Expand your potential opponent pool by millions of PlayStation3 users.
As you may already know, MADDEN NFL '08 officially supports gamepads compatible with the legacy Logitech Dual Action and XBOX controllers.
If a supported controller is detected and used by a player, then special controller button icons are displayed within the simulation for that player.
Logitech compatible controller buttons are shown as white numbers on black circles.
XBOX compatible controller buttons are shown as white letters on colored circles.
To develop the correct "muscle memory" I generally discourage the use of unsupported gamepads with MADDEN PC.
The button icons for any unsupported gamepad that Windows recognizes are shown as white numbers on light gray circles.
Unfortunately there was no PlayStation3 support built into MADDEN PC,
although the PS3 controllers are much more like Logitechs than the XBOX gamepads are.
Using PS3 Controllers with MADDEN '08 PC
With a simple registry tweak many generic PS3 controllers will work perfectly!
This is a generic PS3 controller model that I've procured from GameStop,
http://www.gamestop.com/ps3/accessories/ps3-controller/77446
When plugged into a computer USB port, both Windows XP & Vista recognize it as a 'Afterglow controller for PS3'.
All of the buttons function identically to the 'Logitech Dual Action USB'.
The only real problem is that the right analog stick was turned 90 degrees counterclockwise.
As expected, using the generic PS3 controller triggers the gray button icon display within MADDEN PC.
This common right analog stick problem, and one solution is described on the page:
http://howtobyte.blogspot.com/2009/05/fifa-08-generic-gamepad-right-analog.html
The fix is to spoof Windows into believing the connected stick is other than what it is, so that another driver will be used.
It turns out that the Logitech gamepad drivers in Windows work well to transform the GameStop Afterglow PS3 controller
into a 100% functional Logitech Dual Action controller.
Which means other than the manufacturer codes, the generic Afterglow PS3 controller must actually be an exact Logitech clone!
The quick, permanent, easily reversible 'hack' is described below.
It works in both Windows XP and Vista to transform the Afterglow into a Logitech for your computer.
You'll need to use regedit, and if you don't know how to use that, then get some help making the changes.
Steps 1, 2, & 3 are needed for both XP & Vista.
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1) Obtain the system name for your controller from the Control Panel > Game Controllers app.
2) Using regedit, find the specific subkey in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\MediaProperties\PrivateProperties\Joystick\OEM
which contains the matching OEMName. 'Afterglow controller for PS3' in this case.
3) Change that OEMName value to 'Logitech Dual Action USB'. Use the exact name without quotes.
After completing the first three steps XP users can then exit regedit, the 'hack' is complete.
Steps 4 & 5 are only needed for Windows Vista computers.
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4) Find the subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaProperties\PrivateProperties\Joystick\OEM\VID_****&PID_****
which contains the matching OEMName. 'Afterglow controller for PS3' in this case.
5) Change that OEMName value to 'Logitech Dual Action USB'.
Vista users exit regedit, the 'hack' is complete.
Your GameStop generic PS3 controller will thereafter be seen by MADDEN (and Windows)
as a Logitech Dual Action, and it will function perfectly in that role!
If you already use a 'Logitech Dual Action USB' on your system, then substitute 'Logitech Rumblepad 2 USB' instead.
If you already use both controllers on your system, then you probably don't need to use this 'hack'.
I've purchased two different types of PS3 controllers to learn what I'm sharing with you here,
and I don't even own a PS3. Therefore I will give you no guarantee about the following claim,
and I do not plan to test other PS3 gamepads, but I believe the 'hack' shown above should work for any
generic PS3 controller with a OEMName identified by Windows not to be the
'PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller' OEMName used by the official SONY gamepads and clones.
Any feedback which verifies or disproves my conjecture is appreciated.
Snakebyte PS3 Wired Controller
As a part of this research, I procured the dual shock Snakebyte model pictured above for $12 at my local WalMart.
Like a genuine SONY PS3 gamepad, it was recognized by Windows as a 'PLAYSTATION(R)3 Controller'.
Used in MADDEN, it triggers the gray button icons, but much worse than the generic GameStop PS3 gamepad,
the receiver buttons are in reverse order, along with the right analog stick turned 90 degrees
The quick and easy registry 'hack' shown above does not work with the official Sony PS3 controllers and clones,
The only solution that I know of to properly configure Windows for this type of
controller to be used by MADDEN PC, is to use the free MotioninJoy driver utility. http://www.motioninjoy.com/download
Microsoft's .net 3.5 framework must be already installed on your computer to run MotioninJoy.
At the following link are instructions for using MotioninJoy to connect a genuine Sony PS3 controller for MADDEN PC.
http://www.footballidiot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3755
MotioninJoy is designed to operate with official Sony PS3 controllers and clones,
it does not recognize the Afterglow generic PS3 gamepad.
The computer must be connected to the internet to activate the MotioninJoy PS3 gamepad driver.
Considering the price, MotioninJoy works well at what it does, setting up the computer to
allow a PS3 controller to function perfectly as a XBOX controller for Windows.
However, the first time a PlayStationer uses their PS3 controller to play MADDEN NFL PC,
they may be a bit put off by the XBOX controller button icons showing up in the simulation. .