Saturday, September 11, 1999

Gravis Xterminator
Distributor: ACCO Australia
Price: $89.95
Interface: PC gameport
Rating: Three stars

Gravis has always had an unusual design philosophy. The company tries to cram as many buttons and doodads as it can on its controllers, giving gamers a wealth of possibilities. But then it aims them at the low end of the price scale, forcing their manufacturers to use cheap components that ruin the overall feel of the product. Its newest gamepad controller, the Xterminator is, unfortunately, no exception.

It certainly is a feature-packed device, boasting not only an eight-way "hat" switch, but also a throttle slider, analog thumb pad and analog shoulder buttons. These controls mean it can

handle flight sims and Mechwarrior-style games with ease, but the quality of finish is a little rough.

The right Side of the pad is fine; it's the directional controllers on the left that are a worry. The digital D-pad is positioned too far to the right to be used comfortably and the analog thumb pad feels cheap and nasty.

Worse, it moves only about 8mm in any direction, which makes it sensitive to the slightest touch and so virtually useless. If you really want analogue directional control, a "hat" switch and a throttle, buy a good joystick.