Additional accessories for games consoles seem to be all the rage just at the moment, primarily because they add that little something extra onto your already-beloved console. So, it’s no real wonder that Sony has decided to release another official PS3 accessory, this time in the form of a wireless, clip-to-your-controller keyboard.

The keypad itself is pretty run-of-the-mill. Including a standard QWERTY keyboard and some OS-specific buttons, the keypad itself is just what you’d expect it to be.

The keypad includes some nice little features, too – ones that you wouldn’t really expect to usually find. The keypad features three new buttons just above the Select and Start buttons, which allow you to quickly navigate to your friends list, message inbox or activate the keypad’s built in touch-sensitive mousepad.

However, some niggling little flaws prevent this accessory from being all it could be. For starters, the buttons are tiny. When typing with the keypad, you find yourself constantly making mistakes and having to either delete or edit what you’ve already written in order to make it at least legible, which can be an irritating and time consuming process. Also, the buttons are so small that you can’t type without forever looking at what you’re doing – you find yourself staring at your fingers all the time, just to make sure you’re pressing the right thing, even if you can usually touchtype.This can be seriously annoying.

Another thing: the mousepad. A great idea, don’t get me wrong, but it just doesn’t work well enough to be worth adding in the first place. It is amazingly inaccurate – you can use the mousepad to move your cursor to a link, just to find the cursor jumps back again once you take your finger away. Also, the mousepad is so well hidden that you often only find it by mistake or if you’ve actually read the manual (and, let’s be honest, who does read the manual?).

Symbols can be difficult to handle too. Instead of utilising the standard ‘hold shift, press button, insert symbol’ interface which pretty much every PC user from five to ninety years old is used to, the keypad uses two ‘dedicated’ shoulder buttons on the top of the keypad which you use instead of shift. Now, call me whatever you like, but these shoulder buttons are actually more trouble than they are worth – it is much easier and more instinctive to merely use the normal shift interface.

The keypad is good for a few things though. You’ll notice that logins on websites immediately become less cumbersome and much quicker – the keypad is particularly good for quick input of passwords. The dedicated OS buttons make XMB navigation lightning fast – whatever you’re doing, a press of one of those buttons will get you where you need to be fast. And, if we’re honest, it does exactly what it says on the box; it does work as a keyboard. Just not amazingly well.

In conclusion, however, it really isn’t worth buying if you’re likely to use it to type loads of messages or use online forums through the PS3 web browser. For the 18 quid it costs, you’d be much better off looking for a standard bluetooth keyboard.

4/10

Linford

Labels: PS3, Review, Sony, XMB

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