Controllers!

[8BitZ80]

I've used an Xbox 360 controller for years now. The LT/RT triggers are perfect for a linear accelerator and brakes, and the joysticks have some good resistance so you can steer confidently at the limit.
If you're buying a new controller, always test them in person because many of them are completely useless.

 

[racer243l]

Cool! Good to know, thanks!

Currently looking at this controller made by 8BitDo, the SN30+ Pro that has quite a few rave reviews, has software for button mapping and all that good stuff, and looks like the result of a one night stand between an SNES controller and a Dual Shock

Thanks for shareing this controller. Might give it a try for games like Detroit Become Human and other slow paced movie-like games

 

[metalfiber]

I've used a controller for 43 years. I absolutely suck at using a mouse and keyboard. I used the After Glow controllers for the longest but the buttons wear out rather quickly. I use the Razer Wolverine now. I'm on my second one and the stick wore out before the buttons. It's got a handy dps button on the back in which it'll change the sticks sensitivity.

 

[Mazer]

I only use KB + M for shooters for anything else like platformers or wrpgs/jrpgs, controller is king, I use the Xbox one controller for those if it's retro gaming I have the 8bitdo SN30+ I bought back a year ago The Dpad is way better and feels great. My one's sticks are worn and the bumpers sometimes don't work as well anymore but it's fine I can switch it out for another one down toe road.

 

[jayseearr]

back when i used controllers I went thru SO many different controllers and I never found a single controller that wasn't a highly overpriced steaming pile of dogshit. The little rubber sticks are just borderline archaic at this point. My buddy had an xbox one elite controller that was DECENT because it allows you to easily swap out the analogs but it was upwards of like $160 which is laughable to me. I could buy 3 top of the line mice for that price and each and every one of them would probably outlast those elite sticks. I guess what I'm saying is all controllers suck but from my experience if you want one that's SOMEWHAT decent they are usually 100$+.

If you get a stock sony or xbox controller, you are literally buying something that was DESIGNED to break. Sony and microsoft would both love nothing more than you to keep coming back and buying more of their shitty products for their ecosystems. I'd would love to know the profit margin on one of those because for a $60 controller their margin must be insanely fat. If you want a controller that feels decent and won't break instantly go with something a little more exotic and spend the extra money. Maybe look into the razer controllers they have much more satisfying clicks and overall better build quality plus all the extra gizmos like added inputs on the back. (This should already be a thing on every controller, with what they charge.)

Anyway, rant over i guess. Get a mouse instead unless all you play is racing games

 

[Chaba422]

Do 360 controllers work on PC?

ofcourse

 

[Gmr_Chick]

^ hey man, good to get your input on my controller conundrum! It's funny you mention using the Wolverine, as that one has managed to climb to damn near the top of my list after doing a bit of research. The ABXY buttons on it sound like literal mouse clicks, which I've never seen in a pad before and it's amazing, honestly! Sadly, as much as I like the Ultimate version for its swappable sticks and D-pad, and all its other hands-on features, it is out of my budget, unfortunately. I take it you have the Tournament edition?

I'm staying FAR away from the Elite V1 controller, for obvious reasons --their lack of durability has practically become a meme at this point. And the V2 is way too effing expensive. Plus it's durability over the V1 is still up in the air.

The controller that's really stood out to me in my research is the Fusion Pro from PowerA. Has basically all the features of an Elite, but at a much more reasonable price point, around $80 I believe. Has great customer reviews on Amazon, as well as Youtube. And the faceplate is easily removable -- perfect for customizing

back when i used controllers I went thru SO many different controllers and I never found a single controller that wasn't a highly overpriced steaming pile of dogshit. The little rubber sticks are just borderline archaic at this point. My buddy had an xbox one elite controller that was DECENT because it allows you to easily swap out the analogs but it was upwards of like $160 which is laughable to me. I could buy 3 top of the line mice for that price and each and every one of them would probably outlast those elite sticks. I guess what I'm saying is all controllers suck but from my experience if you want one that's SOMEWHAT decent they are usually 100$+.

If you get a stock sony or xbox controller, you are literally buying something that was DESIGNED to break. Sony and microsoft would both love nothing more than you to keep coming back and buying more of their shitty products for their ecosystems. I'd would love to know the profit margin on one of those because for a $60 controller their margin must be insanely fat. If you want a controller that feels decent and won't break instantly go with something a little more exotic and spend the extra money. Maybe look into the razer controllers they have much more satisfying clicks and overall better build quality plus all the extra gizmos like added inputs on the back. (This should already be a thing on every controller, with what they charge.)

Anyway, rant over i guess. Get a mouse instead unless all you play is racing games

This. This right here. I'm not sure about the warranty on the PS4 controller, but the standard warranty for an XBone controller is a pathetic 90 days. Ninety. Days. I mean, if that doesn't say "our products are shit" I dunno what does.

I've tried playing with my KB+Mouse but honest to jeebus, I can't do it. Make of that what you will, but controllers are just more comfy for me.

As far as the games I play goes, I play all my retro emulated games using either my F310 or my Hyperkin X91. I don't play racing games and very few fighting games; my big reason for wanting a "pro" controller is Star Wars Battlefront II, especially because I recently got accepted into the Angels of Death clan, which for me is a big deal because I've never been apart of something like that before.

 

[jayseearr]

^ That sounds reasonable i suppose. Definitely an extra $20 well spent over a standard controller if you ask me. I personally never used the razer controllers I don't even think they were around when I made the switch but I've seen what they offer and it's nice but like you said the price point still seems absurd. I've heard mostly bad things about the elite's durability but my buddy had his for almost 2 years before he even swapped the sticks out (that's what he said anyway-_-) I find that extremely hard to believe. I never had a controller go longer than a year before it was either ghosting or just flat out broken.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Back in the day, say around the NES, SNES days, those controllers were built like tanks. Or maybe it just seemed like it because they were far simpler than today's controllers? Either way, part of the reason I think controllers fail at such a high rate nowdays is because they're so complex -- more complex = more stuff to fail/break. And then god only knows what people do to their controllers now, rage quitting and just being overall clumsy, reckless with them. But even those who baby their controllers, regardless of price, will run into issues with controllers nowdays for the simple fact that there's just more crap on them that has the potential to break, and the materials used to build them are cheap.

I'm torn between the Wolverine Ultimate and the PowerA Fusion Pro, and the only reason for my doubt comes from the fact thatRazer tends to have a "love-hate" sort of reputation -- some people swear by them and have never had problems with their stuff, or have and just look the other way, and then some people just downright despise them for various reasons. The biggest issue I've read about with the Fusion Pro is the headset jack quality. It either doesn't work properly, or not at all, and I have a HyperX Stinger Core coming my way tomorrow.

And then, it's like, this little part of me wants to try the Elite V2 out firsthand, because it does have quite a few features I can see myself using, and I've never actually used an Elite controller before. Maybe I'll buy both the Elite V2 and the Wolverine Ultimate, try them both, and then return the "loser" of the pair...

 

[jayseearr]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Razer-Junglecat-Gaming-Controller-white/dp/B00KXYV9O4

^ this is cheaper than the wolverine and it seems like it more or less offers the same stuff. (plus it's pink) since you are a gamer chick and all

*edit
nevermind, it's not cheaper there is just multiple versions of the same controller, i guess i was looking at the more expensive one with a overkill amount of extra buttons. I must say though that controller looks sleeekkkk

 

[Gmr_Chick]

GAH! Get dat pink monstrosity away from me!

Hate that color with every fiber of my being, lol.

In all seriousness, the layout of the controller itself doesn't look bad, but it does look rather...um...chunkeh? I do like the silver bumpers and triggers though

 

[jayseearr]

you're crazy....that controller is hawt. to each it's own i guess

 

[Gmr_Chick]

^ I have been told I am on occasion, LOL! Mostly just super picky

OK, so...decided that I'm going to do a little experiment of sorts. Last night I bought the PowerA Fusion Pro and the Razer Wolverine Ultimate via Amazon. Both will be here Tuesday, at which point I'm going to test-play each one for 3 days. At the end of this six day test, I'll hopefully have a clear desicion about which one I'll be keeping and which one I'll be returning.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Alright y'all, my controllers came today! However, what I thought was going to be a six day experiment wherein I tested each controller for 3 days...didn't even last all of an hour, lol. In short, as a lifelong controller user, I can pretty much tell within the first 10 seconds of holding a controller whether or not I'm going to like it, and in the case of the Fusion Pro by PowerA, the sheer weight of it alone -- remember, this thing is wired so it should have a little weight, but not be uncomfortably heavy like I've found many wireless controllers to be -- was the first dealbreaker for me upon holding it. It's probably the heaviest wired controller I've ever held in my hands, and heft doesn't always mean quality. After playing a mere half hour session of Battlefront II on the Fusion Pro, my wrists had a bit of an ache similar to how the standard XBone controller makes them feel after about an hour. Y'all, I thought that controller was heavy...but the Fusion Pro makes even it feel light by comparison!

Things weren't looking good for the Fusion Pro right off the bat.

While the weight of the controller was the biggest dealbreaker for me, the stinky "soft touch" faceplate and the power paddle pack are both tied for being the second biggest dealbreaker for me.

Y'all...this thing STINKS -- the face place and the controller pouch both have this funky stank, like a slight chemical smell, that gets into my hands and the soft touch coating on the faceplate just feels all slimy, and like it would feel even slimier once my hands started to sweat.

And that brings us to the paddle pack. I can appreciate the fact thatt it is removable, and the paddles themselves can be mixed and matched and are in fact made out of metal, but even after taking off the longer paddles and just using the shorter ones, using them just felt very awkward and made even just holding the controller extremely awkward. My fingers didn't really have a lot of space to "breathe" without touching the paddles.

So with the biggest negatives for me out of the way, is there anything I DID like about the Fusion Pro?

Yep! I do like how the faceplate, stinky as it may be, is easily removable. I like the XBone-esque legends on the ABXY buttons (more on why that matters in my mini review of the Wolverine Ultimate) and the braided cable is, without sounding like too much sexual innuendo, long and thick

Unfortunately though, the negatives far outweigh the positives for me. Your results, however, may vary.

---

Moving on, I set about testing the pricier Wolverine Ultimate by Razer. I picked this one over the TE for the simple fact that the paddles aren't so "in your face" like the ones on the Fusion Pro, and the sticks and D pad are interchangeable...and I really...like...that...full...D pad. Blame it on my Logitech F310

All I can say is four words. Love. At. First. Sight. Or hold, in this case. On top of it fitting like a glove, I loved the balance of weight -- it wasn't ridiculously heavy like the Fusion, nor was it crazy light like my F310 (I will say that one lacks rumble motors though) -- across both hands, the ease of access to all the buttons, bumpers and triggers...Holding and playing with the Wolvie Ultimate was like heaven

Oh, and it doesn't stink! No stinky controllers here, thank you!

But is the controller perfect, you might be wondering. The answer, for me at least, is "almost" and the reason for that is the legends on the ABXY buttons. They're awful. Now this might come off as being nitpicky, but understand that I suffer from severe vision impairment -- if text is too thin/small, then I won't be able to see it clearly. And unfortunately, that's the case here. The ABXY lettering is too thin and far too dark for me, but the B is particularly bad. The dark red and black blend in far too much. Unfortunately, however, due to the mechanical clickyness of the ABXY buttons, I'm uncertain about being able to swap them out for some standard XBone buttons. Let me know if you can help me out regarding this!

At any rate, aside from the buttons, I believe I've found my new controller in the Wolvie Ultimate and will be returning the Fusion Pro.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Alright, so, bit of an update. I knew going in that of course Razer would tell me replacing the ABXY buttons wouldn't be possible, but I contacted them through chat anyway and quickly got nowhere with that. So I came up with what I hope is a viable solution to my problem -- going to buy a set of OEM XBone ABXY -- the standard colored ones -- take them apart (they look like two pieces from what I've seen) and cut down the actual tops with the letters into disks, then super glue those over the Razer buttons, this way I still get the mechanical click, but now I can actually see the letters!

 

[funboy6942]

I just bought these to try out on my PC, windows 10, and my XB 360, and I just LOVE it. The Dpad is clicky and no way to hit up or down when going right and left screwing things up.

I also use a few XBOne controllers on my 10 rig. On my XP rig I use a old school Logitech Wingman Wireless, for thats what I used back in the day, and found one new in the box dirt cheap few weeks back. Before that I was using a Sailtek P2500 on it.

On my Pi I use a PS4 controller, for its supported, yeah so it pretty much all bluetooth controllers for it, but the PS4 is mapped out for some of the games I have for it that would use a Playstation controller for the game.

But for me, Im old, 49, and for the life of me, to this day, I cannot use a controller for like Call of Doody, or half life, and the like, I MUST use a keyboard and mouse, and can do excellent with it for them. I been trying on and off to use a controller with those games, but I just cannot get the handle on it doing the movement with the left, and aim with the right, it messes up my brainage. And also because of that, ALL my games for my XBOne, 360, Pi, PS4 I used to have, I never had games like that for that system, for it would be a waste of money since I cannot get it right, and die in 5 seconds. So I play all them on my PC, and besides it looks much better then any console could ever do to them at this point anyways, and I like the eye candy while I kill everything and everybody in sight

But for $20 give that controller a try. It says it has bluetooth, but I havent had much luck at all getting anything to pair with it, so I been using a 15 foot long USB Type C cable (they are type c, really cool to have that on a controller )

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Thanks for your feedback, bud!

 

[funboy6942]

BTW I LOVE the pic of the Brienne of Tarth! VERY COOL

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Oh yes! That's actually Brienne's sister, Captain Phasma Joking aside, Gwendoline Christie is the actress who plays both Brienne and Phasma, who are both very important characters to me as a woman, and Gwen's just a fabulous actress and down to earth person. Could talk about her all day, lol.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

Well, the second phase of my controller experiment was a failure I'd ordered some OEM standard XBone ABXY buttons that I was going to modify a bit for use on top of the Wolverine's ABXY buttons. I ended up mauling the X button a bit, then tried to go about it a different way with the Y button, which didn't work out well either.

So my next idea is to find some XBone style ABXY stickers or something and just stick them on the Wolverine's buttons

 

[P4-630]

I use a wireless xbox360 controller.
I also bought a Steelseries Stratus but I don't like the stick positions, still have it in the box, used it a few times for Gear VR.

 

[Robert Bourgoin]

I bought a Suff Vantange 2, joysticks were sticky the software sucked to assign profiles, I sent it in for repair cause my hands don't like the keyboard anymore. Took almost 2 months to get it back, by that time the price went down $40.00 but I got screwed on that.
Well it works just fine, not sticking and the software is ok. Finally.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

PS4 all the way, with steam running it works perfectly.

 

[funboy6942]

You can always google the image for the buttons, then either use photoshop, or something else to make them the size you need, print them out, then use glue to put them on, then some epoxy to coat over them so to that they dont wear or rub off.
Id also find some sheet of sticker paper, or something other then just plain paper I would think. OR you can just buy them cool $20~ switch controller I linked you to and call it a day. OR you can find some S or X xboxOne controllers, for they all have bluetooth, not the 1st gen ones, buy a cheap BT usb dongle, and call that a day. And IF you are not wanting to use batteries, you can get any xbone controller, take the batteries out of it, hook a usb cable to it, then your pc, and it will still come on that way and use it as your controller. My son and I do that with his pc, and my Pi and Nvidia shield in my bedroom, and never have to worry about buying, or replacing batteries again with a XBOne controller. Have yet to have a problem with any of them that we use just hooking them up to our console or pc with a cable, and power it just fine. Then a 10-15 foot cable is your best friend with it, or the cheap one I linked you too that uses a type c cable.

OH and thanks for letting me know the same actress plays both people. Till you told me, and Im too lazy to have looked, but for the longest time I was hearing Phasma and I knew the voice, but couldnt put the face to it, and it was driving me nuts, but now thanks to you, anytime I watch star wars I can enjoy the movie rather then hearing the voice going, who is that

OH, and I mention a xbox controller, vs a PS4 one, not a fan boy of either, like them both, its just with my pc, and my shield, about 99% of the games for them are already set up to use a xbox 360/one controller, and buttons are mapped to them correctly. With a PS 4 controller I used to use, Id have to remember that a is x and so forth, or have to go into setting and adjust the controller setting for some of the games I play. But I love using my PS4 controller on my pi, seems to work the best with that, and can map out the PS button, and touch pad as extra stuff to be used for. But to each their own.

If you do go the Xbox 360 route, if wireless, you will need the usb adapter, and may have to dl the software for it, or windows 10 may have that in there. My dongle brok many years ago, for I was using 360 controller on my pc, was at the time, only way IMO, to do it for games. But now Im going between a XBONE, the cheap switch one, and my afterglow one, all depending on what Im about to play, for there is no law that says you have to use the same controller for everything

 

[Gmr_Chick]

I bought a Suff Vantange 2, joysticks were sticky the software sucked to assign profiles, I sent it in for repair cause my hands don't like the keyboard anymore. Took almost 2 months to get it back, by that time the price went down $40.00 but I got screwed on that.
Well it works just fine, not sticking and the software is ok. Finally.

While I've not used a Scuf, the price tag and the heaps of negative reviews I've read were both enough to make sure I steer clear of them. Plus the ergonomics on their Prestige XBone controller leaves much to be desired, with those big cumbersome (and seemingly fragile) looking paddles in the back. I don't even think they're actually removable. That's according to Scuf. Big no-no for me. I mean, my Wolverine has triggers in the back, but they aren't at all in the way of my fingers, but there if I need them. They aren't removable, but because of how compact they are, they don't need to be.

You can always google the image for the buttons, then either use photoshop, or something else to make them the size you need, print them out, then use glue to put them on, then some epoxy to coat over them so to that they dont wear or rub off.
Id also find some sheet of sticker paper,

OR you can find some S or X xboxOne controllers, for they all have bluetooth, not the 1st gen ones, buy a cheap BT usb dongle, and call that a day. And IF you are not wanting to use batteries, you can get any xbone controller, take the batteries out of it, hook a usb cable to it, then your pc, and it will still come on that way and use it as your controller.

OH and thanks for letting me know the same actress plays both people. Till you told me, and Im too lazy to have looked, but for the longest time I was hearing Phasma and I knew the voice, but couldnt put the face to it, and it was driving me nuts, but now thanks to you, anytime I watch star wars I can enjoy the movie rather then hearing the voice going, who is that


If you do go the Xbox 360 route, if wireless, you will need the usb adapter, and may have to dl the software for it, or windows 10 may have that in there.

All good advice, thank you! Before I'd settled on the Wolverine, I'd been using one of my in law's XBone S controllers and thought it was OK and maybe I'd like to get one of my own and then customize its look because I can't do stock, lol. So I ended up buying an official Plug and Play charge kit from Microsoft. Comes with a rechargeable battery and USB cable, and you can play even while the controller is charging. Good stuff!

Haha, and you're welcome for that! I think it's awesome that she's played not one, but two, armored women who don't take any shit from anybody But that's about the only way Phasma and Brienne are similar -- their personalities are practically polar opposites of each other!