The difference between the Razor and the original 360 is only $15 so I might plump for that.
Thanks for the advice
The Razer Onza TE is quite decent. To be entirely honest I thought I’d find the tension adjustment feature useful but I don’t use it at all. It sort of makes it feel like something is stuck in the works cushioning your push as opposed to making the springs feel tighter. They also warn that it will affect the stick tension in the long term. One thing that’s handy is that you get two extra shoulder buttons, with which you can duplicate any of the other buttons - which means in practical terms that you can assign them the stick buttons ie. R3/L3 and save them from wear. I love the rubbery finish and glowing buttons, and I prefer the ever-so-slightly taller analog sticks. The D-pad feels very different from the regular controller’s, but I’m not so sure it’s particularly better for fighting games. For my indie-platforming/emulation needs it suffices. One thing I don’t know if it’s important to anyone but pressing the face buttons is like clicking a mouse, not pressing buttons like on the original controller. I suppose in tournament conditions that’s what ‘experts’ prefer, but I think it takes some getting used to.
Just a reminder that you don’t have to use bluetooth with the PS3 controller, you can just play with it plugged into a usb port on your computer.
Nice to know I’m helping out. The ability to switch around the pad and the stick is a real life saver, for me.
Regarding the d-pad problems, I’m playing Darksiders right now, and it never registers the input wrong when selecting the alternate weapons.
Mind if I ask how the controller is in regards to size? For some reason, it looks slightly larger/wider than the 360 in some images, especially in the lower half where you grip the controller. Not sure if it is just the angle of the images, or if that is how it is.
I am in the market for a new gamepad as well this holiday season for my PC, and this one looks pretty interesting. I am mostly concerned about the size though, as having smaller hands, the standard 360 controller is pretty much my limit. Trying to find something that works without hassle and won’t cause much hand strain.
Edit: And any recommendations on where to buy one in the US? Only finding an Amazon seller at the moment.
I’m not sure how it compares to the 360 pad, but it fits my hands perfectly. I don’t have particularly large or small hands, myself, but I’ll see if I can measure it when I get home.
The manual has some pictures of the pad being held.
As for stores in the US, I have no idea, as I’m European.
I’ve used both the original 360 pad and the Cyborg pad, and the latter is indeed somewhat bigger and bulkier and even heavier. Still fits my not-very-large hands nicely, though.
Revive!
My onza has crapped out somewhat.
A few months ago the right-side programmable bumper button broke…its spring is gone. Good thing I never used it.
Then last week, the right stick developed “something” such that it stutters when moving left and right. Calibrating it under Windows made things worse, so it is no longer centered.
Thanks to this thread I can see that I’ve had the Onza for longer than the warranty period…6 months? So much for getting it fixed.
I’m currently using a PS2 controller with a Radio Shack PS2/USB adapter, and using x360ce to emulate a 360 Xinput. Let’s see how long before I break down and buy the official wired 360 pad.
Sadly my PC Wireless Receiver stopped working inexplicably last week, otherwise it was a no-brainer solution if you already own a 360.
If you’ve ever taken a 360 controller apart, the design for how the D-Pad triggers is so shoddingly poor that it’s absolutely not surprising that it doesn’t work right for any even remotely complicated inputs. It’s like somebody described the idea of a D-Pad to the design team, but instead of doing any research into how these things have been successfully designed in the past they instead did shots and shit out the simplest, easiest thing they could conceive of in the five minutes before they took off for the day.
I’d take the regular NES rectangle controller’s D-Pad over the 360’s. That was better designed.
Nintendo owned a patent on the 4-way switch d-pad, although may have expired now. It would have still been in effect when developing the 360 controller though.
The Sega D-pad, if you recall, was an 8-way switch, and the Playstation has split individual buttons. The closest analog was the Dreamcast controller, which was apparently implemented in a strange way such that it technically avoided the patent.
I’ve been using the ‘broken’ onza on my 360 playing Persona 4 Arena for the past week. The D-pad is surprisingly nice to use. Due to its separate directional buttons design, it gave me clear feedback on the directions that I’m pressing, which is essential for a fighting game. I can either place my thumb in the center of the well, or on the edges of two directions for the quarter circle movement. Either way, my thumb doesn’t hurt like heck, unlike when I use any Dual Shocks or any other plus-pad.
But, the nicest D-pad I’ve ever used in my life belongs to the Microsoft Sidewinder…precise yet easy on the thumb. Why the heck doesn’t microsoft use that for its 360 d-pad?!?
Is the Xbone controller the best value for PC gamepad right now?
I bought a USB dongle for my PS1 controller years ago, but the controller had no analog sticks, so the driver would get “phantom” input from them and cause problems. I could just get another old PS2 controller, except with sticks, but I like the idea of the native support many games have for the Xbox controllers and their button configurations. (I also have an aftermarket X360 controller, bu the quality is low, especially the D-pad…)
What is your advice for 2017?
Works like a charm for me. There are other options, but the XBone controller is ubiquitous, reliable, and good so I’ve never had the urge to look elsewhere. The DS4 (Playstation) controller can also be finagled to work if that’s your preference.
Love my DS4 and works flawlessly with the official dongle – heard it works via direct bluetooth as well but never tried. It really comes down to which of the two you prefer, layout-wise.
I don’t know anything about the official dongle, but my DS4 was frustrating to get to work, as several games required me to get into 3rd party driver software to remap buttons for them to work, and nearly every game uses the A, B, Y, X layout with the button prompts. The XBO controller (and the 360 controller) are native Windows devices, so there is no muss nor fuss with them, plug them in and if a game is controller supported, I have never had a problem or any other steps.
The XBO controller, much as I like the DS4 on my PS4, is also a better controller.
Steam launcher beta has button remappers for DS4 (or any controllers, really). That’s how I was using DS4 in Win10 to play a few games. IIRC Steam can map the touchpad to operate the mouse pointer, too. I no longer install any other DS4 driver programs.
OTOH I just bought the official adapter recently, mainly to play PS4 remotely, to get the sound from the headphone jack on the DS4 itself.
I am having a hard time finding a good controller for my PC. I want the soft, felt-like texture on the thumb sticks like you find on the Steam controller, but a more compact bulk like a PS4 controller. I found the PS4 controllers barely supported by my steam and PC games so I returned it. I’ve used a 360-like controller but it’s bulky and the thumb sticks just don’t do it for me. The Steam controller is also very bulky and, after two years, I’m still not used to the touch pad on the right side. I tried a Logitech gamepad as that seemed to meet all of my odd requirements, but it was almost too small and I hated the back which was overly deep and I had difficulty wrapping my fingers around it.
I’ve thought about the nVidia Shield controller or even the Steel Series. These are both about $60 so I’d like a solid recommendation before pursuing.
Apologies in advance if I’m coming off like an insufferable dork.
The xbone Elite controller is superb. Have you tried them for feel and size?
I have not… I’ve never thought of spending $120 for a controller. What makes them worth that price?
I regret buying my Elite at $170 CAD. The flippers thing detach easily and aren’t of any use to me.