Warning: mysql_fetch_row(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/modsonli/public_html/themes/MODS3/Reviews.php on line 296 MODSonline - Hardware, Logitech Dual Action Gamepad
Today we are going to take a look into the Logitech Dual Action Gamepad. This gamepad can be found for street price of around $19.99 (USD) both online and in stores. With such a low price tag, we wanted to see how it held up against today's hardware and for that matter, today's gamers which tend to really wear out a controller. Making it's debut in 2003 as a product in Logitech's line of comfortable gamepads, we were really looking forward to literally getting our hands on this one.
The first thing you'll notice when you open the box is that it comes complete with a fold-out style manual of instruction, in several languages, and little slits cut in the corners where a CD of software is situated. Being as we bought this from a store, the box was in pretty good condition and had a sticker slapped over the top and front of the box displaying that the controller was compatible for such titles on the PC as Madden NFL 2004, NBA Live 2004, NHL 2004, and FIFA Soccer 2004 which is almost the entire line of EA Sports' current titles. This was a plus as we actually planned on testing this controller with some of those current titles as well as some other games, some older and some more current. The CD has Logitech's software on it which although it recommends and advises that the controller may not work without it, we were able to turn it off after configuring it and still use the controller. In fact, there really isn't a reason to have their little utility running in the background when you're gaming anyway and so we opted to just not use it after we looked over it. The first thing it does is scan for supported games on your system. Among the titles we had almost all were detected and each had it's own profile to configure the buttons within Windows (the box says the controller is compatible with Windows 9x all the way to XP and Macintosh, the software was used on Windows XP).
The controller itself has a lengthy cord and is a dark blue color with a fine sandpaper-esque plastic grip. This textured surface (blue on black) was actually not rough and rather very comfortable despite our first impressions. The directional pad is smooth and caved in for a nice feel when you perform circular motions on it. The analog sticks are black rubber and feel very nice. The four main buttons were very smooth and the triggers are touted as very fast. We tested this in some racing simulations and they were indeed pretty good. None of the buttons were hard to press, they were just about right. The analog sticks double as buttons when pushed down, a nice and somewhat standard nowadays. Sometimes controllers make it too easy to push these down, others are too hard. These analog sticks were almost perfect and had little to no problem staying in place instead of accidentally pressing them at the wrong time.
The handles are curved to fit your hands very well. This controller is very similar to an original Playstation controller, however put next to a normal Playstation controller it seems slightly larger, although this may be due to the fact it has analog sticks. Either way, it was neither too small nor too big. The bottom (or secondary) trigger buttons are slightly taller than the others and are situated at a slight downward angle. The back of the grip there also covers this very well for when you take your fingers off the buttons and rest them there. It is also pretty light, but I imagine it's counter-part the Force Feedback version weighs a bit more (in addition to it's higher price tag).
The pad connects to your system via USB 1.1 and did not seem to soak up much power. This is good due to the power usage of some of today's higher-performance mice (such as the MX500, etc.) and the trendy USB keyboard, removable media and other devices. Calibration was quick and easy via the Windows XP interface. In fact, it didn't require any repeated steps due to accidental button mashing (for example, some analog sticks with buttons) or poor use of the sticks.
So how did it do against some real hardcore gaming? We first put on NHL 2002 and played for hours on end (as much as four to six hours on some sessions) and not once did it wince. We also tried NHL 2004 and it performed as expected. Having a worn-out Axispad controller myself, I can tell you from experience that games like the NHL series can really take a toll on the analog stick, especially some of the older versions as they are a bit more fast paced than the newer, more realistic titles. There's also other things, though, such as sensitivity that needed to be tried out instead of just synthetic tests on the desktop. We fired up Midnight Club II. Driving the motorcycles and the cars were never easier, and harder, than with this controller. The turning and sensitivity was so good, it was shocking and took some adjusting from other pads at first. This made the game feel different -- and it was good. Need for Speed: Underground was fairly easy to play with this controller as well. The drag racing was especially fun and the setup it used by default made shifting really fun instead of challenging. In fact, in about 5 minutes we were shifting perfect and the triggers handled this with ease. We also tried Grand Theft Auto III, as that game isn't the same on a keyboard and mouse for driving. We used the gamepad to drive as it appears a lot of users like to do just that. Cars moved in ways we had never imagined when switching from a keyboard to the pad. They were easier to handle and the good sensitivity made it hard to come up with an excuse for crashing. Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness is basically the same as on the console, so it really made no difference. The software also came up with profiles for other games such as Hitman: Codename 47, however we didn't feel a need to try the gamepad on that since this is a PC and we do have a keyboard and mouse for those titles.
To sum it all up, the controller has worked great so far and was actually cheaper (shipping and handling costs) to buy it from a local retailer than online from the Logitech store, however this may be different if you use some sort of a promotional code from Logitech. It seems to have good endurance over the months, good architecture and excellent grip. For a mere twenty, this controller was well worth the money. If you don't care about force feedback then save yourself the money and get this controller. If you use this controller to play on your computer, then the wireless version really might not be all that it's hyped up to be. Considering all of this, we were happy with a simple yet efficient controller from a name we knew we could trust.
RSS news feeds for MODSonline can be found News.php.
)
)
)
)
