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Thread: I seem to be having bad luck with controllers lately....

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    ServBot (Level 11) Edmond Dantes's Avatar
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    Default I seem to be having bad luck with controllers lately....

    In the past month I've had three controllers go bad on me.

    First was a first-party NES controller. It seemed fine at first, but when I tried to play Contra two-player it refused to recognize button inputs.

    One of them was a Sega Genesis SG Propad 6. I have two of these, and one of them (fortunately) still works just fine, but I had bought two for two-player games (I hate the official Sega 6-button controllers... they are way too small for my hands). The second, less-used one developed an issue where it always thinks I'm pointing down, even when I'm not.

    The other controller that's gone bust on me is a PSOne Dualshock. I was playing Medal of Honor and noticed that sometimes the analog control randomly shuts off. Later, when playing Gran Turismo, I noticed that half the time the vehicles always veer to the left. Even when that doesn't happen, they seem to prefer turning left to turning right. It's forced me to play with a PS2 controller, which I think may be too sensitive for Gran Turismo (cars keep spinning).

    Unfortunately everyone tells me that the first-party Playstation controllers are the best and most durable, so it looks like I have to just buy another one and hope for the best.

    ... Unless anyone knows how I can possibly repair these controllers to fix these issues?

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    Insert Coin (Level 0) Einzelherz's Avatar
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    How are they dying, exactly?

    If it's a single button or a couple, a simple check is to open them and clean the contacts and button pads.

    On the other hand the most extensive I've had to do lately was soldering in a wire around the corroded trace on a Genesis 1 pad's C button.

    Most old first party controllers are pretty rock solid, but they are old.

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    ServBot (Level 11) Edmond Dantes's Avatar
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    As I said:

    SG Propad 6 - Always thinks I'm pressing down even when I'm pressing another direction or not pressing anything.

    PS1 Dual Shock - Sometimes thinks I'm holding right when I'm not, and even when it doesn't do that it seems more sensitive to the right than left.

    NES Controller - Generally unresponsive.

    I'll try opening them to clean them but they seem to use special screws. Anyone know what type of screwdriver I need?

    EDIT: Also I've seen that a company has been making brand-new NES controllers. Since I only have one that works I'm thinking of picking one up, but I hear mixed reports. Anyone have experiences?
    Last edited by Edmond Dantes; 06-04-2014 at 07:56 AM.

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    Default

    Those new NES controllers I think retrobit and tommo make them. They're cheaper made/quality copy cats of the originals but they're not very durable if you're rough with stuff (get mad, throw at floor, could break while original wouldn't.) The NES controller probably just needs the rubber pad contacts and the spot on the board itself under cleaned nicely. The others are probably shot as a joystick doing that is probably broke and with he other just wanting to go down sounds like a short unless something got between the pad and contact causing a connection.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tanooki View Post
    They're cheaper made/quality copy cats of the originals but they're not very durable if you're rough with stuff (get mad, throw at floor, could break while original wouldn't.)
    I'm pretty sure I've outgrown that. I can't imagine someone not... Sometimes I even laugh at how the playable character dies.

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    Kirby (Level 13) Tanooki's Avatar
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    Default

    I can be pushed over the edge but it's rare these days. I used to take out N64 controllers and some SNES too with effort. The last one was 3 years ago a PS3 controller and it shattered completely.

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    Strawberry (Level 2) MeTmKnice's Avatar
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    Should be able to use a PS2 controller on a PSOne.
    But some of the analog sticks are known for sticking in the PSOne SOmetimes later ones.
    I mostly use a Joystick for SEGA currently.
    Now it is the beginning of
    a fantastic story! Let us
    make a Journey to
    the cave of Monters!
    Good luck!

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    Insert Coin (Level 0) Einzelherz's Avatar
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Edmond Dantes View Post
    As I said:

    SG Propad 6 - Always thinks I'm pressing down even when I'm pressing another direction or not pressing anything.

    PS1 Dual Shock - Sometimes thinks I'm holding right when I'm not, and even when it doesn't do that it seems more sensitive to the right than left.

    NES Controller - Generally unresponsive.

    I'll try opening them to clean them but they seem to use special screws. Anyone know what type of screwdriver I need?

    EDIT: Also I've seen that a company has been making brand-new NES controllers. Since I only have one that works I'm thinking of picking one up, but I hear mixed reports. Anyone have experiences?
    I think every first party controller I own uses a small philips head screwdriver. Don't have any 3rd party's.

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    ServBot (Level 11) Edmond Dantes's Avatar
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    So, because of my woes with controllers, I ordered some new ones from Amazon sellers, and most of them have arrived today (I'm only waiting on one more, an SG Propad 6).

    The ones I've got so far have been a stock PS2 controller and an Interact Barracuda 2 for the PSOne.

    The stock PS2 works fine, no problems.

    The Interact Barracuda 2 (which, despite its name, is a Playstation !ONE! controller) mostly works. I say "mostly" because of one bizarre issue:

    If you're in Digital mode, the X button doesn't work. But it DOES work on any mode that uses the analog sticks (yeah it actually has two different analog stick functions and I don't know what the difference is).

    So in essence, I can't use this controller for any 2D platformers or games that preceded the Dualshock. Which is fine by me since I actually still have one of those pre-dualshock PSX controllers, but still I'm curious why the X-Button would care whether the D-pad is enabled or not, and if I could fix it, that would be great.

    Any suggestions?

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