Hey guys, I'm definitely thinking about picking one of these up. I know it's not out yet, but has anyone read any previews or impressions for this pad? I'm using a TE2 right now, but i need something to use at night when the fiance is sleeping. Was gonna go with the hori fighting commander, but i heard bad things about the rotating dpad coming loose after a while. I'll probably end up getting the madcatz pad either, but just thought I'd ask. Thanks!

Haven't seen any outright reviews yet but the initial reactions seem to be positive. I think if someone like Snake Eyez makes it his primary pad it might be a winner.

French fighting game expert Alioune prefers the Hori but hasn't given many details as to why:

@hassun: Hmm, that might be convincing me to go with the hori pad. I'm kind of bummed cause there is no touchpads on it for training mode. I can't decide!! Both maybe?.....

@dsouvannarath: If you can try them beforehand that would be ideal of course. There are just no real in-depth reviews of the pads at the moment.

I bought a Hori pad for the betas last year and it was pretty good until the dpad screw became loose after about a few hours. Afterwards, I'd have to retighten the screw every few rounds or else the dpad would start rotating on me mid match. I wouldn't recommend it unless you can live with that hassle or you have a gentle touch.

@terach: That's a bummer to hear. I read that seemed to be an issue. I might try the regular fighting commander. That doesn't seem to have a rotating pad(I think?) Thanks for the info

I have both the Hori FC4 and Fightpad Pro and I'm actually planning on writing up some impressions on here after I get some more time in with the Fightpad. Keep an eye out on that fighting game thread. So far I've been messing around in Tekken Tag 2 and Ultra SF IV. I want to get a bit of time in with SFV using both pads some more before I commit to one. If you have any one-off questions I should be able to answer them.

@technician: Awesome, I'm looking forward to your impressions. I haven't decided yet so I'll wait. In the meantime, I ended up picking up this controller instead because of the saturn vibes. I still plan on getting either the madcatz or fc4 for a second pad. Thanks!

Do you guys use a "claw stance" to play with the 6 front button layout? Or just your thumb?

@outrager: I've been pretty stubborn so far and have just been using my thumb, which is easier on the FC4 than the Fightpad since the buttons are bigger (I know it might sound like it doesn't make sense but when you try to hit two buttons at the same time this is important).

I do want to try using claw style with both though.

There are multiple ways to manipulate a 6-button controller face like that. You have traditional claw which is more often used with regular controllers. Basically you use the side of your your pointer finger(s) to press face buttons and you can then use your middle finger(s) to access the bumpers.

As far as I know this grip is not all that popular in fighting games. I've rarely seen it being used outside of Smash. Top pad players like Nuckledu, Luffy, Smug, SonicFox, Problem X and Snake Eyez do not use this grip. I think this is partially because fighting games generally don't make use of the right analogue stick so you might as well use your right thumb to press the face buttons. Another reason for this is because pads which mimic the 6/8 face buttons of the arcade sticks make it harder to use the claw grip.

The traditional way to hold a controller with the 6-button layout like the mad catz fight pad or the hori fighting commander is to hold the controller regularly in the left hand and then use the fingers of your right hand as if you are typing on a keyboard or fight stick. This is also why some players who use these pads let the controller rest on their right thigh/knee while playing.

@technician: how is the d pad on the pro? I'm on the fence about laying £50 on one when they look absolute balls compared the the fight pads of street fighter 4 and even tekken x sf. The d pad is a deal breaker for me as I only play fighting games with these type of pads.

I'm wondering though that if mad carz are in a spot of bother after poor rock band sales, maybe these will drop in price

Edit; also does it work with pc? Seeing how that's my platform if choice.

Thanks

@pompa: I'm having a really confusing experience using the d-pad right now. I'm having a hard time finding the "sweet spot" on it. For example doing hadouken drills and getting like 10 in and messing one up and restarting and then taking like a solid minute to get the motion back again. The pad is a completely smooth surface and sometimes I feel like my thumb slides off a bit. Also the joystick seems to be a bit too close to the pad; sometimes I graze the joystick when doing qcf motions. Also after an extended session I feel some slight fatigue in my arm that I don't feel when using other pads.

I think I just need to unlearn my habits from other pads and get a good feel for the d-pad, which hasn't happened yet. It has been a bit of a struggle so far. I'm certainly not a fighting game pro though so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. I hope that getting more time in will solve some of the problems I have.

Primarily being a stick user, I thought i'd like the claw method, but i just can't get used to it. I just hold the controller normally and just use my thumbs for the buttons and fingers for the triggers. CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS GAME

@technician: Cheers for the insight, I use analog stick and have a Fightpad Pro heading in the post at the moment. I was still curious about the d-pad though because the completely smooth disc nature of it looked like it could've been cool. The notches in the analog stick base is what has me most keen about the pad though.

@baronsamedi: Let me know what you think of the analog stick on the pad. It's probably the most sensitive analog stick I've used and I think it could have potential but I haven't used it much yet since I tend to prefer using the d-pad on pads.

Got this today in the mail. I absolutely LOVE it. Dpad is nice and all the buttons feel good and responsive. I had no problem doing Dudley links with it.

@dsouvannarath: do you still hold it like a normal pad? I think the natural inclination would be to poise your fingers over the buttons like on a stick.

@humanity: Actually yes I do. I think it's from using the dualshocks so much. I took me a few matches to remember that there six buttons on front and i was still using it like a standard dualshock (which you can do, even though there is the r1 and r2 on the front, they are doubled on the triggers and shoulders so there are actually ten buttons) There is even a switch at the top to change the triggers to L3 and R3. I may eventually try to move my fingers over the buttons arcade style eventually though. Seems logical

I've heard some really bad stuff about the new Madcatz pads but not from firsthand experience. Some people say the funky d-pad gets stuck really quickly.

People have already started to post "fixes" for the new pad involving opening it up and sanding parts of it down, which to me is an EXTREMELY bad sign, since the thing is barely out the door...

Personally I'm going to go for the Hori Fighting Commander 4 (the regular Hori Fighting Commander, which the post above me linked to, doesn't seem to be available in Canada yet).

@dsouvannarath: Nice, I just ordered one as well. Looking forward to trying it out!