Xbox 360 D-Pad Outrage

Don't get me wrong, I love the 360 and its controller (which aside from a right analog stick and shoulder buttons is the Dreamcast controller). The 360 is the first console I've had with a wireless controller and I absolutely love not having to untangle cords or get up to turn on/off the console. That aside, I hate the D-Pad on the 360 controller so god damn much. Find out why after the break. *dun dun dun*

The D-Pad had never really been a problem for me until I downloaded Pac-Man Championship Edition on XBLA, a game that is very heavy on going the correct direction at all times. It doesn't help at all when the controller fights you ever step of the way. I press up, but because the D-Pad is so sensitive even if my thumb is barely tilted to the left Pac-Man will go that way. You need to practically force the button down as hard as you can in the direction you want to go to get it to register correctly which becomes especially hard later in the game when Pac-Man is traveling very quickly. It's messed me up so many times I've gone hoarse swearing at the TV.

What's especially strange about the D-Pad is that it's more like another analog stick. It's just one big, flat button that rotates in place. I can't imagine how hard pulling off moves in a fighting game (as if I would play a fighting game anyway...) is with this controller. It was hard enough to cast Alucard's spells in Symphony of the Night with this thing.

I've noticed that the D-Pad is most annoying when playing XBLA games that are heavy on it. It is also quite annoying in retail games like Oblivion (which by the way is no where near as good as Morrowind) when trying to quick select an item/spell and getting the wrong item/spell, but I did not have any problems with it in Rainbow Six: Vegas or any of the other 360 games I've played.

Oh well, they can't all be the DualShock.