New Controller!

Recently I have been playing a lot of fighting games on my Genesis, Sega CD and Saturn consoles. The various incarnations of the Sega six button controller work very well for those games.

As sexy as the standard Dreamcast controller is, it just doesn't seem work on the same level for 2D fighting games like Capcom vs SNK. Don't get me wrong, for games like Power Sword and Soul Calibur it's perfect and for most other genres I would rather have a Dreamcast controller. But after some gameplay on different pads it's tough to go from breaking fools with a Saturn slim six button to a Dreamcast controller with only 4.

So to deal with this issue I have been looking around in local game shops in NY State for solution.

This weekend I hit PAY-DIRT...

The ASCII Pad, the capcom special edition one. It had already been opened so my desire to keep things NRFB didn't get in my way of taking it out and trying it out.


Notice all the non-English writing on the box? Yeah I was afraid that it wouldn't work in my American Dreamcast. I had never tried to use any Japanese hardware... But it worked AWESOME.



I really enjoyed using this controller with Capcom VS SNK. Cammy kicked much computer controller player's ass.

How kick ass is this controller? Very. It's got built in rumble and everything.



In any case it also came with some cards detailing the special moves for all the Capcom characters. Kanji? I can't read it! NOOOOOOO!!!!! The art is still cool.


Overall this is a pretty cool collectible and I am glad I picked it up.

15 comments:

Animated AF said...

How much to you pay for it? Whenever i see them they go for crazy money. I have a controller a lot like that one, except it's not an official ASCII one like that with all that cool Capcom vs SNK stuff. Still, nothing beats the good old arcade stick for fighting game perfection, but these are great as well.

myles said...

I got myself a fake one a while back too and the d pad broke after a month. I've been looking for that specific ascii pad for a while now and have given up and am just going to turn the broken fake ascii pad into a arcade stick.

fatherkrishna said...

Amazing find, I had no idea that this even existed! It's definitely one of the coolest peripherals I've ever seen. Like the Gagaman(n) however, I am really interested in the price... I know that you don't throw money around unnecessarily! Maybe you just got the best bargain seen on the 'Yard so far...

Anonymous said...

Like Father K and Gagaman(n), how much did you pay for it? I want one, but I only see these on eBay for around $60.

Anonymous said...

As much as I love my Dreamcast, the stock controls are shit. SEGA deserved a good swift kick in the balls for making such unergonomic monstrosities, then not even putting enough buttons on them.

gnome said...

Fantastic find Caleb

fatherkrishna said...

Gasp! anonymous! (and you're here often enough not to be anonymous) the Dreamcast controllers represent the pinnacle of console controllers!!! They just feel SO right!!! its no coincidence that the Xbox controllers are remarkably similar...

Ross said...

I have PS2 Street Fighter controllers, and they're great, too. Here are some pictures (because everyone loves pictures):
http://www.estarland.com/images/products/59/20159/34388.jpg
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/410AWC25EXL._AA280_.jpg
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JGKDKSPTL._AA280_.jpg

Quite kick ass if you ask me...

Ross said...

And Father, I am not completely satisfied with the DC controllers either... they feel too plastic-y (cheap) and light, didn't have built in rumble, and it was annoying where the chord was placed. But they're certainly not the worst controllers ever...

Anonymous said...

Just a word of advice. I've had 3 of these ASCII FT controllers. Yes they are nice and feel closest to a Saturn pad. Their response is second to none. However, their D-pad is TREMENDOUSLY prone to breaking after 3 months extensive use. You'll notice it when left or right fail to register. The rubber sensor mat that's placed underneath the D-pad is made of a thin vinyl compound that tears easily. It's weaker than the ones used in the DC's Standard Controller. I find the recent PS2 and XBOX anniversary controllers to be of identical design, but with slightly better D-pads. Use those in conjuction with a Total Control/Xskillz controller adaptor for ur DC. Or simply use a Saturn pad and a Total Control 3....

Anonymous said...

@fatherkrishna:
Comparing the Dreamcast control to the original XBox control doesn' help your argument. Remember that the original XBox control was panned as a major piece of shit itself and was replaced in under a year with a clone of the Sony Dual Shock deign with a misplacd left analog stick.

Animated AF said...

Other than the extra analogue the re-design of the X-Box controller was still a lot like the Dreamcast one. It also had a couple other lesser used buttons, but otherwise it even had two memory card ports in the top. The main reason they redesigned that controller was mainly it's shape: it was too chunky, like it was made for people wearing mittens. If anything most of the controllers of the last 15 years were evolutions of the SNES controller design.

The Dreamcast controller isn't perfect, the analogue stick has those dots on it that after a long game can irritate your finger quite a bit, but the size and shape is just right for my hands (I find most other controllers a tad too small). I've recently got really used to the PS2 controller design though, nice and snug.

Caleb said...

Anonymous :

Good points on the fighting pad. I have heard how fragile they can be from other people as well.

(However I have seen how other people abuse game pads and call it normal wear and tear as well. You don't need much force to move the directional pad, the arcade style button mashing that some players use will certainly mess up this controller.)

Since I will be using mine as primarly a collector's item and special tool to destroy other human players in VS I think it will be fine.

As for your comments about the Dreamcast standard controller I have to repeat my previous comments in the post. I love this controller. It fits very well in my hands. I think it's expecially good for third person view games like Survival horror.

The only thing it's not good for is FPS, in which case you gotta get a Dreamcast Mouse and Keyboard.

I can understand why some people don't like it though.

:Gagaman(n) - Hell yeah on the dots. I forget what game I was playing but you have a point about those damn things.

As for how much I paid for the controller...I mean I dunno I am always talking about the good deals I get. I actually paid $30 for this which I thought was fair.

I thought the orginal X-box controller was great, but thats because I have giant Amish mitts genetically designed for hard farm labor.

fatherkrishna said...

"I thought the orginal X-box controller was great, but thats because I have giant Amish mitts genetically designed for hard farm labor."

LMAO!!! Caleb, I always thought you were a delicate soul who had hands designed for drinking tea from a china cup with your pinkie sticking out...

Anonymous said...

Would you be interested in trading it for a different controller or the the conversion piece for another system to Dreamcast? Perhaps, you'd just selling it to me?