My gamepad broke. What to replace it with?

X-Warrior · Post by **X-Warrior** » 27 Oct 2009, 22:33

Ok, so apparently the D-Pad on the Saitek P2500 wasn't up to extensive use in Street Fighter IV playing as Zangief (i.e. frantically making circles with the thing). It broke, literally. D-Pad fell off. Great build quality I suppose. Good enough for normal use, but not for SF4 :lol:
Tried playing with the Logitech Dual Action I have laying about (had driver issues on my previous pc, hence I bought the Saitek), and frankly the D-Pad, although not broken, is so horrible it might as well be.

Anyway, that means I need something new. I've heard good things about the XBox360 controller, which I believe should work in Windows (drivers even came with Windows Update).
It has one drawback. For SF4 at least. 6 face buttons would be nice (light/medium/heavy punch/kick).

So, anyone who knows a better option than the 360 controller? Keep in mind that Saitek apparently isn't up to my kind of usage, so something durable please :). A requirement is a proper D-Pad, which recognises each one of the 8 directions seperately without too much pressing accuracy a la Logitech DA, and allows for easy circling movements (hadoken, spinning pile driver and stuff like that).

Thanks :)

Post by **MobsterOO7** » 27 Oct 2009, 23:15

The Xbox 360 paddle (corded) works great with all versions of Windows since XP. Any game branded with the "Games for Windows" logo will automatically recognize and will always included a default configuration for it. But as you mentioned, it doesn't have six face buttons. For games that are better suited to paddles (GRID, DMC4, Prototype) I've been using the Xbox 360 paddle and haven't had a single issue, I recommend it.

Post by **Abram** » 28 Oct 2009, 01:56

I love my cordless Rumblepad 2. I've been usiung it for a couple months and I've yet to swap out the two batteries. Good range, and pretty comfortable. The software with it is pretty good, too. I liek that the x360 controllers have gradual action on the large should buttons, but i really dislike the d-pad placement..

DaFox · Post by **DaFox** » 28 Oct 2009, 02:38

360 Controller is great, but its probably not your best bet for SF4, because the D-Pad is in most people's opinions, the weakest part of the controller.

Post by **suiken_2mieu** » 28 Oct 2009, 03:42

For d-pad heavy games, i like Official Sony PlayStation controllers. They IMO have the best D-pad of all time. Yes there are only 4 buttons on the face, but for fighting games it's that or arcade sticks.

skeeder · Post by **skeeder** » 28 Oct 2009, 16:04

same, definately a 360 controller.

and they are cheap!

X-Warrior · Post by **X-Warrior** » 28 Oct 2009, 18:54

Okay, that's it then I guess, I'll be going for the 360 controller. Can't possibly be worse than the dual action. It comes with the best compatibility these days, has a 3 metre cable, which is nice, and has the console-style build quality (that's supposed to be good, right?).

The D-pad being a weak part is slightly worrying, but I suppose I could take that risk. Can't possibly be worse than the P2500 I think. After it broke I could actually see how brittle it was: a huge pad connected on a small stick in the centre. Even if the D-Pad is only a bit smaller, it'll already be a lot better, for both durability and control.
Placement is ok for me - I'll be using the thing for more things than just SF4, like GRID, and having the joystick up there is useful in those situations :)

edit: order placed. Should be here tomorrow :)

Post by **Downtown1** » 30 Oct 2009, 22:25

Okay, that's it then I guess, I'll be going for the 360 controller. Can't possibly be worse than the dual action. It comes with the best compatibility these days, has a 3 metre cable, which is nice, and has the console-style build quality (that's supposed to be good, right?).

The D-pad being a weak part is slightly worrying, but I suppose I could take that risk. Can't possibly be worse than the P2500 I think. After it broke I could actually see how brittle it was: a huge pad connected on a small stick in the centre. Even if the D-Pad is only a bit smaller, it'll already be a lot better, for both durability and control.
Placement is ok for me - I'll be using the thing for more things than just SF4, like GRID, and having the joystick up there is useful in those situations :)

edit: order placed. Should be here tomorrow :)

Ugh, sorry to tell you but a 360 controller is pretty trash for SF4. I have SF4 for the 360 and I pretty much bought a PS2 controller just so I could play SF4 (I already had a PS2->360 adapter from before).

Well I guess you could use the analog sticks. But the d-pad is terrible. Be prepared to re-learn how to execute combos.

Tanuki · Post by **Tanuki** » 30 Oct 2009, 23:30

I picked up the MadCatz version of the 360 controller. The d-pad was an improvement and the controls in SF4 has been okay.

Guess I am a little late with this info however.

X-Warrior · Post by **X-Warrior** » 31 Oct 2009, 11:54

Uhm yes, I've been playing quite a few rounds with the new controller already :roll:

Everything's fine though. I'm using the analog stick for SF4 now. It's much better on this one than on the P2500 - which I apparently simply didn't use because it was rubbish. SF4 can be well controlled with the analog stick :)

Post by **Downtown1** » 01 Nov 2009, 08:20

Uhm yes, I've been playing quite a few rounds with the new controller already :roll:

Everything's fine though. I'm using the analog stick for SF4 now. It's much better on this one than on the P2500 - which I apparently simply didn't use because it was rubbish. SF4 can be well controlled with the analog stick :)

If you like the analog stick that's awesome, the 360 controller has a really good analog stick. Personally I found it really inaccurate pulling off the moves but then again I've never played a fighting game with an analog stick before that involved combos..

TMK · Post by **TMK** » 01 Nov 2009, 16:53

SF4 can be well controlled with the analog stick :)

Arcade stick could be better ;)

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