It's fair to say that we didn't quite get on with Thrustmaster's T-Wireless Rumble Force gamepad. Designed to be cross-compatible with the PC, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, it's a small wireless pad that's certainly endowed with plenty of buttons. It's also furnished with a rubber grip, to ensure it doesn't slip out of your paws in moments of need.

Two problems hit us when meeting the gamepad for the first time, though. The first was the sheer size of it. This is a very small gamepad, and we felt our hands scrunching up around it. Given that it also has nine buttons on the front alone, along with two analogue sticks and a thumbpad, to call it cramped would be being kind.

That said, it doesn't skimp on the features. Once you've fed it with three AAA batteries (it looks like it should hold four, but the extra space is to put the battery compartment cover back on), that aren't supplied in the box, the pad is ready for action. You can use it, it should be noted, straight from this point on, although if you want to configure it fully to your liking you need the software CD.

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And that's where we hit problem two. Because, for some reason only known to itself, Thrustmaster provides said software on a mini-CD, the kind which failed to work in three different machines that we tried it in. We didn't even dare putting it near our slot-loader laptop. Fortunately, it seems that said software is available online, so eventually that's how we got to try it.

In practice the pad remained a mix bag, though. We were never really comfortable holding it, although we could see how a smaller-handed player would get more from it. That said, while the rubber grips ensured no slippage, they added to the discomfort in the long term.

On the plus side, the fact that we could plug in a receiver, flick a switch on the pad and be up and running straight away was a boon. Furthermore, the rumble feature is welcome - even Sony has now woken up to the fact that it shouldn't have removed it from the first batch of PlayStation 3 controllers - while the number of buttons does give you the chance to customise the controller to your liking.

Yet sadly, for us at least, it's fatally hurt by simply not being feasible to use comfortably for long periods of time. Whether we were playing OutRun Coast2Coast or FIFA 09, the yearning for something a little chunkier was never far away. A disappointment.

Fully featured, but just not comfortable to use if you have averagely large hands. Worth a look if you're more petite, though.