[Gondvanaz]

Sorry for the silly questions... for the last time i bought gamepad  8-9 years ago. I desperately need some with optical wheel and at least 12 buttons. But let's make clear buttons' names...sorry i couldn't find information about their names.
1. For which button is referring "7-axis" and what it means at all? Does it refer to D-Pad or for analogue sticks? Is it related to 360° of analogue sticks?
2. Are the middle buttons of the gamepad programmable or they are usable only for regulation of the gamepad?

3. In this gamepad below, is that hoop resembling surrounding D-Pad thing optical wheel or useless decoraion?

Thanks.

[The E]

I would recommend checking the manufacturer's sites for this.

I would also recommend not getting those things and using a regular 360 pad instead.

[Davros]

2 axis on each stick, 2 axis on the dpad and 1 on the wheel = 7

[Fury]

I've always liked my Logitech Rumblepad more than I like my Xbox 360 controller. Unfortunately a lot of games don't support anything but the 360 controller. I could never learn how to use the 360 controller either and instead prefer good old kb+mouse. For driving games I still prefer the Rumblepad.

That said, I'm waiting for Steam Controller with great excitement.

[z64555]

The_E's suggestion is probably the best, as they can go into detail about specific gamepads they offer. Here's a few that I can answer:

1. The 7th axis on a gamepad is the optical wheel.

2.  Depends on the gamepad.

3. The Hama gamepad you linked does not have a wheel.