A long, long time ago I had the misfortune of not being able to buy batteries for a console whose controller required them. And thus, there was a long dark period of time where I couldn’t play any Xbox 360 games. Of course, when I say “any” I really only mean The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, because that’s all I played on my Xbox 360 for the first five years. Either way it was a serious disappointment and I needed to find some sort of alternative to it. Being the naive child I was, I didn’t even think of purchasing rechargeable batteries, no, I had to go for a big fish, and by big fish I mean a wired controller. Since the recharge-pack I tried before hand stopped charging and turned the back of my controller pink, I just wanted a new one altogether. Then Christmas came and I received the Mini Pro EX controller!

The Mini Pro EX

Size comparison with my hand.

Now, not to sound like Captain Obvious here, but the Mini Pro EX controller is…well…mini. I didn’t realize it at first and my hands are by no means big either, but it is tiny. When I say tiny, I mean my fingers could actually reach and overlap one another with just my regular grip. On a typical 360 controller my fingers would have a couple inches of space between them. At first size was in fact an issue for me, however after a while my hands got adjusted to the size difference without affecting my gameplay. The controller I mean, the controller.

Back of the controller. The black circle is the button for the light.

For its compact-ness, the Mini Pro EX actually has all of the features of a regular Xbox 360 controller, even a headset plug. Now, some of the controller add-ons for regular controllers such as the keyboard wouldn’t be able to fit due to the lack of space. But if you don’t regularly use them, it probably won’t be an issue for you. The controller does have one little neat addition on the back; a light that makes it glow green. This could come in handy for playing at night or in the dark, but I personally didn’t use it much because I already had the positions of the buttons memorized. However, it sure does come in handy when you need some sort of quick light in case you drop something while playing in the dark.

USB input at the bottom of the controller’s cable is great for PC gaming.

For those who aren’t interested in the Xbox 360, the Mini Pro EX can also be used on PCs for gaming thanks to its USB input. I’ve used it on my laptop to play the PC version of Oblivion and it worked really well. I’ve even used it in place of a mouse to play Daggerfall, which helped out greatly. However, like all technology, even this controller isn’t perfect.

Size comparison of the Mini Pro EX with the wired controller I bought afterwards.

After about two years of use, my Mini Pro EX controller began to lock joysticks and randomly spam the right trigger. At first, it could be easily remedied by unplugging and replugging the controller into the console. As the controller began to degrade however, this began happening more and more to the point where game sessions turned into a test of patience. Eventually the unplugging method stopped working altogether so I just bought a regular wired controller from Gamestop.

Hard to see in the daytime, but the bumpers and four colored buttons all glow really bright, especially in the dark.

However, the degrading of the controller was expected since I used it so often and I personally think I got a lot of use out of it for the price (note that I recevived it as a gift from my cheap aunt who only paid $30). While the controller ended up suffering internal issues, the physical controller and its cord are even today, in really great shape. I’ve even dropped it plenty of times myself and haven’t seen a mark on it. Either my copy is magical or the manufacturer actually used decent materials on it. Same also goes for the buttons and joysticks, none of which have physically stuck or broken off either.

So overall, this is a decent controller. It takes some getting used to the small size of it, but it has saved me enough money and time to overshadow losing it so soon. If this were a video game, I would give the Mini Pro EX a 6/10.