Best controller for a shmup?

[PurpleTheGuy]

The stock ones, never had the chance to try a hori pad.
If you are getting a new DS2 go for Type-A (Late) model with removable membrane, those have the best D-pads and can be easily repaired.

I see. I'll look into that one, and I guess, at some point, I'll weigh my decisions, whether to get the Type-A (Late) models or the Hori pads, depending on what I find out from now to some certain point in the near future. Thanks for sharing that bit with me, KAI!

[Obiwanshinobi]

I tend to use various (Sony) PlayStation controllers. Work with most adapters, easy to replace at very low prices. PSX ones preferred as they don't require any modding to go all digital on d-pad (DS2 out of the box works in shmups, but isn't great for fancier inputs in some other games, ranging from Twisted Metal to Symphony of the Night.)
It has to be said one Hori pad I own (digital-only, no vibrations, "MADE IN JAPAN") is awfully stiff and I'd rather not play anything that's not turn-based with it.
Saturn pad isn't bad, but I don't like its triggers.

[PurpleTheGuy]

I tend to use various (Sony) PlayStation controllers. Work with most adapters, easy to replace at very low prices. PSX ones preferred as they don't require any modding to go all digital on d-pad (DS2 out of the box works in shmups, but isn't great for fancier inputs in some other games, ranging from Twisted Metal to Symphony of the Night.)
It has to be said one Hori pad I own (digital-only, no vibrations, "MADE IN JAPAN") is awfully stiff and I'd rather not play anything that's not turn-based with it.
Saturn pad isn't bad, but I don't like its triggers.

Interesting things to hear. I'm particularly interested in the hori pads, and you mentioned you tried one of them, so I like to ask you, Obiwanshinobi: How are the Hori pads for the PS1, PS2 and/or PS3, assuming those are the ones you've tried, which I'm sure they are, of course? What did yours look like (colour scheme and whatnot), and were they as good as I've heard they supposedly are? You mentioned about the Hori pads being rather stiff, is that a good or bad thing, shmup-wise and etc.?

If you are proficient with this, then you are my hero. I use a wired stock 360 pad and I literally flipped out in anger when I tried playing shmups on a wireless 360 pad. I felt that the delay was more significant than it really was and as a result, it threw my off my game entirely. Never playing a shmup on wireless ever again.

Ahaha, well, shoot Komugi, I haven't playing on the Xbox 360 that much yet ^^; (I've decided to build an STG foundation first, by beating all of the Touhou STG games on lunatic first (I've beaten three of them in lunatic so far), and do well in those (maybe try to get even an LNB or two, and try score-running in a couple of them. That, and I'm working on getting all of the Xbox 360 shmup games I can play, along with other games for other systems, but that's another story, anyhow), then I'll be going towards beating other STG games) but from what I've played so far, like in Deathsmiles, for example, I've done an alright job using just that, and I'm close to beating a few other shooters using that same Xbox 360 wireless pad, which I'll mention in due time, so I think I'm doing alright so far with that thing.

Also, sorry to hear your experience with the wireless 360 pad, Komugi. Which controller do you use these days for the Xbox 360? Ever tried one of those 360 hori pads I've heard about, by any chance? I'm planning on getting one at some point, based on what I've heard about them, so I'm curious.

[SuperSoaker360]

(I've decided to build an STG foundation first, by beating all of the Touhou STG games on lunatic first (I've beaten three of them in lunatic so far), and do well in those (maybe try to get even an LNB or two, and try score-running in a couple of them. That, and I'm working on getting all of the Xbox 360 shmup games I can play), then I'll be going towards beating other STG games)

Touhou Lunatic isn't that bad, though UFO and DDC still kick my ass. Scoring is a whole different story in Touhou though. It usually requires you to go out of your way from the traditional vanilla approach of the game and personally I find that that fact is what gives it more replayability. Optimization is very big in scoring and it certainly is fun to experiment with other approaches to certain segments in the game to see if it yields more score/PIV increase.

Also, sorry to hear your experience with the wireless 360 pad, Komugi. Which controller do you use these days for the Xbox 360?

I still use a stock 360 wired pad. I also use them for some PC shooters as well. When you move to wired, you may not notice anything but going back from wired to wireless will be pretty annoying. Most PC shooters I handle on keyboard. Tap-dodging is so much easier for me on a keyboard I find.

Ever tried one of those hori pads I've heard about, by any chance? I'm planning on getting one at some point, based on what I've heard about them, so I'm curious.

I have. My first shmupmeet, everyone said I was crazy for bringing my stock 360 pad but hey I was pretty good with it. Everyone else used either an arcade stick or a hori-pad. Hori-pads have more precise movement, but at the time I had already played a year on the stock 360 pad so I was more comfortable with my controller. I've actually grown to like how easily the 360's disc pad can hit diagonal inputs easily. It makes bullet-weaving flow nicely for me, though I can definitely see this being a terrible pad to play a fighting game with.