virtual-human
09-10-2007, 03:58 PM
I picked this up today. MSRP is $30. Upon taking it out, the first thing you'll notice is that it's pretty lightweight. The second is that, although it snaps very securely into place, it takes a little bit of clumsy fumbling to get it there. Lining up the pins is easy, but there are two plastic protrusions that you also need to pop into holes on the underside of the handles of the controller. More on this later. I can't comment on the included microphone, as I only used my wireless. The wireless was unaffected by the pad.
Texting is definitely quicker and easier, although at least for now, it wasn't possible for me to do so while looking at the TV as I needed to watch all my button presses on the pad. The pad also plenty of alt-functions like accents, punctuation and symbols. In fact, there are two sets; a green set is on the upper left of the buttons, which you access with a green button on the lower left corner of the pad, and a red set is on the upper right of the buttons with a corresponding button on the bottom right of the pad. At first it is a bit tiresome to locate whatever you're looking for, but that should get easier with use. However, it feels to me like there are a few too many letters and accents from other alphabets which add a little bit of a sense of clutter. The backlight is excellent. No complaints on key presses or tactile feel. The buttons are small, but that is what it is.
I hopped into a pub Gears room to see how it felt to play a game which requires precise inputs on the analog sticks while the pad is attached. I made a point to grab the sniper on canals each round to get a feel for aiming. I immediately noticed that the controller still feels light. There is a bit of added bulk, however. My fingers no longer wrapped around the handles underneath, but rather rested on the chat pad's underside. Not uncomfortable. The top of the pad, however, slightly changes the placement of the right hand on the right analog stick, which is lower than the left. What I found is that as compared to my normal grip, this made the right analog stick feel ever so slightly floaty and imprecise, although I still performed adequately with the sniper and had my share of headshots. Other functions like the timing of the active reload were not impacted at all. Further, I was continously aware of the pad's presence.I believe that most people will be able to get used to the pad and over time will no longer be bothered by its presence. Notwithstanding, I found myself disliking it enough to want another solution than having it attached to the controller I'm using to play a shooter.
I tried hooking it up to a second controller, but I quickly realized that the 360 prompts it to sign into a second profile and as such, it is useless to do so for messaging on your primary account. I then tried attaching it and detaching it repeatedly to see if it's something that I want to do every time I intend to type more than a word in a message. It isn't, really. As I noted at the top, it takes a bit of clumsy fumbling that doesn't seem to get easier with repetition as it appears that it will still require individual attention to snap each little knob into place on the underside of the controller.
For now, I'll probably give it a little more to see if I can adapt to playing with it on. However, although my games - especially in AGE rooms - are friendly affairs, versus multiplayer does by its nature have a competitive aspect and so I do not expect to utilize the pad full-time if it adversely affects my ability to perform in-game. Therefore, as I see it now, I'll most likely end up fumbling to attach this thing most times that I want to send a message.
Texting is definitely quicker and easier, although at least for now, it wasn't possible for me to do so while looking at the TV as I needed to watch all my button presses on the pad. The pad also plenty of alt-functions like accents, punctuation and symbols. In fact, there are two sets; a green set is on the upper left of the buttons, which you access with a green button on the lower left corner of the pad, and a red set is on the upper right of the buttons with a corresponding button on the bottom right of the pad. At first it is a bit tiresome to locate whatever you're looking for, but that should get easier with use. However, it feels to me like there are a few too many letters and accents from other alphabets which add a little bit of a sense of clutter. The backlight is excellent. No complaints on key presses or tactile feel. The buttons are small, but that is what it is.
I hopped into a pub Gears room to see how it felt to play a game which requires precise inputs on the analog sticks while the pad is attached. I made a point to grab the sniper on canals each round to get a feel for aiming. I immediately noticed that the controller still feels light. There is a bit of added bulk, however. My fingers no longer wrapped around the handles underneath, but rather rested on the chat pad's underside. Not uncomfortable. The top of the pad, however, slightly changes the placement of the right hand on the right analog stick, which is lower than the left. What I found is that as compared to my normal grip, this made the right analog stick feel ever so slightly floaty and imprecise, although I still performed adequately with the sniper and had my share of headshots. Other functions like the timing of the active reload were not impacted at all. Further, I was continously aware of the pad's presence.I believe that most people will be able to get used to the pad and over time will no longer be bothered by its presence. Notwithstanding, I found myself disliking it enough to want another solution than having it attached to the controller I'm using to play a shooter.
I tried hooking it up to a second controller, but I quickly realized that the 360 prompts it to sign into a second profile and as such, it is useless to do so for messaging on your primary account. I then tried attaching it and detaching it repeatedly to see if it's something that I want to do every time I intend to type more than a word in a message. It isn't, really. As I noted at the top, it takes a bit of clumsy fumbling that doesn't seem to get easier with repetition as it appears that it will still require individual attention to snap each little knob into place on the underside of the controller.
For now, I'll probably give it a little more to see if I can adapt to playing with it on. However, although my games - especially in AGE rooms - are friendly affairs, versus multiplayer does by its nature have a competitive aspect and so I do not expect to utilize the pad full-time if it adversely affects my ability to perform in-game. Therefore, as I see it now, I'll most likely end up fumbling to attach this thing most times that I want to send a message.