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+--- Thread: Gamepads (/showthread.php?tid=93)
Gamepads - A Black Falcon - 12th January 2003
A important thing for emulation. Playing them on a keyboard just isn't very good... I know, I had to use my keyboard for roms for several months. Not fun.
In short? There are a LOT of PC gamepads out there. The best way to decide which one to get is to hold one. If you can't, look for one with the closest thing to the featureset (and pricerange) you want. I like my new Saitek P880. It has almost all the features I'd want.
(Does anyone here care much about this? No? Oh well.)
There are a lot of PC gamepad manufacturers. The main ones are Microsoft, Gravis, and Logitech. Several others, such as Thrustmaster, Saitek, and a few others, are also pretty big.
Of course, the other option is a Console-To-PC adapter. They don't seem to be in stores much (not around here anyway), but I've know of PSX, PS2, N64, and X-Box adapters. I've never used one and won't discuss those here.
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/sidewinder/
Microsoft: Their main one seems to be the Sidewinder Gamepad. Its old (came out in '96), and has 10 buttons and a D-Pad. They have a Gamepad Pro too, but I haven't seen it in stores recently. It has 9 or 10 buttons and a analog D-Pad (a dpad like control that has a analog mode where it works like a small joystick, but can also be made to only be a 8-way digital control too). It wasn't that great. I don't know why Microsoft hasn't made any new gamepads recently... the Gamepad Pro was years ago, not especially good, and now seems to not be sold in stores much... I'd think it would be a nobrainer for MS to make a PC version of the X-Box controllers. They are pretty good and would be some of the best controllers available for PC... but they haven't. Oh well... I'll have to wait to get another gamepad with triggers as good as the Sidewinder (Best. Shoulder. Buttons. Ever.) AND analog, I guess.
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?page=products/productlist&crid=28&countryid=19&languageid=1
Logitech: They have a bunch of Wingman Gamepads... from cheap to expensive... if you like their design, they seem pretty good. The wireless one looks good comfort wise, but I'm not so sure about how well it functions... their dual-analog Wingman Gamepad is, IMO, not as good comfort-wise. It does have 6 face, 2 shoulder(1 per side), and a start button, but its not as nicely designed as other pads. It also uses the PSX dpad-above-analog.
http://us.thrustmaster.com/products/bytype.php3?skin=Gamepads&selector=14
Thrustmaster, like many PC developers, makes souped up PSX clones. Sure, they look not exactly like a PSX, but Thrustmaster, Logitech, Saitek, etc. all copied the PSX in dual-analog stick positions. 2 shoulder buttons and 4 face buttons are also 'features' on Thrustmaster Firestorm gamepads... but they do have a Force Feedback one. Cool (Force Feedback is a step above Rumble... its where it actually controls the force, not just shakes...).
http://www.gravis.com/
Gravis? The Eliminator Rumblepad is a PSX-type controller, with better analog stick positioning (analog above dpad). The Xteminator Force is a Force Feedback controller. It has a analog D-Pad and around 10 buttons. Nice, but $50, and no dual-analog. I like that pad, but it is big, expensive, and lacking in axes (only one stick, vs. 2 and a dpad in most controllers these days).
http://www.saitekusa.com/usa/prod/pcpads.htm
Saitek's new line of gamepads are also obviously influenced by the PSX. There are a bunch of them, but their new line (p220, p880, p2500, p3000; the p2500 and p3000 may not be out yet) are clear PSX styling... with some changes. They (the P880 and p2500; the 220 is has just a d-pad and 8 buttons) do use the PSX analog stick positions, but also have 6 face buttons and just 1 trigger per side. 10 buttons total. Nice. Also, they have clickable analog sticks... like PS2. It isn't perfect (no gamepad is), though... the main flaw is no dedicated Start button (the button in the middle switches the XY axis between the D-Pad and left analog (the other one is a 8-way hatswitch), and the S button above the main 6 is a 'shift' second function button... but its a toggle button, so it can't be used like normal buttons (unlike the MS Sidewinder or Gravis Xterminator Shift buttons).). Oh, and I don't like that analog stick positioning. Just like the PSX/2. Oh well... its still a very nice pad. And $20 for the non-rumble 880, or more (not sure how much) for the rumble (not force feedback, unfortunately, as far as I know) 2500.
Um, think I should post this in another forum where people might actually read it?
Gamepads - Smoke - 13th January 2003
I still need to get a good gamepad for playing emulated games on the PC. I've been thinking about just getting the Sidewinder USB gamepad.
So in your opinion what's the best PC gamepad out there right now? (with or w/o analog)
Gamepads - A Black Falcon - 13th January 2003
Without analog, I personally love the Sidewinder Gamepad... its still my favorite digital-only gamepad. It also has the best triggers/shoulder butons I've ever used on any gamepad ever.
However, most modern games (and N64-era and onwards roms) need a analog stick, so I'd been looking at analog gamepads for quite a while... given how I really do need the analog. There are many decent choices, honestly... the one I got its quite good, but depending on what you want (4 face 4 shoulder? 6 face 2 shoulder? dpad above analog? analog above dpad? which one is best really could vary... the one I got isn't everything I wanted (no dedicated start button (meaning for systems that use 8 main buttons, start and select have to be on the clickable analog sticks; also, I prefer the analog stick above and dpad below, unlike this design), its close. It would have been easier for me to find one if I liked the PSX-style 4 shoulder button design... a LOT of pads use that one. But I don't so it was harder, and I ended up with this one... if I did like the PSX style I might have gotten the Gravis Eliminator, since thats a nice PSX-style (dual analog rumble) pad. I don't personally like the Thrustmaster or Logitech ones as much.
Gamepads - Dark Lord Neo - 13th January 2003
all i have is a Gravis Gamepad, not a Gamepad Pro, just a Gamepad
I should upgrade
Gamepads - OB1 - 13th January 2003
Ugh, I hate the Sidewinder pad. It's awkward to hold. I'd much rather get that PS2-to-PC converter so that I can use a Dual Shock 2.
Gamepads - A Black Falcon - 13th January 2003
If Microsoft would make a Dual Analog Force Feedback Sidewinder based on the Original (not Pro or any other version) design, it would be about as close to the perfect gamepad as I can imagine... but unfortunately they haven't done that, so I had to settle for one of the next best things.
Gamepads - Weltall - 13th January 2003
I have an old Mako pad that I got a few years back, serial yet, and I love it, it's layed out similarly to a Genesis 6-button controller and has an N64-styled analog stick to boot. Unfortunately, it just does not work with ZSNES, so to that end I purchased a Wingman Rumble for $10. The D-Pad takes some getting used to, and I think the buttons are way too stiff (had you asked me a month ago, before I got used to it, I would have told you it sucks), but it does work well. I'd still like to find a PS2-PC converter, for not only am I of the opinion that the Dual Shock is as close as any controller has come to sheer perfection, but I have more of them than I know what to do with.
Gamepads - Nick Burns - 14th January 2003
I have an old wingman gamepad (forgot the series name) that is perfect for my nintendo and GBA emulators. It has 6 buttons (a & b w/ turbo a & b and right and left shoulder buttons.) and a 8 direction control pad. Its really nice and it was inexpensive (I got it for free with my computer). :D
Gamepads - A Black Falcon - 14th January 2003
My first gamepad was a Capcom PC Fighter 6... the gamepad that came with Mega Man X and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo boxes. I got in Mega Man X, and used it as my gamepad for a while until I got a Sidewinder several years (I think) later... it is kind of strange, because it has 6 buttons (all face buttons), but since it has no special drivers the only way I could run it was as a 4-button gamepad...
Anyway, I would have loved to just get a Sidewinder, but (unlike many of you it seems) I actually play a lot of games that are greatly helped by analog...