Can I have one?
Anyone have any insight on this? My son wants to try it for the price but it gets terrible reviews. Is this worth to try/ or a hard passs?
Well the reason I want one is because one of the mods turns it into a fight pad with 6 face buttons, so it looks more like this:
But seeing as how I already bought three of the HORIs, I can’t justify the expense of this one just to try it out and play around with it (the fight pad mod would also add another $40 to the cost).
As to the negative reviews, it’s hard to say whether they have merit, or whether those people are simply too rough on their gear. The most prominent point of contention seems to be the longevity of the buttons, possibly hinting at them being engineered to fail early to push people into buying replacements. At $20, though it wouldn’t be much of a risk to try. If you want a quality “regular” 4-button XBox-style pad, look into the higher-end 8BitDo or GameSir options. Or first-party console controllers (with warranty, because the XBox pads have known stick drift issues for example). Avoid any “Chinesium” gibberish-brand stuff like the plague.
FYI: the Tekken edition of the Hori Octa fightpad has gotten terrible reviews for its faulty d-pad. Also, this is the earlier version of the Thrustmaster Controllers that have swappable mods, and I’m pretty sure this one only has swappable analog sticks. That said, it is still a good controller. I bought this the first time Woot had a deal for it at $29, as it normally retails for closer to $80. Now that it’s being sold for only $20, I’m considering buying another one, even though I rarely even use the first one I bought. The reason I rarely use it isn’t due to the controller being bad, it’s just a tad bit larger in size than most of the controllers I normally use, so it’s been one I haven’t been patient enough to adapt to…yet. The pros: One of the best D-pads of any of the controllers I have used, and I have used MANY. I primarily play fighting games, and struggle to find D-pads that have consistent inputs without errors. This controller is on par with my Victrix Pro BFG in the D-Pad department, and that’s almost a $200 controller, and does not have orange lighting effects that this one does in the sticks (which is also a special edition BTW). Add in the fact this comes with a free month of Xbox Gamepass Ultimate, it’s a no-brainer at $20. TBH I think I just sold myself on buying a backup.
Also, while I definitely do prefer the 8bitDo and GameSir pads as far as hand-feel (size, and how they fit in my hand and feel to hold, etc.) I’ve had problems with nearly every D-pad from every controller I’ve bought from them (at least 6 different 8bitDo’s and 4 GameSir models). Not always right away, but always within the first month or two. And always the same issue: when pushing only right on the D-pad, it will erroneously input right/up about 50% of the time. This is super frustrating when playing fighting games. I wish they would just improve their damn D-pads already, because I love their controllers in every other way.
Lastly, I just confirmed it for you, this is the e-Swap S, and only has swappable analog sticks. It is the higher end e-Swap X and X pro that have other modules that can be swapped in, including a racing wheel, fightpad style buttons, etc. This one isn’t compatible as only the sticks are removable. That said, this still retails for $95 and $105 on Amazon (2 different sellers), and Thrustmaster is known for making high end driving simulators and flight simulators, so to say 8bitDo and GameSir are higher end brands isn’t correct by any means, even though I do like the feel of them better. Just wish I could take the D-Pad out of this one and put it into any of the countless 8bitDo or GameSir pads currently collecting dust in my room.
Yes, but it’s also only $20. I can’t name a single other fightpad-style controller that’s in this price range.
From the info I found, you can swap the fightpad module into this one:
Nothing else from that pack will be compatible, but the button should be.
All of this is such a hassle, and is so prohibitively expensive, that I can’t really consider it anyway. I have planty of controllers with 4 face buttons already, and don’t need another one. I’d like more fightpad alternatives, but at $70 with the swap module factored in, I might as well try to catch the Victrix on sale instead.
Thanks for all the info - appreciate the comments! As a bonus ( as said above) this did come with a code for a month of game pass ultimate ( our year subscription had just expired ) so my boys were happy. The code stated use by 2/2024 but still worked so very pleased with the value thus far
I have one of these, and I’ve used the Forza steering wheel module on it before. It fits, for $20 while being wired, this controller has very unique mechanical buttons. Definitely worth checking out at the price.
Just so everyone is aware, this is not a 130 dollar controller, in any universe. I think I bought it for like 45 bucks 2 or 3 years ago, and it still works. But it is not built to sell at a high price point. Cheap plastic feels, buttons have kind of a high pitched tin hollow sound to them when pressed, it just isn’t anything that would actually be priced above like 40 bucks and sell regularly.