OR MAYBE NOT! (Wireless controller with rumble - yes, there is one)

IMPORTANT: See my reply below (#4) for a followup noting a problem that cropped up with this controller, making it less than recommendable (which is a shame). I've left my original message intact below, but see message #4!



And so far I have to say that it is quite nice. In fact it works better than our Wavebirds with such things as Action Replay (and homebrew, if you have the ability to run such). Action replay doesn't act wonky and, unlike the Wavebird, the digital control pad works in it, and homebrew software doesn't require us to press buttons on the controller(s) at power up in order for it to work. And, yes, it has rumble. It is the Intec "Gamecube Wireless Link Controller with Battery Pack - Purple" as listed at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00083HK98/

EDIT: the main picture there is incorrect - it shows the xbox one. See the "customer provided" image. That is the correct one. You do get the correct controller, or at least we did.

The controller feels good in hand and it works great. No weirdness in sensitivity or anything like that. The rumble works great. My 6 year old also likes the "Turbo" feature, and in fact that is what he wanted and why he got the controller. The Turbo function is pretty well implemented in that you can activate turbo on any button or buttons of your choice. We've only had this since Christmas so it's hardly a long-term report, but so far it's excellent.

However, I haven't bothered with the rechargable battery pack, so far we're just using Alkalines, because the scheme of having the controller charge while connected to the gamecube via a cable seems misguided as it only receives power if the Gamecube is powered on. We're not going to leave our Gamecube powered on just to charge the controller and we don't want to be connected with a cable while playing, else we'd use a wired controller. It would be much better if it included a charger that plugged into the wall. Oh well. It works fine with alkalines though I don't have a report yet on battery life. I'll try NiMH batteries in it at some point. Those didn't last long in our Wavebirds, but perhaps they'll work better in this one since it was designed for rechargable batteries - I don't know yet. Supposedly you can pick up a 5 V DC cell phone charger and use that to charge the included battery pack, and that would make a lot more sense. I plan to try to find one if I can get it cheap.

Anyway, it's wireless, it has rumble, it works better with Action Replay and homebrew than the Wavebird, and it seems to be a solid controller. Good stuff. In fact I like it so much that I ordered two more.

What the hell? Is that an xbox 360 controller?

Like I said - the picture is incorrect. Look at the user submitted one. That's what it actually looks like.

Urgh. I'm regretting having posted about this controller, because only a few weeks into it and it has developed a significant problem. Sometimes when the analog stick is released, it still sees it as being pressed in some direction. End result is you see Paper Mario, or whatever, creeping along on his own. It can be "fixed" temporarily by moving the stick slightly, but then happens again later on. I ordered two more of these (which haven't arrived yet), and I'm on the fence with whether to take a chance on opening them. If it weren't for this problem it would be a great controller. Sigh. Apologies to anyone who ordered one of these due to my post if it has developed the same problem.

wow so your trying to sell us a defective product huh. i guess you conscience acted up. at least you alterted us sooner than later.

Have you tried swiveling the analog stick a few times around in both directions? This sounds like it might be an easily correctable problem that's cropped up a few times on my PS2 DualShocks. A few swivels should loosen up the stick and fix the problem unless this is an actual calibration problem.

[quote name='ispep']wow so your trying to sell us a defective product huh. i guess you conscience acted up. at least you alterted us sooner than later.[/quote]
You spend your third post, on your first day, passing judgement (stupidly, I might add) on someone who is being brutally honest about his experience with a product?

Welcome to CAG. Rule #1, don't be an asshat.

[quote name='rapsodist']Have you tried swiveling the analog stick a few times around in both directions? This sounds like it might be an easily correctable problem that's cropped up a few times on my PS2 DualShocks. A few swivels should loosen up the stick and fix the problem unless this is an actual calibration problem.[/quote]

I'll give it a shot. It's perhaps worth noting that it clearly is the same stick they use on their PS2 controllers, because I've noticed that you can (pointlessly on a GC), press the stick down. I mean press it like a button, like on a DualShock stick. So if this happens on DualShocks sometimes, then maybe that will fix it. I'll try it out, and see how it performs over the next few weeks. Thanks!