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Gamepads for PC?

EggPuppetEggPuppet Registered User regular
edited December 2010 in Games and Technology
A few years ago, wired 360 controllers were really the best choice as PC gamepads go. The D-pad sucked, though, and mine's starting to break, so I thought I'd ask: Are 360 pads still the best choice? Are there any available with improved D-pads? Are there any really good offerings from third parties these days?

For better or worse, it seems like the 360 pad has a sort of monopoly on in-game support since so many multiplatform titles were built around it in the first place. Trying to do dragon punches with it can be real frustrating, though.

EggPuppet on

Posts

  • Forever ZefiroForever Zefiro cloaked in the midnight glory of an event horizonRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Well, there is that new official MS 360 controller with the improved D-Pad. It's wireless, so you'd have to get the wireless USB adapter.

    Forever Zefiro on
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  • amnesiasoftamnesiasoft Thick Creamy Furry Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    360 gamepads do not have a monopoly, XInput pads do (admittedly, the 360 pad is the most common one by a huge margin). Logitech, Razer and Madcatz all produce their own. Take a look at those. There's also a new 360 controller with a transforming D-Pad, but I have no idea of its quality or if it is available wired.

    amnesiasoft on
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  • GaslightGaslight Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    The 360 controller is probably still the best all-around choice, almost based on the widespread plug-and-play support alone.

    Logitech's pads are pretty OK I suppose.

    For fighting games it's probably best to accept you're just gonna need to get an arcade stick or at least one of those specialized SF4 pads with the bigass dpad that MadCatz makes. But I lack the patience/discipline to do more than mess around with fighting games myself, I'm just parroting what I perceive the "community's" consensus to be.

    Gaslight on
  • freakish lightfreakish light butterdick jones and his heavenly asshole machineRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    EggPuppet wrote: »
    A few years ago, wired 360 controllers were really the best choice as PC gamepads go. The D-pad sucked, though, and mine's starting to break, so I thought I'd ask: Are 360 pads still the best choice? Are there any available with improved D-pads? Are there any really good offerings from third parties these days?

    For better or worse, it seems like the 360 pad has a sort of monopoly on in-game support since so many multiplatform titles were built around it in the first place. Trying to do dragon punches with it can be real frustrating, though.

    Well if you're playing a lot of fighting games, you might just want to go with the full-on arcade stick. Then maybe a regular cheapo wired 360 pad (mine is Gamestop branded and I got it for $25) for generic other games where d-pad support isn't as important.

    There's also the new one with the improved d-pad, but then you have to buy the controller AND find a wireless receiver somewhere. Unless they sell the new ones in a bundle pack, which I'm not sure about. And that'd probably be pretty pricey.

    freakish light on
  • The Dude With HerpesThe Dude With Herpes Lehi, UTRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I use a wireless playstation 2 controller with a USB/PS2 adapter I bought at radioshack like 10 years ago.

    It actually works quite well for any game out there that has generic gamepad support.

    Unfortunately there are a few random games that seem to be pretty freaking picky about what it accepts. I hear the 360 controller is quite good for PC gaming but I just can't bring myself to buy a wired one when I already have 2 wireless ones and the whole way the wireless adapter for the PC works is totally fucked up and causes all sorts of headaches with the 360.

    Luckily everything supports xpadder so the few games that won't just accept my PS2 controller by default, I just create a profile for it.

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  • EggPuppetEggPuppet Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Gaslight wrote: »
    For fighting games it's probably best to accept you're just gonna need to get an arcade stick or at least one of those specialized SF4 pads with the bigass dpad that MadCatz makes. But I lack the patience/discipline to do more than mess around with fighting games myself, I'm just parroting what I perceive the "community's" consensus to be.

    Yeah, for a really serious fighting game enthusiast, that's the only way to go, but I have limited space and am hoping to find something that's decently multipurpose.

    EggPuppet on
  • Forever ZefiroForever Zefiro cloaked in the midnight glory of an event horizonRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    EggPuppet wrote: »
    A few years ago, wired 360 controllers were really the best choice as PC gamepads go. The D-pad sucked, though, and mine's starting to break, so I thought I'd ask: Are 360 pads still the best choice? Are there any available with improved D-pads? Are there any really good offerings from third parties these days?

    For better or worse, it seems like the 360 pad has a sort of monopoly on in-game support since so many multiplatform titles were built around it in the first place. Trying to do dragon punches with it can be real frustrating, though.

    Well if you're playing a lot of fighting games, you might just want to go with the full-on arcade stick. Then maybe a regular cheapo wired 360 pad (mine is Gamestop branded and I got it for $25) for generic other games where d-pad support isn't as important.

    There's also the new one with the improved d-pad, but then you have to buy the controller AND find a wireless receiver somewhere. Unless they sell the new ones in a bundle pack, which I'm not sure about. And that'd probably be pretty pricey.

    Those work on PC?

    Forever Zefiro on
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  • SorensonSorenson Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I wouldn't reccomend Saitek for anything with a D-pad, I tried out three of those suckers before I got my 360 and the pad would be worn out in a matter of months, while the 360's is still going quite strong.

    Sorenson on
  • UltimanecatUltimanecat Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    The 360 pad is clearly still the best for plug-and-play. If you don't mind fiddling around a bit, you can get adapters for most controllers, or if you have bluetooth you can also sync your Wii remotes with or without classic controllers plugged in - I hear the Classic Controller Pro is liquid sex from those who've been using it. It sure looks the part.

    Ultimanecat on
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  • GaslightGaslight Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    The new 360 controller with the transforming d-pad is sort of preplexing to me, because looking at pictures the raised setting supposedly intended for fighting games appears to be almost exactly the same size and height as the regular 360 controller with the other setting even lower and more restricted in its movement.

    Although if the lower setting will at least handle cardinal direction movement crisply and reliably that would be an improvement. Wasting your turbo when you mean to use a spikestrip in Hot Pursuit is quite a bitch.

    Gaslight on
  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Why not use a Dualshock 3?

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  • freakish lightfreakish light butterdick jones and his heavenly asshole machineRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    EggPuppet wrote: »
    A few years ago, wired 360 controllers were really the best choice as PC gamepads go. The D-pad sucked, though, and mine's starting to break, so I thought I'd ask: Are 360 pads still the best choice? Are there any available with improved D-pads? Are there any really good offerings from third parties these days?

    For better or worse, it seems like the 360 pad has a sort of monopoly on in-game support since so many multiplatform titles were built around it in the first place. Trying to do dragon punches with it can be real frustrating, though.

    Well if you're playing a lot of fighting games, you might just want to go with the full-on arcade stick. Then maybe a regular cheapo wired 360 pad (mine is Gamestop branded and I got it for $25) for generic other games where d-pad support isn't as important.

    There's also the new one with the improved d-pad, but then you have to buy the controller AND find a wireless receiver somewhere. Unless they sell the new ones in a bundle pack, which I'm not sure about. And that'd probably be pretty pricey.

    Those work on PC?

    Yeah, they're built to Microsoft standards so it recognizes it as a regular 360 controller -- supported games are automatically mapped and the button prompts work perfectly. The only things that are different are the back/start buttons are shaped differently and in a little different location, the bumpers are a little more "clicky", and when you plug it in it says it's a TSZ360 pad or something instead of Xbox 360 Controller. Otherwise it's exactly the same.

    freakish light on
  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    The wired Xbox 360 controllers were the easiest answer for PC gamepads--just plug into USB.

    Those aren't as common anymore. A wireless controller will require a wireless receiver--most of the ones you'll find online are not genuine Microsoft wireless receivers (though they may still work). You can still find a white Xbox 360 wireless controller bundled with a wireless receiver on eBay and elsewhere.

    Synthesis on
  • vagrant_windsvagrant_winds Overworked Mysterious Eldritch Horror Hunter XX Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Why not use a Dualshock 3?

    Takes 5 minutes to download the drivers in a google search.
    Has a good D-Pad.
    Wired (you can connect it with the USB "charging" cable; no bluetooth needed).

    vagrant_winds on
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  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    s_86 wrote: »
    The wireless receiver for the 360 is known break fast.
    Mine broke. I'd buy another one if I hadn't already picked up a wired controller in the interim.

    harvest on
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  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    harvest wrote: »
    s_86 wrote: »
    The wireless receiver for the 360 is known break fast.
    Mine broke. I'd buy another one if I hadn't already picked up a wired controller in the interim.

    Mine worked for four years before I had to replace it. I didn't mind, since I got another controller with it (which I needed).

    Synthesis on
  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Why not use a Dualshock 3?

    Takes 5 minutes to download the drivers in a google search.
    Has a good D-Pad.
    Wired (you can connect it with the USB "charging" cable; no bluetooth needed).

    Do you still have to run unsigned drivers on a 64 bit system?

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  • taliosfalcontaliosfalcon Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Why not use a Dualshock 3?

    Takes 5 minutes to download the drivers in a google search.
    Has a good D-Pad.
    Wired (you can connect it with the USB "charging" cable; no bluetooth needed).

    Do you still have to run unsigned drivers on a 64 bit system?

    yes

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  • Macro9Macro9 Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    I've been using a Logitech Dual Action for years. I also use a 360 controller emulator with it. It works great most of the time. The times where it has trouble I just have to do some easy tweaking to get it working properly.

    A lot of games that support the 360 controller have problems with other pads. The emulator fixes most if not all of those issues.

    You just have to be prepared for it to change all of the buttons to the names of the 360 ones. But that's not a terrible problem to have.

    Macro9 on
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  • CarbonFireCarbonFire See you in the countryRegistered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Why not use a Dualshock 3?

    Takes 5 minutes to download the drivers in a google search.
    Has a good D-Pad.
    Wired (you can connect it with the USB "charging" cable; no bluetooth needed).

    Do you still have to run unsigned drivers on a 64 bit system?

    yes

    MotionJoy Version 0.6.0001 is signed. I'm running win 7 x64 with it and did not have to circumvent the driver signing to get it to work.

    CarbonFire on
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  • Rhan9Rhan9 Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Macro9 wrote: »
    I've been using a Logitech Dual Action for years. I also use a 360 controller emulator with it. It works great most of the time. The times where it has trouble I just have to do some easy tweaking to get it working properly.

    A lot of games that support the 360 controller have problems with other pads. The emulator fixes most if not all of those issues.

    You just have to be prepared for it to change all of the buttons to the names of the 360 ones. But that's not a terrible problem to have.

    This is pretty much spot on my setup.

    Rhan9 on
  • DekuStickDekuStick Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    The DS3 is my pad choice. MotionJoy can disguise it as an Xbox 360 pad or you can use it like a generic. If you own a PS3 it's a great way to keep the controller charged and have it readily available. When you want to play PS3 just pull it off the cord and hit the PS button.

    DekuStick on
  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    Just got my DS3 to work with MotionInJoy. Played a little Super Meat Boy. Not sure if I just suck or the buttons were a bit sticky. Didn't seem to always do what I wanted to do.

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  • ColorlessGreenColorlessGreen Registered User regular
    edited December 2010
    CarbonFire wrote: »
    Why not use a Dualshock 3?

    Takes 5 minutes to download the drivers in a google search.
    Has a good D-Pad.
    Wired (you can connect it with the USB "charging" cable; no bluetooth needed).

    Do you still have to run unsigned drivers on a 64 bit system?

    yes

    MotionJoy Version 0.6.0001 is signed. I'm running win 7 x64 with it and did not have to circumvent the driver signing to get it to work.

    This. Also, the person who mentioned x360 emulation from these drivers. I can confirm that both of these things are true and work smoothly. Most games think my ps3 controller is an x360 controller and work perfectly.

    Took very little effort to set up, also.

    ColorlessGreen on
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