Customer Reviews

Xbox 360 Silver Controller and Play & Charge Kit

5 star:		(130)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

I decided to buy this controller because my main controller that I play with was dying, left analog stick didn't work right and the left bumper was jammed, so it was a perfect opportunity for me to buy a new controller.

Aesthetics:
This controller LOOKS nice. The silver shine, the chrome guide button, the shiny black plastic, it all goes together in a perfect combo. This is a sexy controller and it will look sexy in your hands.

Mechanics:
There are two main noticeable improvements. The first one is with the analog sticks. My "main controller" was actually just a five year old xbox 360 controller that had lost its 4 notches on the sticks, but it was extremely old. I prefer not having those 4 notches and enjoy the fact that this controller was designed perfectly for my taste. It feels better on your thumbs.

The d-pad, while it is an improvement, is not improved by much. I play SSFIV a lot with my nice expensive $150 stick, but I do play with a controller with friends at time. I know that the previous controller had a terrible d-pad, but so does this one. Albeit, there is a small improvement. The directions feel more defined and push in better than in the previous controller. The gimmick though is the disc<->cross mode. It makes no difference in play whatsoever. Matter of fact, I found the disc to perform better playing Street Fighter. But if you use the 360 controller in that game, I'd suggest using the analog stick instead.

Over all the games I tested: Super Meat Boy, SSF2THDR, Pac Man DX, the cross feature of the controller was not an improvement over the disc. It's a better D-Pad, but don't get excited about the cross.

Price:
I got this for $52 - $20 Amazon Credit for a total of $32. As a replacement controller, this was absolutely perfect! It was the same price, came with a black rechargeable battery and charge cable, and fit my desire for better analog sticks. If you already have 2-4 perfectly good controllers, I do not suggest buying this as it's not a major improvement unless you absolutely need a new controller.

This is a good looking controller, with some improvements over the original design. A lot of people are complaining about the lack of color on the a,b,x,y buttons, but I don't need them to have color anyway.

I like the new texture of the controller. It isn't a slippery surface and has a little tackier/rougher feel. Makes it easier to hold onto if your hands sweat. I also like that they added a bit of resistance to the thumbsticks. This should also help fix the problem of the thumbsticks getting "floaty" after some use. The trigger buttons also now have a curve, but doesn't really have an impact on use or feel for me, but okay design.

On to the directional pad. It still sucks. It is neat that you can convert it to a raised plus shape or more of a flat shape, but the underlying problem is still there. The d-pad is still on top of a disk, which makes it imprecise. I was trying to enter character names last night and had to use the thumbstick because the d-pad is so inaccurate. I would love it if they went to the ps3 style d-pad that is just four digital buttons instead of basically an analog directional pad.

Gave it 4 stars, would have been 5 if they fixed the d-pad.

OK, when I first heard about this controller the first thing I said was about time!!! I am one of the very few people that prefer the PS3 controller, mainly due to the D-Pad. But for shooters the 360 controller cant be beat. But since day one the 360 has had that horrible D-Pad. So obviously when I heard about the new transforming D-Pad I had high hopes.

The main reason (if not the only reason) I bought this was for Fallout New Vegas. If you are familiar with it or Fallout 3 you know that you can "hot key" your weapons, etc to the D-Pad. Well because of how bad the original D-Pad was I would only use up, down, left, and right. If you tried to use ANY of the diagonal keys you would end up in BAD situations pulling the wrong weapon as a Deathclaw is storming at you and you really need your missile launcher, and you accidentally pull out a pistol.

In New Vegas up is already designated as your "change ammo type", so that leaves only 3 other reliable slots. So when I heard about this new controller and its "improved" D-Pad I thought awesome finally I can hot key more weapons, and not always have to open my pip boy to get to the right weapon. Well, I ordered it, and paid for one day shipping which was only 9.98, and the controller itself was only 51.99, even thought it retails everywhere else for 64.99.

So it came yesterday (ironically while I was playing New Vegas), so I decided to test it out. I hot keyed 7 weapons, and tried to use the D-Pad to pull out the right weapon. I tried it with just the plus (+), and then with the whole disc, and strangely it worked better for the diagonal presses when it was in the plus (+) formation then it did as the disc. And the results are overall just barely better. It still would pull out the wrong weapon about 1 out of every 3 times, when it use to be like 2 out of 3.

Another great test is to open up a message on your 360, and try to navigate the qwerty keyboard with the D-Pad only. You'll see how bad the D-Pad is, and that it is CONSTANTLY moving up when you press left, down when you press right, etc. Now if it were up to me, and I was a controller designer the perfect D-Pad would be a cross between the 360, and PS3 D-Pads. It would have separated up, down, left, and right like the PS3, but instead of a disc shape for the diagonal, it would have independent sections for diagonal. So that you would be able to properly press the direction you are intending. Ill try to insert a drawing of what I mean if I can.

But anyway to sum up the review I would say, unless you really need the plus shaped D-Pad for a game, then its not worth it. The new color scheme is kinda cool, but if you rely on the button colors for a game like Fable 3, then this ones not for you. The buttons are white, black, and grey now. I watched an interview with the main designer of XBOX equipment about this controller, and he mentioned several times that the improvements would help with fighting games, and maybe they have. I cant comment on that since I dont play fighting games. But for me, it wasn't worth it.

UPDATE: 11/18/2010

Ok, after using this for a couple weeks I felt I should update the review. I guess by using it for awhile it loosened up a little. Because now it works perfect. I can use all 8 directions in both modes. (plus and circle). And it works right now. I can pick the correct weapons that Im trying to. But when I try to use it for messaging its still constantly going diagonal when I need down, etc. So depending on what your using it for give it a chance. And just know that after a few days/ weeks (depending on how much you use it) it will get better with time. MUCH better that the original.

The only major change to this controller is the D-pad. The silver color looks fantastic. The sticks have a completely concave rubber design -- no little raised dots inside them -- and I like the feel of them. If I had reviewed this controller soon after buying it, I would have given it 4 or 5 stars. The D-pad redesign was great - not perfect - but still, I found when the D-pad was set to the raised position it was more accurate than when lowered (like a standard MS 360 controller).

The major problem is that after just 2 months of use the D-pad popped off and is now completely unusable and unsalvageable. I would describe myself as an avid gamer, but not an excessive one. The main reason I personally purchased the redesign was to play fighting games using the raised D-pad. As I said, it worked great until it just popped right off. Now that it has popped off and I can see how it was put together, I'm not at all surprised that it broke or that other reviewers have mentioned the same problem. The plastic "cross" part is a completely separate piece and it is only lightly fastened to the rest of the D-pad construction at it's center. Once that piece wears out it's Game Over for the D-pad.

As I said, I love to game, but not excessively. Generally, I would say I put in anywhere from 0-2 hours during the week and maybe between 3 and 5 hours of use during weekends on this controller during the 2 months I had it. I have been gaming since the Atari days and have personally owned the following consoles at some point in time: NES, SNES, N64, PS1, PS2, Xbox, GCN, 360, PS3, Wii. I have NEVER before had a first party controller wear out in 2 months.

If you don't use the D-pad much and like the color or the rest of the very minor tweaks, this controller will probably work just fine for you; however, if you buy it for the redesigned D-pad you're probably in for an unpleasant surprise. The workmanship of the main selling point of the redesign is so shoddy that it can break in 2 months. Consider yourself warned.

This is an extremely nice controller and well worth the buy. It includes a play and charge kit with the rechargeable battery pack. This is extremely nice for when I am charging my other batteries.

Everything about the controller has been approved.

Early reviews have said that the D-Pad is still on a disc and that is the main problem. I agree that this is a problem, but the new d-pad is miles ahead of the sorry excuse for a d-pad the original controllers have.

The texture on the controller makes it easier to hold if you play for an extended period of time. It's very comfortable.

The new joysticks have a new texture on top of them and they are much better in every single way. The new greyscale style of the buttons is a unique touch that just adds to the "cool" factor of the controller.

I have gotten a good amount of use already and it is just MILES ahead of the other model.

This controller is sweet. It's not meant to be a totally different controller so don't expect it to be, but it looks awesome and works just as well as any other Microsoft controller. The D-pad doesn't raise up when you twist it, the gray disc around the D-pad lowers so it still sticks up the same height on the controller. These are not meant to be replacements for all your current controllers but if you need another controller get one of these, you won't regret it.

This controller has tight springs, and the feel of the new sticks is great. It is still pretty easy to hit a diagonal on the D-Pad, but the ability to lower the diagonals makes it easier to train your fingers to be more precise in your presses. This will lead to fewer accidental diagonals. If you're getting a new controller, I thoroughly recommend it. As to people saying the D-Pad gets loose, it's because they turn it the wrong way. Don't manhandle delicate mechanisms and they won't break, easy as that.

After owning the controller and being very satisfied for two months, the dpad began to show signs of wear. Just now, while playing MK9, it completely fell off. Thanks Microsoft. Unfortunately the normal controllers are terrible for fighting games so I have no idea what to do.

Just wanted to throw my two cents in.

This controller quickly became my favorite once I purchased it. It feels awesome, the dpad is better, the brushed paint sort of absorbs sweat and doesn't get slippery like other controllers, and it looks awesome with the muted color grey buttons.

MAJOR DOWNSIDE:

The Dpad broke on mine only like 5 months into owning the controller. Lamest part is that this is not an isolated incident. It's a known problem, and if you're unlucky like me and it breaks out of warranty (after 90 days) M$ won't help at all. I mean AT ALL. I called and pulled out all the stops - "I want to talk to the manager", "I have been a customer for 10 years", etc. etc. NOTHING.

I am not exactly hard on controllers and mine snapped just below the surface. Now Im out 60 bucks. Don't make this mistake and buy the controller just for the Dpad transforming. If you do get it, just don't mess with the Dpad. Keep it in the "whole" position as much as possible.

The D-Pad on this controller will break. It's a design flaw. The D-Pad is only connected in the middle of the crosshair and the wear and tear of normal use is enough to make the D-Pad just fall off. It happened so quickly to both controllers I purchased that I'm surprised this isn't a widespread issue. The first one ordered broke in two weeks. The second one broke even quicker than that. Do not purchase this controller for games with "vigorous" use (like fighting games) unless you are okay purchasing a new one every two weeks.