[Review] Brook Wingman XB 3 Converter
Due to the utter nonsense that Sony is pulling, they have made a decision that should've been very hard for me to make, very easy, and have lost yet another customer. I have traded in my PS5 and used that money to pick up an XBOX Series X, instead. While the XBOX Series X|S also has Remote Play via the XBOX App, given my experiences with the PS5’s RemotePlay, I didn’t want to rely on Remote Play again. Been there, done that. So I reached out to Brook and they sent me a Wingman XB 3 Converter for review.
Whereas the Wingman P5 works on PS5, PS4, and PC, and the Wingman XE 2 works on PS4, PS3, Switch, Switch 2, and PC, the Wingman XB 3 works on XBOX One, XBOX Series X|S, and PC. Much like with the Wingman PS2 Converter, original XE, P5, and XE 2, the XB 3 not only supports over 135 controllers but it also supports both wired and wireless connections, which means I can connect it and use it with reWASD, opening up the entirety of the XBOX library for me to play.
As with the P5 and XE 2, the initial setup of the XB 3 is pretty painless. You just need to plug the converter into your system. That’s it. For wired controllers, all you have to do is plug in your controller to the converter and it should work. For wireless controllers, you have to put the converter into Pairing mode by holding either of the side buttons, which double as LEDs for 1 second, and put your controller into Pairing. From there, the converter and your controller will pair together. To make sure everything works, I like to press the correlated Home button on the controller. Using a computer, you can adjust various settings such as remappings and turbo settings in the Brook Converter Center software but be aware, the changes are saved to the converter itself, meaning it will affect everything, Home screen as well as every game, whereas you can have multiple layouts and change them on the fly, using reWASD.
XBOX’s Remote Play is arguably better than PlayStation’s because it doesn’t have any of the latter’s quirks. That said, regardless of console, Remote Play does inherently generate some input delay but with the XB 3, I don’t need to worry about that as I’m not using Remote Play. I’m using it with a wireless controller.
Before the Series X, my last XBOX was an Xbox 360 back in the early 2010s, which only lasted a couple months before getting a Red Ring of Death. There were also next to no options for accessibility in games, back then and what options there were were minimal, at best. As a result, my options for games were extremely limited. Thankfully, that is no longer the case as the industry has started to give accessibility more importance, making way for a very detailed array of in-game options, along with mass-produced peripherals like the Xbox Adaptive Controller, PlayStation Access, and 8BitDo Lite SE. With these, the XB 3 and reWASD, I’m now able to not only play but also actually enjoy games that I was previously unable to, such as Halo, Dragon Age: Origins, Lost Odyssey, Gears of War, Too Human, and Crackdown.
However, even though it is easily fixed, I have run into a weird quirk using the Wingman XB 3 with reWASD. Sometimes, when I restart my console, reWASD doesn’t want to connect to the converter, even though it’s already set up. To fix it, I just have to put the converter into Pairing mode then it connects like normal. Not horrible, just annoying. It is for this reason that I leave the XB 3 in the front USB port, not the back.
As with the other Wingman converters, the price is the only thing that might make people hesitate getting a Wingman XB 3, especially those of us on a fixed income. You can purchase it from multiple sellers, including Amazon, and of course, off the Brook Gaming official website. That said, depending on where you buy it from, the XB 3 will cost either $55.50 (the Brook Gaming official website) or $69.00 USD (Amazon). It’s less expensive than some controllers but it’s still a nice chunk of money. In my opinion however, the benefits – being able to play and enjoy games that I was previously unable to – more than justify the cost.
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Accessibility Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Brook Gaming is a company that produces game controllers and adapters for various platforms, such as PS5, PS4, PS3, XBOX, Switch, and Retro. The Taiwanese gaming accessories brand has more than 20 years of experience in designing and manufacturing gaming hardware, with super converters for gaming consoles released in 2015, allowing your older gamepads, joysticks, and steering wheels to adapt seamlessly to new consoles. Brook Gaming sent me a Wingman XB 3 for review, and I would like to sincerely thank them for doing so!
