gaming is back

May 8, 2007 on 8:32 am | In Games, blog |

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a few spare notes lying around… which is a bit of a rarity and of course a reason for celebration - and what better way to celebrate having cash, than going out and spending it on a Xbox 360 controller for my PC.

I can pretty much say that I didn’t touch a FPS for almost a week (which is a record, sad as that now sounds). Beat ‘em up’s are playable again… jump and runs are actually an option again and shooters become a 100 times easier. Driving games are much more intuative and I can now lean back in my boss chair instead of having to hunch over my keyboard.
Bliss, again… *sheds a tear of joy*

I’ve always had a fair few emulators installed on my PC as a year or two ago I decided to pack away most of my old systems, due to space issues.
I’ve hardly played any of my old games though, as I was used to original controls on either the respective joypad or joystick.

I’ve been meaning to buy a joypad for my PC for aaages, but never knew which one to buy. Recently I found out that the Xbox 360 controllers are available for PC - plug-and-play; in both the wired and wireless versions. Personally I’m not much a fan of current wireless tech. and batteries so as I usually do if I have the option; went for the wired version.

I was a big fan of the J-controller for the original Xbox and the 360 controller is similarly well designed and ergonomic.
The main gripe I have with this controller is the D-pad. It was obviously never designed for main control as console games tend towards primary use of the analog stick.

The d-pad is actually quite an arkward shape for playing old-school games. It looks and feels really concave. It’s profile is also really flat to make matters worse and if you have tend to get sweaty fingers on long sessions (like I do ) you will find yourself slipping off the d-pad. I would have liked to have something a little more raised, like the old PS controller or even the 6 button Mega Drive one…
It takes a lot of getting used to, but even with this it’s still a ton better for a lot of games than my keyboard ever was.

I can pretty much say that I didn’t touch a FPS for almost a week (which is a record, sad as that now sounds).

Pro:
+ Good driver
+ Works well with a lot of stuff
+ nice shape and feel

Contra:
- D-pad is not often recognised as primary controller
- D-pad shape is not very good for primary control
- Middle Xbox button doesn’t work yet