Replacing NES / Famicom controller pads these days

[mikejmoffitt]

As good-condition pads are becoming a little harder to find than they used to, and we can't just keep stealing Player 2's buttons forever, I've made this post. It addresses modifying the (terrible) new replacement pads one finds on eBay or Amazon to be good and responsive the way they are supposed to be.

http://mikejmoffitt.com/wp/?p=201

I hope some of you can find this useful.

It's all about this:

[infiniteneslives]

Fine grit sandpaper might be worth a try for a more 'flattened' surface. I'd be concerned taking a dikes to those and end up getting a more uneven surface.

[mikejmoffitt]

Fine grit sandpaper might be worth a try for a more 'flattened' surface. I'd be concerned taking a dikes to those and end up getting a more uneven surface.

This was my initial idea, but these pieces of shit are very easy to tear from just the side-to-side action. The diags are small precise ones, and with a stable hand they will get the intended shape. An even surface isn't extremely important so much as getting rid of that center of the mound.

[koitsu]

Is it possible to use heat in some way to soften/melt the plastic and remould it into a flat surface, e.g. using a small/flat metal sheet, heating it up somehow, then applying it evenly to the surface of the pad so that the little "centre mound" flattens out?

[l_oliveira]

As good-condition pads are becoming a little harder to find than they used to, and we can't just keep stealing Player 2's buttons forever, I've made this post. It addresses modifying the (terrible) new replacement pads one finds on eBay or Amazon to be good and responsive the way they are supposed to be.

http://mikejmoffitt.com/wp/?p=201

I hope some of you can find this useful.

It's all about this:

Curved pads are for controllers with button pressure sensitivity (PS2 and XBOX). No wonder you're having a hard time finding old style rubber mats, PS2 and XBOX became retro the mats for them became common on the internet...

[mikejmoffitt]

As good-condition pads are becoming a little harder to find than they used to, and we can't just keep stealing Player 2's buttons forever, I've made this post. It addresses modifying the (terrible) new replacement pads one finds on eBay or Amazon to be good and responsive the way they are supposed to be.

http://mikejmoffitt.com/wp/?p=201

I hope some of you can find this useful.

It's all about this:

Curved pads are for controllers with button pressure sensitivity (PS2 and XBOX). No wonder you're having a hard time finding old style rubber mats, PS2 and XBOX became retro the mats for them became common on the internet...

So I was spot on with either ignorance or cost-saving measures

Koitsu, that is definitely worth trying. I haven't the tools where I am right now so I must resort to this prehistoric method, but it seems to work very well.

[l_oliveira]

As good-condition pads are becoming a little harder to find than they used to, and we can't just keep stealing Player 2's buttons forever, I've made this post. It addresses modifying the (terrible) new replacement pads one finds on eBay or Amazon to be good and responsive the way they are supposed to be.

So I was spot on with either ignorance or cost-saving measures

Koitsu, that is definitely worth trying. I haven't the tools where I am right now so I must resort to this prehistoric method, but it seems to work very well.

You might find this interesting.... While the PS3 still is using pressure sensitive buttons the XBOX360 abolished that concept so Microsoft is using flat rubber pads once again.

[mikejmoffitt]

As good-condition pads are becoming a little harder to find than they used to, and we can't just keep stealing Player 2's buttons forever, I've made this post. It addresses modifying the (terrible) new replacement pads one finds on eBay or Amazon to be good and responsive the way they are supposed to be.

So I was spot on with either ignorance or cost-saving measures

Koitsu, that is definitely worth trying. I haven't the tools where I am right now so I must resort to this prehistoric method, but it seems to work very well.

You might find this interesting.... While the PS3 still is using pressure sensitive buttons the XBOX360 abolished that concept so Microsoft is using flat rubber pads once again.

I don't know of any games off the top of my head that utilized this feature :\

[Movax12]

I think there were only two xbox titles that used the pressure values of XYAB: Metal Gear Solid 2 and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball

[Pasky]

I'm sure some racing games used them for acceleration/brake

[l_oliveira]

I don't know of any games off the top of my head that utilized this feature :\

Just to mention one that isn't a racing game:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Maestro!

[lidnariq]

Koitsu, [trying to melt the pads] is definitely worth trying. I haven't the tools where I am right now so I must resort to this prehistoric method, but it seems to work very well.

Try a lighter or gas stove, a pin, and a pair of plyers?
Or try wrapping some wire around the tip of a soldering iron (so that when some of the rubber adheres to it it won't ruin your tip)?

[qbradq]

I just use a really cheap tip

[koitsu]

Koitsu, [trying to melt the pads] is definitely worth trying. I haven't the tools where I am right now so I must resort to this prehistoric method, but it seems to work very well.

Try a lighter or gas stove, a pin, and a pair of plyers?
Or try wrapping some wire around the tip of a soldering iron (so that when some of the rubber adheres to it it won't ruin your tip)?

That doesn't sound like it'd work well at all -- the resulting surface wouldn't be flat. That's why I proposed heating up a small sheet of metal and then using it to flatten the rubber. Alternately (just thought of this), but still pretty ghetto -- a heated razor blade might work, if you have a steady hand.

[qbradq]

You could heat up the razor and then press the button against it rather than trying to cut with it. Razors are cheap, perfectly flat and very thin so they heat up fast. You could probably heat the blade with a soldering iron laying on it.