Zuiki Mascon controller for Japanese rail simulator games
Sharing a piece of esoteric Switch tech. Had to import this from Japan as it wasn’t available anywhere in the Philippines (at least, not in the physical and online stores I searched through). Steering wheels and pedals for games like Mario Kart are easy to find, ditto for flight simulator peripherals, heck even Toy Kingdom had taiko drum controller sticks in stock, but I’m feeling a bit left out as a rail simmer. 😅
I’m deeply interested in Japanese trains, and with a self-imposed break from the corporate rat race due to autistic burnout clearing up my weekdays, it was only a matter of time before I got into rail simulator games. The Zuiki Mascon was initially developed in 2021 for the Nintendo Switch as a specialised controller for just one game (電車でGO!! はしろう山手線) which had been released the previous year. The hardware mimics the master controller (mascon) lever of a typical Japanese train, with a hand rest on the other side and your usual assortment of Switch buttons in between.
Even though it was specifically designed as a Switch peripheral, people eventually started using workarounds to get the Zuiki Mascon to work with PC games. (I’ve got my eye on the Switch 2 myself and am hoping to play the 電車でGO!! series on it eventually; alas, as mentioned I am not currently working so I’ve had to put buying a Switch on the back burner.) In due course, Japanese rail sims released on PC began building native support for the controller into their inner workings. In the second picture I’m using the Zuiki Mascon with the 走ル列車 rail simulation game on PC, though for extra immersion and tactile play I’ve chosen to map some functions to the PXN CB1 button box (on the upper right hand corner of the picture) in place of the Switch buttons. Feels more like being in a real driver’s cabin with me reaching up to trigger wipers or lights and so on.
Absolute life changer, this: fine-tuned acceleration and braking feel so much more natural and realistic as opposed to using a keyboard (or, if I were playing a rail sim on Switch, a Joy-con).
I know rail simming is something of a niche hobby in our corner of the world (even more so specifically for Japanese trains) but if you’re a chap in the Philippines who plays such games, or has a strong interest in the Japanese railway system in general, here’s my hand raised high and saying hello! 🙋♂️