Multiple wireless controllers

[Momotombo]

I want to build a computer so that I can hook it up to a big screen TV and have GameEX as a sort of media center with tons of emulated games, PC games, videos, and music. So my goal isn't to have a cabinet, but to have something my family and friends can use in the living room.

Because I'll probably have some PC and N64 games, as well as any other games that can support more than two players, I want to buy four wireless controllers so that we can all chill on the couch as we play games or select a new video to watch.

I'm just having a little trouble deciding which controller to buy, and I want to make sure it'll work. For example, if a controller goes into sleep mode and then somebody activates it before we start playing a game, I don't know if that'll work. Also, I don't know if it'll be able to recognize which controller it is, such as player 2 or 3.

Would it work if someone activated the controller in the middle of the game? I guess it wouldn't be too bad if we had to exit the game and launch it again if somebody new joined, but it'd suck for games such as Streets of Rage where somebody can pick up the controller in the middle of the game and start playing.

Anyway, I heard the PS3 controller is best for this sort of thing, but I'm not sure. I heard you can have a single USB dongle for more than one Xbox360 controller, but I also heard that PS3 controllers work using bluetooth. Can I use a single bluetooth dongle for the PS3 controllers? Would they work easily with GameEx? And I ask about the PS3 controllers because I heard the 360 controller's dpad is terrible, and that's bad for classic games. I also like the design of the PS3 controller a lot more.

EDIT: I just heard about the Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2, which looks extremely nice. I was wondering how I should set up four of those, can I have four controllers and one receiver? Do I need one receiver per controller? Would they conflict? It seems they work flawlessly according to another thread I read, so that has me sold.

[Ninja Rygar]

I can't really help you at this point, but just wanted to say that that is my exact goal as well... and I was also wondering what the best controller setup would be.

[bkenobi]

I have a pair of Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2's and highly recommend them. FWIW, you will get a controller and receiver in the package and you will need to have all 4 receivers plugged in.

Oh, and these work AWESOME for N64!

[Momotombo]

This has me sold. I'll be sure to buy two controllers at first, and when I can afford it I'll buy two more. They sound absolutely great and perfect for my purposes. Thanks a lot.

[onilink55]

I use multiple Xbox 360 wireless controllers and I just wanted to add my experience so you can better understand how they work. First you need 1 USB Wireless Dongle (The official Microsoft thing....I forget what its called). With that you can run up to 4 wireless X360 controllers. With most emulators I've used I have found that you have to have the controllers on before you start them up. If they are off the emu reverts back to the keyboard setting.

Specifically I find Project 64 irritating because if you don't use a controller when you start it up, next time you boot it up it will still remain on they keyboard input. For example, if I play Zelda, I only use 1 controller. Then when I turn on Mario Kart for some 4 player, I have Player1 set to controller, and P2,3,&4 set to keyboard. This requires mouse and keyboard to fix, which is annoying on an easy to use family set up.

There are fixes for this, I know some people have used Xpadder (I think thats the name) and other similar apps that allow you to map button commands and then GameEx can run this with the emu. I haven't had much luck with this option when it comes to good analog support but your mileage may vary.

Additionally, I have noticed that pressing the Xbox Guide button will crash my n64 emu but that's no big deal. All in all I love the controllers and I don't have any problems with other emu's but PJ64 insists on reverting my controllers back to keyboard (this would obviously not happen with wired controllers). I haven't used them much for PC games but I know that most of the newer Games for Windows support the controller and don't have any issue with turning them on and off while playing games.

Hope that info helps!

[Momotombo]

Thanks a lot, that does help. I still want to buy the Logitech controllers, but it would be a problem if I want to turn some controllers off while playing certain N64 games. It's odd that the controls revert to keyboard+mouse, I wonder why that happens. If I recall correctly, it was fine when I used my PSP as a controller and forgot to turn it on sometimes. I'm probably going to take quite a while to configure each emulator, GameEX, and everything else before I set it up.

I need to make sure it's very easy to use so that my friends and family don't get confused. I want it to be as close to console quality as possible.

[bkenobi]

The Logitech controllers don't have a way to turn them off. They simply go into sleep mode if they aren't used for a while. I've heard that the Xbox controllers don't play nice when they go to sleep/are turned off. I can say that I've never had problems with the Logitech ones with that.