Brook Wingman XE 2 Converter with a Mac

[pna...@gmail.com]

Can anybody give me a straight answer about whether the Brook Wingman XE 2 Converter would work with a Quadstick and Mac? It's surprisingly difficult to find any information about this on the Internet. A few places say it works although you would need a PC to upgrade the firmware unless you have some sort of emulation solution on your Mac that would run their software.

I have a friend that plays games on my Mac all the time with a couple of different controllers. They all worked fine with the Mac. I get a lot of use out of my Quadstick playing games on my Mac but I wouldn't mind being able to use a controller through the Quadstick to play certain games, especially games that just would work better with a controller like driving games which don't really work well using essentially keyboard inputs through the Quadstick. Need the analog qualities of a controller for games like that.

Since a lot of controllers work with a bunch of games on the Mac would I be able to then use a Brook Wingman XE 2 Converter and controller profile sheets for the Quadstick to play games like this on my Mac?

Just wondering if it's worth all the trouble?

[Fred Davison]

The XE 2 is for the PS4 console.  It will also show up as an XBox 360 controller on the PC, but I don't know how they respond to the Mac.  It probably will show up as an XBox 360 controller but it could show up as a Dual Shock 4 controller if it thinks the Mac is a PS4.

Why not use the Quadstick XBox 360 emulation mode for those games that would be better with a controller?

You can switch into that mode without having to move any cables around.

[pna...@gmail.com]

Thanks Fred. I think I overlooked that! So I wouldn't need a converter for this and the quadstick with them behave like an analog joystick?

For what it's worth I put my post above into Google Gemini and here's what came out

:

The short answer is yes, it should work perfectly for your setup, but there are a few nuances regarding how the Mac sees the device and how you handle the firmware.

Since your goal is to get better analog control (for driving games) while using the Quadstick as your primary interface, the Wingman XE 2 is actually a recommended tool by the Quadstick community for exactly this purpose.

1. How it works with the Mac

When you plug the Wingman XE 2 into a Mac, the system doesn't see it as a "converter"; it sees it as a standard XInput (Xbox 360) controller.

• Because macOS has native support for Xbox controllers, it will be "Plug & Play" for almost any modern Mac game or emulator.

• The Quadstick connects to the Wingman XE 2, and the Wingman then sends the signal to the Mac.

2. Solving the "Firmware on Mac" Problem

You mentioned the difficulty of finding a way to update the firmware without a PC. Good news: Brook recently released a Web-based Firmware Updater.

• You no longer need a dedicated Windows .exe file or an emulation solution like Parallels.

• As long as you use Google Chrome on your Mac, you can go to the Brook Gaming Support page, select the Wingman XE 2, and use the Web Update button.

• This uses "WebUSB" technology to flash the device directly from the browser.

3. Using Profile Sheets & Analog Input

To get that "analog" quality for driving games:

• The Profile: You will need a Quadstick profile that maps your sip/puff/joystick movements to the Analog Stickoutputs (specifically the Left or Right Stick axes) rather than just digital "Keyboard" keys (WASD).

• The Hardware Chain: Your setup will look like this:

  Quadstick → Wingman XE 2 → Mac USB Port

• The Result: The Mac will think a physical Xbox controller is being tilted very precisely. In a driving game, a "soft puff" can translate to a slight turn of the steering wheel, while a "hard puff" gives you a full lock—something keyboard emulation simply can't do.

Summary Checklist

• Compatibility: Fully compatible; Mac sees it as an Xbox 360 controller.

• Firmware: Use Chrome on macOS to update via Brook’s website (no PC required anymore).

• Analog Support: Works great. Just ensure your Quadstick CSV profile is set to output Gamepad signals (like Left Analog X) instead of Keyboard signals.

Do you already have a specific driving game in mind, or do you need a hand finding a Quadstick profile template for racing?

[Fred Davison]

You don't need the converter, but it would work just like Gemini described.

The XE2 would probably not need a firmware update just to use as an XBox converter for the mac for the quadstick.   Nothing has changed on the PS4 in a long time so firmware updates for the XE2 are mostly for adding new input controllers.

If you did need to update the XE firmware, a Chrome browser is required instead of the Safari browser.

That's really impressive the way Gemini lays all that out.