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Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows
See it at Amazon.com for $67.99Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
Good if you do the work
(4 out of 5) by J. Gordon on Feb 9, 2007 (Frisco, TX)First off, the receiver and controller/accessories connect very easily and work great. No issues with lag or bad connections.
The downfall here is that unless your game can specifically be setup to map controls to a gamepad/joystick, you're out of luck (kinda). Microsoft doesn't include any mapping software at all, which really doesn't make a lot of sense, since so few PC games would be naturally compatible with the remote.
Luckily, there is a great piece of software called Pinnacle game profiler. It allows you to specifically map each button to a movement/function in any game (customizable by game). You get a free 30 day trial ($20 after that), but it's worth the money. After spending about 15 minutes setting this up, it works great. I have tested it out on Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R. and Call of Duty 2 with no issues.
The downfall here is that unless your game can specifically be setup to map controls to a gamepad/joystick, you're out of luck (kinda). Microsoft doesn't include any mapping software at all, which really doesn't make a lot of sense, since so few PC games would be naturally compatible with the remote.
Luckily, there is a great piece of software called Pinnacle game profiler. It allows you to specifically map each button to a movement/function in any game (customizable by game). You get a free 30 day trial ($20 after that), but it's worth the money. After spending about 15 minutes setting this up, it works great. I have tested it out on Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R. and Call of Duty 2 with no issues.
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
Works well, and without a headache if you're lucky. Solutions below.
(4 out of 5) by J. Bodenlos on Aug 28, 2007As you can see from the other reviews, this device works very well for some, and not so well for others. Putting aside the interference problem with other 2.4ghz devices such as mice (2.4ghz wireless routers will NOT give you problems), I believe there is a single solution to almost everyone's problem, which I will outline below.
After installing the device & software, I couldn't get my black wireless xbox360 elite controller to sync with the receiver. The ring light on the controller would rotate while trying to connect to the receiver. The light on the receiver would blink attempting to locate the controller. After a few seconds, the ring on the controller would stop rotating, and start blinking. A connection could not be made.
After some research, I found the solution. The issue is with USB power. The receiver needs A LOT of it. If you have other devices on your USB, especially high powered USB keyboards or mice, the receiver might not work. Try removing all USB devices and rebooting your PC with only a PS/2 mouse and keyboard connected. The receiver and controller should sync up immediately, even before you finish booting into windows. This fixed my problem.
If this is your problem, there are two solutions. 1) a USB PCI interface card, or 2) an externally powered USB hub (NOT BUS POWERED). I believe the receiver needs a lot of power because its capable of syncing to four separate devices. The USB on most motherboards simply isn't strong enough. Hope this helps.
After installing the device & software, I couldn't get my black wireless xbox360 elite controller to sync with the receiver. The ring light on the controller would rotate while trying to connect to the receiver. The light on the receiver would blink attempting to locate the controller. After a few seconds, the ring on the controller would stop rotating, and start blinking. A connection could not be made.
After some research, I found the solution. The issue is with USB power. The receiver needs A LOT of it. If you have other devices on your USB, especially high powered USB keyboards or mice, the receiver might not work. Try removing all USB devices and rebooting your PC with only a PS/2 mouse and keyboard connected. The receiver and controller should sync up immediately, even before you finish booting into windows. This fixed my problem.
If this is your problem, there are two solutions. 1) a USB PCI interface card, or 2) an externally powered USB hub (NOT BUS POWERED). I believe the receiver needs a lot of power because its capable of syncing to four separate devices. The USB on most motherboards simply isn't strong enough. Hope this helps.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
Great device whose value is yet to be unleashed
(4 out of 5) by C. Gomez on Feb 12, 2007 (United States)As of this writing, the best value for this device is yet to come. Xbox 360 owners will enjoy being able to reuse all types of Xbox 360 wireless controllers on their PC games, but there are two major hangups that will have to be corrected with time.
1) It has been reported this item does not work with Vista yet. I can't comment on this.
2) The "Games for Windows" brand is just getting off the ground. As this brand evolves, each game with this logo on the box will support this controller natively. There won't be any need for mapping software. That means, for old games... you'll have to find something to map the controller.
If you are interested in XNA, get this. XNA (nutshell) is MSFT's platform for future game development, and it includes tools hobbyists can use to make games at home and play them on Windows or their Xbox 360. That makes this item a must-have if you plan to join XNA Creators Club and deploy your games onto your Xbox 360.
Still, the potential of this is really yet to be realized. XNA is in its fledgling state, even though to this point it has to be considered a success. "Games for Windows" has just a couple of titles on the shelf as of this writing, but is intended to explode by the end of the year. It might be that if you're willing to pony up for the Xbox 360 Wireless Headset and Racing Wheel, you may get more value out of this and you can use those items on your PC.
When I compared buying a wired controller versus buying this (I already had two wireless controllers), this is obviously the better value. Just consider the facts above, and look at how things have changed since this writing, and decide for yourself.
1) It has been reported this item does not work with Vista yet. I can't comment on this.
2) The "Games for Windows" brand is just getting off the ground. As this brand evolves, each game with this logo on the box will support this controller natively. There won't be any need for mapping software. That means, for old games... you'll have to find something to map the controller.
If you are interested in XNA, get this. XNA (nutshell) is MSFT's platform for future game development, and it includes tools hobbyists can use to make games at home and play them on Windows or their Xbox 360. That makes this item a must-have if you plan to join XNA Creators Club and deploy your games onto your Xbox 360.
Still, the potential of this is really yet to be realized. XNA is in its fledgling state, even though to this point it has to be considered a success. "Games for Windows" has just a couple of titles on the shelf as of this writing, but is intended to explode by the end of the year. It might be that if you're willing to pony up for the Xbox 360 Wireless Headset and Racing Wheel, you may get more value out of this and you can use those items on your PC.
When I compared buying a wired controller versus buying this (I already had two wireless controllers), this is obviously the better value. Just consider the facts above, and look at how things have changed since this writing, and decide for yourself.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Great piece of hardware
(5 out of 5) by M. Olivier on Aug 25, 2007I have been using this device for several months now and have never experienced any of the problem people are complaining about. Also, in one of the reviews someone said it doesn't work with Vista... thats simply not true. Yes, the driver disc doesn not contain Vista drivers but then again it doesnt need to.. simply plug it in and Vista will go off and find the drivers for you.
I've used this device on both XP and Vista and on 3 different PC's (including a laptop) and have not had any problems on any of them. This is a great product.
I've used this device on both XP and Vista and on 3 different PC's (including a laptop) and have not had any problems on any of them. This is a great product.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Works great.....
(5 out of 5) by D. Persaud on Feb 17, 2008 (New Jersey)This unit works great on my pc. My PC picked it up instantly. It works great with Gears of War.