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The WingMan Cordless RumblePad is compatible with PCs running Windows 98, 2000, Me, and XP, with an available USB port.
The buttons and sticks do have a nice feel to them, and are quite responsive, but the problem lies in the design itself.
First and foremost, would be the shape and weight. Being cordless, it requires quite a number of AA batteries. No one wants to play video games using an ungainly controller that weighs sixty-four pounds.
As another reviewer noted, this pad is notorious for calibration problems. Soon after I recieved it, my left analog stick failed. Normally I wouldn't care, as I don't use them, but now it's always sending X+/- to the PC, causing anything I play to go crazy.
This is also a dual mode controller, with the D-Pad configured to also act as a hat control. Normally this wouldn't pose a problem, unless you're intending to play MAME or other emulator ROMs on this controller. It's not an 8-way Directional pad. You'll find that your common "Forward, Down, Down-Forward, Button" movements in fighting games are quite hard to execute.
All in all, I'd say pass this one up, even if the size and weight issues aren't... uh. issues.. for ya.
What I feel is great about this pad is everything except the cordless facet of it. There are no hard edges or loose feel to any of the parts. There is nice, solid feel and feedback to the D-Pad (I prefer the solid concave disc, less fatigue). The dual joysticks are also concave which is nice on the thumbs. They also move and feel just like the sticks on the DualShock PS1/PS2 gamepad which is good. The buttons on the Cordless RumblePad are solid and have a good action to them. There are no harsh edges to dig into your skin. There are no loose, hard-plastic reactions or noises to these buttons. And the hand extensions are perfect for my hands. Once again there are no harsh edges and everything is contoured to fit comfortably. The rumble effect is just like the DualShock as well. It's neat and sometimes helpful, but really isn't necessary. Fortunately, Logitech allows you to control whether the Rumble effect is on or off (major battery conservation in having it off). I never had any problems installing this gamepad or getting it to work within games, until recently.
Gamepads are a seasonal item. They're only good for certain games. Often they are necessary for ported Console games. Which brings me to my present. I have the urge to replay Final Fantasy VII and VII on the PC. These games cry for a gamepad, so I fetched my WingMan Cordless RumblePad. After a week of web research I have discovered the my receiver is dead. And that this has happened to numerous WingMan Cordless RumblePad owners who have had their gamepad for a year or more.
There are no replacement receivers sold. The best advice offered is to "try" Logitech Tech Support. :(
With a decent set of rechargeable batteries (total of 4 AA, 8 if you want to hot-swap them) and a good rechargeable battery recharger that drains all the power from the batteries before it recharges them, you will have the best wireless rumblepad for a year. And then after that year you may find yourself with a dead receiver. And after it becomes a lost cause through normal avenues, you may find yourself wanting to open that receiver to see if you can find the short or whatever is causing the problem. You'll find the screw in the bottom holding things together isn't alone and that the seam on the receiver is sealed with some kind of ACME Super Glue and give up.
Wish me luck. I'm off to find a replacement gamepad.
Battery Recommendations: Powerex AA NIMH 1800mAh or better.
Charger Recommendations: Maha Energy MH-C204F
I recommend this game for ALL racing games, FSP, and all the Tony Hawk games, and wrestling games. Configuring the keyboard for those games is pointless because of all the functions.
Don't forget the rumble mode!
The batteries will wear out every 10-20 hrs on play. I highly recommend you buy nimh rechargeables. The batteries will pay for themselves very quickly.
If you want a great accurate good feel adult controller this is the one to get. If you like the sidewinder controllers this one will make you forget about them real quick.
If you want "rumble" features I don't know how much support is out there so far, so don't buy for that "whistle" that's not supported a ton yet.
Overall I'm totally satisfied, I'd say I've got 2-300 hrs of playing time on them all and they all work like new. They are the best controller on the market.
Figuring a replacement would still do the same thing guessing the RMA process would waste good 2 weeks of my time. I uninstalled the Logitech software and fought with the calibration built into Windows and finally tricked it into finding the proper center of the stick. The problem with doing this is you dont get full functionality from all the buttons in certain games where you cant map functions to specific buttons in game. I am fairly well versed in Windows so I couldnt imagine anyone doing this who's looking for a non nonsense install and setup, I found myself wanting to bash it with a hammer and chucking it out the window. Though I kind of got it to work, many games will not detect a remapping of the two sticks and your either stuck with their default use mappings or you cant use them at all.
Logitech makes decent hardware, but they seem to allways fall short when it comes to drivers and software, I own their Z-560 sound system and a number of versions of their cordless keyboards and mice and find that the default Windows drivers run far better than what they have to offer without irritating programs running in the systray and consuming memory and wasting time with loading useless garbageware every time you boot.
Battery life on this stick is pretty good, after buying it and using it for about a month its sat on my desk for almost a year without use and still powered on when i tried it. To my dismay a couple months later when it did stop working I noticed that a couple of the batteries went south and started to leak inside. No damage was done to the unit so I put a new set of batteries in and it started working again, lucky for me because I'd hate to have a paperweight that leaks battery acid.
Seriously consider getting another game pad, or buy it from a place that would give you no problems returning it if you decide that you dont like it.
I chose this controller because it has dual analog sticks AND (most importantly) it has four triggers. I had been using the Gravis Gamepad USB for the longest time, so I had gotten used to the Playstation button layout. I'm not a big fan of the Microsoft 2-trigger, 6-button format so some of the other similar controllers with analog sticks were out of the running.
Ultimately, I'd say that this is a good deal, as long as you're willing to invest in some quality rechargeable batteries as well. It's nice not to have the chord to deal with, but constant gaming can be costly if you're replacing batteries frequently.
This is for people who must have four triggers to play their games - otherwise, I suggest you get the none cordless version of the same rumblepad made by Logitech. It's cheaper, doesn't require batteries and still has the same slick design.
In addition, you can program your gamepad for virtually any game. This isn't foolproof, though. I tried doing that for RtCW and I was limited to a certain range of viewability and aiming. So I couldn't play that game with it. However, plenty of other games work well with it.
Software - I loaded the latest drivers and they need work. Controller configuration is not the easiest, and I get a blue screen about half the time I open logitech's wingman configuration program. Fortunately, I don't have to reboot when this happens.
If you have small hands, this probably isn't the best controller for you. The sides need to curve in more ( rather than / to help people with smaller hands and fingers. The buttons on the right side are OK, but I can't use anything in the middle or on the left.
The range is great--we 'tested' it by playing from across the room, then down the hall, then into the next room. No drop-outs (except you can't see the TV at this point!).
No amount of body leaning/twisting effects the wireless connection.
The ballance and the weight of this conrtoler are one good aspect of it. I have always hated light controlers. This one is a little heavier than most as it needs batteries and the wireless interface. The runble feature is also good, if you can find a game that it works on.
The accuracy of the control is great for games such as GTA3 (in car), Carmageddon or Midtown Madness. I found this controler to be the best PC controler for racing games I have ever used. The software, and most games, offer ways to fine tune the feedback.
The control is also fair in games such as FF7 and FF8 where the control are setup in "classic" mode. This conrtol does well on any game that has been designed with controler, not the keyboard, in mind.
If you like playing emulator console games, you cannot do better than this control. It works well with Nesicle and Jnes as well as Bleem!, ZSNES, and N64 emulators. Again any game that is built around a controler.
An unfortunate aspect of this control is the lack of control you have in a first person shooter enviroment. Many games such as Medtal of Honor: Allied Assult or Return to Castle Wolfenstein have no configuration files. You have to manually configure the control in the software, which is really tedious. Even when you get it set how you would like you guy just doesn't behave corectly in the games. Also stay away from this control if you are thinking of using it for a RPG such as Morrowwind.
The worse design feature of this control is the battery connections are poor. If you manage to drop it (or thorugh it against you case in a fit of frustration) the battery contacts can become damaged. This leads it to going dead in the middle of games w/o you're knowledge (well until you die :(.)
What this conrtol needs is better battery connections and a more usable software interface.
While the engineer developed his thesis, the director leaned over to
his assistant and whispered, "Did you ever hear of why the sea is salt?"
"Why the sea is salt?" whispered back the assistant. "What do you
mean?"
The director continued: "When I was a little kid, I heard the story of
`Why the sea is salt' many times, but I never thought it important until just
a moment ago. It's something like this: Formerly the sea was fresh water and
salt was rare and expensive. A miller received from a wizard a wonderful
machine that just ground salt out of itself all day long. At first the miller
thought himself the most fortunate man in the world, but soon all the villages
had salt to last them for centuries and still the machine kept on grinding
more salt. The miller had to move out of his house, he had to move off his
acres. At last he determined that he would sink the machine in the sea and
be rid of it. But the mill ground so fast that boat and miller and machine
were sunk together, and down below, the mill still went on grinding and that's
why the sea is salt."
"I don't get you," said the assistant.
-- Guy Endore, "Men of Iron"
If we do not change our direction we are likely to end up where we are headed.
