Customer Reviews

Logitech WingMan Rumble Pad (963233-0403)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

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.)

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.

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.)

The Rumblepad really brought out the fun in my driving & sports games. Need for Speed - Porsche Unleashed got even better with it. It's got a built-in finger throttle that makes controlling your speed easy, and the added sensation of feeling the road and the car's acceleration in my hands made it more exciting. The force feedback is remarkably strong for a gamepad, stronger than most, and can really surprise you at times. It really shines in Star Wars Pod Racer, where the rumble of the rockets and your scrapes along the ground are translated into different sensations.

Mostly a gamepad sees use in sports games, and in FIFA Soccer 2001 I had no trouble moving the ball around & scoring. If you've played games on a Sony Playstation or are giving it to someone who has, the many buttons and controls are completely familiar (with the possible exception of the throttle). Unlike some here, I've had no problems at all installing the drivers & hardware on computers using either Win98, Me, or XP Pro.

Logitech is well known for its Mice, Keyboards, speakers, and now game controllers. its Wingman series is pretty good with joysticks and gamepads. while you can play FPS with this controller (dual analog, one stick for movement and the other for view), it really isn't recommended. if you play sports games, then a gamepad is really needed, but for most games, just save money and keep that keyboard and mouse.

Egronomics of a gamepad is pretty important, and the Wingman RumblePad is pretty good with this. your middle fingers have a groove that they can rest inside and your index fingers go onto the shoulder buttons (aka triggers). buttons are pretty easy to press, but the analog sticks do not have any rubber grips on them or anything. all there is present is a slight groove. the force feedback feature is pretty accurate. i cannot wait until Halo comes to the computer. then it'll have an authentic "xbox" feeling. (not really cause the analog sticks are positioned like the PS2 controller)

overall, stay with your keyboard and mouse. if you want a gamepad though, this is a pretty good one that you should consider.

I've always had good luck with Logitech gamepads. Having used the excellent wingman extreme for awhile, I wanted a controler with analog controls. The wingman rumble pad had what I was looking for, along with an excellent rumble feature. Used over a variety of games from flight sims, racers, and first person shooters I can say this gamepad will send my previous favorite wingman extreme to the closet.

I have large hands, and the controller fits perfectly. I had no trouble getting used to the control layout, the joysticks are well placed and are easy to use for long periods. The analog sticks have a diffrent feel from the ps dualshock controlers, but it didn't take long for me to adjust. The digital joypad is easy to use as well, and in some games where you can swich between the two either feels equally comfortable.

The one problem I had was the feel of the buttons. Compared to the Wingman extreme, the trigger buttons feel stiff (almost like mouse buttons). The buttons on the front of the controler have very little tactile feedback. When you press them you know you pressed them, but if they were raised a little higher maybe they would "feel" better. The throttle slide control is a great feature for flight sims, but it slides so easy you need to pay attention to how far you move it. Not distracting, but this keeps the gamepad from being perfect.

Compared to console game controllers this gamepad pales to the N64 layout, and tries hard to mimic the playstation.

I've tried a lot of gamepads and this one is the best. The analog sticks are really nice and responsive, the best I've seen. Better than any other PC game pad I've tried and better than the PSX controller. The rumble is really cool, too. It has many different types of force feedback, and it can get really strong.It also has a throttle thingy, which I broke when I stepped on it. Oh well, it was completely my fault. I like the buttons and shape, but they were a bit weird at first. As soon as I'm done writing this review, I'm going to buy another one. A great controller. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a quality USB force feedback controller. Attractive price, too. Bravo, Logitech.

P.S. I currently use the pad with High Heat Baseball 2002, NHL 2001, Madden 2001, NBA Live 2001, NBA Live 2000, Descent 3 (once, not a very good game), and any other games where I can use a game controller.

The layout of the pad is nice...two joysticks, directional pad, and lots of buttons, all within reach. Throw into that the rumblepad and its pretty nice. However, when actually using this pad, I've found it pretty difficult going.

The direction pad is almost impossible to use because the buttons are quite hard to push and hold down, and likewise the buttons are quite difficult to use. Overall, I find the pad to be very uncomfortable. Logitech had a good idea with planning this pad, they just should have tried actually using it too.

Despite the few bad reviews this gamepad got, it's still a REALLY great gamepad.

The unpesponsiveness experienced by that other guy was also experienced by me, but I realised it was becasue of my USB modem, since all USB devices share the limited bandwidth of the USB line. But when I'm not on the net it responds immediatelly.

The Rumble feature really adds a whole new dimension to a game, Need for Speed will never be the same for me.

If you're looking for a great gamepad, get this one. It's comfortable, response and it rumbles!!! (yay!)

After two years of use, both the plastic sticks have broken completely off. Now heck, the rest of the controller works great, except for the right trigger becoming unresponsive at times, but those crappy plastic sticks are what's holding back an otherwise quality product. Numerous attempts to contact Logitech failed, and when I finally did get somebody I was informed I couldn't buy replacement sticks, I'd have to buy a new controller.

I'm now buying a Dual Shock 2 and a PSX to USB adapter. Forget this.