noticeable difference once you pick one up is the size and shape - these things are a lot slimmer by comparison, and they use Mad Catz' customised 'Pistol Grip'.

The most practical difference however is the inclusion of twin "Combat" buttons. These are two small buttons located on the underside of the controller which are assignable so can represent the A, B, X, Y, LSB and RSB buttons.

 

The point of having these here is so that you can perform the action that these buttons represent with a finger that is normally unused during gaming, as opposed to having to lift your thumb off the controller to press one of the coloured buttons (or pressing the left or right thumbstick in to activate the LSB or RSB, which of course throws your aim off balance).

This, for example, can let you keep your thumb on the thumbstick to keep your aim true whilst you zoom in for that all-important headshot (assuming of course you haven't already assigned zoom to one of the triggers or bumpers).

The units also have backlit analog sticks, 3M braided-sleeve cables, plus hard carry-case, and are available in NZ for $69.

 

Throat Mic

Next on the list is the Throat Mic. Using a military-inspired behind-the-neck design, this microphone picks up vibrations directly from your voice box instead of picking up sounds from your mouth.

Attached to the mic unit is an in-ear earphone piece for picking up voice communication from other players. One advantage of this configuration which isn't immediately obvious is that you can fit full-size headphones over the top of the earphone piece without it getting in the way.

Located halfway down the cable are integrated volume and mute controls, as well as a tie clip. This unit is available in New Zealand for $64.

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Our thanks to PlayTech for providing sample units.