Console gear

Sony’s PlayStation 3 DualShock 3 controller cops a bit of flak from some corners — in particular for its slippery convex triggers, but also for its symmetrical analogue sticks. With this in mind, we grabbed hold of a couple of third-party gamepads to see if they manage to do any better: the Power A Pro Elite and Gioteck HF-1.

Gioteck’s HF-1 is the less expensive of the two PS3 gamepads we reviewed this month, and starts out strong, with concave triggers, asymmetrical analogue sicks and built-in Bluetooth so it can completely emulate the DS3 — even down to wirelessly powering up the PS3 console. It also takes AA batteries, allowing quick battery swapping if it dies mid-play. The triggers, while a bit springy, are also a definite improvement on the DS3’s and your fingers are never in danger of slipping off.

Power A’s Pro Elite is the second PS3 pad we tested and while it closely resembles the Xbox 360 controller, it actually still has a lot in common with Sony’s PlayStation 3 DualShock 3 (DS3). The analogue sticks are still kind of loose, but offer a bit more spring and resistance than the Gioteck; more generally, they’re about halfway between PS3 and Xbox 360 levels. The triggers and shoulder buttons also meet at a comfortable midpoint — the triggers are a little wider and spongier than the 360’s, but like the Gioteck HF-1, their concave nature means your fingers won’t slip off.

If it were left to other writers at PC User, there’s a good chance the Razer Onza would get a scathing review straight out of the box. ‘Wired controller? Pffft’, seemed to be the general consensus among some of our games writers, uniformly accustomed to the comfort of playing Xbox 360 from over 2m away and not tripping over cables. Luckily for Razer, out of a combination of nostalgia and cheapness (I never buy batteries), I prefer wired controllers, which grants this ‘pro’ gamepad and its monstrous 4m cable a measure of leniency.

The SteelSeries Spectrum 5XB is an Xbox 360 headset connector (a small unit designed to let you connect a PC headset to your Xbox), bundled together with its own headset. Getting set up is straightforward: connect the USB receiver from the console to the jack on the 360’s control, and the included headset then plugs into that. There are separate volume controls for sound and voice on the unit’s shoulders, as well as a mic mute toggle on the top. Underneath is a control for the LiveMix feature, which dynamically adjusts game noise levels so voice communications can be clearly heard.

A revamp of the much-loved wireless Xbox 360 headset, the Turtle Beach Ear Force X41 takes over from the infra-red X4 at the top end of the company’s price range. There are two core components: a wireless base station, which connects to the Xbox console via RCA plugs or optical S/PDIF (cable supplied), which syncs wirelessly to the headset using digital RF in the 2.4GHz range to send and receive audio. Users of the earlier, non-slim Xbox 360 will require an Xbox optical/RCA adapter to plug in the base station.

Microsoft may be the final straggling latecomer to the motion-controlled games party, but it sure has brought some flashy tech along with it. Unlike the PlayStation’s Move kit, which is largely similar to the Nintendo Wii’s control system, Kinect for Xbox 360 offers something of a fresh twist, with a completely controller-less design that uses a camera to track and translate your movements.