Customer Reviews

Playstation 2 APSD001B Falcon Wireless Gamepad

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After having to deal with the unwieldly wiring of the PS2 Dual Shock, I decided that in order to cut down on the clutter was to go wireless. But which one? One of my primary concerns in purchasing a wireless gamepad was due to various peers telling me that wireless devices simply don't operate with the responsiveness of their wired counterparts. Thankfully this wasn't the case with the Arsenal Falcon Wireless Gamepad.

The first thing I noticed about the Falcon was that the design is very close to the size and shape of the Dual Shock, sans wire. It didn't have more bulk like other wireless controllers. The weight of the controller is a little heavier (because of the 3 AAA batteries, which are included in the Falcon retail package).

The major differences in the Falcon and the Dual Shock are the buttons (which are not colored, but have the same shapes to indicate which button is which - since most of my peripherals are grey or black, the Falcon fits right in); the additional RX indicator light; the D-pad is raised and is in a single piece (unlike the Dual Shock and its 4-piece D-pad); and the Falcon has buttons for Connect, Program, and Turbo. Lastly, and notably, the Falcon has rubber coating all over it, giving the gamer a better grip.

How does it perform? Very well. I didn't see any difference in how much time it took the on-screen game character would respond versus a press of a button. Even the analog sticks are about the same as the Dual Shock (they even have the same texturing, size, and shape). Please note that I didn't test the Falcon out to its specified max range (50 feet): the most distance I needed was maybe 1 foot from the screen. All of the buttons I tested, including shoulderpad buttons and the analog sticks, responded well during gameplay and did not feel different from that of the Dual Shock.

The retail box comes with: controller, remote transmitter (for plugging into your PS2), user instruction sheet, and (3) AAA batteries.

The only drawback I can see with this controller is that I'll probably need to buy batteries from now on, but I doubt I'll need to do that often.

I would recommend this controller to anyone looking to replace their Dual Shock with a wireless gamepad. The Falcon has permanently replaced mine.

My first attempt to use a wireless controller ended in complete disaster but thankfully it led me to find this sucker. It is as responsive as their Sony counterparts with some improvements:

>The D-pad is one solid piece
>Auto shut-off saves battery life and helps when used as a DVD remote
>Rubber lining helps for long game play
>I haven't completely taken advantage of the programming feature but formulating ideas on how I can advance my game play with it.

It's hard to find this exact model on Amazon but if you would like to get a great controller this one is well worth the search.