Customer Reviews

Sony PS3 Street Fighter IV FightPad - Ken

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This is an outstanding controller. Very comfortable to hold and all buttons are in easy reach. It is already perfectly set up for use with the Street Fight IV & the default button configuration. Moves requiring quarter, half & full circle movements are incredibly easy do, thanks to the floating digital pad. And they can be done consistently. It comes a with handy Turbo button which makes characters like Chun-Li & E. Honda especially dangerous.

My only problem with the controller & its floating digital pad is that it may be too sensitive sometimes. For characters that require charge attacks or precise up and down movements of the digital pad for combos, the Dualshock 3/Six-axis controller is actually easier to use & more consistent.

If you have PS3 then you already have the standard controller & I highly suggest you try out the Fight Pads to get the most out of this game. It will probably come in handy for other fighting games as well. I fully intend to use this pad on Tekken.

Yes, this makes SF4 much more playable. A throwback Sega six button pad. The d-pad is not quite Sega style but its pretty good for fireballing motions. However, charge characters who need precise angles to execute like Balrog, you'll find your self doing dash lows, when you want to do a dash strait. You'll also find yourself doing dragon punches when you wanted to do the double motion for an ultra. A little sensitive it is.

On the shoulder buttons, they have a nice click and feel to them. Though, I wish the left shoulder was more like a trigger. The positioning kinda stinks. This button gives me all hell with ultras needing PPP. Your lf index finger needs to "curl" to press this button considering your thumb is on the d-pad.

ON the build quality, its a lot better than people have been complaining about. In the beginning the D-pad was a little "clicky" and would stick in some positions, but you need to break in in a bit.

Look, if you are serious about SF, you need a stick. This pad is 3 times as good as the PS3 pad, but 10 times worse than a stick. I opted not to go with a stick because, though I'm becoming a SF nerd, I want to be able to play with a controller for when the guys come over, not an expensive nerdy arcade stick. But I'm temped every time I cant pull off a complex link combo. The thumb is just not as dexterous as your middle fingers. But the stick is cost restrictive, so this is the next best option.

Overall good, but only if you are slightly more than a casual SF4 gamer but less than an aspiring expert.

*******UPDATE 4/13/2010************

*sigh* I really wanted this to work. But 3 months later of 20 hrs per week play time and the controller started sticking in some buttons, randomly cutting off in the middle of heated matches and lastly, button presses registering incorrectly. (PPP started coming out as MP. wth?)

Horrible quality but alas there are no real options other than getting a nerdy stick at this point..

*******UPDATE 6/22/2010************

Ok, I broke down and got a joystick. This pad really isn't worth it if your putting more than 10-20 hours a week into this game I think. It still is an upgrade from the stock pad but the quality is so shabby with extended use. You'll end up buying at least 2 in your SF lifetime and at that point you should have just gotten a stick. (It will take you a month to get used to the stick)

As a final note here...The Pad warrior tourney players DO NOT use this pad. Many of them use the stock ps3 pad. I think that says a lot overall about this product.

After struggling to do all the old special moves I know and love on the usual "split" D-pad of the PS3 controller and getting my rear handed to me, I decided it was time to go "old school" and return to my Sega roots. I'm so glad I did. This controller is not only slightly faster and more comfortable to play with, but the disc D-pad is far easier to use. Well worth the purchase if you're tired of the idiotic arrow buttons or over-sensitive sticks of your normal controller.

On a whim I preordered this controller from Amazon earlier this week. Mostly because I felt that anything would be better than the standard button layout of the Dual Shock 3 controller. I have been using the Fightpad ever since I got it in the mail and it is fantastic.

Every design of this controller is focused for fighting games, the directional pad has a smooth motion to it but with positive feedback. Quarter circle and hold moves are extremely fluid and can be performed reliably, which can't be said about the Dual Shock's dpad. The buttons are in an ergonomic position so none of them are difficult to reach. The system buttons are all recessed so they won't be pushed during a battle, and there are turbo functions to ease pulling off some of the more difficult combos.

I have always been skeptical of Madcatz products but these controllers are wonderfully designed and serve their purposes well. Sadly these controllers are not backwards compatible so they won't work with your PS2 or PS1 games. At least I couldn't get it to work.

This controller feels great in your hands. Love the click of the buttons, but the D-pad does take some getting used to. It's so large playing as charge characters...can be more of a challenge than usual. All in all though...if you put in the time...you'll be rewarded.

As the title mentions, the controller feels cheap but it has improved my gameplay several fold.

Cons:

- Turbo button is too close to the "select" button

- No rumble pack - but I'm not sure how much that contributes to my game experience

- Dongle for this wireless controller flashes when not in use - annoying.

- Feels cheap - don't drop this on any hard surfaces.

Pros:

- Buttons have a healthy click and springy feel to them. You could wipe your thumb across them for those "piano" key moves quite easily.

- 30+ hours of gameplay so far and still have not had to replace the batteries (controller automatically shuts off when it's not in use for 10 or so minutes)

- D-Pad doesn't have any problems (note that others have had trouble in this dept. - it may no longer be an issue)

Overall, a good purchase for anyone who wants to play SF games - far cheaper arcade style items that they have.

In my over 20yrs of playing Street Fighter(in arcades and in home, with all sorts of controllers) I have to say that this is an excellent controller that exceeded my expectations. The first time you hold it in your hands you'll notice that its very lightweight, almost feels like its just a shell with no internals, this is a big plus as the weight of the required AA batteries just about makes it the same weight as the DualShock3 so theres less to feel awkward in your hand. Although it feels cheaply made, this little bugger can take a bit of a beating. I "accidentally" flung my controller into the wall after a match in SF4 and thought it would shatter but it survived and so far has shown no type of problem at all. Still connects to my PS3, the switch thats used for switching between the left and right analog stick and the digital pad work, and the turbo switch is working like it should.

Now as for responsiveness to user input, this controller is very accurate. Ive had no problems with double-fireball motions, full-circle motions, the "charge" moves (Blankas Body projectile move, Guiles "sonic-boom"). Also performing moves like Ryu's in-air hurricane kick and Akumas in-air fireball are easily executed thanks to the hovering design of the directional pad. The standard PS3 controllers directional pad is absolutely horrible for Street Fighter. The motion required to perform moves like Ken & Ryu's fireball,aka Hadouken, isnt met by the recessed and little pad thats on that controller. Ive been playing Street Fighter since it was Fighting Street on the TurboGrafix 16 (and yes thats how they spelled the name of that console)and I know how to perform all of the moves for every chatacter, and yet when I try to do one little Hadouken with Ryu while using the standard PS3 controller.. all I get is a character throwing a punch into an oncoming attack rather then a fireball thats supposed to cancel out the oncoming attack. With this controller, the moves I do on the controller are what I see in the game.

So to those out there deciding weather or not to purchase this controller (and thats if you can find it without paying out the nose) I highly recommend this controller. And little known fact, the PS3 model of this controller like the xbox360 version can be used with your pc. I have Windows Vista Home Premium on my laptop and it immediately recognized the controller as a wireless PS3 controller. Ive used it on some emulators and it works fine so far. Im not sure if this controller was meant to be pc capable but its a nice little bonus.

Purchased this product from EB games. For the retail price not the outrageous price people are ripping people off for now. Had it for a week. Loved the layout. Loved the dpad......until it stopped working. After a week the dpad is now stuck in a downward motion. I cant even use it for anything. It is useless. Dont not purchase this controller until they fix this issue if they do. And please dont pay no more than retail.[...]. WTF. I threw my receipt away so I am stuck. I guess I will have to buy a new one and return my old one. lol

I received two FightPads as a gift in February, 2009 (the month of its release).

Within a few weeks, one FightPad was completely malfunctioning- a defective D-Pad (downward direction glitch).

The other FightPad worked OK when used by itself; However, when playing with two FightPads simultaneously, they would interfere with one another and lose their signals (obviously, this is not a good thing to happen during fighting games).

I contacted Mad Catz, via their website. I was assured that it was an issue with the USB dongles- Mad Catz mailed me two complimentary USB dongles.

The issue continued and became progressively worse.

I once again contacted Mad Catz. This time, they requested I mail the controllers back, along with a receipt, in order to be covered by the 1 year manufacturer's warranty. I explained to Mad Catz that the FightPads were a gift, and that I had no receipt.

I also explained that the controllers were released in February of 2009. It was still the year 2009, so how could the 1 year warranty be over?

Apparently my logic was too much for Mad Catz to handle. They refused to help me without a receipt.

The design of the FightPad is excellent, but the malfunctioning wireless technology is inexcusable.

Furthermore, I am disappointed with the way Mad Catz handled my situation.

I've spent a lot of money on their products throughout the years- shame on them.

Purchased this fightpad for the PS3 after very positive experiences with my 360 Wired fightpad. Buyer Beware: The PS3 fightpad is absolutely terrible. Sticky buttons, long delays, poor inputs in downward motions on the d-pad, and a clunky, heavy, battery-dependent controller with shoddily designed wireless.

This is my first review on Amazon. I have been a street fighter fan since the age of 7. Do NOT buy this pad.