Rating: 
Summary: thrustmaster RIP-OFF
Review: I WAS VERY DISSAPPOINTED WITH THIS PRODUCT. BOTH ANALOG STICKS WERE NOT CENTERED AND I WAS UNABLE TO PLAY ANY GAMES UNLESS I TURNED OFF THE ANALOG STICK FUNCTION.
Rating: 
Summary: It's no longer in production, so grab them while they last!
Review: I've done extensive testing with many PC gamepads, including the Saitek P2500 Rumble Force Pad, the NYKO "Air Flo EX," Logitech's Dual Action Gamepad (the ubiquitous 20$ everyone seems to get from Best Buy), the Interact Hammerhead FX, and all models of Thrustmaster's Firestorm. I've used all of these pads over an extended period of time with intense use, and I heavily favor and recommend the Thrustmaster Firestorm models. Some controllers simply aren't reliable and break after only a few weeks of use (Logitech Dual Action Gamepad), while others are uncomfortable or have button configurations that, while original, tend not to be as good as the traditional PSX dual analog design (Saitek P2500, Hammerhead FX). The newly released Nyko Air Flo Ex is a nice, large controller with a cooling fan that works; unfortunately, the controller's directional pad is mediocre, the start/select buttons are very difficult to push, and the fan is annoyingly loud.
As for the Thrustmaster Firestorms, they are generally high quality game pads, have the features you'd expect to have, no more and no less, have nice analog sticks and generally nice directional pads. Note that there are many versions of the Firestorm, but I will discuss the models including analog sticks only, as most tend to expect analog stick capabilities in their gamepads. The traditional Firestorm came with a directional pad with a flat surface that the thumb could "press." Refer to the product image here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000056Q1D/
Now, the newer Firestorm models, particularly the Dual Power 3 and the wireless version, have a directional pad that's designed to make your finger lean to the desired direction rather than press it. Refer to the product image here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008ZLHK/
I suppose this makes moving around the pad easier, similar to that of an analog stick, but it makes pressing one single direction, such as "left" error prone -- you often get down-left or up-left. This, subsequently, makes it impossible to "tap" a direction accurately. Keep this in mind when purchasing one of their pads, because if extreme accuracy in the directional pad is a consideration, then you might want to choose an earlier model. To the newer dpad's credit, I have been unable to wear out of one of these dpads, while I was able to wear out one of the older versions.
Also, a warning about the wireless version of the Firestorm: it's behavior is erratic at best. Note that my comments are based on the controller's performance with fully charged batteries and with the controller directly next to its wireless base. There is a slight lag between pressing a button and having it registered by the base; this is probably to be expected, but is unacceptable in some games. The problem is exacerbated if it's the first button you've pressed in awhile, because the controller "powers off" and must "power on" again when you press your next button, which takes a second and sometimes your button press is lost. A better model would be to explicitly set the controller to "on" so that it is always transmitting and doesn't have to detect when the user is no longer using it. This is done by the official Nintendo Gamecube wireless controllers and works quite well. if you must have wireless, I must recommend that you look towards other vendors' wireless models.
Linux: the Firestorm controllers in particular work well in Linux; they have no troublesome features, like shift buttons or turbo switches, that are sometimes not supported in Linux.
Rating: 
Summary: It just grows on you
Review: I've used this for about a year and initially I was just very frustrated at this gamepad. The reason was that the thrustmapper software was just refusing to work with Max Payne and I ended up just using the gamepad in games that were programed for it like NBA Live and emulators. Then I got GTA3 and WWE RAW and finally I was getting my money's worth, the gamepad just made these games a lot more fun and I didn't even need to touch the thrustmapper software to use it. Yesterday my optical mouse broke down and I was forced to use a trackball to play Wolfenstein. Since I wasn't enjoyin myself anyway I decided to give the thrustmapper software another try. After a couple of hours of trial and error I succesfully used the pad and it was actually almost as fun as using the mouse, but you have to set windows' mouse speed to the slowest setting to use the analog stick as a virtual mouse. I had to play in the easiest setting but it wasn't really frustating like the trackball. Unfortunately Medal of Honor doesn't use the stick efficiently as a mouse, it's too fast even in the slowest setting. But at least I can play wolfenstein again until I get my new mouse. This item doesn't get 5 stars because the thrustmapper software is not very intuitive. The gamepad is comfortable, the cable is long, and it has many buttons, plus you could use it without the thrustmapper software as long as you only use it in games that are gamepad-ready.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good But Not Perfect
Review: The pad is very comfortable to hold, and the buttons are well placed. The biggest problem is the buttons are not labled for easy referance (1,2..etc). It takes some time to figure this out. It is very responsive though, and the rumble feature works well. The pad is well made and can take a beating, from the occational drop to the button mashing of fighting games. A good addition to your gaming arsenal.
Rating: 
Summary: Layout & DOA Button
Review: This gamepad is nice and works well with some games. However, after much research, it is difficult to find and locate a good layout for sports games such as Madden 2002. One of the buttons, button 6, was DOA. A comparison layout with PS, N64, and other control would be helpful. (Button X = Button 1, and so on.)
Rating:
Summary: Layout & DOA Button
Review: This gamepad is nice and works well with some games. However, after much research, it is difficult to find and locate a good layout for sports games such as Madden 2002. One of the buttons, button 6, was DOA. A comparison layout with PS, N64, and other control would be helpful. (Button X = Button 1, and so on.)
Rating:
Summary: Perfect, surprising for the low price
Review: This is the perfect gamepad. It's cheap, worked with all the games, it's USB, has both analog and digital sticks, etc.. i was actually surprised!
Rating:
Summary: Guillemot knew what they were doing on this one.
Review: This Thrustmaster Fire Storm is the most expensive gamepad in their series. But it is more then justified by the wide variety of options offered. There are a total of 13 buttons that are all placed so wonderfully that's is a good question on how the figured out how to make ever button so easy to reach. There are also two analog mini-joysticks that will help you out with all those EA sport games that require 360 degrees of motion. This particular model also has two independent motors for force feedback and it doesn't need batteries or extra cables or anything like that. This is very much like a PS2 controller in everway except one. That is it fits in your hands like you were meant to never let go of it. It's an awesome controller and for the price it's the most unbeatable deal out there.
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