Alright boys and girls this video/blogpost is on the Resident evil pad released by Ascii Entertainment circa 1998 to coincide with the release of Biohazard/Resident Evil 2 on the Sony Playstation
Unfortunately this example has seen better days but its by no means the worst iv'e seen out there.
This one cost me around £12 including postage though I have seen them sell between £10 and £30 on ebay
Front of the box, note the "Official Resident Evil Peripheral" print
The sides of the box are a bit more colorfull than the front and feature images of Leon S. Kennody and Claire Redfield one on each side.
Inside the box of wonders you also get an instruction manual in several languages, dedicating a whole two pages to each language. Basicially this is a spread that is explaining the button layout to the user.
Above, button layout in English from the Resident Evil Pad Manual
Aswell as this you also get your standard registration flyer. Dime a dozen.
Top of image is registration flyer, bottom of image is front cover of manual
Overall the pad does take some getting used to and is more of a novelty than a practical peripheral. Im sure with some practice I could get used to it, but for the time being its just a nice little oddity for my collection.
The button layout is bizzare, featuring only one shoulder button, locatied on the front right of the controller, this is used as a trigger button and the part of the handel on the right is shaped more like a gun handle than your standard controller grip. The trigger button on the top right is the X button of the controller and controls the shoot function when pressed while holding the R1 button (Ready/Aim) which on the controller in located on the right hand side again and labled as "READY" This is roughly where the O button usually is.
Compare the classic PS1 Controller with the Resident Evil Pad
on the left we have your bog standard PS1 controller and to the right is the "Resi Pad"
As you can see the L1,L2,R1 and R2 buttons are all located in the centre of the Resi pad with the R1 button duplicated in the bottom right. There is also a turbo switch at the top if the pad designed for some rapid zombie shooting action!
Rear View: How the standard PS1 controller looks on the shoulders
Close up on the trigger button : note no other buttons on the shoulders
Gun grip handle close up
The right side of the controller is designed to be more like a gun grip than anything else and has the Resident Evil text printed onto it. This is the only place on the gun the RE name is printed.
Going back to the left side of the controller things get a little more normal, well barley.
The left side D-Pad is your standard D-Pad and no trickery or tomfoolary has gone off on this top side. Again there are no shoulder buttons on the side and the ussual grip has been replaced with a bizzare round handel with a black rubber grip to it. This feels very odd on its own yet even more odd when your holding the other side of the controller too.
The controller works with any other PS1 game and will also play on a PS2, though the layout makes most games almost unplayable.
The Idea behind it is good I fell but overall it reeks of fail. The dedicated Run button is a nice touch but having the fatures plastered to them is almost a little patronising as in all honesty this pad was bought by Resident Evil fans who know the buttons not your average Joe. That said having bigger and easier to reach ( really? maybe.) buttons can make the mundane tasks a little easier as afterall these are buttons your going to be using a lot, and if you play RE2 on Normal or Hard your going to be doing a hell of a lot of running!
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