Logitech Revamps Gamepad Lineup for PC Gamers

Logitech borrows design cues from Sony and Microsoft, but aims for a slightly lower price point.

By Wesley Fenlon | Sept. 7, 2010

PC gamers love to lord blistering framerates, buttery-smooth anti-aliasing and precise mouse+keyboard controls over their console brethren, but sometimes nothing beats the feel of a sturdy controller in your hands. For a long time, good PC gamepads were a rarity, and you could forget about games easily supporting them out of the box. Thankfully, times have changed, and plenty of computer games easily recognize controllers like the Xbox 360 USB gamepad. In fact, all three current-gen console controllers work on Windows and OSX without too much hassle.

Eager to lure gamers away from the controllers they’re so familiar with, Logitech has launched a new line of gamepads that look like typical third-party renditions of the Dualshock, though the candy-colored face buttons could have been plucked right off an Xbox 360 controller.

The Logitech Gamepad F310 is now selling for a downright cheap $24.99, while the F510 with rumble costs $34.99. Finally, the wireless F710 costs $49.99, or about the same price as an official pad from Sony or Microsoft. Sorry, Mac gamers--there doesn't seem to be any official OSX support.

We’re not sure these gamepads could beat a first-party product for quality or comfort--especially when a wired Xbox 360 controller goes for under $30 on Amazon. What kind of gamepad do you use for emulators, fighters, or (blasphemy!) first-person shooters? If you’re going old school or throwing down in Street Fighter IV, we hear those Saturn USB pads do an admirable job of replicating the finest D-pad ever made--and they’ll even work on your PS3.

Images via Logitech

18 Comments

Binman88on Sept. 7, 2010 at 7:36 a.m.

The 360 controller has worked fine for me for emulated and PC games. These new Logitech ones look nice (not sure about the shoulder buttons though), but I can't see a reason to switch to be honest.

Llamaon Sept. 7, 2010 at 7:43 a.m.

I own a rumblepad 2 and its a little too bulky for my hands. Maybe if you have freakishly large hand this is the controller for you :P

Lasheon Sept. 7, 2010 at 7:50 a.m.

Kudos for trying, but I honestly see no reason not to use the 360 controller with computers now. It is without doubt the best designed controller on the market for gaming as it is today. Minus the d-pad naturally, but I can't say I've found myself lamenting that quite to the extent the rest of the gaming world seems to have.

Masakarion Sept. 7, 2010 at 8:07 a.m.

The one thing you can't beat a 360 controller in a lot of newer PC games is the fact that it will both automatically map the buttons for you, but actually use pictures/describe the actual button in tutorials and what-not instead of nondescript "JOY 1 BUT 4" or anything like that.

Bistromathon Sept. 7, 2010 at 8:20 a.m.

My main problem with the Logitech gamepads has been that their triggers aren't actually triggers, they're just buttons with no feedback. So for simple things like easing on the acceleration of a video game car they only allow you an "all or nothing" function.

That said, I don't know if anything could steal me back from the 360 pad for windows. It is undeniably comfortable, though it would be nice if Microsoft would support it as a PC pad a -little- bit more. Can't find a wireless version (adapter included) for anything but highway robbery and I often hear the adapter itself is a potential nightmare to work with.

Edit: from the the product pages it looks like Logitech fixed another of my (previously forgotten) gripes. The sticks have a circular outline now, as opposed to the insane square outline they put on previous models.

Meteoraon Sept. 7, 2010 at 8:35 a.m.

I've been looking at using my Xbox 360 controller for first person shooters lately. It isn't for normal shooting or anything though, its more to do with driving vehicles and piloting helicopters which seem like a huge task on a keyboard/mouse than a gaming pad. I suppose it has to do with the lack of any real sensitivity (pressing WASD is the only way you can get slight subtle movements and that's not even enough).

Gaming pads do have a purpose on the computer; just specific roles and genres however (racing and sports comes to mind). They were never intended to replace keyboards as a whole.

AnoidDroidon Sept. 7, 2010 at 8:49 a.m.

I want a gamepad for the sole purpose of getting some use out of that free copy of DiRT 2 -- arrow keys are no good for racers -- that came with my video card. But I can never justify spending $30 and the effort of ordering one for a game I'm not particularly interested in.

RAY16on Sept. 7, 2010 at 10:15 a.m.

It's always nice to have options, although I doubt I'll be switching from the 360 controller I currently use.

This is just a tad late though. XInput has been around since the launch of Vista (roughly) and it has taken Logitech this long to release devices that utilize it? I laff.

AnoidDroidon Sept. 7, 2010 at 10:24 a.m.

@RAY16: XInput has been around since 2002, well before the launch the launch of Vista and included in every subsequent DirectX release for 9, 10, and 11. Just to help drive your point home.

eXS10son Sept. 7, 2010 at 11:51 a.m.

This. Works. Wonders.

RAY16on Sept. 7, 2010 at 12:01 p.m.

@AnoidDroid said:

" @RAY16: XInput has been around since 2002, well before the launch the launch of Vista and included in every subsequent DirectX release for 9, 10, and 11. Just to help drive your point home. "

Wow, even longer than I thought.

AnoidDroidon Sept. 7, 2010 at 12:12 p.m.

@RAY16: You know what, Wikipedia is not always reliable as I learned today. It told me the wrong year. Apparently it was released in 2005 with the Xbox 360. That is still a bit before Vista, but not as much as I had thought. Still, your point stands, XInput is nothing new and it is surprising Logitech hasn't gotten on this before.

lane moderator on Sept. 7, 2010 at 12:26 p.m.

@AnoidDroid:

Just get a racing wheel. Then you can use it to play Pyro in TF2.

Jadeskyeon Sept. 7, 2010 at 12:56 p.m.

Can't beat an xbox 360 controller.

AnoidDroidon Sept. 7, 2010 at 1:43 p.m.

@lane:
Hahaha, it's especially funny because at first I thought he had force feedback on!

cowgodon Sept. 8, 2010 at 9:17 a.m.

if it doesn't have 6 buttons on the front, i'm not interested.

NikoAlexander5on Sept. 8, 2010 at 8:19 p.m.

Colored buttons? NO WAY!

Tuffgongon Sept. 11, 2010 at 7:39 p.m.

Get yourselves a 360 or PS3 controller because both are more highly engineered than anything Logitech is capable of as a 3rd party let alone the fact that all console gamepads are standarized in terms of quality and effectiveness.

Console controllers work because they're good controllers and I say spring for an extra 10 or 20 bucks to get a quality controller that is worth its salt.

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