« Review: Brook Universal Fighting Board (360, XB1, PS3, PS4) »

Photo by Paradise Arcade ShopFor arcade stick users, getting one for the right platform has become a bit complicated in recent years. While one tournament might run on one console, another event might prefer a different one. Modders in the fighting game community for years have found many solutions to give people the opportunity to play on the latest platforms without paying for another stick. Some products required soldering skills while others didn't.

With the new generation of fighting games being released more on PlayStation 4 rather than Xbox One, it's easier for players to know what they should get. But just in case, you still might want to have a safety net. There is also the situation of people who still want to use their older arcade sticks. The Universal Fighting Board from Taiwanese company Brook is one of the better answers at the moment. Its built-in Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 support is already convincing enough, but combined with its simple design the Universal Fighting Board is one of the most exciting products in fighting game tech to date.

Opening the UFB, it looks very similar to that of the Akishop Customs PS360+. The UFB carries similar qualities such as the easy-to-use screw terminals, the 20-pin breakout holes, a USB out and mounting screw holes. Different are the inclusion of the d-pad/left stick/right stick selectors, L3 and R3 buttons and the ability to use Touch Pad when playing on PS4. Most of the features are optional and the UFB can work without the need for them. There is also support for LED mods including Paradise Arcade Shop's Kaimana Mini and Jasen's Customs' Kaimana Khameleon.

In most cases, the board can be installed with only the 20 screw terminals. This solder-free solution requires the user to expose the wire of the inputs and insert them into the terminals. A small instructional pamphlet featuring English and Traditional and Simplified Chinese is included in each board. Since the UFB utilizes common ground, all inputs need to be wired to a ground terminal for them to work. If you don't have something like a daisy chain ground wire, it gets a little tricky to power all your inputs to four screw ground terminals. This was an issue that was also prevalent in the PS360+. When installing a friend's UFB to his Qanba Q4 arcade stick, I had to insert multiple wires to one ground terminal. With some experience in soldering, I also wired them to the ground ports found on the 20-pin holes, exactly the same as the PS360+'s layout. While that method was successful, it's best recommended to get a daisy chain ground wire for most cases.

Before you start playing, Brook recommends people to upgrade the UFB's firmware. After downloading the latest software from Brook's website, the process was very easy to understand and fast. I updated my board on Windows 10 and another on Windows 8.1 with no issues whatsoever. If you encounter any problems, it's best recommended to ask on the official UFB thread on Shoryuken for help.

Users of the UFB should always be on the lookout for updates, especially when Sony changes the PS4 firmware, as it can disable the eight-minute timeout protection on the board. Luckily, Brook is fast in providing its own firmware updates days after Sony does. When playing Street Fighter V on PS4, there were no disconnects throughout. While there is the chance that Brook might one day be unable to provide a compatible firmware upgrade, the company's current turnaround does paint an optimistic picture.

After testing out the board on all supported platform with many different fighting games including Killer Instinct and SFV, the UFB's compatibility holds up. While you can manually choose what console mode the UFB can be played on, the board can easily autodetect the platform. Performance-wise, lag wasn't an issue between all consoles. During the testing process, however, there was lag when playing SFV on PC with the UFB on Xbox One mode on occasion. When replugging the board, it's gone. As for fighters on PC, the problem was nonexistent. SFV PC on Xbox 360 mode doesn't suffer from the issues so use that as a work-around.

Jasen's Customs' Kaimana Khameleon installed to the Brook Universal Fighting Board. Photo by Paradise Arcade ShopDuring the making of the UFB review, one concern was that the Select, Back and View button terminal acts as the Share button when on PS4 mode. Functions commonly found when pressing Select migrated over to Touch Pad. While Share isn't a button I cared about, I had to keep the terminal wired for the other console modes. Fortunately, Brook's most recent update allows Select, Back and View support when using the Touch Pad button on the UFB. Even if you need to solder the input, it's still a good work-around for those who want to make use of features such as position resetting in Street Fighter V on PS4. As an added bonus, holding left or right and pressing Touch Pad simulates the button when pressed on its sides. If there is a future hardware revision, Brook should add a screw terminal for Touch Pad.

For $89.99, this simple-looking board seems like a hefty investment when the PS360+ is only $40 less, and $50 more you can buy a brand new Hori Real Arcade Pro for PlayStation 4. But while installation can vary, the end result can bring new life to your existing arcade stick. If you are planning to play only on one platform, especially SFV on PS4, Brook does have cheaper alternatives such as the PS3/PS4 Fighting Board or one of the many Super Converters that can work on the new Sony console.

Regardless, the Universal Fighting Board is the best choice when it comes to out-of-the-box multi-platform compatibility. Aside from some design and maintenance concerns, there is nothing really bad that can be said. The UFB came at a great time for players migrating over to the newer generation of consoles. With the many options available when transferring over, the Universal Fighting Board should be highly considered.

The Universal Fighting Board is available now on Arcade Shock and Paradise Arcade Shop!