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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
perfect! , 16 Aug 2008
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Advantages: everything!
Disadvantages: doesn't come with a rechargeable battery...
I've liked games for a long time, since I was a little kid. I've used a lot of controllers before; pretty much all the Nintendo consoles, SEGA Consoles, all the Playstations and the original Xbox.
I use to be a Playstation man, but after my PS2 broke two times with laser errors, I had enough with Playstations and decided to get an Xbox. I remember waiting in the day it was meant to arrive, and I eagerly opened up the box and set it up. As soon as my hands clutched the Xbox controller (please note I purchased the Xbox a while after its release and my Xbox was shipped with the newer Mini S Controller), I fell in love with it. After my good experience with the original Xbox, I had to get a 360!
The Xbox 360's standard controller (both wired which is shipped out with the Arcade version of the console and the wireless version which is shipped out with the Premium and Elite version) fits in everyone's hands perfectly. When I say everyone's, I mean everyone's - from mine, to my girlfriends, my dads, and even my two younger sisters who are 8 and 13. They're suitable for the whole family!
The controls can usually be picked up from any shop that sells games, the odd supermarket and of course the world wide web! You can get them from Play.com for £29.99 with free delivery, and normally pick them up used at about £20. Although, I do recommend buying the 'Wireless Entertainment Pack' from Amazon.co.uk, you can buy it new from a marketplace seller for about £30 which includes Forza 2 and Viva Piñata.
Now the reason I mentioned how much the wireless controls are so early on in the review, is because I know most people (and me at first) think the controls are really expensive for what they are... But they ARE worth it. They're made of an incredibly strong plastic, i've dropped it a few times, or accidentally flicked it off my duvet covers on to my wooden floor but there's not a mark to be seen. On hard impact, the controller does usually turn off, but never have I experienced any problems - and besides if you're in a middle of a game and you drop your controller, if it turns off it pauses your game automatically!
I personally own both a black and white 360 controller, one of which was shipped out with my Elite console and the other with my wireless entertainment pack, which I got for £20 brand new as a deal when I purchased my Elite console from Amazon.co.uk. You can now also get the controllers in baby blue and baby pink for the same price from Play.com. There are also two Halo Limited Edition controllers, a Spartan one and a Covenant one (play Halo if you don't know what I'm on about!) which are about £10 more expensive.
So, now the buttons. There are four buttons which are located on the very top of the controller. The back two are known as triggers, and labelled LT & RT (Left Trigger & Right Trigger). These are commonly used for throwing grenades and shooting in first person shooters, brake/reverse and accelerate in racing games, rotating the camera angle in strategy games and skipping menus in the main Xbox 360 menus. The two buttons in front of this are known as LB & RB (which I imagine are Left Back & Right Back). These buttons don't really have any common commands... On the front of the controller are another ten buttons if you count the joysticks. I'll list them from left to right: Left Joystick, D-Pad, Back, Xbox 360 Guide, Start, Right Joystick and then of course some of command buttons, X, Y, A & B. The left and right joystick are of course for moving forward and backwards, and moving around, and a lot of the time (if playing a first person shooter) clicking the joysticks makes your character crouch or lay. The D-Pad is the old fashioned way of moving around, this isn't used for that much any more, but some games do support it. However, the D-Pad is more commonly used to change weapons, or even formations in sport simulation games. I find it's easier to search through the menus using the D-Pad sometimes, as I get carried away using the joystick and always end up scrolling past the option I want to select. The back and start button explain themselves, I hope! And the command buttons do different things in every game, although 'A' does always select options in the menus.
The Xbox Guide button, I love it! I won't go into too much detail of what the menu does when you access it using this button, but lets just say from this menu you can see how much battery power your controller has, what Xbox Live profile you're signed into, how many buddies you have online, how many new messages, easy access to your voice conversations and windows live messenger, what music you're listening too and the simple commands such as play/pause, stop, skip forward/backward and of course the option to quit the game and go to the main Xbox 360 Dashboard. The Xbox Guide button also has a light ring around it, which is split into quarters to show what controller you are using. For example, if you had another controller turned on, one would recommend controller one (the top left light would show) and the other would recommend controller two (the top right light would show).
The battery life is incredibly good, it lasts a good forty hours on a good pair of AA batteries, but of course you can use a battery pack which you can buy in matching colours for about £10. You then buy a lead known as 'Plug & Play' which plugs straight in to one of your 360's USB Ports so you can charge your controller whilst playing. You can also get a battery pack charger where you can attach up to two of your battery packs and fully charge them within a few hours. Unfortunately you can only get the charger in white, so if you're hoping to get one to match your elite console, you're out of luck! I personally use two rechargeable batteries in mine which I regularly charge overnight - I found this was a cheaper option as I already had the batteries and charger! The battery case/pack easily clips on to the back of the controller, and can be easily removed by holding down a button and pulling the battery off.
There's another tiny button on top of the control, which simply connects your controller to your 360. Although you can only connect your controller to one 360 at a time, so keep that in mind if you can't get your controller to work if you take it to a friends house!
There are two ports on the controller, one on the top and one on the bottom. The top is simply to connect the controller to a plug and play wire to charge the controller, and the other is so you can plug a headset in - although I recommend you buy a wireless headset (read my headset review if you want to know why)!
Overall, this is most definitely the best console controller I've ever used. It's comfortable, it fits in your hands perfectly, the buttons are easily accessible and don't hurt your hands after long periods of play (unlike the PS2/PS3's joysticks)! It looks excellent and fits in with the 360's style perfectly. If you don't have a 360, but play a lot of games on your Windows PC, I recommend getting the Microsoft 360 Controller for Windows, which is also wireless!
The Technical Stuff:
-2.4GHz wireless technology with 30-foot range.
-Lag-free play.
-Integrated headset port for Xbox LIVE play.
-Adjustable vibration feedback for longer battery life.
-New left and right shoulder buttons are designed for ease of use.
-The Xbox Guide Button at the centre of the controller gives you quick access to all your favourite Xbox 360 system activities.
Summary: best controller known to man, don't buy any other!
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