hardware and accessories

Like someone else, who posted a review here, I went through 2 of these. I ordered one online and when I recieved it both the circle button and d-pad were stuck. I couldn't repair it without taking it apart and I didn't want to do that. I returned it and decided to buy another one.

I purchased a second one at Best Buy and it had the EXACT same problem. I took this one apart and fixed the problem and began to play with it. It's easy to fix once you remove all 20 screws. I suggest if you have the problem to just return it and get your money back.

The analog sticks are slick and they don't have any gripping power like the original Sony controller. My thumbs were sliding off of them during gameplay. I found myself stretching my thumbs a little bit in order to move the stick all the way forward. They probably changed the specs for people who have huge hands.

The 8 direction d-pad is horrible. It's a big circle that is terrible for simple up/down & left/right movement. It's only good if you need 360 degrees of movement. I really hate these circle d-pads because they never have good response. Nintendo has it right with their 4 direction d-pads especially the SNES one.

The vibration feature was a good idea but since the Netplay is so heavy the effects are weak. The keyboard portion of the controller is ok. It's basically a laptop sized keyboard. Seems pretty sturdy but I noticed that sometimes letters would get repeated 3-4 times. Maybe it was caused by some lag. For some reason you can detach it.

Don't buy this. The controller portion doesn't compare to the original PS2 controller and it breaks easily. The buttons get easily stuck and it's a pain to take it apart to fix. Two other people here had the same problems as me so I'm sure it's more than just a bad batch or a coincidence.

It's a shame ASCII didn't make something like this. They are great at replicating original design specs when it comes to controllers. Their GameCube keyboard/controller is awesome and works perfectly.

Can this be used for PC too? How does it connect to PC?

I got a brand new replacement (...)P>It seems the keyboard was out of warranty already, even though I got it new from another retailer (whom I won't buy from again.) Perhaps there was a bad batch of these?

Anyhow, the keyboard is great, and one doesn't have to switch keyboard and controller anymore. It's contoured nicely to sit on one's lap.

My only complaint is that some of the keys could be bigger. Like the tab key, and all the punctuation keys around the return button.