Microsoft Stops Making SideWinder Peripherals

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a GameSpot article mentioning that Microsoft has discontinued its SideWinder range of gaming peripherals, which includes joysticks, gamepads, and racing wheels. According to the article, "..a Microsoft representative said the decision is a result of the continued decline in sales of all PC game controllers and the fact that most PC games are designed specifically to be controlled with a mouse and keyboard." What did you use your PC joystick/gamepad for, and why do you think the SideWinder PC peripheral market was popular in the first place?

Comments

Didn't know any better..

[darkmayo]

First controller I had for my PC was a sidewinder game pad... the buttons and directional pad stopped working with far less wear and tear than my old snes controllers ever got.

Then for some reason I bought another sidewinder pad years later... same thing happend.

good riddance to crappy controllers.

M$ has only their crappy products to blame

[bmnc]

for poor sales. I bought Starlancer, and found I couldnt play it since the only control device for it was a M$ sidewinder joystick. I borrowed one from a friend (who NEVER used it) only to find the joystick was crap. I havent played Starlancer for more than 15min consequently. I bought a M$ sidewinder joypad so I could play old school platformers etc on my PC. This one is EVEN WORSE than the joystick. It has littel ridges designed to give your thumb blisters and the buttons are placed so that you can't do combos easily. I am GLAD that M$ has stopped hawking their effluent. On a side note, I own a M$ office keyboard and optical mouse and both are pretty damn good, so not all M$ products are crap.

Re:Joysticks rule

[Anonymous Coward]

Wrong. You don't need a *force feedback* joystick to play flight sims. Now it's pretty hard to fly some of them without a joystick but force feedback is an option, not a necessity, in most cases.

Strategic Commander

[wolf-]

I use my Strategic Commander in my regular work as much as I use it for gaming.

The programable buttons are great for repetitive key sequences n such.

I don't know...

[Mortanius]

...what you people do to your SideWinders, but mine has lasted me many, many years of relatively rough use without any problems. I bought one of the 2nd-gen force-feedback Sidewinder sticks for use with FS2000/CFS1&2 a couple years ago. It doesn't get too beat up in flight sim, but in combat flight sim the stick meets the walls on a regular basis, I haven't noticed any wear on it yet so far. It's been a great stick, from what I hear not exactly the best out there, but it's served me well. The only complaint I would have is that the motor is too weak, no matter how hard it tries it really can't keep you from moving the stick.

I also picked up an open-box Sidewinder wheel last year, haven't used that so much, but the times that I have it's been a pretty solid performer. The biggest complaint I would have about that one would be the pedals. They're entirely plastic, no weight whatsoever to the base, and although using RJ-11 plugs to connect the pedals to the joystick is a neat idea, the cable's casing started tearing very shortly after I first used it from being pushed in and out of the channel made for it to sit in. Again, I'd have to complain a bit about a weak motor, although that could be more a function of the game developers, it just doesn't feel very realistic when driving.