Hello everyone !

I'm currently starting to play again a bit more than these last years, mostly by picking games on GoG and rebuilding myself a small collection there. Which leads me to think about purchasing a gamepad and a joystick in order to enjoy properly a couple of varied titles ; mostly (good) old ones ^^... But since I've been out the business during (lots of) years, I'm unsure about which models (or even 'generation' of models now !) I should be aiming at... Any help would be appreciated, especially from seasoned veterans who have extensive knowledge about all the hassle, both hardware and software, one may face with old games or newer ones, depending on wether he chose an old gamepad (and joystick) or a more recent model...
My usual gaming rig is operated by Windows XP - I even have an old double-boot "Windows 98SE" still functioning -, but performances are not an issue to be discuted here. I'm just wondering which kind of model would give me the 'less trouble' - as I'm done now with spending nights trying to get something working, and definitely don't want to start that again ^^ ... - and (hopefully) the 'best (polyvalent) experience' with both old titles and (slightly) newer ones. I mean, wether it's "Expendable" shooter-type oldies, "Soul Reaver" adventure stuff, and some versus fighting beat''em ups... or more recent indie platformers (for the gamepad) ; wether (for the joystick) we're talking about old "Wing Commander" / "Star Wars" / "Descent" generation, or the lastest versions of "X3" for example...

As far as joysticks are concerned, I've been thinking about trying to find (on Ebay or whatever) the same old (but trusty) Cyborg-by-Saitek I'm already used to, but that's all... So any hardware or software advices would be most welcomed ^^ !

Xinput controllers are generally the most accepted controller for current games, but older games that have native gamepad support sometimes have assorted issues using the right stick on the 360 pad, or reaching the corners of the left stick.

So, you may want to look into the Logitech F310, which has a switch to toggle between Xinput and traditional DirectInput.

I don't have much experience with gamepads but when I tried to use my DInput PS2 controllers on the PC, several games gave me quite some trouble. At some point I grudgingly spent the money to buy a wired XBox360 controller for PC and I've never regretted it. It works flawlessly and feels great, and I almost use it more than mouse and keyboard nowadays. I have to admit though that I mostly play newer games (~ last 10 years).

If you're fine with spending just a little bit more, I think there are also gamepads that allow you to switch between DInput and XInput, so you could play older and newer games and get the best of both worlds.

Hi there

Windows XP ?? There is no longer any maintenance for that OS, you should think about getting the newest Linux distribution or a newer Windows. Really dude.

Gamepad: Microsoft XBOX360. This is by far to any extend the best gamepad you can get in my opinion. Don`t know anything about the new XBOX One gamepad, but the 360 is awesome.

Joystick: I used to play Mechwarrior with the Logitech Extreme 3D pro a couple of years ago, it`s pretty ok.

I have mainly experience with my XBox360 pad, though I also used a Logitech some years ago.

The general pads of choice currently would be Xbox 360, Xbox One, DS3, DS4, Steamconroller and Logitech I'd say.

For XBox360:
I had some issues with not all buttons getting accepted in older games. Some ignored my triggers and other the right analog stick. Newer games, especially console ports worked completely fine with it. But you can try to "fix" unregisterd buttons with mapping tools.
My pad is several years old(~5 I'd say) and has one unresponsive button(left shoulder button) for a while and the gum over the right analog stick got damaged a week or 2 ago. Aside from that he still works perfectl fine besides it age. The other 2 360 controllers in my house work 100%, but are younger.
The controller itself is made for bigger hands I'd say, which I love. The only real issue is that the D-pad is a bit suboptimal.

The XBox one controller is an improvement almost everywhere I heard, but woud cost at least 20 bucks more. I don't have any actual experience with it. There is also no official support for XP(or Vista)

If you use an Dualshock(playstation) controller, you'll need to get an additional mapping tool or your PC won't register it. Besideds that it's about the same as the XBox aside from the left D-pad and stick being switched and the D-pad being a bit better than the 360's. I only used it for the playstation itself and it's really about as fine as the 360. I just prefer the 360 for it's windows support and size.

Logitech: It's quite a while ago, but what I remember is that these usually register all buttons in older games. Though the one I had broke after 1 or 2 years. Their layout usually copies DS or Xbox controllers.

EDIT: almost forgot - Steamcontroller: Actually no real Idea, but I listed it above. it does design wise a lot differently, but simply the fact that it lacks a D-pad kills it for me.

I also have an PS3 rock candy controller at home which registers unproblematic by itself. But I only used it for a single game where my XBoxes trigger didn't respond. It's actually my brothers controller.

Thanks to you all for your fast answers :) ! Good call about that Xinput / Dinput toggle function :) ! The titles I've been used to only required Dinput for now, but it seems indeed a clever distinction to keep in mind... I think I'll follow your advices on this point. All right... A friend of mine also uses the Xbox360 and appreciates it as much as you do, but yes, it's mostly for newer games (Darksiders and so on...) ; same reports of occasionnal troubles in older ones. But I'll keep it in mind... Does anyone of you have examples of the kind (and age !) of games you've being playing with it ? Which ones did force you to (try to) fix unregistred or unrecognized buttons, for example ?

I'll pass on the PS ones, since I also heard about the need for remapping tools and potential incompatibilities. Their looks don't inspire me anyway... and so doesn't that big Steam-thing, which isn't compatible with Windows XP anyway, I guess.
At the contrary, I've looked at Logitech's offer and have a positive feeling about it. Moreover, there seems to be simple methods to use the F310 under Windows XP, which make it interesting...

I only wonder wether or not finding an older gamepad would benefit to older games... In fact, I'm not sure I've completely understood how games proceed to recognize any given controller : do they check it according to a list (depending on the year of release of the said games or on the version of DirectX they use), which would make old controllers better choices to play a game from the 90's for example ? If then, I'ld rather find some discontinued Logitech model, since for the rares occasions in which I'm using a gamepad instead of the mice and keyboard combinaton, it will mostly be for oldies...
Actually, I've never been a 'console gamer', almost never used analog sticks (which aren't required in most really past platformers, shooting or fighting games) and never felt at ease with using those ^^... So the idear about buying an old Logitech controller is seducing, wether I should buy an Xbox360 or the F310 for newer ones afterwards.

Naszrador, do you remember anything about those past Logitech ones that you used ? Just their names, for instance ? The Extreme 3D by Logitch seems a good choice Mr. D... But did you try it with older titles ? Mechwarrior 2 for example... I guess anything will do with "Freespace 2" or "Descent 3", but earlier games may cause more troubles ; Archimedean Dynasty, Wing Commander, Red Baron, etc.

If anyone has advices about that, I'm all ears ! Thank you for your answers, once more :)...

Benjamin