The Bottom Line: The Propad 6 gamepad is a high-quality product and very inexpensive, but it is not compatible or appropriate for many current games. If you're a serious gamer get something else.
Cornell2000's Full Review: InterAct Accessories InterAct ProPad 6 GamePad
If you enjoy playing arcade games on your computer, having a game pad is a good idea. The Interact Propad 6 is a great first gamepad, which can be purchased for less than ten dollars at stores such as Best Buy or Electronics Boutique. If you don't like it, at least you haven't wasted a lot of money.
Keep in mind that you get what you pay for with game pads. An area to note is the interface for this controller. It uses the game port on your computer's sound card, while the majority of the new gaming controllers use the USB interface. Nothing is really wrong with the game port interface, but eventually some new computers might not have this port and you'll have to go out and buy a new controller.
With this controller, you only get six control buttons, plus the directional pad. Many of the more modern games require more buttons. There are a few applications that this game pad is perfect for, however: Nintendo emulators.
Using Nintendo emulators, you can download a program such as ZS-NES to simulate the Nintendo control deck, and image files of Nintendo games that you already own (known as ROM's) and play them using the emulator. Many Nintendo emulators support game pads, and since the original Nintendo only had four buttons (A, B, start, and select), this game pad is more than ready for the task. I should remind emulator users that you should only download game files for games you actually own, as it is illegal to download game roms for games you don't own. The Propad 6 is also a good controller to use with the Super Nintendo emulators, for some games. You just have to experiment to see if it works for you.
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