Open Skies, Road and Track

Which One Is The Best Controller Of Them All


When you walk into any well-stocked computer store, you often come across dozens of game controllers. There are an infinite variety of mice, gamepads, joysticks, and steering wheels out there. But only a few of these stores have demo units available so it's virtually impossible to decide which are the best ones to buy. More than handfuls are sold at bargain prices, some have reasonable price tags while others cost an arm and a leg. The budget-priced models are very tempting indeed, but they don't hold up well to the abuse and furious gameplay of today's games.

We decided to pick out a bunch that works with games and installs effortlessly. You can take our word for it -- our choice will no doubt stand out as the best in terms of durability and usefulness. Most of the controllers in this review are available in good computer shops as well as esoteric types which occasionally come in limited quantities.

While all of these controllers work well with most of the games, some are definitely designed for a specific genre. Gamepads work well for sports, adventure and role-playing, but are lousy with driving games and flight sims (simulators). Steering wheels are, of course, for driving, while joysticks are the all-around performers. In fact, we found out while playing Nascar 3 that a skilled joystick player can out-race someone using a steering wheel. You'll learn more about this as we go deeper into the topic.

The Basics

A good decision is often a result of being informed and knowledgeable on the subject, and in this case, the game controller. When pondering on a purchase, you need to grapple with a lot of geekspeak on the specifications or the basic components of the controller that define its capabilities.

Here's a list of the most common specifications and what they refer to. You'll find it useful as some of the terms are found on the box. Some apply to all controllers, and others are specific to certain types of controllers.

Axis: An axis is an imaginary (theoretical) line "drawn" through the center of a joystick or a gamepad's D-pad, which defines a direction that a controller can move. Nearly all controllers have two axes: an x-axis (left and right movement) and a y-axis (forward and backward movement). Some controllers have one or two additional axes in the form of throttle and yaw control.

Buttons: Every controller has buttons. The buttons are used to fire a weapon, change weapons, perform various stunts (jumping or crouching), or any other on-off function that doesn't require movement along an axis. Most games give you the choice to define which button on a controller is used for each function within a game. Windows-based games using the DirectInput API allowed designers to put in more buttons and other controls that are programmable through a user-friendly interface.

Force Feedback: Controllers with force feedback is the current rave in joysticks and steering wheels. All these and even one mouse specie contains a motor of some sort which respond to program calls within game code. Some controllers create more convincing force effects than others; it depends on the fidelity and strength of the motors, the logic within the controller, and the overall construction of the controller.

This relatively new technology was designed to add realism (immersiveness) and tactile feedback to games. Unfortunately, very few developers try to make the best use of it. The best force-feedback games use the technology to assist the user in controlling a vehicle, for example, the feel of a car's grip on the road or the wind shear acting upon an airplane. Most games, though, simply cause the wheel to shudder and jerk whenever there's an appropriate sound effect -- which is just distracting, or worse, annoying (especially to newbie gamers).

POV Hat: A POV (Point of View) hat, sometimes referred to as a hat switch, is a mini directional controller which usually resides on the top of a joystick's handle and is manipulated by the user's thumb. Most POV hats register four directions (left, right, forward, and backward), but some include diagonals, registering eight directions in all. In flight sims and some other vehicle-oriented games the POV hat is used to turn the player's "head" to look around or beyond the cockpit (that is, to look to the left, right and rear of a plane).


Programmability: All current controllers either come with DirectInput drivers or are fully compatible with drivers included with Windows 95/98. DirectInput compliant controllers to be programmed within any game that implements the DirectInput API correctly. In a perfect world, that would be all there was to it, but some controllers and games don't make full use of DirectInput. For that reason, many controllers come with their own programming software that allows the user to assign keystrokes, or series of keystrokes, to buttons on the controller. The best examples of such software allow gamers to create a separate set of key mappings (called a macro) for each game. Some software runs in the background, detects which game is launched, and applies the appropriate macro; others require the user to launch the game through the programming interface.


Throttle: A throttle function is usually assigned its own axis, while the throttle control takes the form of a wheel, slider, or knob situated on the base of a joystick. Some gamepads have throttles, too; they're often mounted in a trigger position for index-finger manipulation. The throttle is used in most games to control the speed of a vehicle. There are also dedicated throttle controllers, which are used primarily for realistic military flight sims.


Yaw Axis: It is most commonly known as a rudder control, as it describes its most common function: to control the rudder of an aircraft. There are stand-alone pedals intended for yaw control, but in joystick with rudders, it's controlled by the twisting of the stick handle.

Now that we got the controller jargon squared away, let's round 'em up!