What on earth could make a game controller worth $300? Is it made of gold? No, the LYNX 9 from Mad Catz isn’t coated in precious metals, but it does have a few tricks up its sleeve. This whacky controller is designed to transform into numerous configurations to fit your gaming needs. Whether you’re playing on a smartphone, tablet, or PC, this screwball gamepad morphs to fit the platform. It’s not a bad idea, but is it worth spending five times the cost of a DualShock 4 or Xbox One controller for this monstrosity?

The core chassis itself is actually three pieces, and it splits apart to fit whatever you choose to mount. It comes with a smartphone clip and tablet frame for mobile gaming, and even folds down into a compact size for travel. In addition, it has a built-in mic and a detachable thumb board for easy communication. Don’t want any of that? For PC gamers, it also morphs into a plain old controller in roughly the same configuration as a DualShock 4.

The controller itself pairs with your PC or Android device over Bluetooth, and sports a battery life of about 30 hours. That’s nothing to sneeze at — especially since the DualShock 4 has laughably bad battery life. During long sessions on the PS4, it’s inevitable that I’ll run out of juice at some point, so I always keep my USB cable handy. If nothing else, this goofy controller is surprisingly solid in the battery life department.

I’ll admit that the transforming nature of the LYNX 9 appeals to my dorkier side, but at $300, it’s an awful value. If you’re just looking for an Android controller, there are much more affordable options available. Playing on a PC? The Xbox One controller is a much better solution. Even if this controller turns out to work extremely well, I cannot recommend this to anyone with a price tag this massive.

The LYNX 9 will supposedly ship sometime in March of this year, but with so many different parts, a delay is certainly in the realm of possibilities. If you have $300 burning a hole in your pocket, you can pre-order your own on the Mad Catz store in white, black, and red. Just don’t be surprised when the buyer’s remorse sets in. After all, for the cost of this silly controller, you’re three quarters of the way to a PS4.

Wow! I remember Mad Catz controllers from back in the day and their quality was pretty bad. $300 for a controller is insane.

The controller seems hard to use. Sure they say it's customizable, but it looks like I will be like, well, 'struggling' to balance the controller to play properly...