The big problem for me with PC gamepads is that they all have horrible D-pads. Most of them are circular instead of plus-shaped ('+'), which makes it hard to transition from one axis to the other without hitting both along the way.

I've also found that thumbsticks don't always work well with games that were made for flightsticks. Freespace, for example, was way less accurate with thumbsticks than with a mouse (although long/sharp turns were excruciating with the mouse).

For most of the DOS-era FPS games, I'd actually recommend using a modern source port that allows the keyboard+mouselook combo. I recently tried System Shock 1 with a mouselook hack, and it felt like an abstraction layer had been ripped away so that I was controlling the game more directly.

There are some programs on the net that remap controller buttons to be keyboard keys allowing you to play with a controller even with games that don't support controllers.

Here's a link:
http://electracode.com/4/joy2key/JoyToK...ersion.htm

May not work but you can give it a try (it worked for my steelseries controller)
I think after you remap your controller your supposed leave the app running on the desktop but you might be able to minimize it.

My (canned) response is the Logitech F310. The official site is here.

^ I have the same pad but the previous model that is marked as a ps2 pad... works perfect but I now replaced it with a wireless xbox360 pad + pc receiver

I myself am a fan of the standard wired xbox 360 pad. It's comfortable, it has a familiar layout, and it works excellently for emulators. 😁

I have an older version of the gamepad linked by Stull, with black buttons instead of console-colored ones, and only two buttons in the middle. It works decently, but the d-pad is terrible (note that it is raised and is a circle instead of a cross/plus) and the sticks aren't accurate enough for many old games that expected more of a flightstick.

I also have two of these Logitech pads (I think the same version as HunterZ) and I agree with the d-pad. In shooting games I often die because of control issues. I am now thinking of getting a proper arcade stick or something like that.

They are quite decent though so maybe its me. The Mega Drive pad was just like this one I believe.