Skip to main content

Hands on: Iogear Keymander

Iogear delivers on the dream of console-based mouse/keyboard gaming with the new KeyMander, which supports consoles in the PlayStation and Xbox famiilies.

A new chapter is about to open in the long-standing war between enthusiasts of gamepads versus mouse/keyboards. Iogear’s KeyMander adds another chapter to that war by delivering on the long-hoped-for promise of a mouse/keyboard gaming on a console – or at least most of the consoles: PlayStation 3 out of the box, Xbox 360/Xbox One at launch (following a free firmware download), and PlayStation 4 to be added at a later date.

The KeyMander is a rectangular box, roughly the size of a cigarette pack. On one side, you’ve got three miniUSB inputs. One must be connected to your console of choice, one links up with your PC (more on that in a moment), and one is used to provide power to connected peripherals, should it be needed. The other side of the device has three USB slots for connecting a keyboard, a mouse, or a gamepad.

The PC and gamepad connections are there to help out players that want to build game-specific profiles (much of which will be revealed later). The KeyMander should work out of the box for basic functions, but having the ability to build a profile allows you to tailor the keyboard commands for a given game’s particular setup. You do this using Iogear’s software on the PC side, though we didn’t get to see that in action on the crowded show floor at CES.

IoGear Keymander 1
Image used with permission by copyright holder

We did, however, get to sample the KeyMander in action, connected to a PS3 running Battlefield 4. In short: the tech works. Iogear had a wireless mouse and keyboard connected to the KeyMander via an RF receiver plugged into the device’s Keyboard port. Even in the busy wireless space that is the CES show floor, without a proper mousepad for the mouse to rest on, the results were impressive.

The WASD movement controls on the keyboard work as you’d expect they would, and the secondary commands – reload, sprint, crouch, and custom weapon options typically accessed from a controller’s D-pad – closely mirror the PC experience. The mouse also works as you’d expect it to, with the left and right buttons handling shooting and aiming down sights, respectively.

The only problem we encountered – and this seems to be a product of not being able to spend much time fiddling with settings on the show floor – is the mouse, which felt a little too sensitive. Some players might like that, and it’s easy enough to tweak sensitivity in-game, through the KeyMander’s app, or through your mouse’s DPI settings (when available) – but it was a bit slippery for lining up distant headshots.

The KeyMander automatically maps the F1-F8 keys to different profiles in a single group (up to 30 groups can be created and saved), to allow for easy switching. Attention has also been paid to increasingly media-driven consoles, with the F9 key allowing for easy switching back and forth between game profiles and standard keyboard controls (to type in a browser, for example). You can only have one console’s firmware installed on the KeyMander at a time, but all of your profiles are saved on the PC side.

IoGear Keymander 4
Image used with permission by copyright holder

For $99, plus whatever you might spend on a mouse/keyboard, you can now add PC-style controls to your console gaming experience using Iogear’s KeyMander. The device is expected to hit shelves very soon, almost certainly before the end of the month. If more precision is something you’ve been craving in your console shooters – or whatever else – the KeyMander is definitely worth a look.

Highs

  • Not complicated to get working mouse/keyboard controls on a console
  • Multiple control profiles makes it easy to switch between games
  • Keyboard hotkeys allow for quick profile swapping

Lows

  • No PS4 support at launch
  • Only one console firmware can exist on the KeyMander at a time
  • Mouse performance very slippery during our hands-on

Editors' Recommendations

Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
The best Dragon’s Dogma 2 mods
Dragon's Dogma 2 key art featuring a knight with a fiery hole in their chest.

Even before release, there were some red flags about how Dragon's Dogma 2 would perform on a technical level. While console players need to wait and hope for patches to fix things, those on PC can already improve their games through the hard work of modders. Of course, technical improvements are only one area where modders focus. With such a massive world and many systems in place, Dragon's Dogma 2 is brimming with potential for mods of all shapes and sizes. Aside from mods that just improve your performance, most are better saved for after you've reached the true ending, but no one is going to stop you if you'd rather start experimenting from the start. Here are a handful of the best mods you should try in Dragon's Dogma 2.
Dragon's Dogma 2 DLSS3 Enabler 01 - Puredark

For whatever reason, Dragon's Dogma 2 launched with its DLSS3 function disabled. While it is assumed it will be turned on at some point with a patch, modder Puredark went ahead and released the simple Dragon's Dogma 2 DLSS3 Enabler 01 to let you actually play the game with better visuals and framerates. If you have an Nvidia 4000 series GPU, there's no reason not to install this simple enabler.
Crazy's Shop

Read more
V Rising – Legacy of Castlevania crossover will let you fight Simon Belmont
Castlevania's Simon Belmont in V Rising.

Stunlock Studios and Konami have revealed that the survival crafting game V Rising will feature Castlevania crossover content when it leaves early access this May.

V Rising is a survival game where players control a vampire, and this crossover adds Simon Belmont as a hunter who's constantly trying to track down and kill players. If Simon Belmont is defeated, players will be able to equip and use his whip as a weapon. While that content is being added to V Rising free of charge as soon as it hits 1.0, a paid Legacy of Castlevania Premium Pack DLC will also be released. Purchasing it will net players Castlevania-themed decorations and music for their lair. These are all fitting crossover spots for a game that already heavily features vampires and pumps some life back into an unfortunately dormant game series.

Read more
What is dragonsplague in Dragon’s Dogma 2 and how is it cured?
A dragon roars in Dragon's Dogma 2.

Dragon's Dogma 2 likes to keep many of its mechanics and systems a secret until you discover them. You will learn quickly that you can't fast travel around the map freely, but there's one mechanic that is far more detrimental to your game. This is called dragonsplague and it is a disease that can't be cured with a simple tonic. In fact, you may not even realize if you have it in your game because it isn't something that affects your character at all; instead, it affects your Pawns. Failing to recognize you have dragonsplague and deal with it in a timely manner can ruin your entire playthrough if you're not careful. To avoid such a catastrophe, here are all the details about this cruel disease.
What is dragonsplague?

Dragonsplague is a special kind of disease that Pawns can contract seemingly by interacting with either Drakes or Dragons. That part isn't fully clear yet, however, we do know that Pawns with dragonsplague can spread the disease to other Pawns. Since Pawns are able to pass between worlds to join other players, you are never fully safe from being infected if you're playing online. Unlike a real sickness, though, dragonsplague actually transfers between Pawns rather than spreads, meaning it won't fully run rampant through the game.

Read more