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random shit I bought. (Read 30377 times)
Thrillho
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #15 - 01/29/16 at 15:59:41
 
Can't vouch for how much longer the sticks will remain as they should. But they do use metal for the analogs and the controller is reasonably heavy. Seems like it would be compatible with a standard Xbone battery pack too. Or AA's if they stop manufacturing the batteries.

If it lasts as long as my 360 pad i'll be fine. Though I admit going from that to this was a huge world of difference. Never realized how much that 360 pads analog sticks fought me.

If all else fails i'll just be happy I have a controller with a serious D Pad and none of that PS4/360 crap.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #16 - 01/29/16 at 16:36:49
 
I splurge on a lot of things for gaming but almost never on the audio side of things so I decided I wanted a surround sound set up last year but didn't really want to spend a ton on one. I had been interested in maybe trying a sound bar also, especially since I didn't really want to have to set up two to four wired speakers all around my gaming room as I already have enough fucking cords I need to hide and maintain.

Thankfully Kotaku ran an article of the best sound bars last year voted on by the community and one of the most popular choices was the "VIZIO S4251w-B4 38" 5.1-Channel Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer and Rear Satellite". It goes on sale periodically so I picked one up during Black Friday and its totally one of the best things I bought last year.

I typically don't like anything Vizio so I was a bit skeptical but it was so highly reviewed online that I felt confident in getting it. For the price it sounds amazing. What I like best is the wireless subwoofer though the rear speakers still need to be connected to it with wires. I know its probably not as amazing as a high end surround sound system so I'm sure some audiophiles out there might look down on it but as far as bang for your buck I can't imagine getting much better sound quality without paying an arm and a leg.

It retails around 300 but I payed 170 for mine on amazon (Walmart was selling it yesterday for 120 though its sold out now). Anyway just thought I'd throw that out there as something I recommend if you want to upgrade your sound experience a bit without shelling out a ton of cash.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #17 - 01/29/16 at 19:28:28
 
XIZOR wrote on 01/29/16 at 16:36:49:
I splurge on a lot of things for gaming but almost never on the audio side of things so I decided I wanted a surround sound set up last year but didn't really want to spend a ton on one. I had been interested in maybe trying a sound bar also, especially since I didn't really want to have to set up two to four wired speakers all around my gaming room as I already have enough fucking cords I need to hide and maintain.

Thankfully Kotaku ran an article of the best sound bars last year voted on by the community and one of the most popular choices was the "VIZIO S4251w-B4 38" 5.1-Channel Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer and Rear Satellite". It goes on sale periodically so I picked one up during Black Friday and its totally one of the best things I bought last year.

I typically don't like anything Vizio so I was a bit skeptical but it was so highly reviewed online that I felt confident in getting it. For the price it sounds amazing. What I like best is the wireless subwoofer though the rear speakers still need to be connected to it with wires. I know its probably not as amazing as a high end surround sound system so I'm sure some audiophiles out there might look down on it but as far as bang for your buck I can't imagine getting much better sound quality without paying an arm and a leg.

It retails around 300 but I payed 170 for mine on amazon (Walmart was selling it yesterday for 120 though its sold out now). Anyway just thought I'd throw that out there as something I recommend if you want to upgrade your sound experience a bit without shelling out a ton of cash.


Here's a strategy for getting dirt cheap audio stuff:

Be me.

I work at the parent company of loads of major audio brands, and they have an employee store that offers most everything at 50-90% off for employees. I bought a super high end 7.1 setup with front speakers almost as tall as I am. It's ridiculous and awesome.

Suck it.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #18 - 01/29/16 at 21:45:21
 
So the question now is what can I get you to buy for me?
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Thrillho
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #19 - 01/30/16 at 00:47:20
 
Mileage may vary per state. But if you form an LLC and produce gaming content or have a business that uses electronics. You can write off pretty much all your electronic expenses on your taxes.

It's not 90% off. But it saved me a shit load of money on microphones, preamps, cables, and PC hardware.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #20 - 01/30/16 at 13:00:07
 
NightShade wrote on 01/29/16 at 19:28:28:
Here's a strategy for getting dirt cheap audio stuff:

Be me.

I work at the parent company of loads of major audio brands, and they have an employee store that offers most everything at 50-90% off for employees. I bought a super high end 7.1 setup with front speakers almost as tall as I am. It's ridiculous and awesome.

Suck it.


Well shit. Look at this guy.

If we throw money at you, would you totally not rape us and become an underground "Amazon?"

Just think about it. You could make a golden throne and everything! 

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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #21 - 01/30/16 at 22:46:37
 
Magnum wrote on 01/30/16 at 13:00:07:
Well shit. Look at this guy.

If we throw money at you, would you totally not rape us and become an underground "Amazon?"

Just think about it. You could make a golden throne and everything! 



I'm down for this.
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Thrillho
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #22 - 02/01/16 at 13:42:49
 
Haha might give Nightshade a break on that. I'd be surprised if they didn't track purchases to make sure their employees don't start reselling discounted equipment for a profit.

But if they aren't. He should totally start his own store.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #23 - 02/04/16 at 01:52:59
 
Got my Elite controller yesterday. I'm not sure if I just built this thing up so much in my head as being a literal game changer or whether I just haven't spent enough time with it or figured out how to properly get the most potential out of it for what I do currently in gaming but I'm definitely having a bit of buyers remorse right now.

The controller really is great overall, so I have no problems with how its built or how it feels but I think I might have made a slight misjudgement on how it would feel or benefit me to use this controller, particularly the paddles, given how I tent to hold and use a standard controller. See, I typically play with my index fingers on the bumpers and my middle fingers on the triggers meaning that in order to use all four paddles I'd need to use my ring finger and pinky finger for those which makes my hands feel all cramped on the controller. I've tried just using my index fingers for all bumpers and triggers as I imagine that's how most normal people play and who this controller was designed for, but then that is just reteaching myself how to do the basics on top of all these new layers with the paddles. Not to mention its way too easy to hit the paddles accidentally when playing or if you just set the controller down for a second.

I definitely don't care for the convex thumbsticks so those won't ever be coming back out of the case. I'm not sure what kind of gamer uses those but more power to ya. I'm trying to play around with the longer sticks as some people swear by those but so far I'm not feeling it (though I still want to try) so I'm stuck only liking the standard thumb stick attachments found on any Xbox One controller for now.

I don't really play fighting games so the new d-pad is just whatever. The dish style is neat but so far I don't think its going to help me in any meaningful way in the games I play. I also don't do manual transmission when I play racing games so the back paddles won't benefit me there either.

The real litmus test was trying out all the bells and whistles in Destiny. I like the idea of being able to jump, switch weapons, and reload without taking my thumbs off the sticks, but unless I'm some esports MLG pro who needs the fastest reaction time possible, it doesn't feel like any of these shortcuts or enhancements are going to fundamentally change or improve my playing, especially since I'd need to rewire my brain to get use to playing that way. I know that the Elite is in fact geared towards competitive gamers so I suppose I just didn't really think this one through considering that lots of other people who also aren't super competitive gamers highly recommended this controller.

When I plugged it into my PC it wouldn't auto download the drivers so I had to go find them. Minor annoyance. Not sure if there is a way to customize your controller on the PC if you don't have Windows 10 but I haven't looked into it yet. It seemed to just carry over the config I made on my Xbox One.

I like that you can customize the button mapping and sensitivity of the sticks and triggers but its hard to really tell where the sweet spot is with any given game when you start playing around with different combinations of all the elements. Even though its easy to set all that up its almost too much choice when it'd be easier to just plug and play with a standard controller and default settings. I feel like most developers tune their games to feel good enough when playing so I'm not sure this extra meta level of customization, especially if you need to change it for multiple games, is really worth the time.

I still plan on using this thing over the next couple days since I'll have some time to really game, but my initial impressions are that this controller, while great, might not be for me. If anything I'll just end up using this thing like a standard controller....a really expensive one, but I'll check back after a few days and see if I still feel the same.
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« Last Edit: 02/04/16 at 04:20:52 by XIZOR »  

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Thrillho
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #24 - 02/04/16 at 03:13:10
 
Yeah the paddles aren't for everyone. The way I use them is that I hold the controller less with my fingers, and more with the palms of my hands. Particularly that little sliver of meat below the pinky fingers on the outside rim of the palm. Since the controller is heavy, gravity does a little bit of the work for you. Also the "diamond grip" comes into play there. Took me awhile to get a good balance for that. But right now I have no problems hitting all the triggers and paddles.

Works beautifully for air based movement. I can rotate and ascend/descend without letting go of the sticks. Which as much as a love the mouse and keyboard. Spiraling around trying to outflank someone in an air combat game with a mouse is frustrating as hell. But being 2 buttons short of being able to rotate and ascend was worse. That is the key reason I'm into this controller so much.

I wouldn't try and sell it as a game changer though. Unless you play 6 degree of freedom flight games. Or play competitively to the point that letting go of the sticks does put you at a disadvantage.

I agree the dome sticks are pretty much worthless. I'm going to go Frankenstein on those with third party mods and see if I can't make them useful for something.

The longsticks are pretty nice for precision. But overall it's not going to make a huge difference if you're good at the game you are using them for. It's just a nice little comfort

As of right now you have to have Windows 10 to really alter the controller on the PC. Personally I like the adjustments you can make. I keep the deadzone wide for twin stick shooters, and narrow for air combat or racing games. Fast presses for games that don't need analog triggers. Long presses on games that do. Reminds me of older PC gamepads that had software like that. All of them should let you do that.

I wish I knew more about the internals. If the analog guts are just regular old X-bone components that would be disappointing.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #25 - 02/04/16 at 04:34:54
 
I guess the question is what games are you using the Elite controller for since I imagine that is part of whether or not a person will find this controller worth the money or not?

Since I don't really play much Halo these days I feel like that is where this controller would really shine for me if I got used to it. Other than that Destiny is the only other FPS I would play competitively but even then I'd still need to get used to a new control scheme after 1700 hours of play.

I did have a friend who said he used the longer attachment on the right stick only for the precision and the normal stick on the left. But again, there is so much experimentation that I feel like I don't even have time to get that meta with all this shit. Either I can play an FPS game with a controller or mouse and keyboard effectively or I can't. I don't see a slight variation to the controller method worthwhile when I've already spent thousands of hours using and honing in on my skills and muscle memory with the standard 360/XB1/PS4 controllers.

Other than that I'm mostly playing a bunch of single player games where precision controls aren't going to benefit me in any way though I think the controls in Rise of the Tomb Raider both on Xbox One and PC could use a bit of tweaking to feel completely solid though the frame rate on PC definitely alleviates a bit of that.

It's still a god damn shame that you can't completely customize the controller, especially the paddles, on PC. That alone would make this worth the investment for me.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #26 - 02/04/16 at 06:01:55
 
Yeah it's not going to be a huge game changer for most. Like I said I mainly bought it for games like Decent, Elite Dangerous, Sky Rouge, Strike Vector, and Sublevel Zero. Flight based games in general, where not having to let go of the sticks gives you a tactical edge. Since there isn't a delay in my motion when I fire off flares or swap weapons. Or when I want to rotate or ascend I'm not locked out of using the left or right stick.

There are some twin stick shooters it helps for. But those are pretty few and far between. I agree it's a real shame the paddles aren't mapped as unique buttons. Because there are some games like Running With Rifles that have one too many commands for a regular controller to work well with, but it's still a twin stick shooter which always play better with a dual analog setup.

Thinking about investing in one of those foot boards just for extra commands. I have no issues with KB/M games. But there are quite a few niche games I really love that would work so much better on a dual analog setup. But the current configurations are always short a few buttons.

Thankfully the Elite does help me out a bunch for games that don't fill out the X-bone pad. But do work better when I don't need to let go of the sticks. That is pretty much my entire motivation behind buying it.

Razor makes a gamepad with rear paddles that can be uniquely mapped. But the controller build looks kind of shitty to be honest. At least with the Elite it seems like it'll last a long time and the analog sticks won't shit out after a year.
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Reply #27 - 02/04/16 at 17:26:35
 
"Since the controller is heavy, gravity does a little bit of the work for you."

I don't know. I played with it all last night and personally I think the weight of the controller acts against it. Its not like its super heavy but I think a lighter controller would make a difference. Needing to properly hold such a meaty controller makes it far easier to accidentally hit the paddles when you don't want to because you can't get a firm grip with your fingers.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #28 - 02/05/16 at 02:54:22
 
I actually gutted the vibration function out of my pc controller because it felt too heavy and off balance. I'm picky?
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #29 - 02/05/16 at 04:23:53
 
It all falls down to personal taste at the end of the day. For example I don't like the analog sticks on the PS4 controller. The concave design on the 360 works great for me. But something about the material or the way the PS4 sticks are designed feels very slippery to me.

That is another great feature of the Elite controller. I do like how the sticks have a very fine tread to them. No thumb slipping. But we'll see how long that shit lasts after a year of play. Hopefully the material is durable enough for it to retain some degree of grip after a few years of heavy use.

It'd also be nice if they sold replacement sticks. What I'd really love is a fully modular controller that I could easily replace anything on. That way I'm not constantly buying new controllers and I can just order the parts I need to repair them. Hell even stockpile replacement parts, so when the controller is out of production I can still enjoy it.

Arcade sticks have that going on. You can get premium rings and button parts. They have sort of a standard going for the good sticks that let you replace just about everything. Though honestly that kind of thing is a luxury unless you're a genuinely top tier player and can actually react to things in less than 10ms.

Reminds me of people bringing out their fancy $500 arcade sticks to fighting tournaments and getting their shit blown away by people rocking X-box 360 controllers. Unless you are straight up missing buttons that you need. All that matters is how comfortable the controller is for 99.9% of players.
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