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Before a load of gaming fans start pointing out games like Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto 3 etc (all third party games), I'm talking about the hardware this time.
We get constant reminders from magazines how you're better off buying the more expensive, but better quality official products.
I've heard all sorts of horror stories about third party gear, as well as my own bad experiences with cheap third party products that I have bought.
I've had to put up with uncomfortable N64 pads.
Many times did my WWF Attitude, Turok 2 and Micromachines save files wipe themselves from a useless memory card.
That's why I made sure that with the Gamecube, I'd buy official and official ONLY.
Ok, so these particular ones were awful and probably bottom of the range, and some of the third parties do give you a reasonable piece of equiptment for your money, but you only have to look in an SR catalogue to see the lack of inspiration in their designs.
Yes, I know they sometimes try to be clever, with this football stadium idea, and other strange gadgets, but they'd be better off just putting more design effort into their normal pads.
The usual third party pad is normally a clone of the official one, only squished into a weird shape with autofire switches and some funny colours.
The button set-ups are the same, only not as well placed or as well made as the official one.
Basically, they're simply a poorer version of the official design.
Now if they applied some imagination and some proper market research, they could be better.
Look at all the official pads.
None of them are flawless.
The GC pad:
The D-pad is not so well placed (doesn't matter to most of us but does to some) and it's very small and fiddly.
The Z button is a tad uncomfortable - I'd have prefered and N64-style Z trigger.
Some people don't like how the A-button is bigger than all the others and prefer 4 smaller buttons like the PS/Xbox pads.
And some people just prefer the PS2/Xbox layout full stop!
The Xbox pad:
Some think it's way too large.
It's buttons are sort of hard and not so comfortable to press.
A few others which I wouldn't know unless I used one more.
And some people just prefer the PS2/GC layout full stop!
The PS2 pad:
I for one do not like the position of it's main analogue stick.
Again, I can't find much more faults without using one more.
And again, it's down to prefering too.
I know some third parties have made leads that let you use the PS2 pad on the Xbox/GC and vice versa etc.
But even then, the PS2 pad doesn't have GC style shoulder buttons or Xbox style triggers.
Neither the PS2 or Gamecube using "pushing the analogue stick down" as a button.
And there's plenty more.
Official games controllers are so distinct nowdays, there's no way that they'll please EVERYONE.
So instead of making inferior clones of the official controllers, and giving consumers the worst of both worlds, why don't they try to improve and make a good alternative instead.
The majority of Gamecube games want the analogue stick as the main control.
But for the few that require the D-Pad as the main, the official pad isn't so great.
So how about a third party offering a pad where you can swap positions of the D-Pad and main analogue stick, to suit what game you're playing.
Some people don't like the Z button, and wanted a trigger for first person shooters. Also, they prefered that all buttons were the same size so they could access all 4 just as easily (I can, but it took some getting used to).
So instead of cloning the official pad, the third party develloper should improve the Z button by making it a trigger, and change the button sizes to suit this player.
Some PS2 owners don't like having to stretch their thumbs over for the analogue stick. Again, having a pad where the D-Pad and analogue stick can switch places would help a lot.
The PS2 shoulder buttons have 8 levels of sensitivity (so I've been told) - just like the Gamecube ones. So how about a third party jazzing up a PS2 controller by putting GC style should buttons on the PS2, or something along those lines...
Then their products would stick out as good alternatives in their own right, rather than cheap and inferior "official-wannabe"s.
We get constant reminders from magazines how you're better off buying the more expensive, but better quality official products.
I've heard all sorts of horror stories about third party gear, as well as my own bad experiences with cheap third party products that I have bought.
I've had to put up with uncomfortable N64 pads.
Many times did my WWF Attitude, Turok 2 and Micromachines save files wipe themselves from a useless memory card.
That's why I made sure that with the Gamecube, I'd buy official and official ONLY.
Ok, so these particular ones were awful and probably bottom of the range, and some of the third parties do give you a reasonable piece of equiptment for your money, but you only have to look in an SR catalogue to see the lack of inspiration in their designs.
Yes, I know they sometimes try to be clever, with this football stadium idea, and other strange gadgets, but they'd be better off just putting more design effort into their normal pads.
The usual third party pad is normally a clone of the official one, only squished into a weird shape with autofire switches and some funny colours.
The button set-ups are the same, only not as well placed or as well made as the official one.
Basically, they're simply a poorer version of the official design.
Now if they applied some imagination and some proper market research, they could be better.
Look at all the official pads.
None of them are flawless.
The GC pad:
The D-pad is not so well placed (doesn't matter to most of us but does to some) and it's very small and fiddly.
The Z button is a tad uncomfortable - I'd have prefered and N64-style Z trigger.
Some people don't like how the A-button is bigger than all the others and prefer 4 smaller buttons like the PS/Xbox pads.
And some people just prefer the PS2/Xbox layout full stop!
The Xbox pad:
Some think it's way too large.
It's buttons are sort of hard and not so comfortable to press.
A few others which I wouldn't know unless I used one more.
And some people just prefer the PS2/GC layout full stop!
The PS2 pad:
I for one do not like the position of it's main analogue stick.
Again, I can't find much more faults without using one more.
And again, it's down to prefering too.
I know some third parties have made leads that let you use the PS2 pad on the Xbox/GC and vice versa etc.
But even then, the PS2 pad doesn't have GC style shoulder buttons or Xbox style triggers.
Neither the PS2 or Gamecube using "pushing the analogue stick down" as a button.
And there's plenty more.
Official games controllers are so distinct nowdays, there's no way that they'll please EVERYONE.
So instead of making inferior clones of the official controllers, and giving consumers the worst of both worlds, why don't they try to improve and make a good alternative instead.
The majority of Gamecube games want the analogue stick as the main control.
But for the few that require the D-Pad as the main, the official pad isn't so great.
So how about a third party offering a pad where you can swap positions of the D-Pad and main analogue stick, to suit what game you're playing.
Some people don't like the Z button, and wanted a trigger for first person shooters. Also, they prefered that all buttons were the same size so they could access all 4 just as easily (I can, but it took some getting used to).
So instead of cloning the official pad, the third party develloper should improve the Z button by making it a trigger, and change the button sizes to suit this player.
Some PS2 owners don't like having to stretch their thumbs over for the analogue stick. Again, having a pad where the D-Pad and analogue stick can switch places would help a lot.
The PS2 shoulder buttons have 8 levels of sensitivity (so I've been told) - just like the Gamecube ones. So how about a third party jazzing up a PS2 controller by putting GC style should buttons on the PS2, or something along those lines...
Then their products would stick out as good alternatives in their own right, rather than cheap and inferior "official-wannabe"s.
I think the best third-party items are those little things that allow you to use your PS2 pads with a Gamecube or a PC. If there was an adapter for the Gamecube joypad then I'd like it even more. Nice cheap multiplayer hi-jinx.
Spare a thought though for PC gamers, who don't even have a first party. If ever a format needed a decent joypad, the PC is it. At the moment the choice seems to be between using a PS2 pad (which just don't feel right for emulated games) or one of Microsoft's playschool lumps. Life is so unfair.
Spare a thought though for PC gamers, who don't even have a first party. If ever a format needed a decent joypad, the PC is it. At the moment the choice seems to be between using a PS2 pad (which just don't feel right for emulated games) or one of Microsoft's playschool lumps. Life is so unfair.
Yeah.
The quality is good, but they haven't tried anything different.
It's simply a cheap clone of the official pad.
Some people might have prefered it over the official one if it had a more comfortable D-pad or a Z button for example.
The quality is good, but they haven't tried anything different.
It's simply a cheap clone of the official pad.
Some people might have prefered it over the official one if it had a more comfortable D-pad or a Z button for example.
I think the Gamecube 3rd Party stuff is pretty good, really. I have a Logic 3 controller (bought from SR, don't ya know!) which is pretty comfortable, responsive and doesn't cost much at all. Same goes for an Xbox one I tried a while ago.
The third party memory cards on the PSX were mostly terrible and the PS2 ones just make things worse with their compression techniques, but the Gamecube cards seem to be quite good, a friend of mine has used one for ages and he has no complaints.
It's true though that third party stuff can be hit or miss, but I would just recommend that you try it out before you buy (hint, get a friend to buy them first, then try it out that way!).
The third party memory cards on the PSX were mostly terrible and the PS2 ones just make things worse with their compression techniques, but the Gamecube cards seem to be quite good, a friend of mine has used one for ages and he has no complaints.
It's true though that third party stuff can be hit or miss, but I would just recommend that you try it out before you buy (hint, get a friend to buy them first, then try it out that way!).
Gridloch wrote:
> Good post. Maybe worth a GAD
I agree, but so do a lot of posters.
> Good post. Maybe worth a GAD
I agree, but so do a lot of posters.
Good post. Maybe worth a GAD
Before a load of gaming fans start pointing out games like Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto 3 etc (all third party games), I'm talking about the hardware this time.
We get constant reminders from magazines how you're better off buying the more expensive, but better quality official products.
I've heard all sorts of horror stories about third party gear, as well as my own bad experiences with cheap third party products that I have bought.
I've had to put up with uncomfortable N64 pads.
Many times did my WWF Attitude, Turok 2 and Micromachines save files wipe themselves from a useless memory card.
That's why I made sure that with the Gamecube, I'd buy official and official ONLY.
Ok, so these particular ones were awful and probably bottom of the range, and some of the third parties do give you a reasonable piece of equiptment for your money, but you only have to look in an SR catalogue to see the lack of inspiration in their designs.
Yes, I know they sometimes try to be clever, with this football stadium idea, and other strange gadgets, but they'd be better off just putting more design effort into their normal pads.
The usual third party pad is normally a clone of the official one, only squished into a weird shape with autofire switches and some funny colours.
The button set-ups are the same, only not as well placed or as well made as the official one.
Basically, they're simply a poorer version of the official design.
Now if they applied some imagination and some proper market research, they could be better.
Look at all the official pads.
None of them are flawless.
The GC pad:
The D-pad is not so well placed (doesn't matter to most of us but does to some) and it's very small and fiddly.
The Z button is a tad uncomfortable - I'd have prefered and N64-style Z trigger.
Some people don't like how the A-button is bigger than all the others and prefer 4 smaller buttons like the PS/Xbox pads.
And some people just prefer the PS2/Xbox layout full stop!
The Xbox pad:
Some think it's way too large.
It's buttons are sort of hard and not so comfortable to press.
A few others which I wouldn't know unless I used one more.
And some people just prefer the PS2/GC layout full stop!
The PS2 pad:
I for one do not like the position of it's main analogue stick.
Again, I can't find much more faults without using one more.
And again, it's down to prefering too.
I know some third parties have made leads that let you use the PS2 pad on the Xbox/GC and vice versa etc.
But even then, the PS2 pad doesn't have GC style shoulder buttons or Xbox style triggers.
Neither the PS2 or Gamecube using "pushing the analogue stick down" as a button.
And there's plenty more.
Official games controllers are so distinct nowdays, there's no way that they'll please EVERYONE.
So instead of making inferior clones of the official controllers, and giving consumers the worst of both worlds, why don't they try to improve and make a good alternative instead.
The majority of Gamecube games want the analogue stick as the main control.
But for the few that require the D-Pad as the main, the official pad isn't so great.
So how about a third party offering a pad where you can swap positions of the D-Pad and main analogue stick, to suit what game you're playing.
Some people don't like the Z button, and wanted a trigger for first person shooters. Also, they prefered that all buttons were the same size so they could access all 4 just as easily (I can, but it took some getting used to).
So instead of cloning the official pad, the third party develloper should improve the Z button by making it a trigger, and change the button sizes to suit this player.
Some PS2 owners don't like having to stretch their thumbs over for the analogue stick. Again, having a pad where the D-Pad and analogue stick can switch places would help a lot.
The PS2 shoulder buttons have 8 levels of sensitivity (so I've been told) - just like the Gamecube ones. So how about a third party jazzing up a PS2 controller by putting GC style should buttons on the PS2, or something along those lines...
Then their products would stick out as good alternatives in their own right, rather than cheap and inferior "official-wannabe"s.
We get constant reminders from magazines how you're better off buying the more expensive, but better quality official products.
I've heard all sorts of horror stories about third party gear, as well as my own bad experiences with cheap third party products that I have bought.
I've had to put up with uncomfortable N64 pads.
Many times did my WWF Attitude, Turok 2 and Micromachines save files wipe themselves from a useless memory card.
That's why I made sure that with the Gamecube, I'd buy official and official ONLY.
Ok, so these particular ones were awful and probably bottom of the range, and some of the third parties do give you a reasonable piece of equiptment for your money, but you only have to look in an SR catalogue to see the lack of inspiration in their designs.
Yes, I know they sometimes try to be clever, with this football stadium idea, and other strange gadgets, but they'd be better off just putting more design effort into their normal pads.
The usual third party pad is normally a clone of the official one, only squished into a weird shape with autofire switches and some funny colours.
The button set-ups are the same, only not as well placed or as well made as the official one.
Basically, they're simply a poorer version of the official design.
Now if they applied some imagination and some proper market research, they could be better.
Look at all the official pads.
None of them are flawless.
The GC pad:
The D-pad is not so well placed (doesn't matter to most of us but does to some) and it's very small and fiddly.
The Z button is a tad uncomfortable - I'd have prefered and N64-style Z trigger.
Some people don't like how the A-button is bigger than all the others and prefer 4 smaller buttons like the PS/Xbox pads.
And some people just prefer the PS2/Xbox layout full stop!
The Xbox pad:
Some think it's way too large.
It's buttons are sort of hard and not so comfortable to press.
A few others which I wouldn't know unless I used one more.
And some people just prefer the PS2/GC layout full stop!
The PS2 pad:
I for one do not like the position of it's main analogue stick.
Again, I can't find much more faults without using one more.
And again, it's down to prefering too.
I know some third parties have made leads that let you use the PS2 pad on the Xbox/GC and vice versa etc.
But even then, the PS2 pad doesn't have GC style shoulder buttons or Xbox style triggers.
Neither the PS2 or Gamecube using "pushing the analogue stick down" as a button.
And there's plenty more.
Official games controllers are so distinct nowdays, there's no way that they'll please EVERYONE.
So instead of making inferior clones of the official controllers, and giving consumers the worst of both worlds, why don't they try to improve and make a good alternative instead.
The majority of Gamecube games want the analogue stick as the main control.
But for the few that require the D-Pad as the main, the official pad isn't so great.
So how about a third party offering a pad where you can swap positions of the D-Pad and main analogue stick, to suit what game you're playing.
Some people don't like the Z button, and wanted a trigger for first person shooters. Also, they prefered that all buttons were the same size so they could access all 4 just as easily (I can, but it took some getting used to).
So instead of cloning the official pad, the third party develloper should improve the Z button by making it a trigger, and change the button sizes to suit this player.
Some PS2 owners don't like having to stretch their thumbs over for the analogue stick. Again, having a pad where the D-Pad and analogue stick can switch places would help a lot.
The PS2 shoulder buttons have 8 levels of sensitivity (so I've been told) - just like the Gamecube ones. So how about a third party jazzing up a PS2 controller by putting GC style should buttons on the PS2, or something along those lines...
Then their products would stick out as good alternatives in their own right, rather than cheap and inferior "official-wannabe"s.