#controller reviews

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The Microsoft SideWinder was my first PC game controller. I got it at Radio Shack some time back in 2004. I bought it for mainly for ROMs of old games and later on to play Maple Story. Back then Maple Story didn't have an in-game option to use a controller. In order to use one you had to map the buttons of your controller into a program like JoyToKey. This is a program that I also used with VNs like Umineko and Katawa Shoujo. I mapped the function to advance text to a button, making it more comfortable for me to play. I used the shoulder buttons for this, since the SideWinder has some nice shoulder buttons.

This image came from Amazon. You can view the product info page here.

This is the model I have. The model number is 486-00074. Microsoft has made several other controllers under the SideWinder name, as well as mice and keyboards mostly designed for gaming. Although it looks like the gaming mice have been discontinued since 2012. For more info on this you might want to check out the Wikipedia article. I know, I know... Using Wikipedia as a source. But to be honest, depending on what you are looking for it can actually be a decent reference.

As you can see it has six buttons, much like the Sega Genesis 6 button controller. A,B,C on the bottom and X,Y,Z on the top. There are buttons in the middle that you can use for start and select or whatever you want to map them as. That thing above the Microsoft logo is an green LED light that will be on when the controller is plugged in. What you can't see in this pic are the two shoulder buttons. They're recessed in a bit and that makes them very comfortable to use. I find that the shoulder buttons on many controllers can get a little uncomfortable after awhile because they are placed so precisely at the top. well at least the ones on the Gamecube controller are ergonomic.

The d-pad is round with a slight indentation for each of the four directions. It's capable of diagonal movement. But it's really not the best at utilizing it. That's not to say that it doesn't work. But the d-pad is a tad stiff and can hurt your thumb after awhile if you are playing an intense game. Even after lots of use it never really softened up much. That said, the buttons are still pretty responsive and the d-pad, while a little stiff, is still perfectly usable and nowhere near the worst I've ever encountered.

As you can see from the cord in the pic, it's not a wireless controller and has no option for wireless play. It connects to the computer via USB. The cord length is adequate too.

The controller is very comfortable to hold and it's a decent weight. Not too heavy and not too light. And it's build like a tank. Super sturdy and durable. It's not going to crack or break or come apart. It's made of very hard textured plastic. I'd like to say that the plastic is similar to the kind used in the official Gamecube controller. But it might be a little harder than that. This makes it a perfect controller for kids. Because in addition to being easy to hold, they aren't going to be able to break it.

As for longevity, I had mine for about 8 years and literally played it to death. It eventually became hard to get the down direction to respond on the d-pad. After I replaced it with a Kinobo controller (which I'll review later) I let my nephew have it. And eventually it stopped working. Although that might be an issue with the wonky USB slot it was plugged into. But the point is it lasted a long time and I got a lot of enjoyment out of it.

This version of the Microsoft SideWinder, like every other SideWinder controller, is discontinued. So you aren't likely to find it new unless someone still has a factory sealed box laying around. It looks like the SideWinder brand has been replaced by the standard Xbox 360 controller for Windows. Although the SideWinder keyboard is still being offered. Click here to a look at Microsoft's gaming peripherals at their official website.

This isn't the type of controller I'd recommend anymore unless you are looking for something that really looks and feels oldschool. There are better PC controllers out there now and this one lacks analog sticks and turbo/auto functionality. So it's not a good choice for the latest games. This model SideWinder seems to be best suited to retro games. But if you really want one you should be able to find it used on Ebay or Amazon.