I dunno about most gamers, but when it comes to my own gaming habits, there's one thing I'm perpetually in search of: the perfect wireless controller.

I like to stretch out when I'm gaming, you see, but I don't like getting all tangled up in the cords, and with a rambunctious dog on the premises, well...corded gaming is a recipe for disaster. Up until now, my preference on Xbox has been for the Logitech Cordless Controller, that finely crafted piece of plastic.

As much as I love it, however, when I initially reviewed it, there were a few minor little flaws that kept nagging at me. Using those analog sticks to shoot free throws in a basketball game was a challenge, for example, because there just wasn't the resistance I'm used to when holding them in whatever directions. The model I own is also a little on the hefty side, a flaw that has since been rectified. The lack of built-in expansion ports for Xbox Live headsets in the controller itself has been well-documented, and it's only recently that Logitech has addressed that with an excellent (if expensive) wireless headset.

But, as I say, for all of that, it has still been my preferred wireless Xbox controller for the last two years. For the last few weeks, I've been using a different controller: the Cosmo Wireless Controller, available from Lik-Sang.

In a Hollywood-scripted world, the Cosmo pad would be the ultimate expression of wireless freedom, an item about which I could write blissfully for days. And, perhaps, in a Hollywood-scripted world, I would do so. Instead, I can sum up my feelings about it thusly: it's an excellent controller with an intriguing feature set, but some of those features are irrelevant to Americans, and absent those features, the Cosmo pad doesn't have much to offer to make it worth importing instead of buying the Logitech variant. If, of course, you hail from the United Kingdom, then you may disregard this entire paragraph, as you will get full functionality from this controller.

We'll start with the good stuff. The Cosmo pad is smaller and lighter than the classic Xbox Logitech pad, and even slightly smaller than the redesigned Logitech controller, making it easier for everybody to handle. The buttons and analog sticks are surprisingly resistant - the face buttons felt equivalent to a first-party corded controller, and the analog sticks gave me the resistance I felt the original Logitech controller lacked. In fact, I used the Cosmo pad as I began to play the recently-released MVP Baseball 2005, and found that I got pretty decent results when batting, and slightly improved control when pitching.

The Cosmo pad also includes a power adapter, capable of either powering the controller, or recharging your batteries (assuming, of course, that you're using rechargeables and not regular alkalines) when the controller is not in use. I'm not sure plugging it in all the time for its primary source of power would be terribly useful - the idea, after all, is to get AWAY from pesky cords and cables - but the ability to recharge your batteries from within the controller is absolutely inspired.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that the adapter is designed for UK power outlets, in order to take advantage of this particular feature, you'll need a step-down converter, both to adapt our voltage to the voltage level required by the controller, and also to allow the funky UK plug to fit an American outlet. That can cost an additional $10-20, and on top of the controller's ~$38 cost for Americans looking to import, that limits the cost-effectiveness of that particular feature. One additional note: the included AAA batteries were virtually dead when we received the controller, and it's probably not unreasonable to assume that our controller may not be the only one to have that problem. If you order this, make sure you have a supply of fresh AAA's to pop into it.

Also, while the Logitech controller has automatic channel hopping, the Cosmo pad is more analogous to the Wavebird in that you have to match the controller's frequency to the receiver's frequency, and there are only four to choose from. And, like every wireless controller before it, the expansion bays are built into the receiver, rather than the controller. C'est la vie. The upshot is that the receiver plugs directly into the Xbox controller port, just like the DVD remote kit, rather than being attached via a short cable, as the Logitech controller does. That's nice, because it limits the frustration of trying to place the receiver just so, so that it doesn't fall off the table because of the tension in the cord, or what-have-you. Bit of a tradeoff, you might say.

All in all, the Cosmo controller isn't a bad little gadget. Its power consumption is less than that of the Logitech controller, which is always nice (AAA's instead of AA's, you understand), and I do like the analog sticks a little bit more than those on its Logitech counterpart. I'm not as keen on the wireless channel limits, as being able to select from only four channels limits its usability during Halo 2 LAN parties, for example.

The price must also be considered. At roughly $38, the Cosmo controller is about $10 cheaper than MSRP for the Logitech pad, but that's before you factor in overseas shipping and the cost of a power converter to allow you to make use of the battery recharge feature. In the end, the controller ends up being nearly as expensive, if not more so. Because of the nature of the design, the Cosmo pad will likely prove most useful to Europeans, or those Americans who simply cannot live another day without an alternative to the Logitech Wireless Controller.

[Editor's Note: Gamenikki gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Lik-Sang in the publication of this hardware review. If you found this article helpful, and the Cosmo RF Wireless Controller appeals to you, why not