Pelican Eclipse Wireless Controller

Added October 28th, 2003 by Barnolde

I first picked up this controller, because I was craving a wireless controller and Microsoft wasn’t delivering. Three wireless controllers came out simultaneously, a $70 one by Logitech which looked horribly uncomfortable, a $60 one by MadCatz which was still too expensive, and a $40 one by Pelican which looked just right (Goldilocks reference not intentional). I started researching all three controllers, checking out which one was the best in all categories. As I delved deeper into the wireless controller information, all signs pointed to the Pelican one being the best, and cheapest, which made it all that much better.

While the controller at heart may look and seem like the Microsoft controller S, it’s actually a bit smaller than it. If you thought the controller S was too small already, than this controller may not be for you. However, the Pelican Eclipse controller, has one distinctive feature which makes it light years above the competition. When you first test out the controller, you’ll wonder why nobody else ever thought of it before. There are extra black and white buttons in front of the L & R triggers. After a while of using the extra black and white buttons, you’ll be wondering how you ever lived without them. The horrid placement of them on the controller S was probably its major flaw. Not having to take your thumb of the main face buttons is a huge benefit to have while playing. In games like Phantom Crash where black and white strafe, it’s almost impossible to successfully use the controller S without falter. It is comfortable to rest your index fingers on the extra black and white buttons, and use your middle fingers for the L & R triggers.

Regardless of how good the controller may seem on the outside, it’s worthless, if the features do not deliver. However, the Pelican Eclipse does not suffer from any of these falters, and it seems to exceed in every category. The controller has a vibration feature unlike some other wireless controllers, and it works pretty good, although it is fairly weak, but most of the time I do not use it, in order to conserve batteries, and I don’t miss it. The company claims that the controller can allow for gaming up to 50 feet away, I tested it at around 40 feet, and came back pleased. While holding R, I was still shooting the Warthog gun in Halo, and still feeling the vibration as if I was only 10 feet away. There are rubber grips on the side of the controller, which are a great aid to prevent increased sweat buildup on the controller, and they add to better grip overall. The controller uses radio frequencies instead of infrared, which pretty much eliminates any interference that this controller might have. As for dropped signals, they really only occur when the battery life is getting low, and if they seem to happen for no reason, a quick power cycle of the controller can fix that problem very easily. The company states that the controller offers 50+ hours of gameplay, and since I left the controller on overnight, because of that stupid weak LCD, I was able to estimate that with the default alkaline batteries, they last around 40+ hours. I now use rechargeable batteries and I get about 20-30 hours of life with them.

However, while an excellent controller, the Eclipse is not without its few faults. The controller connects to a unit that plugs into a controller slot, and that’s where it sends signals. While that seems fine, that is one of the major complaints that this, and all other wireless controller receive. The fact that the receiver is where the memory card slots are located means that it’s pretty much useless to use the Xbox Live voice communicator with this controller, as you’d be able to get 9 feet away with a standard controller S. The main fault is not even a problem if you do not want to use the Xbox Live voice communicator, or you are just a guest with someone who is using the headset. I wouldn’t consider the few dropped signals much, if any of a problem, as they occur so rarely that they are pretty much ignored by me. Some people have complained that the buttons require you to press fairly hard, I have not encountered this myself, and even then, it’s not that big of a problem. The main problem I have with the Eclipse is nothing to do with the actual controller, it’s a problem with the power switch on the controller. The power switch on the controller is in the middle of the controller, and it can be pushed to the right once for vibration, or pushed over twice for vibration-less gameplay. While that may not seem so bad, you’ll often easily forget to turn off the controller, because the switch is in the middle of the controller, and it’s easily forgettable. The light that signifies if the controller is on or not, is probably my biggest complaint about the controller. The light flickers, and it is a green color, which easily blends into the rest of the controller. I wish the LED was a bright orange like the GameCube’s Wavebird, so it would not be as easily forgotten about. The light isn’t very bright, and it isn’t very attention grabbing. The light will turn to red when the batteries are low, but you’ll probably notice the controller’s response faltering by then. You’ll often find yourself leaving the controller on all night, after a gaming session without even knowing it, I wish Pelican could’ve used a bright orange color, and not have it flicker, which would’ve eliminated chance of leaving the controller on for. A cool feature that would’ve made this controller perfect, would’ve been something that would turn off the controller if it was inactive for a certain period of time.

I think that the Pelican Eclipse is the best Xbox controller currently on the market. It’s very affordable, high quality, long battery life, comfortable, and the extra black and white buttons are a gift from the gaming gods. Overall, I think that this controller is one of the best controllers I ever used, and the extra black and white buttons alone are enough to convert controller S fans.