Gamepad shopping advice?

I'm seriously considering buying a gamepad for my PC for use with emulation programs. From what my hardware seller stocks, they seem to fall into two main categories of design: those based on the Playstation2 controller and those based on the Xbox360 controller.

I can probably only afford one controller, but I don't know which one would be the better choice, given I have quite a few emulators. I have a couple for the PS 1, one for the Gamecube, a couple for handheld systems, MESS, and DOS Box (although in that case, a gamepad isn't really needed, considering DOS games are all designed for getting their input from the keyboard (and the mouse in some cases)).

So, can anyone give me some advice as to what sort of gamepad would be a good choice, given my software selection?

EDIT: Unfortunately, TV Tropes doesn't like the link to the site's gamepad category. Probably something to do with having square brackets in the URL.

edited 5th Oct '10 8:08:05 PM by Roxor

Accidental mistakes are forgivable, intentional ones are not.

Get a 360 controller. The only difference except for the grip design are the L/R trigger buttons and you want those for a gamecube emulator.

Try them out get the one which you feel is the most comfortable, I believe the 360 controller works natively on windows and if you buy a real DS 3/sixaxis you can use motioninjoy(i think) to make it work. of course "real" stuff costs more, but get the one that feels better they are mostly functionally the same.

edited 6th Oct '10 9:35:53 AM by mahel042

In the quiet of the night, the Neocount of Merentha mused: How long does evolution take, among the damned?

I use an USB adapter for my old PS 2 controller.
I think it was maybe $15 at Radioshack.
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You should get a Sega Saturn pa—

Then I can't recommend a Saturn pad. I'm sad now. :(

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I have a Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2 and it's excellent. Same layout as a Playstation controller, but larger and with a better d-pad.

It's fine for everything I've tried emulating, including N64 and Game Cube.

I also use a program called X Padder for games that don't have gamepad support, it allows you to bind key presses to any button on the gamepad, and you can even bind mouse movement to one of the joysticks.

edited 6th Oct '10 7:14:35 PM by Talby

I haven't used a gamepad of any kind for years. The last time I did, it was a borrowed Gamecube which I only had on loan overnight. I do remember doing reasonably well in some Playstation games on someone else's PS 1 using that console's controller, but that was probably even longer ago than the loan of the Gamecube.

In either case, I probably didn't get to spend enough time with either design to get used to one or the other.

I don't think I need to worry about any software for using a gamepad with games which never supported them. I'm plenty used to a keyboard for input, having grown up on MS-DOS.

The reason why I'm considering getting a gamepad at all is that while one keyboard configuration for an emulator may work nicely for one game, it becomes impractical for another game and moving the key mappings around tends to invoke Damn You, Muscle Memory! when dealing with the menus.

Here's the URL of my hardware retailer.

http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/

Gamepads are a sub-category under Mice in their layout. I would link straight to the category, except TV Tropes doesn't seem to like UR Ls with square brackets in them.

Accidental mistakes are forgivable, intentional ones are not.

I highly recommend the Sega Saturn USB controller. For everything that requires an analog stick or more than 9 buttons, get a Xbox Controller S(preferably in the box) and a USB adaptor. If you can't get that, a 360 controller will do.