Black wireless 360 controller OEM $29 @ Dell

out of curiosity, any chance they say/how to tell if they are the newer batch of 360 controllers? I bought one with the play and charge kit when it was $38 from amazon last year (yeah, awesome price) but the D-pad felt stiff, almost like it only had a 4 direction pad. The controllers than xbox 360 comes with and the red wireless ones feel like they have an 8 directional D pad.

insight?

(otherwise it's a nice price)

[quote name='100xp']out of curiosity, any chance they say/how to tell if they are the newer batch of 360 controllers? I bought one with the play and charge kit when it was $38 from amazon last year (yeah, awesome price) but the D-pad felt stiff, almost like it only had a 4 direction pad. The controllers than xbox 360 comes with and the red wireless ones feel like they have an 8 directional D pad.

insight?

(otherwise it's a nice price)[/QUOTE]
I've never been happy with the D-Pad but I've also never played one that feels any different than the sloppy 8 way.

I've got both older white and black models along with new red controller and a Halo LE pack-in controller (the solid OD green not the one with the Halo graphics). All have had the same D-pad. The Halo one seemed to get extra loose fast through.

Maybe you got a bad one?

The only allegedly improved d-pad I ever heard of was on that green limited edition controller that was released outside of the US.

[quote name='100xp']out of curiosity, any chance they say/how to tell if they are the newer batch of 360 controllers? I bought one with the play and charge kit when it was $38 from amazon last year (yeah, awesome price) but the D-pad felt stiff, almost like it only had a 4 direction pad. The controllers than xbox 360 comes with and the red wireless ones feel like they have an 8 directional D pad.

insight?

(otherwise it's a nice price)[/QUOTE]

It all depends. The one that came with my Elite feels just like the one you're describing, but all others I've bought feel fine (despite the fact that the d-pad sucks regardless).
So, don't assume that the only good ones are the ones that come with the console.

Yeah same experience more or less, all the console wireless controllers get broken in easily and stay that way...I guess I got a less than stellar one but managed to trade it for some games. No loss there. The I have 2 red controllers now, they both feel like they're worth their price. I recall seeing a review where someone mentions some controllers have a smoother feeling D pad. i.e. the newer colors.

Thanks, just wanted to know if I wasn't the only one that noticed.