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Best D-pad of all time?
- Thread starter LordOfLore
- Start date
ethomaz
Banned
You got me because I did not have time to play Dreamcast lolDunno. This was pretty fucking terrible:
You get the perfect D-pad combination of floatiness in conjunction with horrible diagonals.
Alex_Mexico
Member
Cmon guys. The Saturn's was good but it's incredibly overrated. The PS4, Vita and maybe even the XB1's are all decidedly better than that controller from 1994.
pretty done
Member
Everyone saying Vita must have child like hands. The thing is way too small.
Dualshock 3 or Saturn for me
Dualshock 3 or Saturn for me
Alex_Mexico
Member
We have one. It's on a Dualshock 4.
ethomaz
Banned
The issue with Vita are the position of the others buttons and no L2/R2 that makes it uncorfable.
D-pad is perfect even in size.
MightyHedgehog
Member
The Japanese-styled Saturn D-pad (kinda prefer the slightly mushier 3D Nights variant) or the MD/Genesis six-button D-pad.
It does look weird, but I find that it's nicer than any other MS or Sony D-pad.
It does look weird, but I find that it's nicer than any other MS or Sony D-pad.
XB1's d-pad breaks after like ten hours of dedicated (2D action game) use. Vita's click is great but comfort and shape still overall lean toward Saturn. PS4 was hella uncomfortable for Xrd, and in no way does it feel like the Vita's (seriously what the heck).
Augemitbutter
Member
vita, neo geo and of course saturn.
shadow_shogun
Member
What did I do?lol
I'm surprised not many people are doing this in the FGC, but I learned growing up in Nigeria to make the motions come out easy on the snes or ps pad, just cover your thumb with a light cloth, and it'll make ish slide real smooth. That's pretty much why I never had blisters on my thumb and still don't to this day.
ChaosZeroX
Banned
Vita D-pad no contest.
Sanctuary
Member
I'm not sure if the topic specifically means the actual D-pad, or saying that is just a generalized replacement for the word controller.
Haven't used the Vita, but I can see why its D-pad would be great, since it seems like an iteration on the PSP (which was good), and even the DS4 objectively has a superior D-pad than the Saturn controller for most things, but as an overall controller that doesn't need analog or triggers? Saturn still wins.
In fact, I'm still using it today with fighting games on retro systems, and I have most of the other options available to me.
This is all.
I triple dog dare you to play a fighting game using the Dreamcast controller.
Personally love the Vita d-pad. Everything else is fine though. The only two I hate are the Xbox 360 and Dreamcast d-pads.
disappeared
Banned
Saturn. Sega worked some sorcery into that thing.
Newtype-001
Member
Choosing anything but the Vita means you're wrong.
They aren't, though.
EnergizerFellow
Member
I still say the Hori Fighting Commander is even better than the Saturn pad. Don't knock it until you try it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GVOFIAA/?tag=neogaf0e-20
As for the SNES pads, am I alone in liking the asciiPad even more than the official pads? The real-deal Nintendo SNES pads always seemed a bit too narrow to me and the wider body of the asciiPad just felt better.
I hate the DC d-pad mainly because its so damn sharp but I'd still easily take it over any Microsoft D-pad I've ever used.(Am still to try the XB1). When you press a direction on the DC pad it actually comes out. 360 pad I can't even use well for basic menu navigation. Try to change my selected item in Dark Souls, end up unequiping my shield.Dunno. This was pretty fucking terrible:
You get the perfect D-pad combination of floatiness in conjunction with horrible diagonals.
Sanctuary
Member
This is mush:
This is not:
lol
Thank youmrmickfran.
You just cured a mans clinical depression for good
old manatee
Banned
Probably Vita. I mostly play Spelunky on there these days even though I have it on PC and PS4.
DS4 is trash-tier, though.
DS4 is trash-tier, though.
Clockwork5
Member
Agree with the DS4 sentiment here. Comfortable and responsive.
cireza
Member
Nope. Tried all of these three (my favorite being XB1), and they still feel inferior to the Saturn D-pad.
MightyHedgehog
Member
It's like praising one turd for being more solid than another, IMO.This is mush:
< seriously, it's like MS took the worst aspects of the original Saturn and Dreamcast controllers to make their perfect Frankenstein.
This is not:
For many D-pads, there's also the break-in/worn factor to consider. I hate fresh Sony D-pads, but once they're broken in enough, they're not too bad.
JustSomeone
Member
WASD
EvilKatarn
Member
Any other answer is utterly wrong.
I own that controller and first impression is that is kinda stiff as far as cross pads go.
_illmatic_
Member
OP d-pad
Sanctuary
Member
That would make sense if the DS4 actually had a bad D-pad, but it doesn't. So it's not like comparing two pieces of shit, it's like comparing what might actually be the best and then proclaiming everything else to be shit.
I agree with you on the break in factor though. At least with the PSX and DS2 controllers anyway.
secretanchitman
Member
SNES, Vita, and DS4 for best dpad - can't pick just one because all 3 are amazing in their own ways.
Elite Controller, DS2/DS3, and 360 with the twisting dpad are runners up. I exclusively played fighting games with the 360 twisting dpad if you can believe it. I got so used to it!
Elite Controller, DS2/DS3, and 360 with the twisting dpad are runners up. I exclusively played fighting games with the 360 twisting dpad if you can believe it. I got so used to it!
This. The clickiness, the positioning... It was perfect. No other d-pads come close.
Horrifying.This is mush:
< seriously, it's like MS took the worst aspects of the original Saturn and Dreamcast controllers to make their perfect Frankenstein.
This is not:
Whatever the case may be with...that, the DS4 doesn't have anywhere near the satisfying levels of click / smoothness / overall polish of the vita; it's a cheap hunk of plastic-y trash whereas the vita is pristine. Claiming that the DS4's d-pad is essentially a bigger version of the vita's is hilarious and wrong on so many levels.
I disagree. Playing Street Fighter with this was heavenly.
^ This guy knows what's up!
Doug Heffernan
Member
That circular pad on the elite is pretty sweet.
Z..
Member
For arcade type play, Saturn has yet to be bested to this day.
Oh, I see, you have no idea what you're talking about... in general.
MightyHedgehog
Member
Eh, I find the DS4 D-pad to be functional, but only in the way that it works better than, say, the X360 D-pad. It's probably down to the fact that I don't care for its placement on that controller shape more than I think the D-pad is actually terrible when it's just a tad too mushy for its own good.
Sanctuary
Member
On the Genesis maybe, especially when comparing it to the orignal three button controller. It was only ever equal to the SNES controller for overall responsiveness, and it beat the SNES controller for button layout, but that's it. It still doesn't hold a candle to the Saturn controller (if you're talking only about the D-pad, they were somewhat similar, but still different enough. Overall controller ergonomics were much worse however). And yes, I've spent hundreds of hours using them all. It's pretty much all I did in the 90s when I wasn't at the arcade.
Also, there have been like three designs of the Japanese Saturn controller. The legitimate originals, then those that were made for the PS2 (which were not the same) and then the other USB versions for PC (again, not the same). The two that were not the originals had an altered D-pad.
Vital Tundra
Member
How can it be the Vita? Its far to clicky, not enough squish. Makes platformers harder to play. 3DS as the same issue.
ienjoyrawfish
Member
All the genuine ones from Sega are hideously expensive now. Any you see for a reasonable price is 100% a cheap knock off. Your best bet is to buy an actual JP Saturn/Model 2 controller and a Saturn to USB adaptor.
FYP m8.
You'd be about as close to objectively wrong as it's possible to be whilst still stating a subjective preference. Vita doesn't even come close.
This is like complaining that your cereal isn't soggy enough.