So I got a chance to begin putting the pad through its paces, and while it will take me a few days to produce a video, I want to report back with some of my findings. I will try my best to answer some of the questions asked of me as well. All of this will be included in my video review as well.
The review will be based on some important factors, listed below, rated from 1-10, 1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest.
1. Build Quality - How is it put together? Does it have rough edges or is it a clean, professional product?
2. Part quality and Sturdiness - What kind of parts are used? Is it flimsy? Does it feel like it's going to fall apart in your hands?
3. Overall feel - Comfort, size, button placement, grip, sweat factor, grease factor.
4. Execution - Does it actually work, and how well does it work? How do the buttons and dpad feel while using them?
5. Comparison - How does it stack up to the other pads I use? (not rated 1-10)
What I will NOT be reviewing are:
1. Durability - I will update in 3-4 months about the durability when I've had some time to put wear and tear on the pad.
2. Looks - I won't rate something based on looks. It could be neon pink, but if it's functional, that's what matters.
Games that I tested the pad on:
UMK3
MK9
Injustice
Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike
Killer Instinct Classic
1. Build Quality - 9
I'm happy to say that the build quality is excellent. There are no rough edges, no fingerprints from QA(which I've seen before on 1st party pads), and none of the buttons or the dpad were sticking right out of the box. The switch to go between 360 and XB1 does not stick, it is not in the way, and works as intended. The wire is a standard 360 wire with breakaway cable. This is the only downside for me, because in my experience, the breakaway cables can fail, forcing you to have to go to Amazon to buy a 3rd party breakaway cable.
2. Part Quality and Sturdiness - 8
I want to start with overall build. The front is plastic with what seems to be paint for the artwork. The back is rubberized to enhance grip and help when your hands get sweaty.
The wire is a standard 360 wire as I said in Build Quality. I would have DEFINITELY preferred a braided cable and wire lock like the Mad Catz pro pad. In my opinion, the MCZ pro pad gets the highest marks for wire quality and sturdiness, and the PDP pad, just like all other pads, uses the standard wire/breakaway cable.
The buttons are good quality plastic, they don't feel flimsy like some other pads and the microswitches are distinct. You need to use a bit of force to engage them and there is a distinct microswitch click when you engage the button. As expected, the buttons immediately return to their original placement after being depressed.
The D-pad is a 4-way directional pad with the edges being slightly raised. The part feels sturdy and the plastic itself should stand up to rigorous play.
I've taken 2 points off for:
-PDP could have gone the extra mile and given us the braided cable and wire lock at the base of the pad for extra sturdiness.
-The plastic on top feels like it is not quite as thick as the plastic from a Dual Shock 2. I have some mild concern for people who hit their pads in anger.
-The paint on top seems to be good quality but because it's paint, I already have one chip on the left side where it meets the rubberized half.
3. Overall Feel - 9
Again, I'd like to start with the build. The pad is not heavy, but also doesn't feel like I'm going to break it if I grip too tightly. Some people prefer a heavier pad, so be aware of that when purchasing. The rubberized back is smooth and comfortable, and it definitely helped with sweat and maintaining control of the pad. Finally about build, the left side is elongated in what is being called an ergonomic grip. I did not find it to be either beneficial or detract from the feel of the pad, it was comfortable to hold regardless.
The pad is about the same size as the Sega Saturn pad and button placement is very similar. It is, however, thicker than the Saturn pad.
The D-pad feels like a mix between a tight 4 way dpad with a little bit of floatiness that you'd expect from an 8 way circular dpad. The edges of the pad are slightly raised as well. Regardless of where you place your thumb on the D-pad, it's comfortable and at a good angle. Again, the plastic feels every so slightly thinner than what you've come to expect from a Dual Shock dpad.
The buttons are unique in that they use microswitches. This gives them some wonderful feedback when using them. For people who grew up on arcade sticks and rely on that feedback, this is outstanding and feels great. For pad players who like to press buttons with some force, it also feels great. They are low profile and don't stick out as much as buttons from a standard pad.
The shoulder buttons are easy to reach and very reactive. They do not feel like they're microswitches, but I could be wrong. They still click and are not pressure sensitive, meaning you must press them to their engaging point for them to activate.
The Xbox button is centered at the top. Easily out of the way and lower profile than the gameplay buttons. I wouldn't expect anyone to accidentally hit it during game play.
Sweat Factor: This is how well the pad does as you get hot, nerves kick in, and you start to sweat. I'm happy to say that the rubberized back kept the pad easy to maintain control of and my hands did not get overly sweaty while playing.
Grease Factor: This is what happens when you eat cheetos and then, without thinking, grab your pad. Unfortunately, because of the plastic top, anything greasy will make your pad feel greasy and slippery. The rubberized bottom may also get slightly greasy as well, but a good wipe with a cloth will handle it. I definitely suggest wiping your hands off before grabbing any pad, though.
I took off 1 point because some players prefer a heavier controller and this pad is distinctly light. Likewise, the d-pad itself while being a 4-way, is having an identity crisis because it actually feels like an 8-way circular pad.
4. Execution - 8.5
This is the meat and potatoes.
My initial reaction was that the dpad felt a bit floaty for a 4-way dpad but tight if it was an 8-way floating circular dpad. It's a good mix of the SNES pad meets Sega Saturn pad. Motions are clean, crisp and work well. Taps are quick and concise, and the pad returns to neutral as quickly as you'd expect. Throughout all my testing, I never once detected the pad itself sticking in one direction or getting caught up on a diagonal like the Mad Catz fight pads were known to do.
The buttons are nice and clicky and provide really great feedback. That said, you absolutely CANNOT simply just touch the button with slight pressure to engage the button. Being microswitch based, the buttons require a bit more force than a pad only player is used to (stick players will recognize this feeling immediately), however, once you familiarize yourself with the level of force needed to engage the button, it is, in my opinion, far superior to a standard pad, and other companies would do well to incorporate microswitches into their future products.
Here is a game by game breakdown of execution:
UMK3 - I used H.Smoke, Ermac, and Sonya. H.Smoke and Ermac share some similar moves, but I was able to execute all of my standard combos, run, jabs and swag mid-screen and corner combos using both of them. I was a bit thrown off by the microswitch buttons at first and I wasn't always pressing them to their engaging point, but once I realized that and adjusted, execution on all moves was flawless. Sonya's combos flowed just as easily, as well as hitting her fairly difficult popup to jump kick, aahp, leg grab.
MK9 - I used Shang and Reptile. Shang's midscreen skull eruption combos were easy and I wasn't having any problem doing EX moves, which was always a gripe for me when I played on the DS3 because the R2 button was so far back. The shoulder button being where it is really helped with EX execution. I was also able to very easily do some corner combos (that I learned from
@Check) and they felt great as well. With Reptile, I was easily able to execute his dash to NJP combos. I can confidently say that when I missed a combo, it was definitely user input error and not the pad.
Injustice - I used Batgirl and practiced her basic vortex and some corner combos. Save for rustiness on my part, the pad performed as I had expected, and again the microswitch buttons provided the feedback I like to let me know that I've executed properly.
3rd Strike - This was an important game for me to test on since I learned 3rd Strike on a Saturn Pad with a converter for the Dreamcast, and when I got it for PS2, I also used the officially licensed Saturn Pad for PS2. I am EXTREMELY happy to report that I was able to do ALL my hit confirms with Ken, including cr.lk, cr.lk xx SA3(his bread and butter super). Likewise, I was able to go into parry training mode and not only deal with Ryu's SA1 (shinku hadoken), but I was also able to red parry it. I'm rusty, but the fact that was able to attempt it and do a red parry impressed me. Lastly, I went to the Parry Trials and attempted Evo Moment 37, the Daigo Parry. While I've never been the best at hitting the back end (hk after the air parry, cr. mk, xx mp srk xx sa3), I was able to parry Chun's entire super without a problem, consistently.
Killer Instinct Classic - Another important game to test because this was the only game on the Xbox One that I tested the MKX pad on. I use Glacius in KI, and I am again happy to report that all moves and combos work as expected. All rolling motions and charge back and forth moves work flawlessly and feel great on both the pad and the buttons. The switch from 360 to XB1 is flawless and works as intended.
I'm nitpicking here, but I'm taking off 1.5 points because of something I actually like; the transition from pressure sensitive buttons to microswitch buttons. There are players who prefer to ever so gently touch their buttons and those players will not like having to use the extra force needed to engage the microswitches on the buttons. Other than that, the execution of this pad is pretty flawless.
5. Comparison
What I've done is rated each pad, including the MKX pad from top to bottom, based on my favorite to my least favorite. Keep in mind that this list is a list of ALL my favorite pads and I can use them all fairly equally. That said, here is where the PDP MKX Pad ranks on my list. Keep in mind, DURABILITY is not included in this review. This could change overall placement of the MKX pad in 3-4 months if the pad breaks down.
1. Sega Saturn Pad - My all time favorite. Nothing has yet to surpass this pad.
2. SNES Pad - A close second to the Saturn Pad, especially for MK games.
3. PDP MKX Pad - It was ALMOST #2, but the button placement being a standard 6 button makes it more accessible for SF rather than MK.
4. Hori EX Turbo Pad - Great pad, definitely not as good as the PDP, and not durable. I've gone through 4 in 3 years.
5. PS/Dual Shock Series - Great pad, very durable, not a fan of the separated d-pad. Hit or miss in terms of tightness as well.
6. PDP Afterglow - Durability isn't great, but EVERYTHING ELSE about the pad is awesome. The floating 8-way is 2nd only to Saturn pad, but still not as good as the Hori EX Turbo pad.
The Bottom Line:
If you're a pad player, I would spend the money on the pad. You can use it for PS4/PS3 or XB1/360, making it a double value. Even if durability isn't great(which has yet to be seen), you're still getting a REALLY good pad for 2 systems for one price. The only downside is that it's a 6 button pad, which isn't quite as conducive to MK as a standard 4 face button/4shoulder button pad would be, but again, that's nitpicking, since I feel that the positives of this pad far outweigh its negatives, and certainly feel better to me than both Standard console pads (DS4 and SB1 Pad) for fighting games. The only players that should be wary are the ones who prefer a tight 4-way d-pad and players who don't like having to apply extra pressure to engage the microswitches. That said, this pad is an EXTREMELY sound investment for pad players.
Finally, regarding the Neutral Jump issues that people are concerned about, I am happy to report that this only happens due to user input as would be expected. I DID experience it, but only when I expected to get it. Let me explain:
In Street Fighter, we perform a fireball motion like this:
Now, when walking forward and immediately going to up WITHOUT FIRST GOING TO NEUTRAL, this is what happens:
This leads to a forward (or backward) jump because you hit the diagonal before hitting up. This happened 100% of the time I did this on all the pads I compared the MKX pad to. This is inherent in all pads and sticks if you make this motion, and it is user input, NOT the pad.
Lastly, look for a video review of the pad soon, with all this info as well as gameplay video.
If anyone has any questions now, I will gladly answer them to the best of my ability.
@Juggs @STORMS @RM JagoBlake