Genki’s New High-End PC and Switch 2 Controller Has a Built-in Screen and Onboard OS

Genki, maker of some of our favorite accessories for the Switch 2 and Switch, has launched a Kickstarter for what might be the most over-engineered controller I’ve ever seen – and for $279, it better be. The Genki Manta packs in the kind of cutting edge features found on the best controllers out there, like TMR sticks, adjustable triggers, and advanced haptics, as well as even more advanced tech like a full-blown operating system, complete with digital display, built into the controller itself.

Now, I’m all for hardware and peripherals that incorporate new tech and push their categories forward, but I’m not quite sure why anyone would need a controller this advanced. It’s undeniably well-designed – I appreciate the screen centered below the thumbsticks, instead of above like on the Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra, and how the tension of the thumbsticks can be dialed in (literally) on the fly by twisting the stick itself. But at some point you have to ask if we’re approaching the point of overkill.

Genki is taking a bit of a kitchen sink approach with the Mantra. “We refused to cut corners,” the Kickstarter reads. “It is, frankly, a spec monster.”

Compatible with PC via USB-C wired or 2.4 GHz wireless (via USB dongle) as well as Switch 1 and 2, mobile, and other devices via Bluetooth, the Manta has a standard Xbox-style layout with offset sticks and all your standard inputs. It has a 2,400 mAh user-replaceable battery, but there’s no mention on the Kickstarter page of an estimated usage time between charges. Blessedly, it can remotely wake a paired Switch 2.

The face buttons are “Analog Pulse Buttons” that track through their entire travel when pressed, not just when they bottom out, allowing users to adjust their actuation point anywhere between a quick rapid-reset for burst inputs and a deeper one that calls for a deliberate press. Similarly, the triggers have three distinct modes: Digital, which offers a short travel and crisp click, Rapid, which is fully analog but with a short, smooth travel, and Analog, which offers a full, smooth travel and proportional control.

Other features include “maglev haptics” (better than traditional rumble, apparently), a nine-axis gyroscope/accelerometer/compass for motion controls, six extra inputs (two buttons tucked up top next to the right and left bumpers, two integrated back buttons, and two removable back paddles), and a D-pad that can swap between a traditional cardinal layout and an eight-point satellite dish design.

And that’s not even mentioning the operating system built into the controller. MantaOS uses the controller’s built-in color display to handle all the configuration settings that would normally be handled by driver software or a companion app – stuff like swapping profiles, setting up macros, adjusting inputs, and customizing RGB lighting – right there on the controller.

But it does more than that too – and this is the part where, in the writing of this story, my thinking started to shift from “this is unnecessarily over-engineered” to “wait, that’s actually awesome.” There’s a small button next to the right thumbstick that pulls up an “On-the-Fly KBM” when pressed, turning the screen into a QWERTY or Compass Quick Type keyboard; or hold the button to turn the whole controller into a gyro-controlled mouse input. This is immensely useful for navigating the Windows desktop and bypassing login screens or game launchers. It’s the same sort of thing that makes the Steam Deck and Steam Machine more user-friendly than a handheld or PC running windows, except the solution is handled controller-side instead of by SteamOS.

MantaOS has some other neat tricks, like a macro action timeline that goes beyond recording a series of inputs and delays to fully tracking analog stick paths, trigger pressure, and more, meaning you can record a full gameplay sequence to repeat, such as a difficult boss runback (I’m looking at you, Bilewater). The screen also has a variety of customizable dashboards to display stuff like your active profile, polling rate, battery, and connection status.

There’s even a programmable layer, running on a dual-core Raspberry Pi RP2350, that can load external apps onto the controller’s 16 MB of internal storage. The Kickstarter shows a clip of a side-scrolling space shooter playing on the built-in screen, and mentions the possibility of developing a “Genki Forge” for users to develop and share homebrewed apps for MantaOS. I have no doubt that someone will get Doom running on it in no time.

The Genki Manta Kickstarter is live now, and as of this writing has around 1,800 backers and more than $400,000 pledged – four times its $100,000 goal. The controller will eventually be priced at $279, but a Super Early Bird pledge tier drops the price down to $189, which puts it in conversation with other high-end controllers like the DualSense Edge. That’s still nearly double the excellent Steam Controller, which has its own set of unique tricks, but at $100 also lacks a great deal of the advanced tech found here.

Genki hopes to start shipping the Manta to backers this coming January, but conservatively estimates the delivery window to January through April 2027. We’ll be testing the Mantra as soon as we can go hands-on, so be sure to look out for our review as we get closer to that launch date.

Bo Moore is IGN's Senior Manager of Tech. You can find him online @usebomswisely.