Third party hardware, good or bad?

[Oberfuhrer Hamm]

Every time I have purchased a non-Sony/Nintendo brand controller or memory card, it has been nothing but problems. Does anybody else have this quality problem or is it just me?

[AB Positive]

The only 3rd party peripheral I've ever put any trust in and not had crap out on me is my prized nexus 16X Dreamcast card with PC link. Otherwise, totally first party.

-AG

[devilman]

In my experience, with the older systems there wasn't a vast amount of difference between the third party controllers and the official ones - both were equally useable. But having used so many duff PS1/PS2 and GC pads (I can't play Super Monkeyball on anything but an official pad) I try and get as much official hardware as possible.

[maxlords]

Every piecde of 3rd party hardware I've ever used was complete crap and ended up breaking, from controllers to memory cards to light guns, etc etc. I've bought 3rd party stuff at least once for every generation of systems since SNES, and every time, it breaks without fail while the official stuff lasts and lasts. Never buy 3rd party...never.

[dave2236]

Don't ever buy anything NAKI....their stuff will break and sometimes psx memcards end up shorting out the controller ports and won't let Dual Shock controllers work..

Pelican makes decent PS2 mem cards...I have one for a couple of years and it works great.......controlers go with name brand..the rest usually end up breaking or sticking...there are a few exceptions though.

[Bratwurst]

I have a MadCatz playstation controller that saw very little use yet the knob atop one of the analog sticks fell off. Mind you, this was a gamepad that I used very infrequently as I don't have a Playstation and I only used the D-pad for 2D sidescrolling games.

I have Interact Dreamcast and PSX memory cards and so far after several years of service (though infrequent, again) they're still holding together.

I have a Pelican AC adaptor that works fairly well, it must be a thing with moving parts where third party devices start having issues.

[davidbrit2]

3rd party controllers usually suck, with a few very notable exceptions. And I guess my homemade stuff would count as "3rd party." Heh.

My absolute favorite PSX memory card is 3rd party, believe it or not. It's a Mad Catz, and it's an uncompressed 8x memory card. The fact that it doesn't use compression is extremely important, because that's usually what ends up killing your saves. This card basically just has a little rocker switch and lets you manually control the bank switching. There's a 32x version, too, and I'm getting to the point where I just might need it. I think I've got about 15 blocks free on my 8x card.

[dr mario kart]

I bought 4 third party ultra generic SNES controllers because it was cheaper than buying two real SNES controllers. In theory some people might like the way it handles, but i dont like them, the buttons all work, but they are very tight so you need to push them a little harder to get a response. I'll probably bring them to the Austin Gaming Expo just in case someone wants them for $1-2 a piece.

[bargora]

Although this thread has been done before, I'll throw in my 2 cents again. I like the way the MadCatz Dual Force Playstation controller's D-pad feels. It's got a disc, unlike the Dual Force 2 with it's D-cross or the Sony controllers with the four button directional control. The problem is that I've had two of these controllers go bad after only light use, one with a broken off pad, and one that wouldn't go left anymore. So I bought another one, and I'll be happy with it until it breaks. x_x

Captain Wrong recommended the Alps Playstation controller to me for shmups, and I gotta say he was right. At least, if you have medium to large hands. It looks like a bat-a-rang! These are no longer produced. There's no analog stick, but I really like the pad for playing 2-D shooters. I've been using it for a while, and it seems pretty solid. Unfortunately, since it's a pretty uncommon item, if you can't find it locally, it goes for about $25-$30 at Amazon or Half.com, and it never seems to show up on ebay.

[petewhitley]

I actually FAR prefer the Interact SuperPad for the SNES over the Nintendo originals. Virtually the same, but the Y and X buttons aren't concave. For some reason this makes all the difference to me. I've played the hell outta this controller too, without problems. I believe it's relatively easy to pick up at Gamestops, etc.

[DDCecil]

I like all the ASCII accessories for the systems, especially the turbo controller for the SNES. I stay away from all things Mad Catz, due to all the problems I have had with their products.

[The Manimal]

If it's at least LICENSED, it's normally good...as far as I remember. But when you get down to things like 'Toys R Us' brands, you are pretty much buying crap.