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Mayflash Wii U Pro Controller Adapter review - *GAMECHANGER* now with button swapping

O

Odrion

Banned
sfried said:
Why is this such a big issue? Are that many people too accustomed to the 360 controller that they can't adjust?
Click to expand...
Typically the most commonly used inputs are placed on the bottom of the button diamond, and in general I've come to think of certain actions are performed on certain areas of the controller. And I don't know if trying to readjust is worth it. Especially if you're going back and forth between consoles and PC.

BUT, looking at the Wii U Pro controller it may not be that much of a messy situation. Your thumb rests on the buttons differently than most controllers (more diagonal than vertical) and A and X are still closer to the stick while Y and B are father out.

Still though, wish there was a easy way to just remap the buttons yourself.
 
C

Cpt Conifer

Member
Having just set it up, I have to echo how awesome the adapter is, and the controller. I have to assume the complaints in other threads about the controller feeling cheap came from people who were unfortunate to receive the knockoffs. I consider myself picky, and I am hard pressed to find anything about the build quality that's distracting. The dpad is so nice and chunky that I'll probably just put away my NeoGeo fightpad and roll with this for KoF13 out of laziness when it comes to swapping peripherals.

I can't believe I misread all the posts about the button layout, though. For xinput, I actually thought X was going to be A, and so forth, like a mirror image of the x360pad's layout based on the proximity of the buttons to the stick. Adapting won't be a huge issue, but it still sucks because developers usually map buttons a certain way for a reason. Now, there will be moments when I have to reach farther than I need to for a crucial function.
 
C

Cody_D165

Banned
playoverwork said:
Having just set it up, I have to echo how awesome the adapter is, and the controller. I have to assume the complaints in other threads about the controller feeling cheap came from people who were unfortunate to receive the knockoffs. I consider myself picky, and I am hard pressed to find anything about the build quality that's distracting. The dpad is so nice and chunky that I'll probably just put away my NeoGeo fightpad and roll with this for KoF13 out of laziness when it comes to swapping peripherals.

I can't believe I misread all the posts about the button layout, though. For xinput, I actually thought X was going to be A, and so forth, like a mirror image of the x360pad's layout based on the proximity of the buttons to the stick. Adapting won't be a huge issue, but it still sucks because developers usually map buttons a certain way for a reason. Now, there will be moments when I have to reach farther than I need to for a crucial function.
Click to expand...

For the games where you do indeed want it to mirror a 360 pad's layout you can use the adapter in DInput mode with x360ce. Works like a charm.
 
K

KLonso

Member
After installing the drivers and plugging in the adapter, it just flashes about once a second. When I press the sync button on both the controller and the adapter (at the same time), nothing happens. Is there some sort of error with my adapter?
 
P

phanphare

Banned
KLonso said:
After installing the drivers and plugging in the adapter, it just flashes about once a second. When I press the sync button on both the controller and the adapter (at the same time), nothing happens. Is there some sort of error with my adapter?
Click to expand...

so I just bought this after seeing all the good reviews and this is also what happens with mine

I installed the drivers and plugged in the device. it would flash slowly but when I press sync on the mayflash nothing would happen...

is it a defective device or am I missing something?
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
The flashing is normal when there's nothing wirelessly connected to it (nothing synced, or the controller is off).

When you hit sync it should flash more quickly, then you hit sync on the controller and it should connect (usually pretty quick) and the light will just stay on once it's synced.
 
P

phanphare

Banned
chaosblade said:
The flashing is normal when there's nothing wirelessly connected to it (nothing synced, or the controller is off).

When you hit sync it should flash more quickly, then you hit sync on the controller and it should connect (usually pretty quick) and the light will just stay on once it's connected.
Click to expand...

yeah that's the issue. everything seems to go smooth but when I hit sync on the mayflash adapter nothing happens. the light just stays unlit
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
Might be due to newer firmware? If you hit sync on the controller after hitting it on the adapter does the controller connect? Should flash at first while it's connecting and then turn on as player 1.
 
P

phanphare

Banned
chaosblade said:
Might be due to newer firmware? If you hit sync on the controller after hitting it on the adapter does the controller connect? Should flash at first while it's connecting and then turn on as player 1.
Click to expand...

no I don't ever get that far because the usb adapter never flashes to sync. so the controller hasn't ever successfully connected

sounds like I need to just send it back...
 
E

Exile20

Member
phanphare said:
so I just bought this after seeing all the good reviews and this is also what happens with mine

I installed the drivers and plugged in the device. it would flash slowly but when I press sync on the mayflash nothing would happen...

is it a defective device or am I missing something?
Click to expand...

Call thier support line. Try restarting your pc also

It works perfectly for me.
 
A

Awakened

Member
Cody_D165 said:
For the games where you do indeed want it to mirror a 360 pad's layout you can use the adapter in DInput mode with x360ce. Works like a charm.
Click to expand...
You can use x360ce to remap it in Xinput mode too, surprisingly, which is more convenient for me. I've gotten used to having A and X be my primary action buttons though, so I've even mapped SNES and PSX/PS2 emulators the same way the adapter does for Xinput games (SNES B and PSX X mapped to A, SNES Y and PSX Square mapped to X, ect.). It's more comfortable to have A and X be my jump and shoot buttons with this controller's layout. But I needed to remap the right trigger to up on the right stick to have analog acceleration in Trials Gold and was happy I could do that without having to switch the adapter to Dinput mode.

phanphare said:
so I just bought this after seeing all the good reviews and this is also what happens with mine

I installed the drivers and plugged in the device. it would flash slowly but when I press sync on the mayflash nothing would happen...

is it a defective device or am I missing something?
Click to expand...
Did you install the Mayflash driver? I've read a few bad things about that. When I got my adapter I just set the switch to Xinput mode and plugged it in. Then Windows automatically installed the 360 controller driver and it worked perfectly. I'd try uninstalling the Mayflash driver and let Windows install the generic 360 one and see if it works.
 
C

Cpt Conifer

Member
I do think, after having used this for over a month, that the right stick is a little funky, and that it's software related. It's not game-breaking, but it is annoying. In Lost Planet 2, the reticule drifts to the left with the stick in neutral position on any sensitivity level higher than around 3/10. I wonder if that is related to how none of us can touch all corners when we run analog stick tests (in my case, I can't touch the top or bottom right corners), which would seem to indicate the total range of movement is off-center.

Another thing that sucks is if you need an extremely low sensitivity in your camera controls - if you are a low-sensitivity player in general - there may be entire games where you won't be able to get 100% comfortable on this controller, because it's more sensitive than a 360 controller at the base level. So, if I played at 4/10, I'd have to set it to 2 or 3/10 on the WiiU pad w/ Mayflash. For whatever reason, whether it's Nintendo or Mayflash, I regularly have to set the sensitivity at least 1-2 levels lower than where I'd have it on a standard 360 pad. I'm actually screwed in Binary Domain -- the lowest setting is not enough for me, but those developers were also jerks anyways with the extremely limited range they offered. I barely got comfortable on a 360 controller by setting it as low as it could go, and there's no file I can edit outside of the game to my knowledge to set it lower than what the options menu allows (no config.ini).

I realize this will come across as petty nitpicking to many, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues. It would be really cool if Mayflash could tighten this up with a software update -- make it so the stick touches all corners and somehow set the base sensitivity lower if it's possible. But even if this is 100% their fault, I doubt there's any incentive to fix it. Perhaps it's the nature of the beast, using such a wide range of devices on PC.
 
A

Astral/H3X

Member
playoverwork said:
Stuff
Click to expand...
Nitpicky to be sure, but since this is a forum for enthusiasts, it is good to point things out like that. I haven't had a single issue with mine since I updated it, though.
Maxrunner said:
Hows linux support here?
Click to expand...
Drivers wise its recognized as a 360 controller or a generic Dinput controller. The only thing that I can imagine wouldn't work is updating the firmware update program. Otherwise its just a matter of X/Dinput controllers in general working on Linux. It doesn't need specific drivers.
Edit: Also I think the only thing that firmware updates did IIRC was map the buttons correctly for use on a PS3.
 
C

chaosblade

Unconfirmed Member
playoverwork said:
I do think, after having used this for over a month, that the right stick is a little funky, and that it's software related. It's not game-breaking, but it is annoying. In Lost Planet 2, the reticule drifts to the left with the stick in neutral position on any sensitivity level higher than around 3/10. I wonder if that is related to how none of us can touch all corners when we run analog stick tests (in my case, I can't touch the top or bottom right corners), which would seem to indicate the total range of movement is off-center.

Another thing that sucks is if you need an extremely low sensitivity in your camera controls - if you are a low-sensitivity player in general - there may be entire games where you won't be able to get 100% comfortable on this controller, because it's more sensitive than a 360 controller at the base level. So, if I played at 4/10, I'd have to set it to 2 or 3/10 on the WiiU pad w/ Mayflash. For whatever reason, whether it's Nintendo or Mayflash, I regularly have to set the sensitivity at least 1-2 levels lower than where I'd have it on a standard 360 pad. I'm actually screwed in Binary Domain -- the lowest setting is not enough for me, but those developers were also jerks anyways with the extremely limited range they offered. I barely got comfortable on a 360 controller by setting it as low as it could go, and there's no file I can edit outside of the game to my knowledge to set it lower than what the options menu allows (no config.ini).

I realize this will come across as petty nitpicking to many, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues. It would be really cool if Mayflash could tighten this up with a software update -- make it so the stick touches all corners and somehow set the base sensitivity lower if it's possible. But even if this is 100% their fault, I doubt there's any incentive to fix it. Perhaps it's the nature of the beast, using such a wide range of devices on PC.
Click to expand...

Have you tried going into the Windows game controller settings and calibrating it? That could help with the off-center issue if it's a software problem. (I assume it's not a hardware one, but my 360 controller's analog stick seems to be off center when I try to leave it neutral)
 
K

KLonso

Member
My issue is a bit different. My adapter does flash, but it keeps flashing at the same slow pace even after I press sync
 
K

KHlover

Banned
Sorry for digging up this thread, but I also have an issue with my recently bought Mayflash adapter:

Generally it works wonderful, but there's an issue I just don't know how to fix:

When I map the controller all buttons and both sticks work wonderful, but in some games the right analog stick stops working after exactly one input, all while working perfectly fine at all times in other games.

So far this has occured in FIFA 14 (annoying since you use the right analog stick to perform tricks and use your Goal Keeper during penalty shots) and ProjectM (Dolphin emulator). In P:M it's especially ridiculous since the right stick works normally in menus but stops working as soon as the actual fight starts (after 1 input ofc.).

I didn't find anyone with a similar problem with a Google search and am completely lost here. It just doesn't make any sense to me :/
 
E

ElectricKaibutsu

Member
A bit of a bump but I finally bought this adapter and two Pro Controllers, one for me and one for the wife. I never used a Pro Controller before so here's a quick review of both items:

The adapter:
It was incredibly easy to use. I just plugged it in, pushed the sync button on the device and pushed the sync button on the controller. Done. I didn't download any drivers or anything. It just worked. I haven't tried the direct input mode yet, but the xinput works flawlessly. The first game I fired up was Super Meat Boy and I couldn't notice any lag. I got a couple A+s just to check it out and it worked great.

The Wii U Pro Controller:
Wow, where has this controller been all my life? My formerly favorite controller, at least comfort wise, was the Xbox 360's. The Pro edges out the win over the 360 for me. The buttons feel great and reset with a springy click. The thumbsticks also have that nice, quick, springy feel to them. Everything feels tight and well put together, similar to the 360 in that respect, actually. But it's this d-pad. This d-pad is incredible. It might be my favorite, but I've only used it for 30 minutes so I'll need some more time before I make that decision. Just to note, the Pro controller buttons don't rattle like the GamePad's which is thoroughly welcome.

I used to own a 360 controller until I gave it to a friend. That was before I got into PC gaming with a controller. I had been debating for awhile whether to buy another but they aren't cheap. I knew I would never buy a 360 so they would only get use with my PC. The real rub was that d-pad though. I never liked it especially since I'm partial to twitchy 2d side-scrollers. But, the 360 controller is considered something of a standard on PC now, so what else could I get? This solved my problem and I heartily endorse it.

In regards to how Mayflash mapped the A and B buttons to, well, the A and B buttons while the 360 has them in different places: since the thumbstick is placed above the face buttons on the Pro, this was a good move on Mayflash's part. You're still moving your thumb the same distance to hit the A button on both controllers. And, if it really bugs you, that's what the direct input mode is for. Customize them however you want.
 
CompC

CompC

Member
I already have the adapter, but I've got a question: does it work with third party controllers?

I ordered a Nyko third party Wii U Pro controller (the Nyko Pro Commander). My plan is to use it for Mario Kart and the new Smash Bros. on Wii U, but also to use it with this adapter to have an extra controller for my PS3 and PC. I play PlayStation All-Stars and lots of 4-player multiplayer games on PC so I should be able to use this adapter in DirectInput mode to connect my official Pro Controller and my cheap third party controller together, right?

If it doesn't work I'll probably return that third party controller. Has anyone tried the adapter with a third party controller?
 
C

Cpt Conifer

Member
chaosblade said:
Have you tried going into the Windows game controller settings and calibrating it? That could help with the off-center issue if it's a software problem. (I assume it's not a hardware one, but my 360 controller's analog stick seems to be off center when I try to leave it neutral)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, it didn't work. In the calibration window, the same thing happens; the reticule tapers off before it can reach the top right and bottom right corners. The "delta field", or whatever the circular area of movement is called for the sticks, is definitely off-center. The X-rotational field defaults to 40%, which verifies the experience I had where it felt like I had to move the stick more to the right before the camera starts moving. Meanwhile it's so sensitive towards any movement to the left that there's usually a drift when it's in the neutral position. I may eventually make time to figure out if I can access the source code and fix it myself (assuming it's a software problem), but I can't at the moment.
 
P

peakish

Member
Just bought a Pro controller myself and can't for the life of me get it to work properly with Windows. Not only was installing that Toshiba driver stack a pain, once I got that running there's random lag spikes where the controller input freezes for up to ten seconds before unleashing them all at once. Ain't got time for this shit so a Mayflash adapter it is.

(Until then I'll be running it on my Macbook which required only one simple piece of software - I swear, Windows just makes me rage at times)
 
E

Exile20

Member
peakish said:
Just bought a Pro controller myself and can't for the life of me get it to work properly with Windows. Not only was installing that Toshiba driver stack a pain, once I got that running there's random lag spikes where the controller input freezes for up to ten seconds before unleashing them all at once. Ain't got time for this shit so a Mayflash adapter it is.

(Until then I'll be running it on my Macbook which required only one simple piece of software - I swear, Windows just makes me rage at times)
Click to expand...

I know how you feel, I tried so hard to get it to work with the toshiba drivers for weeks and it barely worked. So I caved and bought the Mayflash adapter and I kicked myself for not buying it in the first place. It worked immediately.
 
A

Astral/H3X

Member
peakish said:
Just bought a Pro controller myself and can't for the life of me get it to work properly with Windows. Not only was installing that Toshiba driver stack a pain, once I got that running there's random lag spikes where the controller input freezes for up to ten seconds before unleashing them all at once. Ain't got time for this shit so a Mayflash adapter it is.

(Until then I'll be running it on my Macbook which required only one simple piece of software - I swear, Windows just makes me rage at times)
Click to expand...

Yeah, crap like that is probably precisely why this product exists. It's amazing.
 
P

peakish

Member
H3XAntiStyle said:
Yeah, crap like that is probably precisely why this product exists. It's amazing.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the thread by the way! I wasn't expecting this much trouble getting the controller to run, but knowing that this adapter should be a safe backup in case it didn't made it easy to pick up.
 
E

ElectricKaibutsu

Member
I found one game where the Mayflash adapter + Pro controller is actually better than the 360 pad. I picked up Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) when it went on sale the other day and tried to play it with the Mayflash adapter in 360 mode, but the right stick wouldn't work. I was worried it had something to do with me not having a real 360 pad, but after some research it turns out, for some reason, the game only works with generic gamepads. Well, with a flip of a switch I set the Mayflash to Directinput and after that it worked perfectly.
 
C

Cpt Conifer

Member
Could any of you do me a favor and, when in xinput mode, go into devices -> xbox360 controller for windows, then click properties, then click the calibrate tab, and when you get to the X-rotation part, tell me if your stick drifts to the left or right when in neutral? You'll be able to tell if one of the bars is anywhere besides 50%. I'm just trying to get a feel for whether or not I could get away from it by buying another pro controller.
 
A

Awakened

Member
playoverwork said:
Could any of you do me a favor and, when in xinput mode, go into devices -> xbox360 controller for windows, then click properties, then click the calibrate tab, and when you get to the X-rotation part, tell me if your stick drifts to the left or right when in neutral? You'll be able to tell if one of the bars is anywhere besides 50%. I'm just trying to get a feel for whether or not I could get away from it by buying another pro controller.
Click to expand...
My left stick drifts a bit to the bottom left while the right goes a bit top right. There are very few games I've found it actually affecting though. Chibi Robo and Xenoblade in Dophin have character drift when I let off the left stick sometimes with the deadzone set to 0 in config. Those are the only two I've noticed with that problem out of almost 100 games I've tried in Dolphin (and I could make specific controller profiles for those two with larger deadzones to fix it). The analog controlled cursor for the touchscreen in Desmume-libretro will drift on me sometimes too; hopefully a deadzone option for that will be added sometime. I haven't noticed drifting problems with any native PC games I've tried yet.
 
P

prodystopian

Member
Just got the DS3 version and it works great after setup. I'll copy my amazon review here because I had some problems with the instructions:

Good: It works as described and doesn't cost much more than a good bluetooth adapter.

The bad: The instructions. Two things to note. First, plug the controller into the device with your USB cable (not your PC as the directions say) for setup. Second, I had trouble after this, but it was because I had another set of Xbox 360 controller drivers installed. I had to disable that controller, restart, then re enable the controller drivers.
 
V

Vic

Please help me with my bad english
Could anyone verify if it's working with Android? Bought a Wii U Pro Controller thinking that it would work with Android... it did at some point :(
 
I

It's Reyn Time!

Member
charlequin said:
Slight bump here: if anyone was (like me) loving this controller, but irritated at the button layout, might I suggest the following: http://code.google.com/p/magical-tools/wiki/Durazno

Takes maybe five minutes to get going the first time, maybe 30 seconds per game after that; swaps buttons however you want (and can do some other controller adjustments to boot.)
Click to expand...

Nifty. I'm fine with the snes layout (it's muscle memory at this point) but it can be a bit of a git when games have QTEs with the 360 layout displayed on screen (Walking Dead for example). This will be quite useful for that.
 
Y

Yort

Member
I got a Wii U Pro Controller last week on clearance (check Staples any fellow Canadians, they seem to be getting rid of all of their gaming stuff), and the positive reviews of the adaptor convinced me to order one. It was $29.99 on amazon.ca. It was sold by a third party seller but fulfilled by amazon so free shipping.

I'm really pleased with it. I skipped installing the drivers as recommended in the thread and it worked perfectly out of the box. I tried Super Castlevania IV and Dark Souls and everything worked smoothly. I'm a huge fan of Nintendo d-pads and the Pro Controller's is way better than the silver 360 pad with the improved transformable d-pad I was using previously. The remapping of the buttons to the label rather than the position in the diamond is the only real drawback to the adaptor. This is mitigated as my thumb naturally rests on X and A on the Pro Controller instead of Y and B on other Nintendo devices like the gamepad and 3DS. The fix charlequin posted makes this the perfect PC controller.

I noticed some people saying their controller didn't have proper button mappings when used on a PS3. I'm currently playing through Demon's Souls for the first time so I decided to try it out. I guess Mayflash is applying the updated firmware to the device as the buttons were mapped to the proper position on the diamond (ie B=X, A = circle and so on). I beat stage 4-2 of Demon's Souls without any issues using the pro controller. This is a really nice bonus for me as I've never been a fan of the dualshock.

I heartily recommend the Pro Controller and the Mayflash adaptor, especially if you own more than one platform to use it on.
 
C

Cpt Conifer

Member
Awakened said:
My left stick drifts a bit to the bottom left while the right goes a bit top right. There are very few games I've found it actually affecting though. Chibi Robo and Xenoblade in Dophin have character drift when I let off the left stick sometimes with the deadzone set to 0 in config. Those are the only two I've noticed with that problem out of almost 100 games I've tried in Dolphin (and I could make specific controller profiles for those two with larger deadzones to fix it). The analog controlled cursor for the touchscreen in Desmume-libretro will drift on me sometimes too; hopefully a deadzone option for that will be added sometime. I haven't noticed drifting problems with any native PC games I've tried yet.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the input. I used Duranzo to set a deadzone of around 6%, but then decided to go back to default settings. I guess I'd rather keep the drift and have no deadzone. Iirc, it's a design choice for the pro controller.
 
T

TharpDaddy

Member
I don't know a ton about controllers, but the triggers on the pro controller are not pressure sensitive, right? Would i run into problems if i wanted to use it with a racing game or the like?
 
B

batbeg

Member
Does this work via direct usb connection as well as blue tooth? My crappy laptop does not have blue tooth but I'd like to be able to use my controller to play the Ys games.
 
C

Crimsonclaw111

Member
TharpDaddy said:
I don't know a ton about controllers, but the triggers on the pro controller are not pressure sensitive, right? Would i run into problems if i wanted to use it with a racing game or the like?
Click to expand...

It's all or nothing on Wii U pads. Anything with analog trigger usage I would not recommend playing.
 
A

Awakened

Member
Crimsonclaw111 said:
It's all or nothing on Wii U pads. Anything with analog trigger usage I would not recommend playing.
Click to expand...
I don't think missing analog acceleration is a big deal for something like Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed. Two of the platforms that game is on lack analog triggers anyways (Vita and Wii U). I've been fine with digital acceleration in open world games like Just Cause 2, Saint's Row 3 and 4 and Sleeping Dogs. Codemaster's more sim-ish racers might be a bit more difficult though. Trials really needs analog acceleration once you get up to the harder levels too. At least you can use x360ce or other xinput remapping tools to map the right trigger to up on the right stick for analog acceleration as long as you don't need that stick for something else.
 
T

tim.mbp

Member
I picked one up and it works great. On a related note, it makes the controller work when plugged into the usb on the Amazon Fire TV.
 
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