PC gamepad Help

[Corrderio]

Since most electronic stores suck at this I have been wondering if anyone can direct me to a good site that sells gamepads for PCs, so far most of the pads I run into always suffer from one issue.... D-Pad is too sensitive and unless I hit a button dead center it'll read it as a diagonal movement instead of just straight up/down/left/right.

Anyway what I'm looking for in a gamepad is something similar to Nyko's Airflow gamepad (which they discontinued) specs were...

-Similar to the Playstation controller design
-2 Analogs
-Around 15 buttons (Including the D pad and where the Analog button would be)
-Comfortable grips

I know there are a lot of knockoffs like what I described above are out there. However from experience I know most of these are usually faulty in some way (Once again, D-Pad being too sensitive) and am hoping someone out there can recommend a good pad at a reasonable price. I am aware of that PS2 to USB output device however I only have one controller for my PS2 and really don't want to keep switching them around.

[Korietsu]

Buy an xbox 360 wired controller and run the drivers for it.

[Mayareira]

Newegg.com - Logitech 963292-0403 Dual Action Gamepad - PC Game Controllers

Newegg.com - Logitech 963326-0403 Cordless RumblePad 2 USB - PC Game Controllers

Using the first one (an earlier model, but should be pretty much the same) for 4~ years and never had any problems. Directional pad is "just right", and I use it a lot for Pro Evolution Soccer and Winning Eleven games (sensitivity in these games are the difference between a goal and a complete waste ;p ). I have never used the wireless one, though.

I also used Nyko before but never liked it, it was too uncomfortable for me (though the idea of a fan was nice).

Alternately you could go with x360 controller (you don't need any extra harware, they are compatible with Windows) which is expensive, but great. However they are quite different from the "ps2 controller" feel.

[Corrderio]

Hmm... I'll have to see about Logitech... their mouse/keyboards have been good to me however the first gamepad I bougt from them was similar in appearance to that. But it suffered from the "Don't hit a a direction on the D-Pad dead center it'll read it as a diagonal movment" problem.

[Korietsu]

Alternately you could go with x360 controller (you don't need any extra harware, they are compatible with Windows) which is expensive, but great. However they are quite different from the "ps2 controller" feel.

34$ at wally-world for x360 wired controller. Just do site > store shipping.

[Kiarax]

Just buy a wired 360 controller or a PS3 controller. Both work fine and will last you a lot better than most shoddily made PC controllers.

[Rafbacca]

I used to use a PS2 USB gamepad converter for the longest time since i had several for my PS2. Since then I've been using the wired XBox360 Controller. I feel the XBox360 Controller size and weight perfect for me.
The PS2 controller was a bit light and designed for smaller hands. So it would depend on which gamepad fits your hand size.

I think I paid about 5 bucks for the USB converter, just make sure it has the right drivers for vibration/analog/digital buttons.

It really is a matter of preference.

BTW I used this pad for the longest time before i got the usb converter and eventually the XBox360 wired pad.

Newegg.com - Logitech 963292-0403 Dual Action Gamepad - PC Game Controllers

Only problem I ever had with this pad is the D-Pad would break often (Get extremely loose) . I replaced it 3 times before i tried using a standard PS2 pad, which I still have and works.

[ArchDizzle]

34$ at wally-world for x360 wired controller. Just do site > store shipping.

Do NOT use site > store shipping at Wal-mart unless you want to wait a couple of weeks to get it. It is not like Best Buy where if the item is in stock at your local store and you do site to store you can go pick it up that day and they will pull it from their store inventory. Wal-Mart online and your local store are not the same and they will not give you one from their in store inventory you have have to wait the 10-30 days for it to be delivered I found this out the hard way.

[Kaisha]

360's d-pad is absolute shite though, which is the OP's concern.
(I also don't find it positioned comfortably for fulltime use in a game, but perhaps my hands are smaller than the average)

At any rate, only PC-specific gamepad I ever owned the old Gravis Gamepad Pro series, and man those things were kickass....10 buttons on a gamepad was unheard of back in the day, along with piggybacking controllers onto the same serial port (USB wasn't mainstream back then) for some multiplayer gaming.

For me, given I own a PS3, I would just try to find myself a means of getting the DualShock3 working on the thing, or at worst, grab a USB->PS2 adapter for my older controller.

[MogKnight]

If you want a fully dedicated controller that is like a PS2 controller for the PC then I would recommend the Logitech Dual Action (heck, I think SE supports it). Personally, I don't like the square-gates for the analog and that's really the biggest thing that would make me not want to use it. Otherwise, I would just buy an additional PS2 controller and use a USB converter.

If you're using this for other games or emulators, I would buy a converter and use a PS2 pad. Or if you're like... dead set on a good 360/PC Controller...

Amazon.com: Hori Controller EX Turbo for Xbox 360: Video Games

But I'm pretty sure you can find it a lot cheaper elsewhere >.>;

[Mabubeezareel]

The d-pad on Logitech DAs are absolute shit. I own one and am not happy at all with it. The dual analog sticks work fine, but the d-pad is just God-awful. It seems that most PC-specific gamepads use that square-gate d-pad design, and for the life of me I can't understand why.

Radio Shack used to make a very good PSX/PS2 > USB converter, but it's since been discontinued. Was very cheap too, less than $10. I've been using one now with a PSX Dualshock for the past 5+ years without a single hitch. There are plenty of other converter boxes out there now, and I've tried quite a few. Though they pale in quality compared to the Radio Shack one, they should get the job done.

The only thing about these converter boxes is that they don't work particularly well with the PS2 Dualshock 2's analog face buttons. They don't register a button press until the button is pressed down to its lowest "catch" point. I find mself having to put just a little more pressure on the button than I am used to. For that reason, I prefer using PSX Dualshock 1s. I've got a small cache of them that I cycle through, as they're getting harder to find these days.

In summation: PSX/PS2 > USB converter box with a Dualshock 1 is my recommendation.

[Ghostsix.Midgard]

I use a ps2 controller with a radioshack adapter and the analog stick will go off center after a while, pretty annoying

Grab a ps3 controller, wireless is always nice.

[Grey Jorildyn]

In summation: PSX/PS2 > USB converter box with a Dualshock 1 is my recommendation.

Word. I could never get over how comfortable and well-made the PS1 dualshocks were over the DS II. I used to stockpile white ones since those were my favorite. The soft analog stick pads were top tier.

[warc]

Any advice on getting a ps3 controller to work on windows? I installed the appropriate drivers then connected my controller and hit ps button but got nothing. I've been looking for a better driver but can't seem to find any.

[Celeras]

64 bit windows 7 doesn't allow the use of unsigned drivers, which is the only way you can get a Ps3 controller working. You'd have to trick the PC by either running a third party app, or disabling this functionality every single time you boot your PC.

It's a real pain in the ass. I'd love to use my Ps3 controller, but because of these headaches I just end up using my Ps2 one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGPIRebaVJY

^ Walkthrough using the app.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Disable+digital...ning+windows+7

^ How to disable the setting on boot, which youd have to do every restart and opens up some security issues.

[Cyn]

Been using my PS3 controllers on PC for ages now, love it.

[Pikarya]

http://i49.tinypic.com/2ynqx08.jpg

-Plug and play
-Battery life is amazing (I use lithium energizers and they last for weeks upon use)
-Lightweight, not heavy on your hands,
-Can be used for PS3 or PC.

And best of all, wireless. But yeah everyone has a different opinion. Just for the money you can sometimes snag these controllers new for about $10.00. (Walmart sometimes clearances them out if your lucky.)