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Versus Fighting Pad
Score: 92%
Developer: Performance Designed Products
Device Type: Controller


Function:

You're a lover not a fighter. Well, except when it comes to videogames; then you're a fighter-lover. You can't get enough of them. You've got a large arcade stick, for when you're in your own dojo, but you need something that you can take with you easily. What you're looking for is a gamepad with a six-button fighting game layout. What you've been waiting for is the new Versus Fighting Pad.

Performance:

While the truest arcade experience will always be with an arcade stick (or an arcade cabinet, if you can afford it)... the Versus Fighting Pad offers a very nice approximation in a gamepad form-factor. The Versus Fighting Pad features a 6-button layout where the action buttons would typically be. The standard four action buttons are almost exactly in their normal orientation; they are slightly rotated clockwise, so that the first two buttons on the top row of buttons are (Square) and (Triangle), and the first two buttons on the bottom row are (X) and (Circle). The right-most pair are an additional pair of buttons that feel like the other (action) buttons, but are (L1) on the top row and (R1) on the bottom row.

Layout aside, the first thing you'll notice about the Versus Fighting Pad is that the shape is unique. The left side is bigger than the right, allowing you to hold it more securely in place with your left hand, freeing your right hand to either hold the controller as a normal gamepad and hit the action buttons with your thumb or to position your hand, palm-down, over the controller and press the buttons like you would on an arcade stick. Personally, I found that I switched back and forth between the two scenarios, depending on what fighting game I was playing and what character I was playing... or playing against. The palm-down arcade-button-pressing method allows more frenetic gameplay, but you might need to rest the right side of the stick on your leg if you really start going at it.

While the Versus Fighting Pad can be put to good use when you are playing strategically as a character you're familiar with, it is also, quite frankly, a button-masher's dream. The (Select) and (Start) buttons are "hidden" - tucked around the front of the controller (around the corner from the top of the face... just toward the center from the (R2) shoulder button). This makes it easy enough to get to - when you want to get to them, but nearly impossible to accidentally hit when tapping action buttons maniacally to generate a flurry of attacks.

The Versus also features a rubberized comfort coating over the most of the body of the controller, itself. This coating increases both comfort and grip.

One unique aspect of the Versus Fighting Pad is that the Action buttons are made with arcade style micro-switches... and the left joystick is, as well. Where you would normally have an analog stick and a D-pad, the Versus features a single digital joystick (think, "old-skool"), with the same micro-switch-based snappy action as the action buttons.


Features:
  • Arcade Style Micro-Switch Stick
  • Arcade Style Micro-Switch Buttons
  • 6-Button Fighting Pad Layout
  • Start and Select Buttons are Out of the Way
  • Unique Ergonomic Grip
  • 10' Cord
  • 2 Year Limited Warranty
  • Rubberized Comfort Grip Coating
  • Unique Ergonomic Design Allows Right Hand Flexibility

Drawbacks & Problems::

Let me avoid any misunderstanding here. The Versus Fighting Pad is not a gamepad. I wouldn't recommend it for general use with a variety of game genres. This is a gamepad designed specifically for playing fighting games. It may work well with some other games, but anything that requires the finesse of an analog stick, rather than the quick response of a digital stick, won't work well with the Versus Fighting Pad.

Also, the Versus Fighting Pad is corded. It is a ten foot long cord, but even at that, I found that I had to sit forward to play, rather than sitting back on my couch and playing in a more relaxed position. And, yes, I really did end up with the controller being yanked right out of my hand when someone walked by (quickly, so as not to be in the way of the screen) and didn't realize the Versus Fighting Pad was a wired controller. If your console is in a low-traffic area, such as a bedroom, or people can go around you instead of in between you and the console, this might not be an issue. Otherwise, take the cord into consideration.

If you're okay with a corded controller and you're looking for a gamepad for playing fighting games (that allow you to use the D-pad instead of the analog stick - most do), this is exactly what the Versus Fighting Pad was built to do.


-Geck0, GameVortex Communications
AKA Robert Perkins

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