| Performance:
Increasingly, there are
more and more games appropriate for gamepads that support rumble
effects. The P1500 was put to work with games that support the
effects and a few that do not. Likewise, the SGE software was used
for part of the testing and occasionally I used the in game assignment of
button actions instead.
Because the gamepad has a
throttle wheel the pad is a decent choice for racing games. I put
the pad to use with Motocross Madness II, the Need For Speed Series, Star
Wars: Racer, Midtown Madness and Death Karz. Each of these supported
some type of rumble effects. The rumble effects are not as realistic
as with a stick or wheel but added to the games without taking away from
the experience. For most of the racing games I used the analog stick
for better control. I usually chose to lock the stick so it only
allowed horizontal movement (except Motocross Madness).
I also played a variety of
adventure games such as Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider and Star Wars: The
Phantom Menace.
Rumble effects in these games was non-existent but the gamepad provided
good control with the many buttons and accurate d-pad. The profiler
was also put to use to save the game quickly as danger approached.
The last game style I
tackled with the gamepad were the sports sims. Here again, support
for rumble effects was hard to find but it is growing. Most of the
time the d-pad was used for control. The buttons provided more than
enough options for the game actions. The SGE utility came in use
when I wanted to switch the position of the buttons on the face of the
controller to my preference and the games did not allow it.
Overall the P1500 is a
comfortable pad to use. The buttons are well placed and the d-pad
offers accurate control. The added feature of the lockable analog
joystick axis is great for games that require precise control along on of
the axis. The pad is not to heavy and is fine to hold for extended
periods. The rumble effects probable will not "wow" you
but they do make gameplay a bit more fun. They are defiantly better
than console rumble effects since the programmers can sculpt the rumble
action to simulate the action they are trying to simulate. Still,
you will not get directional feedback like you would from a FF joystick or
wheel.
|
