Welcome to November 2005.

I picked up the Hori EX2 Stick at Gamestop (it's on clearance for $39, and there's a 10% off coupon floating around CAG), and used it to play pacman the other day...LOVE it! I haven't fired up Soul Calibur II in a while, but with SF4, SFII HD, SC4, and my current fighting library, it was worth the investment. I love my Dreamcast Agetek Arcade Stick, and don't regret picking that up to this day, so I figured wtf...

Now if I could just find a Hori PS2 stick for a reasonable price...I'd be set.

Anybody complaining about the 360 d-pad should attempt the almost-famous whittling procedure that transforms it to near-perfection, according to seemingly everybody who's tried it.

That obviously doesn't excuse the fact that MS is rapidly approaching the third full year when they could have incorporated some better-sized plastic parts for quality right out of the box.

So, there's a legitimate reason why I kicked ass in Street Fighter II back in the day yet I suck at it on 360? Hmm...

I'm the opposite. For some reason I never liked analog sticks and would always try and use D-Pads once the analog stick became popular. I know it was mentioned that the actual plastic was fine on the 360 and it was just what was under it, but I hate the feel of the current raised plastic D-Pad.

No shit. I just think at this point the cost of the "technology" should be decreasing. This fancy schmancy new controller should come in at the original price point, not some arbitrary mark-up on top of some arbitrary "we charge that because we can" mentality

I was playing Lumines the other day (and I prefer to use the D-Pad for accuracy) but it kept screwing me up. It also sucks while playing Puzzle Fighter. Since I play a lot of Live Arcade, they really do need to fix that damn D-Pad.

ditto

Because your memory sucks?

I've been playing DMC4. Want to quick switch from Gunslinger to Swordmaster and back. Hit the button. Get the desired style. Whoops, I'm suddenly in Trickster again. Dammit!

Playing Gears. Want to switch to grenades quickly and back to the shotgun. Oh hey, I've got the machine gun out somehow. WTF??

And that doesn't even address how bad it is for oldschool games. I play most of them, even the SF2:HF demo, with the analog stick. After some use it feels like a sloppy-ass joystick. Better than the d-pad.

BTW: you guys calling the backlit buttons "bling". Those of us with projectors, playing in a very dark room, could use that. Especially when your friends or wife or whoever is playing and isn't familiar with the button layout. It took me months to get the A-B X-Y down without thinking about it - I think because it's the opposite of a SNES controller.

Mine is a pain in the ass when switching styles in DMC 4.

Where's my Sega Saturn to xbox 360 grey-market Chinese hackjob controller already?? Or a mod to transplant a d-pad.

Maybe I'm in the minority...but I've never had trouble with the D-Pad.

= J

I never had any problems switching weapons in Gears, but trying to move pieces in Puzzle Fighter sucks.

I do it too. Guess we're all retards. Yay!

Hah! Try zooming in and out your sniper rifle with the frickin' D-pad in Lost Planet.

Eeeeveryone else uses the "Click to zoom in and out with the analog stick" method but not CAPCOM right.