It looks especially great!
Project Diva F 2nd will be releasing with a separately-sold arcade gamepad for the PS3. The gamepad is made by HORI, who also produce arcade sticks for fighting games and also sponsor some professional fighting game players. Perhaps one of their more well known products is the wireless “fightstick” sold with Limited Edition copies of Namco Bandai’s Tekken 6.
For those unfamiliar, this is actually not a new development, as gamepads for Project Diva and other rhythm games have been produced before. Though the prominence of arcades has waned significantly in America in particular, they are still quite prevalent in Japan. Among enthusiasts, arcade controllers are often regarded as the most effective or purest way to experience a game. This can be especially true amongst professional fighting game players. But of course the optimal experience for one person depends heavily on personal preference.
Here is a picture of another of HORI’s Project Diva gamepads:
The Project Diva F 2nd gamepad will be sold at 9,800 yen. This is a little under $94 or €70: speaking as someone with moderate familiarity shopping for arcade sticks and not their parts, this is about as much, if not a little cheaper than most arcade sticks. It is releasing at the same time as the game itself (March 6th,) and HORI is currently taking preorders. This product is a wired controller and comes with a three meter long USB cable to connect this controller to the PS3. The Rin and Len gamepad also comes with a nice themed cloth to clean up your gamepad!
*Credit to this Siliconera article for information on the gamepad and this sgcafe article (which sources 4gamer) for both the leading picture and for information. Credit to this Siliconera article for the Dreamy Theater 2nd gamepad picture.
