Miscelleneous by jmke @ 2012-07-13
Thrustmaster send us their latest gaming peripheral, a duo of wireless thumbstick controllers which work on PS3 and PC. The last product on our review bench from Thurstmaster left us seriously impressed; can they repeat the performance with this entry level gaming solution?
Thrustmaster send us their latest gaming peripheral, a duo of wireless thumbstick controllers which work on PS3 and PC. The last product on our review bench from Thurstmaster left us seriously impressed; can they repeat the performance with this entry level gaming solution?
The T-Wireless gaming pads have been around for quite some time, Thrustmaster is boasting 600.000+ units sold, means they must be doing something right. To celebrate the popularity of the controller they are releasing this Duo Pack at a ridiculously low price of €30-35. (* important to note: these controllers do NOT feature any force feedback/rumble pack *)
A pleasing for the eye black vs white packaging idea is implemented to protect the devices inside. In the middle section there’s an open space which holds a small user manual and two USB 2.4ghz wireless adapters to be used on PS3/PC.
In the pictures below you can see the familiar PS3 button layout on both controllers, with the addition of a center “remap” and “off/on” switch on the inside at the front.
If you flip the controller around you get access to the battery compartment which holds 3xAAA batteries; enough to last 50 hours according to Thrustmaster, after 2 weeks of gaming no sign of the batteries dying, so their claim is pretty realistic I’d say.
At the top of the controllers are the 4 trigger buttons also found on the Sony DualShock PS3 device; the biggest difference here is that R2 and L2 are not analog triggers, just buttons.
Up to now you had no good idea of the size, well, these things are small, compared to the PS3 dualshock there’s a noticeable size difference. Here two photos of my 2 year old daughter holding the T-Wireless vs PS3 controllers:
I’m a PC gamer at heart but ever since the release of the original XBOX (and the possibility to modify it), I’ve widened my horizons, adding a PS2 and later a PS3 to the collection. Gaming wise I do believe some game genres are better suited for PC and other for console.
In my opinion, sport games which mostly rely on multiple buttons and movement of 3rd person characters do well with controllers on the big screen, while first person shooters and real time strategy games work best with the precision of a mouse and keyboard. Some games do well on both platforms, which is when you can share controllers: racing games.
After plugging in the two USB adapters and pressing the home button on each T-Wireless everything was ready to go.
I started off with a personal favorite of mine: Fight Night Round 3 (and later on Fight Night Champion). With a close buddy (madman) we sometimes go 20 minutes for one bout of the ring with our alter egos. It can be a thumb twister and finger spaghetti to block, parry and swing a few uppercuts and haymakers in the direction of your opponent. This was a good test for the T-Wireless as we alternated between the PS3 controller and the newcomer from Thrustmaster.
As we adapted to the smaller size of the T-Wireless we found the controller to be more comfortable for longer periods of play compared to the Sony original, as we exchanged virtual punches and tried to remain on our feet we got a unpleasant surprise, as the controller is small and all the buttons are in close proximity of one another, accidentally hitting the wrong button can be annoying. It also happens with the Sony PS3, hitting the home button and getting thrown out of game, this happened with the T-Wireless also, all-in-all in the heat of “battle” and “button smashing” it’s to be expected, a quick press of the home button and the game continues.
The unpleasant surprise with the T-Wireless happens when you accidentally press the “map” button which sits right above the home button (and between the two thumbsticks). Pressing this button and then pressing two other buttons will swap their functionality. While the end result can be hilarious for a second, when you’re about the win you don’t want the controller to be in the way; let alone be the cause of failure. With the T-Wireless we noticed this happening more often than we desired, powering off/on the controller reset the buttons to default and the fight could continue, but it definitely detracted from the gaming experience. After trying our best for hours to not press that malicious MAP button, we ended up swapping back to the Sony controller. If not for that annoyance, we did prefer the size and button layout of the T-Wireless.( @Thrustmaster: make an off/on switch for that MAP button and it will be golden!)
Next we moved on to another game genre, we booted up Gran Turismo 5 and quickly realized that without accurate pressure sensitive buttons or analog triggers these T-Wireless controllers are no match for the Sony DualShocks. Arcade racing games went much better (Burnout Paradise, Motorstorm), but simulations or racing games which require finer control over acceleration/brake were not enjoyable with the T-Wireless.
Installation on a Windows 7 machine was as easy as on the on PS3, with more options and calibration testing. Plug and play at its best.
At this point I realized that the only game installed on my PC playable with a controller was TrackMania Forever. A game optimized to be played with a keyboard, it was definitely enjoyable with the T-Wireless, but no match for some quick keyboard key flicks.
A quick browsing sessions and download later Fifa 12 was installed and ready to roll. I had already played Fifa 12 on the PS3 and was pleasantly surprised that out of the box all the buttons were mapped as they were on the PS3, the game played as well (if not better) on the PC thanks to the T-Wireless.
Browsing my steam game library I noticed that I could install Tombraider, this required a tiny bit more configuration but in the end worked out nicely too; too bad the game does not support EyeFinity.
At the end of the day I do come away with a mixed experience. Whereas their high end T500 racing wheel was superior on both PC and PS3 compared the competition, the T-Wireless has a much harder time to convince me.
On the PS3 it’s not a worthy alternative to the Sony DualShock if you’re into none-arcade racing games, it also falls short in any “button smashing” game as the MAP button distorts the whole game experience. If you want force feedback you’re out of luck too, no rumble motor or vibration going on.
Has it no redeeming features then? Well, if you’re considering this controller for your PS3, chances are you already have at least one Sony controller in your possession; the T-Wireless is a very affordable alternative for casual gamers or when you’re planning a 4-way gaming session of Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic.
On the PC the T-Wireless can make an excellent companion for games which just don’t lend themselves to keyboards (sport games, 3rd person adventurers). To only fly in the ointment here is if you are a PC gamer and have a PS3 or XBOX also, you can just use that controller on your PC, for free.
The T-Wireless target audience won’t be the die-hard gamer, the casual hot seat multiplayer on the other hand can strike a nice deal by picking up this Duo Pack of T-Wireless controllers.
We like to thank Elke and Thrustmaster for making this review possible.