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Best Six Button Controllers for PC

WolvenOne

Member
I asked a similar question awhile ago, about controllers for PC in general. However, a lot of people brought up fighting game controllers, so I thought I'd ask about that specifically. Of course, most fighting game controllers have Six face buttons, so I'm going to ask about those specifically.

In your opinion, what is the best Six Button Fighting game controller for the PC? You can include arcade stick controllers too if you'd like. XD
 
USB Saturn pad of course. I doubt it's possible to get official ones anymore though, and I'm not sure of the quality of the knock offs that are always on ebay.
 
USB Saturn pad of course. I doubt it's possible to get official ones anymore though, and I'm not sure of the quality of the knock offs that are always on ebay.

Ah, the good ole Saturn controller. I have so many fond memories of that thing. Sadly you're right, if official adapters aren't really available anymore, those aren't going to be an option for a lot of people. >_>;;
 
If arcade sticks are legit, just grab the 360 version of your favorite fight stick (w/ nice Sanwa or Seimitsu parts, etc).
 
USB Neo Geo

vyKxaua.jpg
 
Saturn USB pad. I used to use it for fighting games on PC/PS3 but I found I was better with a dualshock anyway. My thumb was too big for the dpad so I got a ton of misinputs :(
 
There is a six button fighter controller for xbox 360 that uses micro switches I used that on pc. They were on clearance at the microsoft store a few months back and I picked 2 up really cheap.
 
a7yZ1c7.jpg


The only answer. PLayed a good 150 hours of binding of isaac on it.

The Hori Fighting Commander Pro 3.
 
Unless you can find a truly official Saturn USB pad I wouldn't bother going that route.
The one I have has a messed up diagonal input that sticks. The controller is only good for...RPGs?

EDIT: Woof. I looked these pads up and they average $90 each.
 
There is a six button fighter controller for xbox 360 that uses micro switches I used that on pc. They were on clearance at the microsoft store a few months back and I picked 2 up really cheap.

The PDP fightpad? I hear those are notoriously fragile.
 
I have the Street Fighter IV fightpad for PC, and it's pretty good, imo. The d-pad is huge and very comfortable - maybe a tiny bit too mushy, if I had to get nitpicky. The face buttons are great, and it feels relatively solid; mine's going strong since SFIV PC a few years back. It acts as a 360 controller natively out of the box, which is perfect for some games, and less so for others due to the two additional buttons being RB/RT. This means it's perfect for SFIV, Skullgirls, etc., but won't work well for stuff like Guacamelee.

Things I don't like about it: the trigger buttons feel a bit stiff, and the start/select buttons are tiny and recessed. And this is hardly a fault of the controller, but its layout doesn't feel 100% right emulating SNES & PS1/2 stuff because the face button diamond is skewed, so to speak.

EDIT:

Here's Classic Game Room's review of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0nhKBKZgus
 
Unless you can find a truly official Saturn USB pad I wouldn't bother going that route.
The one I have has a messed up diagonal input that sticks. The controller is only good for...RPGs?

hmm, maybe this was my problem and my thumb wasn't too big! I'm pretty sure the one I got is not official. I had to go back to the trusty DS3 after not being able to hit a single Boxer loop on the saturn pad.
 
Unless you can find a truly official Saturn USB pad I wouldn't bother going that route.
The one I have has a messed up diagonal input that sticks. The controller is only good for...RPGs?

EDIT: Woof. I looked these pads up and they average $90 each.

I noticed that, ouch. It's a shame, because in my mind a six button controller should be the entry level, but for that price you'd probably be better off picking up a stick. >_<
 

Hmm, that Retrolink has very mixed reviews on Amazon. For eight dollars though, it's tempting. How has your experience been with it?

Edit: Eh, I'll probably just grab that Fight Pad, once I'm home from work. For 20usd that seems like the most solid entry level choice.
 
I had the one made by retro-link, it's trash, you can always replace the different parts with those from a genuine saturn controller.

This is what I use now on PC and XBox One

sega-saturn-controller-coming-to-ps2-20050505020225759-000.jpg
 
I had the one made by retro-link, it's trash, you can always replace the different parts with those from a genuine saturn controller.

This is what I use now on PC and XBox One

sega-saturn-controller-coming-to-ps2-20050505020225759-000.jpg

Oh, looks very nice. Looks like they don't make them anymore though. Dang, I wonder why so many of these controllers are out of print or whatnot, when there's obviously a level of demand. (Lot of people willing to pay 70-90 dollars for these style of controllers.)
 
I think it has something to do with Sega's hold on the design. I'd love to use a Saturn Pad for fighting games again. I used one on the Xbox with Guilty Gear and it was, by far, the best fighting game pad I've ever used.

That Mad Katz one is pretty good though, it's what I use now. No dramatic complaints.
 
I think it has something to do with Sega's hold on the design. I'd love to use a Saturn Pad for fighting games again. I used one on the Xbox with Guilty Gear and it was, by far, the best fighting game pad I've ever used.

That Mad Katz one is pretty good though, it's what I use now. No dramatic complaints.

Yeah, just ordered one of the Mad Katz one off Amazon for 20USD. Definitely isn't going to be the best option out there, but I myself just wanted a solid entry level controller, that I could also use for platformers in addition to fighters.

Now all I have to to is take off the face plate, and somehow remove that gaudy design. XD
 
The Fighting Commander 3 Pro is far superior to the Mad Catz fightpad, I have like 4 of those, it's just too bad that the dpad breaks easily because of the lock that's supposed to hold it together after the adjustments.

I hated everything about the Mad Catz Pad, too bulky, not comfortable to hold, but that's just my opinion.
 
The Fighting Commander 3 Pro is far superior to the Mad Catz fightpad, I have like 4 of those, it's just too bad that the dpad breaks easily because of the lock that's supposed to hold it together after the adjustments.

I hated everything about the Mad Catz Pad, too bulky, not comfortable to hold, but that's just my opinion.

Yes, well, the controller you speak of is a 70-80 dollar piece of equipment. Also the model of MadKats I ordered is supposedly a bit smaller.
 
Yes, well, the controller you speak of is a 70-80 dollar piece of equipment. Also the model of MadKats I ordered is supposedly a bit smaller.

Did you get the street fighter one or the cross tekken one? The Street Fighter one are pretty big (which is why I like them). The cross tekken ones are almost 60% of the size.
 
HRAP EX-SE

hori_real_arcade_pro_ex_se_stick.jpg


(plug the rightmost buttons for 6, lol)
I have this, and it is amazing. I don't think they sell them anymore, plus, I don't remember how I got them exactly. These use Seimetsu stick and buttons though, not ideal for fighting games IMO.

If you want the stick for fighting, then I recommend getting any Hori/MadCatz stick with Sanwa parts. IMO what I use, and what most of the FG community use, are Sanwa buttons/stick. You have a wide selection of sticks you can choose from each company.
 
I use the Hori Pad EX2 Turbo on my 360 and PC.

41ndT5igfDL._SX300_.jpg


The design/size is kind of a monster compared to the default 360 pad, but it has a better DPAD and 2 extra face buttons along with some sliders for turbo and analog sensitivity.
The only 3 bad things I can pick on are 1) the Bumper buttons being a bit sensitive, 2) some issue with the analog sticks potentially having issues with ghosting or so ( and they're also more loose. I hear the ghosting problems were with certain batches of the controller, some even failing after a while. Mine has a slight ghosting issue on occasions.) and 3) it's probably a bit rare now, I don't see it on the Hori USA site which is where I ordered it from.

Amazon US link.
 
I use the Hori Pad EX2 Turbo on my 360 and PC.

41ndT5igfDL._SX300_.jpg


The design/size is kind of a monster compared to the default 360 pad, but it has a better DPAD and 2 extra face buttons along with some sliders for turbo and analog sensitivity.
The only 3 bad things I can pick on are 1) the Bumper buttons being a bit sensitive, 2) some issue with the analog sticks potentially having issues with ghosting or so ( and they're also more loose. I hear the ghosting problems were with certain batches of the controller, some even failing after a while. Mine has a slight ghosting issue on occasions.) and 3) it's probably a bit rare now, I don't see it on the Hori USA site which is where I ordered it from.

Amazon US link.

Used price, 200usd. Gadzooks man! XD
 
Heh, I believe I got mine for around $45, but checking a few times when friends would ask for controllers, it'd sometimes be around the $70 price point at Amazon. Last I checked was maybe 3-4 months ago.

Well its current price is way out of my budget, but I'm still glad you showed me this. I've often wondered what modern controllers would look like with six face buttons.

IIt's a shame the design was largely abandoned, because I'm sure it'd work, and there are a lot of games where it'd be useful.
 
I use the Hori Pad EX2 Turbo on my 360 and PC.

41ndT5igfDL._SX300_.jpg


The design/size is kind of a monster compared to the default 360 pad, but it has a better DPAD and 2 extra face buttons along with some sliders for turbo and analog sensitivity.
The only 3 bad things I can pick on are 1) the Bumper buttons being a bit sensitive, 2) some issue with the analog sticks potentially having issues with ghosting or so ( and they're also more loose. I hear the ghosting problems were with certain batches of the controller, some even failing after a while. Mine has a slight ghosting issue on occasions.) and 3) it's probably a bit rare now, I don't see it on the Hori USA site which is where I ordered it from.

Amazon US link.

I have 4 of these...
All work great! :P

Bought them all for roughly $40 each...
 
Right now, for readily-available non-shaddy good gaming controllers, if I were to pick two I'd pick the Dualshock 4 and the NeoGeo Pad USB.
 
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