Updated 360 joypad

[EvilBoris]

Mine do that too, not after weeks, but it is inevitable.

[sj33]

Glad I'm not the only one.

[Neon Ignition]

Looks minging with mixed grey buttons. I take it the D pad has a locking mechanism? It'd be useless if its at risk of rotating everytime a sweeping motion is made

[EvilBoris]

I was thinking that, I just imagining it popping each time you hurled a fireball

[sj33]

Was the shape of the D-Pad ever actually the problem though? It's what was underneath that made it so bad. Lets hope they improvement is more than cosmetic.

[nonny]

I'll wait for hands-on impressions but whilst it might be a technical improvement it falls way short on the way they've marketed it.

- Different colour entirely to the new slim console
- Only available separately
- Only available with a play & charge kit

I mean... WTF? Quite a few people were on the fence with the new console but I reckon if they'd bundled this in as the standard controller (in matching black) quite a few more would have upgraded their hardware.

I'm glad MS are 'fixing' things like this and the voice quality on XBL etc... but seriously once you have a solution work out the best way to get it into the market without alienating your user base.

[Sam The Man]

Was the shape of the D-Pad ever actually the problem though? It's what was underneath that made it so bad. Lets hope they improvement is more than cosmetic.

Yeah you nailed it. Overall i think the whole 360 control pad is flawed and microsoft still have a ways to go before they rival Sony's DS pad design.

[eastyy]

couldnt stand the standard joypad for fighting games....but to be honest had no real problems with it for other games and i got a fight pad for my fighting game fix

[KIT786]

IGN review of the new controller

[FelixofMars]

What are people saying? The Sony DS better than the Xbox 360 pad. Has everyone gone bonkers. I am the first to admit the D-Pad is unusable but the rest of the pad more than makes up for it. I really think the DS pads are one of the worse controllers around I always end up with claw hand.

MS pretty much nailed a decent controller after they stopped making that doorstop of a controller for Xbox 1 which was like the lovechild of the Dreamcast pads and started selling the S-pads. I don't think I really like the silver and grey colours, but any improvement to the poorly constructed D pad is a bonus.

[Mayhem]

Yeah... I've never really liked the Dual Shock at all either...

[speedlolita]

There's nothing wrong with the 360 analog for fighters. :<

[Neon Ignition]

As far as DS-360 comparisons go that's going to be purely personal preference anyway as it depends on a number of factors. For me they're probably equal, the 360 pad fits the hands better and is positioned better (Sony should have swapped the left analogue and dpad around ages ago) but I find the Dual Shocks shoulder buttons to be far superior to the 360's so it depends on what I'm playing. Racers can feel better on 360 but I find COD to play far better on PS3.

For this variant though, I've gotten used to the mono design so it's doesn't look to bland anymore and it's nice to read that the dpad doesn't swivel unintentionally. My main concern would be wear and tear on that matter which could result in it starting to swivel during gameplay.

[cavalcade]

but I find the Dual Shocks shoulder buttons to be far superior to the 360's s

Madness.

The only thing superior on the DualShock is the D-Pad. The rest is a hideous design that I can only assume was tested on aliens at Area 51 or on humans with sandpaper sellotaped on their finger tips.

[stainboy]

My first thoughts were "the 360 controller has a D-Pad? " I barely ever use it and without one to look at it never pops into my memory I think it's good they're not bundling it with consoles though, it seems more like a specialist item that people can buy if they want to rather than being force into it. You only get one pad with a console anyway so you can always get this as your second.

Surprised at the hate for the Duel Shock in the thread I thought that was everyone's benchmark for controllers. Maybe it was a few years ago and I'm behind the times. I've always liked the Gamecube controller, it looks a mess but was a joy to use. I do like the 360 controller though, it may have surpassed my love of the cube one. Still, if everyone jumps over new designs there'll be plenty of 2nd hand originals for me if mine ever go wrong. The only wear and tear my main controller has is a big thumb dent but it fits my thumb like an arse groove on the sofa so it's no concern to me