Interesting you said that, because I used that Rumblepad for years and changed it out for this bad boy. It's obviously a lot lighter but I love it.

XInput was introduced in the beginning of 2006 or so, and it still took time from there before PC game developers really started supporting it heavily. So I wouldn't say it is only "pre-WinXP games" that need DirectInput. I'd say around 2008 or so PC games started supporting XInput (XBox360 gamepad) heavily as the standard.

What somewhat lessens the need for DirectInput gamepads (like Logitech DualShock etc.) is that before the XBox360 era, gamepad support was usually an afterthought or a secondary option for PC games, and most non-racing and non-flying PC games were really expected to be played with mouse+keyboard. So if one is fine using mouse+keyboard with such games, DirectInput isn't really needed. Some games still benefitted quite a lot from a gamepad, e.g. the Prince of Persia games, many of the Blood Omen games etc. Mainly games which were e.g. ported from PS2 to PC.

XBox360 gamepad can quite often be made work satisfactorily with older DirectInput games too, but it is extra hassle and fiddling.

Get this one: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/accessories/controllers/wireless-controller-and-play-and-charge-kit

Or wait a few more months and get the Elite controller.

Like TinyE I've had an X360 controller but didn't like it, went back to my Logitech Dual Action and use x360ce for Xinput games.

For IL-1946 get a proper joystick and preferably use headtracking as well, even with my very accurate T.16000M this game is very hard and you need a 'not springloaded' analog axis for the throttle, gamepads don't have those.

My F310 has high compatibility with XBox360 games out of the box, but whether it is really 100% compatible, I am not fully sure. There are a couple of PC games where I've seen some odd behavior:

Assassin's Creed (the GOG version): to me it appears the game supports both DirectInput and XInput gamepads, and apparently tries to select the correct mode automatically. In F310's case, it seems to consider it as a DirectInput gamepad even if you have it in XInput mode. I don't know why, maybe AssCreed detects it is something else than a genuine XBox360 gamepad, hence switches the game to DirectInput mode. So the solution is to switch the F310 to DirectInput mode, and it works great out of the box for the game.

Oddworld: The Stranger's Wrath: to me the controls seem a bit off, whether I have the F310 in either DirectInput or XInput mode. Like the analog triggers are mapped to looking up and down (IIRC) and such oddities. I don't have a real XBox360 gamepad to check if those odd controls happen with it too. Either way, just remap the controls ingame to your liking, at it works fine.

Maybe there are some other games too, but all the other XInput games I recall trying work great with F310 out of the box, also the Darksiders games, Dark Souls etc. Some games may be more finicky about it, after all I recall hearing that even the wireless XBox360 gamepad has compatibility issues with some XInput PC games, as does the XBOne gamepad. So if you want to be 100% sure and compliant, get the wired (not wireless) XBox360 PC gamepad.

I have no idea if the XBox360 gamepad will retain as the de-facto standard for PC games, or will newer games start expecting the gamepad to be a XBOne gamepad?

They are already doing that.

So... will it cause issues to current XBox360 gamepads then?

Also, why aren't there lots of XInput gamepad makers for PC, like there were for those various DirectInput gamepads? Is there some license fee to be paid for MS or what?

No idea, I've only used it to play Mirror's Edge and Trine, games long released before XO was a thing.

It's even worse for steeringwheels and joysticks, notice how many(little) of them support Xinput or the Xbox360 or Xbone.
Licencing is one issue, the other is that since the introduction of the Xbox360 Microsoft has deliberately sabotaged the PC as a gamingplatform like introducing Xinput which holds no technical benefits over DirectInput except making the latter incompatible, from Vista and onward broken or not working surroundsound, pushing of their lacklustre GFWL client, DirectX updates only to help sell a new OS and the list goes on.

I've got both a PS3 and an Xbox 360 controller and they're almost exactly the same size. I have no idea why the XBox controller seems so much larger. But, the dimensions are virtually the same.

the d-pad is the only reason I use a pad for some games. I find the stick plays up after a while and doesn't push in directions properly. this is for the afterglow xbox controller.

Thanks for the feedback, I bought the one I linked too, I'll keep in mind the Logitech ones, if I don't like the xbox pad.

I don't know why I mentioned Mass effect 1, I just need to rebind the 'enter' key to something else, if possible.

Was laughing earlier on, whilst thinking of wireless gamepads, just imagine for example, you're playing a racing game online, and you're in the lead, with a lap to go, and the batteries die. hehe.

Thanks again, you're a great community.

All the best

Wired (not remote) 360 controller all the way for me, I have seen prolems with the remote 360 controller but never with the wired one. I dont think I have ever seen a game that worked on another type of controller that didnt work on a 360.

Basically games that use controllers are tested specifically with the 360 controller in mind. other brands are an afterthought for devs imo.

As far as i know. Xbox 360's Play and Charge Kit only sends power, not data like Xbone's. So yes, you need a wireless adaptor.