Mac drivers available for Nostromo n50 game controller

Custom Mac drivers are now available for Belkin Corp.’s Nostromo n50 SpeedPad, a USB-based game controller.

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Mac OS X already supports HID-compliant game controllers like joysticks and gamepads, although support for those products is dependent on the game application’s support of HID Manager, the OS X system technology that provides that capability. But the Nostromo n50 SpeedPad is no mere gamepad or joystick — hence the need for custom Mac drivers.

The Nostromo n50 SpeedPad is an input device designed for especially for games that use a keyboard and mouse, like first person shooters. It has 10 programmable buttons, a programmable 8-way directional pad and throttle wheel. The Nostromo Array Programming Software (NAPS) for Macintosh enables the SpeedPad to be programmed with up to 57 functions all together.

You can use the Nostromo n50 SpeedPad in conjunction with other controllers as well, so you can use it as an extension of a Hands on Throttle and Stick (HOTAS) array for a flight simulator, for example, or with a multi-button mouse on your favorite first person shooter.

The SpeedPad can be used with popular Mac games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Max Payne, StarCraft, Diablo, Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament, Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, Age of Empires, and many others, according to the manufacturer.

You don’t have to wait to see a Mac-packaged version of the Nostromo n50 SpeedPad in stores, either, although new shipments of the controller will have a sticker advising of its Mac compatibility. Instead, you can download the software from Belkin’s Web site now. Separate driver packages are available for Mac OS 9.04 or later and Mac OS X 10.1.2 or later.

The Nostromo n50 Speed Pad carries an estimated street price of US$29.99 (Belkin sells it direct from their Web site e-store for $34.99).