Third party X360 controllers with good dpads

Evil Multifarious

I'm looking to play a lot of the arcade games I have with more effectiveness, and eventually some fighters as well, and the dpad on the current 360 is just utter shit. My controller, at least, often doesn't read the input when you press one of the directions. It's awful.

I am aware of the Hori stick, but I prefer to use dpads as I am used to them, and I'll never put enough time into a fighter to require a stick to pull off my combos.

Does anybody know any 3rd party controllers that I could use to play wonderful games like Alien Hominid without wanting to murder everyone around me?

Local H Jay

I had one of these but busted it by accident.

Arcade Stick.
I loved it, it was primo to me. Mostly for Pacman though.

Steev

Heh, I wanted to create this thread! With Bionic Commando Rearmed coming out next week, I really will be needing a good D-pad. I considered the above arcade stick, but it just doesn't look like it'd be comfortable to hold for longer than a few minutes to me.

The only thing I've found out there with what appears to be a good D-pad is the Hori Pad EX Turbo, and it's out of stock everywhere. I guess it might even be out of print.

Another alternative is opening up the 360 controller and physically altering the D-pad, but I've only read a little bit about it and I don't trust myself to do it correctly.

OremLK

Despite being silly and made by Mad Catz, this does look like it has a more standard Nintendo-style D-pad:
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Chicago-Bears-Controller/dp/B000H8FH7Q/ref=sr_1_36?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1218285571&sr=8-36

They have ones for different teams too!

Steev

Yeah, I've seen those Mad Catz controllers, but I'd definitely want impressions of the D-pad before I go out and buy one.

OremLK

Yeah, sorry, wish I had one to tell you. I'm sure being Mad Catz the overall quality of the controller isn't great, though the D-pad might be suitable.

I can definitely understand your 360 D-pad frustration. The 360 controller is pretty much my favorite ever made but the D-pad has always been its biggest downside... atrocious design in every way.

Edit: Another option might be that KB/M and PS2 controller adapter floating around... believe it allows you to use a PS2 controller on the 360, as long as you have a wired 360 controller connected to the console. Haven't tried it myself though, and it's a bit pricey. Look up "XCM XFPS 360".

sabyul

the XFPS works well for PS2 controllers (not quite as well for m/kb) but it's really expensive. You can save money and get a lower end arcade stick, even, which would be much better anyway if you're into fighting games. Look on Ebay, you'll find plenty of brand new Hori EX line ones for the 360 for around $60.

Evil Multifarious

dang, i was hoping there was some third party stuff that i could find in game stores in town, but it seems unlikely.

Szechuanosaurus

SteevL wrote: »

Yeah, I've seen those Mad Catz controllers, but I'd definitely want impressions of the D-pad before I go out and buy one.

Local H Jay wrote: »

I had one of these but busted it by accident.

Arcade Stick.
I loved it, it was primo to me. Mostly for Pacman though.

From the linked review...

This brings us to the best feature of the MadCatz Xbox Live Arcade GameStick: the D-Pad. It’s no secret that Microsoft missed the target completely with their digital pad on the Xbox 360 controller, but thankfully, MadCatz has done a great job recreating a D-Pad that feels the way it should, much like that of the NES system. Rather than being a round pad on a swivel that feels more like it suggests directional movement, the D-Pad on the GameStick is a “plus-sign” with true left, right, up and down directional control. Thank you MadCatz! Now I can play Ms. Pac-Man or Dig-Dug with a greater sense of control. No more going up or down when I really want to turn left or right. This makes the MadCatz GameStick a value for this reason alone, in addition to the others we’ve already mentioned

I so almost bought one of those today, my father in law is staying with us and he's a proper old school gamer, loves his Pac Man. I might try and pick one up tomorrow now.

I guess that horrific NFL one would be a pretty good bet as well as it's also got a plus sign shaped D-pad.

Evil Multifarious

i'm not even sure how you'd hold that thing but it looks tempting. only if i find it in stores, though; it's the same price as a hori stick.

Evil Multifarious

for those of you also wondering the same as I

http://gear.ign.com/articles/698/698632p1.html

apparently this controller has a really good dpad. it's the same pad as the madcatz stick up above, and my friend has one of these and says it's great. ign reviewed it pretty well. some people say the sticks are better than the default 360 sticks, especially for games like skate and Fight Night 3.

Steev

Evil Multifarious wrote: »

for those of you also wondering the same as I

http://gear.ign.com/articles/698/698632p1.html

apparently this controller has a really good dpad. it's the same pad as the madcatz stick up above, and my friend has one of these and says it's great. ign reviewed it pretty well. some people say the sticks are better than the default 360 sticks, especially for games like skate and Fight Night 3.

And it looks like you can get a plain-looking one from amazon for far cheaper than that sports one. It's a preorder, but it's released on Monday. I might just order that one.