As the hardware crisis accelerates it seems that we may have to play our current consoles, handhelds, and PCs for far longer than we may expect. In turn I think that this has been one of the factors in the rise of the ‘premium’ controller. We’re one step beyond just a pro controller here folks, and now Genki is tossing their hat into the ring with the Manta, launching as a kickstarter project with a myriad of stretch goals. I was lucky enough to hold the current prototype in my hand at Gamescom. I have to admit, I’m truly impressed with the features on display here. Genki seems to have taken the wheel and ran with it to build a jack of all trades that may end up being a master of all.

And look, I will be the first to admit. Purely judging on the photos and visuals, this controller does not look ‘premium’. In fact, when the folks at Genki handed me the device I was outright skeptical about its feel. But it turns out that the weight and shape of the controller was actually perfect. The first thing that will obviously catch your eye is the small 2.79-inch display that is dubbed MantaOS. Inside of this you have all the tools you could possibly want. The obvious ones are here like controller profiles for macros, connectivity, and input tuning. But there is so much more going on inside the controller. Nearly every single aspect of the controller can be adjusted. Want to change the individual response rate of the triggers? You can do that. Want to tweak the sensitivity of gyro aim? Sensitivity that accounts for the X/Y axis? Change ABXY to BAYX? It’s done at the press of a button. There’s a displayed keyboard that uses the joysticks for easy inputs. I was actually most impressed with the macro timeline editor. I’m not one that uses macros all too often, but here you can not just push the sequence of buttons you want to use in a row, and manage the duration of these buttons on a timeline individually. That should definitely get speedrunners really excited for specific button combinations. I did have a chuckle when even the people at Genki said they have been surprised about what their players can do with these controllers. For those playing on PC, you can show your hardware’s temperature and performance on the display as well.

Then we get to the absurd number of buttons on this controller. For Switch 2 owners, yes there is a dedicated C-button for using GameChat, but all the buttons support analog, pressure sensitive inputs. These can be tweaked even further if you wish. On the back aren’t just pedal and back buttons, but switches that increase or decrease the tension in the triggers themselves. On the sticks you can twist a ring on the stick to switch between 30 gf and 80 gf, which makes the stick smoother or more stiff depending on your style. With about 60gf feeling close to that of the Nintendo Switch 2 pro controller. The macro buttons are somewhat hidden on the top of the controller making them less likely to be pressed during regular gameplay. That overall feel and grip remains solid however you use or hold the controller. You can even swap out the 4-direction D-pad for an 8-directional D-pad if you want.

The cherry on top is the maglev rumble motors that the Manta uses for rumble features. It was described to me as HD Rumble 3.0. Because of the design of these motors, you get a very precise feel of rumble that surpasses that of the Dualsense and the Switch 2 Pro Controller, with immediate stopping and starting thanks to the magnets going on and off. As a short demo I was given the ability to fully tweak the rumble to my liking at the press of a button. On its roughest setting I could stick it in my neck as a massage gun, while the lightest gave almost a little shock sensation. It should support games that have rumble features straight out of the box.

But all this isn’t cheap. Add a hardware crisis on top of that and the Genki Manta is currently being sold on Kickstarter at a 199 USD early bird price, with a retail price over over 250 USD. That is a staggering amount of money for a controller. Every piece of the controller is designed to be customizable but that comes at a price. I also inquired about battery life and while it should outlast the PlayStation’s Dualsense, the expected timing with all features turned to the max should last you about ten hours. Now I highly doubt that you will be running the ‘’massage gun mode” while using fifteen macros in a realistic scenario, but all these little tricks do add up. Will you never truly need another controller after the Manta? That’s hard to judge. Their compatibility with Switch, PC, Mobile, Steam and Xbox (no PlayStation because of their limited input layer, which prevents a lot of third-party controllers from connecting) should be plenty for anyone looking to professionally play videogames. But all this does feel very extra. If you love tech, want to go nuts on customizing your gameplay experience and have the cash to spare then the Manta does seem like a great option for the ‘beyond pro’ gamer. But I’ll have to experience the finalized product to truly make sense of what I’m holding here. Even though it feels undeniably cool.