Ninety percent of the time I play on an Xbox 360 it’s with a controller with no rumble feature, no trigger buttons, and not even any analog sticks.  I play with the MadCatz FightPad for Street Fighter 4.  A year ago I didn’t have the cash to buy a real arcade stick, so I got this controller a week before the game’s release.  A larger d-pad, six face buttons, and flatter design were well worth the cost. 

Soon after I used it I wrote a Facebook note gushing about how great it was. I was taking biblical literature in college so I jokingly called it the “Joshua” controller, as it resembles a Sega Genesis controller and as after months of using the 360 controller the FightPad was like reaching the promise land after 40 years in the desert. 

A few months later, my enjoyment became less than biblical. I was playing BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger when I noticed at times my character used the game's Rapid Cancels, Barrier Bursts, and throws repeatedly without command.  It's not something you want to happen with emergency techniques that have big penalties for using them.

Later in SF4 the same thing happened, this time with my character’s "all three kicks" button.  Eventually I figured out that the Left Trigger (actually located on the top right of the FightPad) became over-sensitive: Even if my finger lapses on the button, for several seconds it will keep activating whatever is mapped to it.

My friend also bought a FightPad, but returned it after it broke as well.  He got another one, but complained of a slow d-pad response I couldn’t detect. Eventually he saved enough money for the true $180 arcade stick. The one based off the actual arcade cabinet with quality Japanese parts inside, and where MadCatz only appears on the labels.

However, I’m still a FightPad warrior. The FightPad doesn’t leave my fingers in bruises after a long session. My finger doesn’t slip off the FightPad’s d-pad during critical moments. The 360 controller was designed for everything except fighting games, and with the FightPad I don't feel like I'm trying to play golf with a baseball bat.   I just remove anything mapped to the left trigger, and I can play all day every day.  It’s broken, but it’ll do.