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[Gunner-Chan]

Okay, mostly I don't expect to get much of a response on this. But hey why not.

I've recently been trying to break back into fighting games and SHMUPS, though I'm beginning to hit a wall... My ps3 controller. Now I know it's old hat to blame the controller, but in this case this thing just doesn't give me a good game feel at all using it. The pad feels weird to use and surpisingly enough wears into my thumb more than doing metalworking or gunsmithing anything like that. The buttons are squishy and weird, the l2 and r2 triggers are USELESS for anything digital... Not to mention it likes to lose connection for some reason, I don't understand why at all.

What's a good but not overly pricey alternative to this? Preferably something with a snappy or clicky feel to it instead of the pressure sensitive squishyness of the ps3. At LEAST six total buttons too, given most of the fighters I like are SNK ones I can go as low as 4, and shmups rarely need more than 3. But 6 is a good number total for other games or genres.

[wierd]

Hmm...

A 360 controller has 2 shoulder buttons and 2 triggers, plus the 4 standard buttons, a dpad, and 2 analog sticks.

It sounds like what you want is actually something like a SNES controller though. Has just the D-pad, 4 buttons, and 2 shoulder buttons. (start and select as well)


You might get some love out of a playstation 1 controller with an adapter. Pre-dualshock, the PS1 controller just has Dpad and digital buttons. No analog pressure sensitive triggers.



Amazon has a really inexpensive adapter.

Dualshock controller (PS2) has the 2 analog sticks, the 4 digital buttons, and 4 shoulder buttons.
The same adapter listed above can take pre-dualshock PS1 and dualshock PS2 controllers, and makes them USB for a PC.

There are many places online that you can get a PS2 dualshock controller.  The various aftermarket ones come in a variety of ergonomic shapes, but I personally like the original design. They typically run between 9$ and 12$ online.

[Gunner-Chan]

I was actually thinking about seeing if maybe I could get one of my old ps1 controllers to work, but... I suppose I'm worried the pad is gonna feel just as shitty. SNES would likely be pretty great assuming I can even find one now.

360 and ps2 are no nos though, the 360 has good buttons but the triggers are shit, and the dpad is absolute garbage on the 360. PS2 has most of the problems of the ps3 controller

I really should look into seeing if I can find something snes like the more I think about it. But given the age that kind of feels like an accident waiting to happen.

[wierd]

Amazon has you covered.


They have both a suitable adapter for a genuine SNES pad, and they also have a straight up USB re-creation.

[Reelya]

I've used the Logitech ones for years, I think they're pretty good, have a very solid feel and are durable. I've had other brands break but not the Logitech ones. I've got a couple of these ones, which cost me about $40 each (definitely cheaper in the USA):

12 buttons counting the 4 shoulder buttons and the two hats on the dual analog sticks. More recent models seem to have two analog shoulder triggers on the bottom row, and two digital ones on the top row, but I prefer the ones with 4 digital shoulder buttons because they're more responsive so useful in more games. I don't really have much use for the extra analog triggers.

[wierd]

It's useful in some FPS games (that are designed for it!), where you want to have some degree of control over "How far" around a corner you are peeking, etc.

Not good for button mashers though.  For those, you want d-pad and digital buttons.

From the sound of it, Janet is looking to get away from the playstation-style ergonomic footprint. That's why I suggested a SNES-like pad. It's rounded, but does not have the "Handles". It conforms to "death grip" button mashing better than a playstation style pad does.

Aftermarket pads come in all kinds of ergonomic form-factors though.   

[Reelya]

I think the Logitechs do answer a lot of the issues she brought up. The two issues were that the PS3's (analogue) triggers suck for digital games - where the basic Logitech controller has 4 digital switches instead - and the PS3's dpad grinds into her thumb, whereas the Logitech has an 8 way Dpad switch you basically plant your thumb on the centre and swivel, so there's no need to jump between the dpad buttons.

It's a shame however that it looks like Logitech is only selling the F310 model and above now, which have analog triggers on the bottom like the PS3, and they're not as responsive as normal buttons. I wouldn't recommend the F310's because of the triggers.

[wierd]

One of the reasons I suggested a dualshock controller. It has 4 shoulder buttons, and no triggers, but doesnt have the 8-way dpad.

Most pad manufacturers want to clone the current generation console's pad design, rather than specialize, which is a shame.

[Reelya]

Do the PS1/PS2 buttons feel that different to the PS3? The three requirements were - responsive, clicky buttons, easier to use dpad, and no analog shoulder triggers. The dual shock PS2 would only seem to change one of those things compared to a PS3 controller she's using now.

I checked and the model of Logitech I have is an F13A, which you can get on Ebay for $5-$15 roughly. They are the ones that they made before the F310 brought in analog triggers. I can confirm the buttons have a solid feel with a nice sharp click feeling, 4 digital-only triggers, 8 way single-piece dpad. I'm not a huge fan of those dpads really, but they're definitely easier to do diagonals.

[Gunner-Chan]

Do the PS1/PS2 buttons feel that different to the PS3?

OOoh sure as fuck yes they do... It's like pressing a key on a keyboard compared to pushing down on a semi hard ball of jello. I didn't even realize how fucking bad the buttons were, and that's because the PS2 buttons are worse because of the pressure sensitivity.

I like the dpad I'm seeing on that logitech though, reminds me of the awesome pad the sega saturns controller had.

[Reelya]

The dpad on the logitech F13A is the weak point though, it's not as solid as the saturn ones, a touch light and rattles a little. The first one I got was an F13, not an F13A and the dpad feels much nicer to use, a more solid construction feeling, so it could be the case that they've cut corners more recently ... it's a shame that they made some great gear but each recent iteration seems slightly worse than before ... if you want an F13 it's better known as a "logitech rumblepad 2" on ebay, it's the one I'd recommend.

[miauw62]

I'm just going to pop in and support Logitech hardware in general. I just use the 360 controller for my PC, but I have other Logitech stuff an it's all great.

[nenjin]

Ditto on the logitech controllers. Own two now and neither has failed me. Newer versions of the controller have a Direct Input and an X-Input switch, which I've found is very useful for games that get ported to the PC from consoles.

[Vattic]

PTW as I'm looking for a replacement for the 360 controller I use at the moment and greatly dislike (shitty d-pad and concave tops on the joysticks being my two least favourite features). I was going to get a PS3 controller until this thread so thanks for the heads up.

My other controller is a SNES one converted to USB. I love it and use it a lot, but it could do with some extra shoulder buttons and some things demand joysticks. Still the D-pad / button quality is excellent.

[Thief^]

The Xbox One pad is supposed to be a significant improvement over the 360 pad btw.