Xbox 360 Controller for Windows

[PAGETITLE=Introduction] I've personally been looking for the perfect gamepad for the computer forever. I have many times gone to the store to check out gamepads, and been quite disappointed. I found that some peripheral makers are taking zero lessons from the ones who do it right, because they are the opposite of what a gamepad should look like. To date, the gamepad that I have been most impressed with is the Logitech RumblePad, which we reviewed back in March. I was so impressed with that gamepad, that I immediately ordered a second one. Logitech obviously took lessons from Sony with the creation of that pad, because it looks identical to the PlayStation controller. It felt the same, had the same buttons and worked perfectly. However, I was really hoping to see a controller more like the Controller S for the original Xbox, and here we have something incredibly similar. Xbox 360 Controller Features I personally enjoyed using the Xbox Controller S over the PlayStation controller because I found it to be more comfortable, and I liked the way that the buttons were laid out. The Xbox 360 controller has been upgraded though in a few areas. On the Controller S, we had Black and White buttons below the ABXY set, but those have now been moved to the top of the controller, similar to the R1 and R2 buttons on the PS controller. In addition, the Start/Back buttons have been moved to the middle of the controller, which is where they belong. Back to the basics though. The controller fits in the hands quite well, it's very comfortable. To me, it feels very similar to the Controller S, but is even more natural. It's also extremely light, as opposed to the Wireless versions for the 360. The controller is great looking also, and looks identical to what you get on the actual console version. The absolutely only difference between the controller on on the PC and the 360, is that the Xbox Live button does not function when plugged into the computer, and you cannot use it as an extra button in your games. That brings me to the next point. If you already own a wired 360 controller, all you have to do is download the software from the MS website which will allow you to use it on your PC. You can grab that software right here. The controller layout is like most others, with two analog sticks in addition to a D-Pad. You have the standard ABXY as well of course, plus the Back and Start buttons. The two triggers have stayed the same since the original Xbox, and are considered to be a "Z-Axis". The reason that it is an Axis as opposed to regular buttons is because that it's a way to detect sensitivity. The harder to push down, the faster you go in racing games, so it makes it more realistic. This confused me at first because I wanted the left trigger to be for braking and the right for acceleration.. but how could I set that up? Well, some games allow you to configure Axis for more than one thing, so that's what I had to do in NFS: Most Wanted. At idle, the Z-Axis stays in the middle, but by pushing the left trigger and will bring it to the bottom, while the right to the top. If you run into a game that doesn't allow you to configure two actions on one Axis, it may be a problem. Simply by looking at the pictures of the controller, it's easy to tell that it's a well built gamepad. It has all the buttons you need, and seems to work quite well. Sadly, there are a few nagging problems that should be remedied sooner than later. The software that is included with the controller offers absolutely no extra functionality or actual software. I don't even know why they include it, because the controller states it's for use with Windows XP. If you have Windows XP, the controller should set itself up. It would have been nice to have software that would allow you to configure the controller.. especially the Xbox Live button. On the very top of the controller are the LB and RB buttons, and behind them are the triggers. One thing I noticed, especially when using the triggers and thumb sticks is that you can accidentally hit the LB and RB buttons by accident, because your fingers slide up and hit them. If those two buttons were placed slightly differently, this minor issue could be resolved. Why not wireless? This is one thing that really confuses me, because the wireless controller for the 360 is one of my favorite features of the console. It would have taken little effort to create a USB dongle to allow the controller to be wireless. I know many people who would easily pay an extra $10 just to have the controller wireless, because face it... that's where computing is going. It sucks to have to go plug in a controller especially if you want it plugged into the back of the computer. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Controller Testing & Conclusion] I tested the controller throughout a few games, but I pretty much already knew what type of performance I should be getting, since I can't keep my butt off the actual 360 console. At any rate, Microsoft sent along a copy of Moto GP3 with the controller, so I tested that one out first. One thing I should mention, is that I could not get the vibration to work no matter what I did. However, I am going to blame this on my PC and not the controller, because I could not even get my Logitech Rumblepad to rumble anymore and it used to no problem. Also, for a game to be fully compatible with the 360 controller, it should state as such. Where it is supposed to state it, I have no idea but Moto GP doesn't say it anywhere. I looked on the MS website and couldn't find a list there either. I admit, I completely suck at moterbike games... especially Moto GP. The controller performed quite well though even though the default configuration was a little odd. One thing that I did notice though, was flying down a straight-away, my bike would turn to the left ever so slightly. I went straight to the Windows joypad configuration and recalibrated it whiched seemed to have fixed the problem though. The controller worked great once that minor tweak was done and I had no issues at all. The same goes for NFS: Underground 2. I completed that game on the computer with the Logitech Rumblepad 2, and I can say that I wish I had this 360 gamepad back in the day. Both controllers worked perfectly, so it comes down to which you prefer... the PlayStation or Xbox 360 controller. Again, the same for Fantastic Four; The gameplay was perfect and was exactly as I expected. I have no complaints at all about the gameplay in any game, but wished I could have gotten the rumble to work in these games, since they all did support them. Conclusions There is not too much bad that can be said about the controller. Since I have wanted an Xbox controller for the PC for quite a while now, I was very pleased when this one was announced. Since I also own a 360, It's an even better value because I can use it for both platforms. I am still puzzled as to why the rumble feature of the gamepad would not work, but I will be doing some investigative work. As always, if someone out there has the gamepad and has their rumble feature work, please let me know! There are three main things that hurt this controller. The first is that the top two buttons can get in the way when you use the triggers, depending on how you hold the controller. One experience on the console, was that while racing in PGR3, I would accidently hit it and it would change my view... in turn messing up my run. The second problem is that it is NOT WIRELESS. I can only ask why why why, because it's wireless for the console. We have wireless mice and keyboards, so why not this gamepad? The last problem is the lack of any software. You plug the controller and that's it.. no real configuration is needed. An example is that Logitech includes a configuration and game profile program, which this controller should have. I hope to see this added in the future. Overall, I am giving the 360 Controller for Windows a respectable 7/10. Feel free to discuss this review in our forums!

Xbox 360 Controller for Windows

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Rob Williams