This would be the inexpensive route that our team took
Buy a used original Xbox controller on ebay or craigslist (very cheap), or request a donation from a team member.
Chop the end and solder it to a male end of a usb cable. (yes the original xbox controllers are usb)
Download the drivers
http://www.redcl0ud.com/xbcd.html
In labview the axes from the controller will come out as follows
Axis 1: Left thumbstick X
Axis 2: Left thumbstick Y
Axis 4: Right thumbstick X
Axis 5: Right thumbstick Y
you will also get an extra 12 buttons along with your 4 axises
We used Axis 1 and 2 to go forward, backward, left and right
and axis 4 to rotate.
Hope this helped.