Mad Catz Ego – Design & Features
The Mad Catz Ego is a fairly standard Vewlix-style arcade stick. Measuring 15.63” x 9.72” x 3.16” (WDH) and weighing 6.08 lbs, the chassis is well-suited for most stick-friendly setups. Sitting on four rubber-tipped feet, it rarely moves when resting on a surface. It also feels balanced on your lap, and is light enough that you won’t find yourself shifting in your seat to accommodate it.Core button layout is a now-standard eight-button Vewlix configuration. The two buttons on the left side of the group – X and A on Xbox One or Square and X on PS4 – are offset, slightly lower than the other six. The Ego features Sanyo buttons, ensuring a predictably quick and comfortable action, whether you’re looking to hit a precise combo or tap a single button rapidly. Likewise, the Ego features an 8-way Sanwa ball-top stick. It’s extremely reliable and provides feedback thanks to a satisfying click when you push tap in any direction.
That syncing process is the one irksome aspect of the Ego. To pair with a console, you need to plug the Ego’s built-in USB cable directly into the device, then plug in and sync a controller to the stick using a second, detachable Micro-USB cable. The process is a little fidgety the first time you do it, but it’s painless after the first time. Better yet, with the controller plugged in, you have a working home PlayStation or Xbox home button on the stick, which is very convenient.
But there’s a catch: Based on my testing, you can only pair controllers using a micro-USB cable. That means you cannot pair an Xbox Wireless Elite Series 2 gamepad or either of the next-gen controllers. That’s a minor annoyance for most players right now, but it may make the stick more of a pain to use down the line. It should not, however, make the stick incompatible with next-gen consoles, as both the standard Xbox One controller and PS4 controllers will connect to their next-gen counterparts. (That said, we won’t know for sure until we can test them out).
More broadly, it creates an exposed point of failure: If you lose or break the cord that comes with the stick, it will not be able to work with either console until you replace it. Getting a new micro-USB cable isn’t hard – buy enough gear and you probably have a few extra lying around – but I would expect that cable to break long before the rest of the stick.
Especially since the Ego is, generally speaking, built to allow for customization (and, if you need it, repair). The conveniently-placed cable stash in the back of the chassis also holds a small screwdriver-style hex key, which you can use to remove the top and bottom panels to get inside the board. It isn’t as convenient as, say the Victrix Pro FS, which allows you to “pop the hood” on a whim, but it’s easy to get inside and make changes if you want to swap out the buttons, stick, or the art underneath the top panel.
Mad Catz Ego – Gaming
The Mad Catz Ego performed very well in testing in a number of core fighting games, including Mortal Kombat 11 and Tekken 7, and arcade-style beat-em-ups like Street of Rage 4. Both the stick and buttons feel responsive, relaying inputs accurately without delay. The chassis stays in place, even when you push hard on it, so there’s no need to worry about it sliding or tipping in a way that could throw you off.With Sanwa parts, playing any game on the Ego gets as close to standard as possible for an arcade stick. The buttons are well spaced, compact enough so that it’s easy to move around the board, but far enough apart that you’ll never press the wrong button. The button tap is light and loud, which is especially fun for action games like Streets of Rage 4, where a little button mashing actually can lead to great success.
The click of the stick is notably helpful in assisting you to refine and ensure precision movement. If you press the stick and aim a little too high or too low, you’ll hear a secondary click, letting you know. It’s especially helpful in MK11, where special moves and fatalities are based around tapping the cardinal directions.
A word of warning for new players, the button labels on the top panel art can be hard to read from a distance. Over time, you’ll memorize the button positions, but that process may take a little longer and be slightly more painful than it needs to be.
