Controllers and emulators

I searched the forums and couldn't find similar thread so here it is.

I wanted to buy controller for my PC ever since controllers are back in business. Now finally I am about to. However, I want to be able to play with it some emulated games as well, particularly interested in Gens emulator.

Can anybody tell me if it works fine, is it convenient and stuff?

Also, I want to know if other emulators work better with controllers.

Finally, I have set my eye on Razer Onza, but as it turns out it has a strange D-pad, consisting of 4 separate buttons rather than the usual solid one. Is it possible to play with it games like Mortal Kombat since in MK you need diagonals for special moves.

To be honest man, HID style controllers are the way to go. What is a HID style controller? Its basically a controller that requires no drivers. This way any emulator can use it with little effort. HID is native to windows/mac/linux so emulators always support them.

So what controller to buy? Well why not one of the console controllers them selves? Many n64 2 usb or psx 2 usb and what not out there. If you are a game freak ( like me ) just get one adapter for all the controllers out there( pricy ) or maybe just the ones you want ( customize it ) See my sig.
http://bliss-box.net/Bliss-Box/image.../beta1_new.png

I have had terrible experience with spare Sega controllers. Only the controller in the box of the console worked fine back when I had Sega. I don't want to risk it. I realize that these must be cheap nowadays but still…

And I want to buy controller to play other games as well, not just Sega Genesis. I would prefer that my desk isn't covered with cables and controllers.

Get a couple of Playstation 2 dualshocks and an adapter (about ?5/$10) or just use an Xbox360 pad and plug it straight into the PC USB port.

I use Gamepro USB controllers. They are cheap and work well enough. I just installed GENS onto my Sony Z-11 laptop and play Ghouls N' Ghosts, Streets of Rage, After Burner, Altered Beast, Street fighter 2, Road Rash and many many others. Windows 7 installs drivers automatically and it was very simple to assign controller buttons.