Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

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UltraViolence
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Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by UltraViolence »

Hi guys. I've been a long time gamer but just got into emulators after being discouraged trying to get DOS based emus to work with no luck. ZSNES has to be the best emu I've ever tried. Anyway, I'm looking for opinions on tried and true controllers to use with SNES. A good quality USB controller would be great but I'm not opposed to buying an old school controller and adapter if I need to. I've read a lot about different controllers in the last day or 2 and am still confused on what a good quality controller to use with ZSNES would be. I'm trying to find 1 on Amazon.com but it seems there is quite a few brands on there that are shoddily made. Heres 1 I am looking at that seems decent:
http://www.amazon.com/SN-ProPad-Super-N ... 75&sr=8-15
Anyone used the 1 I linked and have any opinions on it? Or a different brand thats similarly priced? I'd like to keep the price around $20.00 US and I'm not against ordering from other places besides Amazon. Thanks!
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by badinsults »

Why are you using DOS based emulators? There hasn't been a DOS based OS released since Windows ME, and DOS support is poor in more recent releases of Windows.

I have an SN Propad, but haven't really used it because one of the buttons doesn't work. It isn't really a comfortable controller.

Personally, I use a PAL SNES controller. Though a lot of people swear by the ASCII Pad.
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UltraViolence
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by UltraViolence »

badinsults wrote:Why are you using DOS based emulators? There hasn't been a DOS based OS released since Windows ME, and DOS support is poor in more recent releases of Windows.

I have an SN Propad, but haven't really used it because one of the buttons doesn't work. It isn't really a comfortable controller.

Personally, I use a PAL SNES controller. Though a lot of people swear by the ASCII Pad.
I'm not using a DOS based emu. I use ZSNES. I said I got discouraged with emus after using DOS based ones. Meaning I stopped messing with them years ago when DOS based was pretty much all there was. I just got back into them when I found ZSNES. Thanks for the controller info too btw.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by paulguy »

A lot of people like dualshock controllers, too. Also classic controller (pro) and an adapter to connect it to USB is good as well.

Also, your English is pretty poor, so I also thought you were referring to getting emulators for DOS working with modern controllers. If you're not good at English, at least try not to make it harder by doing stuff like replacing "one" with "1" when not really referring to the number, and other kind of TXT speak things like that.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by adventure_of_link »

Actually, I remember having such a controller @ OP's link. I must say that out of all the SNES pads I've used (OEM and aftermarket), it was the best one I've ever had. Lasted me from day one to the time I sold it to my aunt. :) of course you WILL need to get a SNES -> USB converter.

as for getting controllers to work in DOS, I read over his post and thought he was getting frustrated that the DOS emulators weren't working in general for him anymore. but yes, as paulguy said, at least try to get rid of the text-speak stuff, lest you want to wake some very nasty attitudes...

+1 to everyone else's suggestions, but I personally also like the xbox -> USB hardwire conversion. bought a OEM Xbox controller for this purpose.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Gonzo »

I'm using one of these;

Image

It works well for all my gaming needs. I haven't had any problems with it, like emulators being able to detect it for instance. The only thing about it is the d-pad is a little crappy, I personally haven't had any real issues with it, but I know a lot of people are quite particular when it comes to a d-pad.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by kode54 »

I have one of those, only with rumble support. Except I put it away when I got an Xbox360 Wireless Controller, which has an even crappier d-pad.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Agozer »

Gonzo wrote:I'm using one of these;

*Controller pic*

It works well for all my gaming needs. I haven't had any problems with it, like emulators being able to detect it for instance. The only thing about it is the d-pad is a little crappy, I personally haven't had any real issues with it, but I know a lot of people are quite particular when it comes to a d-pad.
I have the same gamepad, and it's one of my best purchases ever. The D-Pad needs getting used to a little, but it's not bad at all. Like you said, emulators and games never had a problem detecting it.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Personally, I use a Saitek P880 most of the time.
Unfortunately, it's been discontinued, as has the nearly-identical P990(and their wireless twins).
Mad Catz bought Saitek a while back and tore them apart. There aren't even gaming devices sold under the Saitek brand anymore, much less P880 relatives.

Perhaps more readily available is my OTHER gamepad, a Horipad EX2 Turbo for the 360.
D-pad is in the wrong place for most emulation, but it's a GOOD d-pad.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by kode54 »

How do companies even manage to sell corded shit for the Xbox360? Presumably more useful with a 3-4 meter extension cable, as some people have their game consoles coupled with a large TV set in a decent sized room. None of that sitting one meter away from a 14" TV set like poor kids from the 1990s.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

kode54 wrote:How do companies even manage to sell corded shit for the Xbox360? Presumably more useful with a 3-4 meter extension cable, as some people have their game consoles coupled with a large TV set in a decent sized room. None of that sitting one meter away from a 14" TV set like poor kids from the 1990s.
Not very effectively. But as there's no OPTION for third parties but to sell corded, they do so. Most of them seem to have given up entirely and just sell battery packs and charger cables for MS' pads.
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by kode54 »

Oh, right, I forgot, Microsoft doesn't license out their wireless hardware.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Johan_H »

SNES controller via USB adapter. I find it great for most games that don't need analogue controls.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by badinsults »

Gonzo wrote:I'm using one of these;
*pic*

It works well for all my gaming needs. I haven't had any problems with it, like emulators being able to detect it for instance. The only thing about it is the d-pad is a little crappy, I personally haven't had any real issues with it, but I know a lot of people are quite particular when it comes to a d-pad.
Personally, I have the same controller. I found that the D-pad was too crappy to be able to do precise jumping in games like Super Mario World. When I played the game using a real snes controller (using a Super Smartjoy), it became very clear that my deaths and errors were a result of the controller, rather than me sucking.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Yeah, my Logitech pad was a different generation, and not directly comparable, but it wasn't exactly a great device except in comparison to the Gravis Gamepad Pro it replaced.
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
KHDownloads
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Gonzo »

badinsults wrote:
Gonzo wrote:I'm using one of these;
*pic*

It works well for all my gaming needs. I haven't had any problems with it, like emulators being able to detect it for instance. The only thing about it is the d-pad is a little crappy, I personally haven't had any real issues with it, but I know a lot of people are quite particular when it comes to a d-pad.
Personally, I have the same controller. I found that the D-pad was too crappy to be able to do precise jumping in games like Super Mario World. When I played the game using a real snes controller (using a Super Smartjoy), it became very clear that my deaths and errors were a result of the controller, rather than me sucking.
Hmm, I never had a problem with the controllers d-pad when it came to platformer type games, where I found issues with it was when I was playing 2d fighter games such as street fighter 2 or Mortal Kombat. The other reason that I don't like the d-pad is that before I brought this controller I used an older type of logitech controller with the same type of d-pad and the d-pad was the first thing to go on that controller. Mind you I pushed it pretty hard with ff6(I went nuts with Sabin's Blitz's). So I was kinda worried that this controller's d-pad would screw up in similar fashion, but so far it's holding rather nicely.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Rashidi »

i lament that most gamepad designer decided that d-pad must be on single 'plate'.

why can't they make it into seperate buttons like the face buttons that located just on right side of the very same pad?
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by paulguy »

I don't imagine that'd be too comfortable to use. Some of those cheap Chinese knockoff game things have dpads like that though, I think. I imagine it's been determined to work best to have them on a pivot, kind of like a joystick. Also the issues involved with up and down or left and right.
If you mean the playstation style of still having them all 1 plate, then that's OK, but I personally prefer the + shape. However, the issue isn't always the shape, but also the design of the way it's mounted, and also the button switches. The original DS's d-pad was probably the best one I've used, since it was nice and clicky, and had a decent size.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by sweener2001 »

i haven't used in an emulator, but my wired 360 controller is great for what i use it for. things like braid or batman AA.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Johan_H »

I really liked the digital thumbstick on the Neo Geo Pocket. Responsive and clicky and no unwanted diagonals. Would like to see them on more things.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Gil_Hamilton »

Johan_H wrote:I really liked the digital thumbstick on the Neo Geo Pocket. Responsive and clicky and no unwanted diagonals. Would like to see them on more things.
Word.

I used to have a PS1 pad with one of those.
Granted, it wasn't as precise as SNK's versions(I gather the NGCD came with gamepads that used a similar hatswitch), but it was still a really nice directional.
Squall_Leonhart wrote:
You have your 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s, 32s, 64s, and 128s(crash course in binary counting!). But no 1s.
DirectInput represents all bits, not just powers of 2 in an axis.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by dfreer »

Gonzo wrote:I'm using one of these;

*controller picture*

It works well for all my gaming needs. I haven't had any problems with it, like emulators being able to detect it for instance. The only thing about it is the d-pad is a little crappy, I personally haven't had any real issues with it, but I know a lot of people are quite particular when it comes to a d-pad.
+3 for this logitech controller, it's what I use. They recently put out a newer revision of this hardware (it has colored buttons, see here: http://www.logitech.com/en-us/gaming/co ... vices/7360 ), and I'm interested to see if it's any good.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by kode54 »

The F310/510/710 controllers are different in that they aim to also function as Xbox360 / XInput controllers. They all have a physical switch which will make them appear to be a legacy controller instead. For instance, the F510 will appear to be a Rumblepad 2.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by Heilongjiang »

I'm just an average person using an average XBOX360 controller. For pretty much everything computer gaming.

If there's something better out there, I'll gladly use it. But in the meantime, I'm perfectly happy with my XBOX360 controller.

I am on the other hand though, looking into getting whatever Bluetooth device I might need in order to use Wiimotes with my computer. Given that I emulate Nintendo Wii games. I own a nice Nintendo Wii and over 200 games for it. But emulation is just superior in nearly every single way about everything. And it's always in the process of getting better. Playing games on the original system in 480p just doesn't compare to playing them in 1080p. The difference is that it goes from looking pixelated and bland to utterly gorgeous. And since I have the hardware to handle it, an overclocked 2500K and HD 6950, I have a computer that can handle it without much problems, so it's worth it. And it will only get easier. There's really just no comparing how much better it is to emulate systems, even newer ones, if you can handle it. And it leaves my computer as a one stop for every single system I love to play, bar the XBOX360 and PlayStation 3(but hey! They have HDMI cables!). And for pretty much all of them all I've needed in an XBOX360 controller. And before that I just used a knock-off pseudo-PlayStation controller. It's not very good for Wii emulation, but it's pretty good for almost everything else.

That will probably be the only exception to me using an XBOX360 controller on the computer. I really need to look into Bluetooth technology and using a Wiimote with Windows/Linux.
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Re: Favorite controllers for ZSNES?

Post by sweener2001 »

that was mostly just you bragging about your computer. which is cool and all, but it's not really.
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