As great as the original 360 controller is for 3D games and first-person shooters, gamers know that its d-pad simply doesn't make it ideal for 2D titles and fighters.  Worse still is Microsoft's stringent stranglehold on third-party pads.  In fact, with the exception of the Street Fighter IV Fightpad (which in itself was a bust), the only other one I can think of is the Hori Pad EX Turbo.  I've had my eye on this for a while, as the d-pad looks absolutely ideal for the aforementioned genres.  And $39.92 USD is the lowest I've seen for it as of late.

Anyone had any experience with this controller?  About the only negative I'm reading about is the shoulder buttons and triggers are a bit less responsive when compared to the original 360's - a small trade off, it seems, for the much-lauded d-pad.

I wish Sega would just release a stupid Saturn pad for it... or is that Microsoft preventing them?  Would the USB ones work, somehow?

My EX Turbo pad came in today.  I gave it a lengthy test run, and while it's not perfect, it is pretty good all around.  The d-pad is excellent; it's got a nice, tactile feel, with absolute precision on all four directions.  The diagonals require a little more force to register because of the cross-pad nature, but I'm willing to bet they'll break in nicely with regular use.

The shoulder and trigger buttons are definitely the weakest link here.  Both LT and RT have a significantly noticeable input delay, where the action takes close to a full half second to register.   On top of which, you need to do a complete depression of the buttons to make 'em register.  The LB and RB, too, while more fully responsive, is positioned uncomfortably higher than one might be used to on a standard 360 controller.

The analog sticks appear to work fine, as well as the rest of the face buttons.  No rumble and it's wired, if that matters to you.  Ergonomically, I'd say the 360 controller feels better on the grip, but the d-pad has made playing games like SSFII HD Remix and Ikaruga much less of a chore.  It would've been preferable to have the d-pad swapped for where the left analog stick is for optimal positioning, but what can you do.