Buffalo Classic USB Gamepad for PC

== 2017 Update =================================================== I originally wrote this review two years ago. My feelings on the product are the same: it's great and I still use it. But the technical information I gave has become outdated. RetroPie is now smarter and doesn't require any monkeying with configuration files. Thanks, all, for your Helpful votes and your comments. == 2014 Original Review ============================================= Although you can use this in Mac, Windows, or Linux, I bough this for my Raspberry Pi loaded with RetroPie. Cons: * The instructions are all-Japanese. But you don't need them, so who cares? Pros: * Tough. This thing has been dropped this many times and not so much as a scratch. And it doesn't feel like it'll break apart if you torque it during aggressive game play. * Good weight. Not too heavy, and not too light. * Doesn't require any drivers. * Good length cord. * I like how the buttons feel when you press them. * It's the same layout as the Super NES controller, so it's familiar. * Decent price. Tips for RetroPie: There are 10 buttons, but this is an "8-button" gamepad because the Turbo and Clear buttons are modifier buttons and not action buttons. These buttons, in fact, do not appear to the operating system at all. When you do gamepad configuration in EmulationStation or any with any configuration tool, the Turbo and Clear don't appear. The turbo/clear functions are built into the controller itself. To apply turbo, press-and-hold Turbo, and press the button to which you want to apply turbo. So enable turbo for button A, press Turbo+A. To turn off turbo for A, you Clear+A. You apply turbo to buttons independently, so you can, for instance, have turbo turned on for buttons A and X, but not B or Y. This (and all) controllers require TWO configurations: one for EmualtionStation (the menu system), and one for playing games. The first one is easy because a graphical tool steps you through it. The configuration for games requires that you edit a text file. Second, even after you configure it for games, some emulators, such as the one for SNES, will get buttons mixed up. To fix this, you need to specify a different driver. So to fix BOTH these issues, do the following: (1) Exit EmulationStation to the console, and optionally start LX (startx) (2) Append the following to: /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg # Start input_joypad_driver = linuxraw input_player1_joypad_index = "0" input_player1_up_axis = "-1" input_player1_down_axis = "+1" input_player1_left_axis = "-0" input_player1_right_axis = "+0" input_player1_a_btn = "0" input_player1_b_btn = "1" input_player1_x_btn = "2" input_player1_y_btn = "3" input_player1_select_btn = "6" input_player1_start_btn = "7" input_exit_emulator_btn = "4" input_menu_toggle_btn = "5" # End (3) Reboot the Pi and you're good to go. The left-front button will exit out of games and get you back to the EmulationStation menu. The right button brings up the in-game menu, although up/down on the gamepad doesn't change menu items. That may be a side-effect of using the linuxraw driver above. You can either comment out the linuxraw line, or use a keyboard to move through that in-game menu. This took me many hours to sort through, so I hope this saves others lots of time!