E3 2013 was a great time for consoles, but one thing I didn’t want to do was ignore all of the cool PC accessories on show. Whilst browsing around the PC booths randomly I came across the gem that is the gaming footboard by Stinky.
It may sound a little odd at first, but the Stinky footboard is actually a very useful accessory for the PC gamer. It’s a footboard that allows you to key-bind a specific command to four different tension boxes. All you have to do is tilt your foot slightly in the direction you need, and you’re executing simple actions like sprinting or crouching without having to stretch your fingers repeatedly. I was able to try the footboard out myself, playing Battlefield 3. By default the team had it set up so that moving your foot forward would sprint, back was prone, right was crouch and left was reload.
Surprisingly I did really well on Battlefield 3 using the footboard. The ease of sprinting and going prone worked in my favor. It wasn’t as comfortable using the left and right commands on the footboard, but I think a lot of it has to do with the actual seating at E3. I believe it would be much more comfortable to use at home. You can bind any command of your choice to any of the four tension boxes by alt tabbing and accessing the Stinky board software.
The footboard also features a center-point design which allows for multi-button activation without having to lift or hover your foot over the buttons. Return to neutral technology allows the gamer to rest their foot while giving access to each of the board’s four buttons.
Stinky’s footboard is designed with MMO’s, RTS, FPS and MOBA games in mind. It’s not a replacement for the keyboard and mouse but it works great in addition. The Stinky footboard might sound a little steep at the price of $119.99, but serious gamers who are looking for an extra edge should consider how it could improve their gameplay in a number of ways. The Stinky footboard was clearly one of the best PC innovations at E3.Check out their website to find out more.
