Frustrating but works
Written: Jan 02 '01 (Updated Jan 02 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice simple gamepad
Cons: Rather frustrating in certain MacOSs
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| cutlernj's Full Review: CH Products USB Gamepad |
I received the USB Gamepad for Christmas and was looking forward to getting straight into the inputsprocket games I have on my computer, but found it rather frustrating. But I always separate the pros and cons in my epinions so I will start with them then follow up with the conclusion so it is easy to read.
The Pros
-Hey it's a gamepad, great for the general sort of game.
-The USB cable is 8 feet long, plenty long enough for you to play quite a distance away.
-The gamepad does look a lot like new gamepads and does contour fairly well to the hand.
-The gamepad offers four main buttons, four top buttons and start and select, all configurable within input sprockets.
-The gamepad runs off Apple's input sprockets, allowing every game that offers input sprockets to be configured the way you like it.
-Although the black version of the gamepad is rather basic, it does offer a rather nice looking transparent look one that will go along well with the newer Macs.
-It is rather nice for once not to have to worry about software, just plug it in, and it *should* work (some MacOS versions are harder to get working then others...see below in cons)
The Cons
-From what it seems, this gamepad is designed for only Apple Computers, it doesn't seem to work with PCs.
-The D pad (the directional pad) does not have many directions, which takes some getting used to (but is possible). Game console controllers have more directional spots on the pad allowing for a smoother and easier control.
-There seems to be an incompatibility with certain USB devices, most of them that are left from MacOS 8.6. It means you sometimes have to go into the extensions and remove some files manually.
-In the new age of radical design and aesthetically pleasing devices, the black model (the one I have) just doesn't cut it, it looks very utilitarian.
-It only offers one directional control, some gamepads are now offering another for more complex games that are coming out.
In Conclusion
This USB Gamepad is a gamepad. It doesn't offer incredible pros, it's just a gamepad. If that's all you're looking for you'll probably like it. But it does have it's problems. It is a very frustrating device, something that should have been better built considering the rather focussed device that it is. It is rather hard to tell who's fault it is, it could be a fault with Apple not removing older files when a newer OS is installed. Most of the problems could be fixed with better software, maybe the next OS update will fix that, maybe it won't.
I would strongly urge you to look around for other alternatives. It may be worth spending a bit more money to get a less frustrating gamepad.
Bottom line, it seems Mac OS 8.6 with input sprockets 1.4 work fine, but the newer input sprockets 1.7 seems to conflict quite a bit (offered in 9.0.4 and 9.1)
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): gift
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Epinions.com ID:
cutlernj
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Member: Neil Cutler
Location: Cowichan Bay, BC
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 32 members
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