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TRON Collector's Edition Wired Controller
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Function:Sometimes a collector's edition item is more about its rarity than its performance. For example, an Action Comics #1 (first appearance of Superman) comic book can be quite valuable, but the artwork is quite simplistic compared to a more modern (and less valuable) comic book.
There are certain things you can do to make a "collectible" product more, well, collectible. You can make it special, with a unique design treatments (including the packaging), you can make a limited number of them, which fuels that "rarity" thing I mentioned above, and you can find some way to make each one identifiably unique, such as by numbering them. That's about it, short of having someone of note autograph the thing.
Well, the TRON Collector's Edition Wired Controller does all of the above, except for the autograph thing. These controllers were no doubt inspired by PDP's own Afterglow Controllers, but are officially licensed and approved by Disney, as is evident by Disney's name clearly marked everywhere the TRON logo is. As for the limited number, the back of the controller has a metal plate engraved with its number out of 20 thousand.
If you're a fan of TRON, and you're a collector, the TRON Collector's Edition Wired Controller already has a unique value to you. However, as GameVortex's Senior Hardware editor, I'm not asked to "collect" hardware, I'm asked to evaluate its performance... |
| Performance:The TRON Collector's Edition Wired Controller is, functionally, a wired controller for the PS3. It's most impressive feature, however, is it's aesthetics. If you're a fan of TRON, you'll dig the blue lighting scheme that makes this controller unique and collectible. It has a certain sleek sophistication that matches the aesthetic of the newly released TRON: Legacy movie and the TRON: Evolution game.
Beyond the slick style, though, is a pretty solid wired controller. Yes, it's wired, so there's really no getting around that, but the wire is long enough that I didn't need to use a USB extension cord. At just over 9 and a half feet, the cord gave me enough room to sit comfortably across the room.
The grip is nicely done, as well, with a satin texture on the bottom half, and rubber grips on the sides, to offer extra gripping to keep your hands where you want them - on the controller. The analog sticks also feature rubberized, concave cups, to keep your thumb from slipping off when your gameplay gets its most frantic.
The action buttons and the D-pad are where you'd expect them and are pretty much what you'd expect. The action buttons have a rounded convex top to them, but not such that it would affect gameplay one way or the other. The D-pad has a concave center, which gives your thumb a bit of a place to rest when not moving, and offers some tactile feedback that your thumb is in the correct place, but, in this day and age, the D-pad's not used a lot, and when it is, it's used occasionally, not in a way that would have you keeping your thumb on the D-pad for long periods of time, so, again, not monumental either way. The lower trigger buttons, however - (L2) and (R2) - are a bit larger than OEM, are curved to a more trigger-like shape, and offer a bit more resistance than OEM triggers. This gives you more control over these analog switches and offers what, in my opinion, is a more solid feel than most other controllers. |
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Features:
- 9' 8" USB Cord
- Rubberized Grips
- Satin-Like Texture
- Rubberized Concave Thumbsticks
- Officially "TRON" Licensed by Disney
- Limited Number Produced (20,000 per console)
- Individually Numbered
- Immersion TouchSense Technology Vibration Feedback
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Drawbacks & Problems::One thing about collectors is that they will often buy something and never open it, because doing so would immediately drop the value. I don't know how many of those types of collectors would be looking at this controller, but the number is on the backside of the controller, which isn't visible until the controller is removed from the box. This is a shame, since the box is well-designed as a showcase for the controller, with the certificate of authenticity on the inside of a flip-up lid which reveals a clear plastic window that shows the controller in the box.
For fans of TRON, this is definitely a cool collector's item. It's also a good wired PS3 controller, with what seems to be good mechanicals. What you don't get, however, is wireless control or SIXAXIS compatibility. This controller is a solid controller at what it does, and it does have an Immersion Technology-licensed TouchSense Technology-based vibration feature, but you're going to be tethered to the console and you won't have SIXAXIS control, which may or may not matter to you.
The upside of a lighted controller being wired is that you don't have to use batteries to power the lights; you power them via USB. This is the route that the TRON Collector's Edition Wired Controller has taken, which makes it a bit more environmentally friendly, a bit cheaper to maintain and less likely to be destroyed by leaking batteries, which is generally a good thing for collector's items.
The downside of the USB-powered lighting in the TRON controller, is it has been done so that it's always on when the PS3 is on. This isn't a power consumption issue, really as much as it is possibly confusing. Just because the controller is plugged in an is lit up doesn't mean it's necessarily "turned on." If the controller is lit up, but doesn't actually control anything, it may, in fact, be turned off. To remedy this, simply tap the PlayStation button, which, in the case of the TRON Collector's Edition Wired Controller, actually has a TRON Disc symbol on it, rather than the PlayStation symbol. As soon as you do this, your controller will be ready to use. Psibabe thought this controller didn't work with Blu-ray playback at first, until I realized that the controller simply wasn't on. After making this discovery, I tested it with Blu-ray playback, and it worked fine, with the caveat that it took a little getting used to trying to use (R2) for increasing fast forward speeds with the increased resistance in the trigger.
This controller is quite a looker, and works well at the same time. Anyone with a display case for controllers may well want to pick one up, and for collectors who are fans of TRON (especially the more recent, slick look of TRON: Legacy), this is a must-buy. |
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-Geck0, GameVortex Communications AKA Robert Perkins |
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