Good third-party XBOX 360 controllers?....

[dave4shmups]

I'm looking for one that has a decent d-pad, which the Microsoft 360 controller does not. The folks over at the AtariAge forums recommended this one: http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-360/access ... lack/92924
And the Tekken 6 joystick, but I really don't have room for a big joystick like that.

Any suggestions are welcome!

[Softdrink 117]

I've read good things about the one you linked, but never used it myself, so can't comment from experience. I know it's also possible to modify a 360 controller to improve the dpad by adding thin spacers to decrease the actuation distance, but that would require some work and research on your part, and I don't know if it's worth the effort.

The one thing I can say for sure is this: do NOT buy a Razer Onza expecting a better D-pad. A lot of things about that controller were done well. The d-pad is very much not one of them. Worse than stock, by a lot. I have no experience with their newer model, which supposedly has a much improved D-pad.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Do not buy this Madcatz pad. It looks good, but it sucks (it's nearly impossible to get it to register inputs precisely, it LOVES registering up & down as diagonals). This D-Pad literally makes the stock 360 controller's D-Pad look great by comparison! The rest of the controller isn't bad though, surprisingly not a bad controller for non-D-pad usage or as a cheap backup. It's got interesting LT/RT that feels very comfortable.

Hori EX2 Turbo. Best D-Pad I've used by far. It's incredibly solid and you can't go wrong with it. It's a thousand times better than the Xbox 360 controller's D-Pad The only issue is that the older models of this controller had a much 'floatier' D-Pad with a slick surface instead of the more textured surface on newer ones. Also, the older models had a ghosting issue where the L-Stick would register movements on its own (ripping out the analog stick seems to prevent it from registering anymore though!). I'd strongly recommend one though, as Amazon seems to stock the new models, and they are, by far, the best D-Pad you can get. Personally though, I find the stock Xbox 360 controller's buttons and RT more comfortable for normal use, I'm sad the stock controller doesn't come with Hori's D-Pad. Takes a bit of getting used to, but the Hori is great for shmups.

I got to try this controller last weekend, it's awesome too. Mechanical switch thumbstick as opposed to D-Pad, worked really well with Giga Wing. The button layout was a bit odd for shmups, holding X for shoot I didn't have A directly below available to bomb with, but I imagine it's something to get used to. Seems well worth it for the mini arcade stick D-Pad.

I still like arcade sticks better now that I'm used to them...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Hori released the Hori EX2 Turbo gamepad in two different color schemes: Black and Blue. I've got a brand new & boxed blue colored Hori EX2 pad if you want it, dave4shmups. Unfortunately on the HoriUSA.com site, the Hori EX2 pad is available only in the the all-black color scheme at best and blue ones aren't availble at retail anymore. It's got two levels of autofire selectable "on the fly" as well (in addition to hands-free auto-fire functionality if so desired).

http://stores.horiusa.com/-strse-35/Xbo ... Detail.bok

The 3rd-party 360 pad from PDP that goes by the name of "Afterglow", is pretty slick with it's crystal clear translucent shell and with a simple button press, you can have the internal LED lighting on all the time or have it light up when rumble effects are used in-game (pretty neat if used with a 360 indie vibration app just to see how fast it can flash in sync with the variable vibration effects). I use a blue-colored LED 360 Afterglow pad myself for that cool sci-fi lighting aestethic/vibe. Works just fine for 360 shmups indeed.

PDP's earlier PS2 based Afterglow gamepads used a more robust internal electro-luminescent based lighting effect method/layout with it's own on-board minature power supply inverter (which is better visually & with softer lighting effects IMO without that annoying & harsh super-bright LED glare issue to contend with as with their later LED-based manufactured Afterglow gamepads for the 360 & the PS3).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[gray117]

the madcatz sf fight pads? ... if you're just after dpad of course...

[dave4shmups]

Do not buy this Madcatz pad. It looks good, but it sucks (it's nearly impossible to get it to register inputs precisely, it LOVES registering up & down as diagonals). This D-Pad literally makes the stock 360 controller's D-Pad look great by comparison! The rest of the controller isn't bad though, surprisingly not a bad controller for non-D-pad usage or as a cheap backup. It's got interesting LT/RT that feels very comfortable.

Hori EX2 Turbo. Best D-Pad I've used by far. It's incredibly solid and you can't go wrong with it. It's a thousand times better than the Xbox 360 controller's D-Pad The only issue is that the older models of this controller had a much 'floatier' D-Pad with a slick surface instead of the more textured surface on newer ones. Also, the older models had a ghosting issue where the L-Stick would register movements on its own (ripping out the analog stick seems to prevent it from registering anymore though!). I'd strongly recommend one though, as Amazon seems to stock the new models, and they are, by far, the best D-Pad you can get. Personally though, I find the stock Xbox 360 controller's buttons and RT more comfortable for normal use, I'm sad the stock controller doesn't come with Hori's D-Pad. Takes a bit of getting used to, but the Hori is great for shmups.

I got to try this controller last weekend, it's awesome too. Mechanical switch thumbstick as opposed to D-Pad, worked really well with Giga Wing. The button layout was a bit odd for shmups, holding X for shoot I didn't have A directly below available to bomb with, but I imagine it's something to get used to. Seems well worth it for the mini arcade stick D-Pad.

I still like arcade sticks better now that I'm used to them...

I just watched a review of the Marvel vs Capcom Fightpad, and it looks great! The thumbstick reminds me of the one on the Neo Geo Pocket Color, and the Neo Geo CD controller. And if it's anything like those, it would be great!

[Fudoh]

It is! I love the controller. My main controller on my J360. I find it a bit to hard to navigate from "zero" into a certain direction, but if you keep moving (which you usually do in shmups), it's perfect. It's a bit tighter than the NGCD controller.