Logitech WingMan Rumble Pad (963233-0403)

by Logitech

Product Details

Supplementary Guide [442kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004VUGN
• Item model number: 963233-0403
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #47 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Game Hardware > PC Game Hardware > Controllers > Gamepads
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 22, 2000

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Just try and hold on to Logitech's WingMan RumblePad gamepad. Featuring nine programmable buttons, the RumblePad offers a sliding throttle for precise speed control, plus two analog sticks to let you quickly rotate a full 360 degrees. Two motors, housed in the RumblePad grips, let you feel every turn, bump, and dip in games and simulations. Since this gamepad draws power from the USB port on your PC, no expensive batteries are required.

Product Description

A futuristic game controller with easy USB setup, programmable buttons and controls plus Vibration Feedback And the pad includes a special rumble effect called Vibration Feedback The pad vibrates in relation to game action if the game is coded for Force Feedback Tiny rumble motors inside the pad are powered through the USB port, eliminating external power cords Once you experience the shake, rattle and roll of Force Feedback in the WingMan Rumble Pad, you'll never go back to one-dimensional gaming!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but Not Great, October 16, 2000

By 

Chris Peters (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Logitech WingMan Rumble Pad (963233-0403) (Personal Computers)

Go to an electronics store and feel this in your hands - it's the best review you could ask for. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like this controller, there is a negative for every positive. I mean that quite literally - for every good feature, that feature also has something wrong with it. I noticed all this after only 1 day with it:

Layout - the positive is that the Rumblepad is nearly identical to the Playstation's Dualshock controller. There are 7 buttons, 2 triggers, 2 analog sticks, a d-pad, a shift button, and even a throttle slide! For many games, you will not need to use the keyboard when you've got this gamepad. However, the Rumblepad is different enough from the Dualshock that if you are trying to play Playstation games on your PC (Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, bleem!, etc) you will have some relearning to do. You might want to wait until Sony starts making USB Dualshock controllers. (which should be in 6 months)

Feel - this gamepad is nice and big, and doesn't cramp my large (adult male) hands at all. However, the buttons are terrible! They are tiny, hard to press, harder to reach, and even harder to figure out which one you want without looking at the pad. I can't simply rest my thumb naturally on the buttons, but have to bend it akwardly and press the buttons with the very tip of my thumb. This is a design flaw of the pad, not because of my particular build, which is quite average.

Analog Sticks - these are both very responsive, and perfectly positioned. The negative is that they don't have a good gripping surface or shape, so your thumbs don't stay centered on them. Because the sticks are curved inwards, (console sticks on all major systems are curved outwards) I often find I am controlling the stick by its very edge, which is uncomfortable and very inaccurate. As if by the Hand of God, you usually won't need to repositon your thumb until you reach a particular important part of your game!

USB - this speaks for itself. USB is great, if you don't know yet. You can unplug the pad and move it off your desk easily. However, this gamepad requires a -powered- USB hub. You can't plug this into your keyboard USB ports. Great if you already own a powered hub, but if you don't that means you either spend another $ on one, or you plug it into the back of your computer case (thus defeating the ease of USB)

(as of Oct 2000, the Rumblepad doesn't work well with Windows ME. I downloaded the latest update from Logitech, but my computer locks up whenever I plug the gamepad in. I have to have my computer off to plug it in. However, this might be caused by the power requirements of the Rumblepad, not the software.)

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Comparison to MS Sidewinder, October 21, 2002

By 

Don Shin (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Logitech WingMan Rumble Pad (963233-0403) (Personal Computers)

After reading the reviews listed here, I decided to go with the Logitech WingMan Rumble Pad over another Microsoft Sidewinder device (my previous Sidewinder Pro broke after a year's not-so frequent use). In comparing the two, I'd have to say that, aestetics aside, the WingMan beats the Sidewinder hands down. The analog sticks are great with games like NHL 2002 - directional movement is excellent with the WingMan, while I had some issues with the angled and often inaccurate direction controls of the Sidewinder. The WingMan is a bit sleaker than the Sidewinder, which is good if you don't have gargantuan hands (my hands would get tired after playing a few games on the Sidewinder, due to its girth).

My only two criticisms of the WingMan are somewhat minor: 1) the six buttons on the right side of the controller don't seem as natural as those on the Sidewinder, but that could be because I've only been using the WingMan for a week and a half now; and 2) when will the rumble aspect of the pad ever be utilized??? Are there any PC games out there with this feature?

Overall, well worth the money.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Pad, February 3, 2002

By 

Derek (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Logitech WingMan Rumble Pad (963233-0403) (Personal Computers)

Before buying this pad, I looked at every other single one that was being sold on amazon first. There were others that looked better but I didnt want to spend 40 bucks on just a pad. This one looked good, only 27 bucks. I was expecting it to be a fairly good one, because the price was lower than others like it, but I was amazed! The pad is great, it has 2 analog sticks, a regular directional pad and 9 buttons and a slider.

The gamepad works great with EA games, try getting NHL 2001 to go along with it. I even got two pads so I could play with my friends. It also has two modes, you can switch it so that the analog sticks work as a directional pad, helpful for games like Frogger where you only need to go in 4 directions. The controller also works well with Playstation games released on the computer, for example Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2.

(I am running a Dell 1.8 ghz computer with Windows ME and I havn't encountered any problems. It comes with its own calibration software.)