G
Guest
Hey everyone,
After all the rave reviews about the ergonomics and functionality of the
Xbox 360's controller layout, I decided to take the plunge and get one for my
PC, thinking it'd make a great replacement for my old Sidewinder Gamepad...
Well, much to my chagrin, I found that the drivers on the CD (and to this
day, the version available from Microsoft support) are, frankly, crap for
most applications.
Deadzone issues, no rumble feedback, comnined axes for the triggers... Come
on! Even games like Rallisport Challenge on the original Xbox had instances
where you'd want to keep on the throttle (using one trigger) and blip the
brakes with the other trigger, and some current games (i.e. Juiced) REQUIRE
you to hold both the gas and brakes at the same time for burnouts, etc. that
can be an essential part of gameplay.
The solution? Well, thankfully some members of the community have come to
the rescue! Thanks to posts from Alai (and possibly other forum members!),
I've had the chance to try some new drivers, discussed, documented, and
linked through this thread:
http://redcl0ud.1.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=1026&st=0
If you want to get right to the meat of the drivers, you can skip to page 9,
but if you read the thread from the start, you'll get a good idea of who's
who, and doing what, and be able to collect a useful bunch of Xbox 360
Controller for Windows-related links. Since I've installed the drivers, my
impression of this controller has changed from the "comfortable, but highly
flawed, and failing to live up to potential" to "works great, most of the
time."
Lol, the "most of the time" thing is in reference to the fact that I still
bust out my Sidewinder gamepad for games that only support up to 10 buttons
and 4 axes (rendering the analogue shoulder buttons of the 360 controller
non-functional, until I can figure out how to custom-write my own profile for
the fan-created driver set... Hey, the fact that's at least an option is a
big step up from the default!), but the Xbox 360 controller definitely gets
the nods is racers or other aps not as reliant on button-mashing, or where
the analogue controls and additions of force feedback can enhance the
gameplay experience.
Anyway, hope that helps anyone out there who may have been experiencing
similar frustration, and hopefully the MS driver team will have those same
features and options in our hands in an official driver, someday!
After all the rave reviews about the ergonomics and functionality of the
Xbox 360's controller layout, I decided to take the plunge and get one for my
PC, thinking it'd make a great replacement for my old Sidewinder Gamepad...
Well, much to my chagrin, I found that the drivers on the CD (and to this
day, the version available from Microsoft support) are, frankly, crap for
most applications.
Deadzone issues, no rumble feedback, comnined axes for the triggers... Come
on! Even games like Rallisport Challenge on the original Xbox had instances
where you'd want to keep on the throttle (using one trigger) and blip the
brakes with the other trigger, and some current games (i.e. Juiced) REQUIRE
you to hold both the gas and brakes at the same time for burnouts, etc. that
can be an essential part of gameplay.
The solution? Well, thankfully some members of the community have come to
the rescue! Thanks to posts from Alai (and possibly other forum members!),
I've had the chance to try some new drivers, discussed, documented, and
linked through this thread:
http://redcl0ud.1.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=1026&st=0
If you want to get right to the meat of the drivers, you can skip to page 9,
but if you read the thread from the start, you'll get a good idea of who's
who, and doing what, and be able to collect a useful bunch of Xbox 360
Controller for Windows-related links. Since I've installed the drivers, my
impression of this controller has changed from the "comfortable, but highly
flawed, and failing to live up to potential" to "works great, most of the
time."
Lol, the "most of the time" thing is in reference to the fact that I still
bust out my Sidewinder gamepad for games that only support up to 10 buttons
and 4 axes (rendering the analogue shoulder buttons of the 360 controller
non-functional, until I can figure out how to custom-write my own profile for
the fan-created driver set... Hey, the fact that's at least an option is a
big step up from the default!), but the Xbox 360 controller definitely gets
the nods is racers or other aps not as reliant on button-mashing, or where
the analogue controls and additions of force feedback can enhance the
gameplay experience.
Anyway, hope that helps anyone out there who may have been experiencing
similar frustration, and hopefully the MS driver team will have those same
features and options in our hands in an official driver, someday!