When I was younger my console of choice was the Sega Genesis as it was with my relatives and friends. As a result we went through a LOT of controllers, most of which I still have. The #1 problem they seem to suffer from is either a stiff/difficult to get the Genesis to acknowledge it being pressed/non-existant up on the D-pad. Most of the time this is due to the area between the D-pad and the controller casing having something in it causing resistance (such as dirt or other grime) or from the membrane (or whatever it's proper name is) being worn down so much from use. Another common problem is pressing right on the D-pad due to too much Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Does anyone know of a source for these parts? The PCBs look fine after a little bit of cleaning and show obvious signs of warping or wear that would affect gameplay. I have multitudes of the old 3 button (orange and white lettering) as well as the 6 button models that apparently use different membranes. Also looking into doing N64 analog sticks as we all know: they suck some serious ass. I have a few brand new controllers in box for the N64 just because of this. For some reason my SNES pads have held up a lot better despite having games that demand more pounding such as Super Metroid and Mega Man X.
I opened my genesis's controller and ended up breaking part of the plastic the screws go into *facepalm* I forgot to test it though. Should probably do that.
Do you mean the pads are hard to get or the old Duke XBox controllers are hard to get? The Duke's have been hard to get since the controller S was released to the US. Personally me and my big hands get along quite nicely with the Duke. Have a friend who treasures his Dukes as much as I do. I'd likely turn violent if anyone tried to do anything to mine... Short of sourcing a manufacturer of these pads I don't think it'd be economical to buy cheap 3rd party controllers and cannibalize them for their membranes. I'm also relatively certain that, being cheap 3rd party controllers, they'd have cheap membranes. And speaking of controls, I just got a Model 1 Genesis in the mail today and the power switch seems to be starting the process of breaking. Pushing it to the left to turn it off and the switch's pole is tilted at a nice 120º angle. Wouldn't turn on when I first got it, gotta source a replacement. EDIT: Apparently I'm not the only person who wants to be able to make their 21 year old controllers function like new: http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12341 Same problem, same conclusions. Back to the drawing board...
I know DOCS made repair kits. I'd just get some cheap china pads and take the membrane out and use that.
old Duke XBox controllers i have two but one need new tumbstick rubber as its wornout controller still works.
Keep the PCB and the buttons. If you ever get one controller that has say a cut on the wire and the PCB does not respond you can just swap the PCB and wire out and it'll work fine
Get the big interact controllers, I am sure you can get parts off them for the original controllers. They are basically just clones.
