I DO NOT use my computer for a lot of emulation. In fact, apart from Fallout and Audiosurf, console games are NOT the only things I play on my PC. If you're NOT going to use emulators, it's almost a given that you're going to want a gamepad of some sort.

Up until recently, I'd been using a USB Microsoft Sidewinder. It's a decent controller but it suffers from one major design flaw that 360 users are already well familiar with: the D-Pad blows. As opposed to it being looser than Paris Hilton's vagina, as it is with the 360, the Sidewinder's D-Pad is tight and responsive (about as different from Paris Hilton's vagina as you can get, really). The issue is that it's rotated just a few degrees clockwise. Not a problem for a lot of games, but try playing something where you spend a lot of time ducking and shooting and you'll invariably just keep running forward.

So, I was in the market for something new. Since I'm NOT playing retro titles primarily, my first thought was to modify an existing retro controller. This is time consuming, though and I'm an American. I want my solution immediately with as little effort as possible. If I can oppress a foreign culture while I'm at it, so much the better. While there are several USB solutions that would save me a lot of soldering, I'd feel compelled to buy one for every system I DON'T play regularly. I have enough junk lying around already that adapters for an NES, SNES and Genesis would really clutter things up.

In addition, the number of buttons was a concern of mine. When I'm working on a post for my RetRose Tinted column, for example, I make my own gameplay screenshots. Having an extra button in a comfortable position that I can map to the Print Screen key makes my life so much easier.

Lastly, I really didn't want to buy a whole new controller. I have two boxes of old controllers in my closet already and it just seemed silly to go an buy another one. All these factors lead to an easy decision:





Comfortable for extended play, plenty of buttons and that nice, recessed D-Pad made the Dual Shock 2 exactly what I was looking for.

Hopping over to Play-Asia, I looked at what was available. I didn't need anything particularly fancy, just a basic plug-and-play adapter. While i briefly considered the Super Joy Box 5 Pro, my computer desk isn't convenient enough for a second player, let alone a fourth. I can always just go to the living room and use the actual consoles if I'm doing a multiplayer session. I settled on the Super Joy Box 3 instead.





After the agonizing wait for its arrival, I ran to the computer and hooked it up. I have to say I'm pretty impressed. For a dirt-cheap price, the adapter performs very well. The only complaint I have is that the drivers were delivered on a 3/4" floppy disk. While I do still have a floppy drive in my PC, you'd think it would be less expensive to just burn them to CD, convenience aside. Regardless, the data wasn't even intact once it got here, so I had to visit the Mayfair website and download the drivers.

So, apart from the driver issue and the mild concern about buying something called a "joybox" from Asia (hey, you never know), I'm very satisfied. I'd highly recommend this adapter for anyone in need of a solid PC controller.