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

My own controller-usage

[denisb]

After I bought one of those PS2-to-USB converter thingies and a PS2 controller I haven't used my normal PC joysticks / gamepads at all.

What they claim is true to a certain degree in my experience, the best PC only games are definitely better played with mouse & keys, while the ports / dual platform titles are more often than not best played on the console, using the console controller.

However I do believe there are a number of PC controller users who will disagree. There is probably quite a few nice PC controllers out there that definitely enhance the gaming experience. IMHO though the PS2 controller is very nice for those games best not played with a keyboard, like puzzlers and arcadegames.

Re:My own controller-usage

[GeckoX]

Agreed.

As for why sales suck for PC controllers, well maybe this can explain it:
I use a gravis gamepad pro, exactly the same as a PlayStation controller. It is fully mappable to any keyboard configuration required. I've had it and used it exclusively as my only game controller on my pc for 6 years. (Amazingly it's worked on every MS OS since 95).

Obviously, I haven't bought any MS controllers in that time, why would I? I'm willing to bet there are a slew of people out there like me that have their controllers they like and use and have no intention of buying another.
How many people do you think go out and buy a new set of car-simulation controllers regularly? Good enough is good enough.

Now, this begs the question, if good ole billyboy really wanted to save the sales of these controllers he'd have to change something in Win to force people to go buy new controllers with that 'perceived-must-have' feature. How's about programmable controllers with upgradeable memory? jk.

Anyways, I think you get my point. Think I'm on the right track?

Who to Blame?

[Captain Large Face]

Is it surprising that there is a decline in games requiring peripherals other than a mouse and keyboard when Microsoft themselves seem to produce the majority of their games to be controlled by, erm, mouse and keyboard?

Quake

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember Microsoft at one of the first Quake cons trying to convince people they could play quake with a sidewinder. It was a joke. The rep kept getting his ass kicked by even the most mundane players. He looked like a sad guy. Felt bad for him so I let him beat me. Even then I had to play like a retard.

Bye bye sidewinder...you useless pos

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.

Joysticks rule

[Naikrovek]

Hey for flight games (flight sim 2004 comes out in less than a month) a force feedback joystick is almost essential - FS2002 (and none of its predecessors) worked well AT ALL with just a keyboard and mouse.

I'm going to buy two force feedbacks just so i know i'll always have one for the flight sim stuff.

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.

Emulation

[Gr33nNight]

The MS controller works great for all those ROMS that I (dont) have. And even if I did have them, I own every game for which I have a ROM to..

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.

Everyone seems to be ignoring...

[freeBill]

...the obvious conspiracy theory here: that MS is dropping this because they want joystick/keypad gamers to switch to the XBox.

And maybe it's a good theory to ignore. It's not much of a conspiracy theory when it's the company's official published roadmap. Why should Microsoft continue to lose money on peripherals which are used to go counter to one of their strategic goals (to get PC gamers to switch to XBox)?