If there's one affair amiss with the Xbox 360 (apart from actuality about as able-bodied as a colonnade of abrade in a hurricane), it's that the directional pad on the otherwise-excellent ambassador is useless. It's adamantine abundant to cross the dashboard menus: scrolling through lists, the cursor flies off to adjoining boxes as the d-pad decides it's been angled larboard or right; and inputting argument with the on-screen keyboard is like active one of those carnival bicycles breadth the handlebars and advanced caster about-face in altered directions. For amateur like Pro Evolution Soccer, Street Fighter II and Pac-Man Championship Edition, it's all-important to abatement aback on the alternation stick - a weaker advantage for precise, automatic directional combinations, but in the 360's case still a affecting improvement.
That's why Microsoft's accommodation to rejig the Xbox 360 d-pad for a new adaptation of the controller, due for absolution in October, drew so abundant absorption aback the pad mysteriously appeared on Konami's PES angle at Amateur Convention in August - and why the manufacturer's credible aloofness is baffling. It wasn't aloof appear with little fanfare; it wasn't absolutely announced. We had to annoyance a account out of Microsoft to affirm it was alike new, and at the time of autograph the aggregation has been clumsy to accord us a abundant account of how the pad's appear 32-direction ascribe will be implemented in games, whether it will be accessible for developers to application for retrospectively, or alike whether PESFan's affirmation that the new d-pad will be included in all approaching Xbox 360 controllers - not aloof the limited-edition lime-green adaptation due out abutting ages - is true.
We have, however, been accustomed the absolute controller, which gives us the adventitious to acknowledgment one question, at least. In software terms, we don't apprehend it to accomplish any aberration in absolute amateur - because apparently they won't accept been programmed to attending for its added admonition - but there is still the catechism of whether it's physically altered abundant to accept any appulse on amateur that weren't advised to accomplish use of the added angles. With the advice of Pac-Man Championship Edition, Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, Lumines Alive and Tetris Splash - breadth gameplay suffers below the aphorism of the old d-pad - that's what we're actuality to acquisition out.
Street Fighter II was one of three we absolutely cared about. Your apprehensive adviser isn't alike that acceptable at SFII, but accord me a SNES pad or an arcade stick and begrimed Ken (no honour) and no bulk of sweeps and blocks will bear the fireballs and dragon punches that I shall rain bottomward aloft you. Unless you've played the bold before, obviously. It's never formed out like that on the aboriginal Xbox 360 d-pad and, as we acclimatized in for a brace of tours of the arcade approach with old blondie, it became credible that nothing's changed. Fireballs are accessible abundant on both pads, but dragon punches are a lottery, and the new d-pad - admitting it requires below deride force to abase - is no bigger or worse. Failure.
Moving on to Tetris Splash (unfairly maligned in Ellie's excoriating 3/10 review, I anticipation - but afresh I like angle added than her), the story's abundant the same. Positioning blocks absolutely in both amateur is paramount, and adventitious crabbed shuffles can be adverse (or at atomic actual frustating). In Tetris' case, the actuality that you advance the up administration to bang pieces instantly to the arena - generally affective deride from the basal to the top of the d-pad, in a motion that calmly picks up alongside nudges - acquainted like a acceptable analysis of the new d-pad. But if anything, we were accustomed abeyance about the old one. In a dozen amateur of the 40-line approach - six apiece for anniversary ambassador - array and times were almost the same. Affective on to Lumines' 60- and 180-second Time Attack levels, array remained aural the aforementioned bands for anniversary pad. Addition game, addition failure. Is this pad absolutely abandoned activity to be accordant to bodies who buy Pro Evolution Soccer 2009?
One way of testing that is to comedy PES 2008, which was our abutting stop. Taking ascendancy of the boss reds of Anfield adjoin aftermost weekend's action Manchester United, afresh it was difficult to apprehension a change. Absolute movement is important aback axis out of a accouterment or manoeuvring through a arranged amends area, but in addition dozen amateur - bristles account long, alternating amid the two controllers - the cardinal of mistakes we could aspect to the d-pad was no greater for the aboriginal ambassador than for its lime-green replacement.
'New Xbox 360 Controller' Screenshot bert_5
Trainers not included.
But aloof as we were about to accord up hope, we threw on Pac-Man Championship Edition. Afterwards all, what bigger way to analysis a new d-pad than a bold that uses directional ascribe exclusively? As before, we best a timed approach - the five-minute championship run - and started swapping amid the two controllers amid rounds. And article amazing happened: the array were actual different. Our aboriginal attack with the old ambassador was a abject 116,000, followed by 170,000 on the new d-pad - and while we fabricated below amiss turns and got in below of a accessory with the new d-pad, the aberration could still be bottomward to a decayed thumb; we haven't played Pac-Man CE for over six months. Activity aback to the old d-pad, the abutting account was about 87,000.
But the abutting account for the new d-pad was 149,000. Afresh 91,000 on the old, and 211,000 on the new. 151,000 on the old, 195,000 on the new. Finally we managed 185,000 on the old d-pad - apparently our best account anytime with that awful apparatus - abandoned to cleft up 246,000 on the new blooming pretender. Afterwards all of which, there's no arguing with the stats: Pac-Man Championship Edition is easier to comedy on the new Xbox 360 d-pad. As you ability junctions with the old one, there are too abounding occasions aback you move your deride from one administration to the next, but the bold registers the opposite. And while the new d-pad is no added or below able with software to exclude these aberrations, either the d-pad is housed differently, or the added directional inputs are absorptive in a new way, which reduces the abundance of problems. Which is abundant news.
Until you accept a go with the alternation stick afresh and column a account of 290,000. Because while the new d-pad is bigger for Pac-Man CE than the old one, they're both still limping, and the alternation charcoal the bigger option. Oh dear.
If you ask us, whoever advised the Xbox 360 d-pad in the aboriginal abode was accepting a bad day. Or conceivably they didn't realise what it was for. But afterwards a brace of canicule testing, it's ablaze that the backup will charge software advised to booty advantage of whatever bewitched advances alive below its ablaze blooming exterior, because while it feels a bit altered below your thumb, the concrete change abandoned is bereft to advance your boilerplate Xbox Alive Arcade game. Although for some acumen we do like the colour.
The new Xbox 360 ambassador is due out on 24th October and will apparently be arranged with Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, which is out on 17th October.