360's D-Pad Mod

Wonderbanana · Post by **Wonderbanana** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:15 pm

I've seen a number of peple complain (and rightfully so!) about the 360's D-Pad. I stumbled across this mod which may help:

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/other/360-dpad.htm

I've not tried it yet so I've no idea what it's like. Also these look interesting (epecailly for PS2/3 sticks which my fingers slip off:

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/other/caps.htm

Theres a link to the site on that page. Their on eBay and only 99p so I brought a couple to give them a go.

The site these links go to has a large number of console modding guides on too.

brokenhalo · Post by **brokenhalo** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 2:17 pm

i haven't tried that spacer mod, but i have tried the mod where you sand down the wall surrounding the d-pad and it made it a little bit better. it's still not up to snuff though. stock, the d-pad is a D-, modded it's a C-.

dmauro · Post by **dmauro** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 2:48 pm

I did the sanding down of the d-pad wall and it worked out really well for me. I'm completely happy with it.

Endymion · Post by **Endymion** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:50 pm

You should definitely sand the rim around the pad. This fixes the problem because the grey pad no longer touches the white plastic around it when fully depressed. I can see the idea behind the spacer, and I would agree that it should help, but I cannot imagine it helping to any appreciable degree without also sanding the plastic around the pad. So I recommend you do what I (and dmauro) did--sand the white plastic around the pad first. I've done this to about three dozen pads now and every owner absolutely loves theirs now. The 360 has a wonderful, precise pad, it just has to be unleashed. My own pads work so well that after sanding them I have no need of going with a spacer. I use a dremel to make short work of it. Five minutes later and you would never know. Works a treat.

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:54 pm

I've also done the sanding mod, and while it does fix the problem of the d-pad hitting the rim and causing a dead angle, it doesn't fix the fact that the d-pad is still terrible in design. The main problem is that the d-pad "floats" in place. Push down on it, and you'll see that it can be pushed a few mm down into the casing, as though it had a "click" function like the analog sticks. Try out a Saturn pad and you'll see the difference, as Sega's d-pad was rock solid and had almost no play underneath. Using the 360's pad, even modded, is like putting a smore on top of your controller and trying to play through the crunchy marshmallowy mush.

Endymion · Post by **Endymion** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 7:51 pm

If there were the slightest give to my 360 pad when pressing on it, I would do the spacer trick without hesitation.

There is not, however, so I'll just say that my experience differs from yours--and that sanding it is the one thing that should definitely be done, and first for that matter. If you sand and then find it's still imprecise, then space the hell out of it.

I can't praise the 360 pad enough, and I don't need to pick up a Saturn pad to make the comparison, my thumb has worked plenty of them over already.

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 8:49 pm

Endymion wrote:If there were the slightest give to my 360 pad when pressing on it, I would do the spacer trick without hesitation.

There is not, however, so I'll just say that my experience differs from yours--and that sanding it is the one thing that should definitely be done, and first for that matter. If you sand and then find it's still imprecise, then space the hell out of it.

I can't praise the 360 pad enough, and I don't need to pick up a Saturn pad to make the comparison, my thumb has worked plenty of them over already.

You're more generous than I am. I've done the sanding mod on two now and both are pretty useless, though one is a bit better than the other. Even with a spacer, it's still a clunky pad and just doesn't suit my hands well. Others experience may fare better, but the overall quality of those things is positively Mad Catzian in my eyes.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 9:20 pm

8 1/2 wrote:Others experience may fare better, but the overall quality of those things is positively Mad Catzian in my eyes.

Ah, I wouldn't quite say that, since Mad Catz's 360 controller's D-pad is actually worse. Got mine resting on a leg right now - there's no dip in it at all, except for a large circular depression in the middle. The four cardinal directions are straight across with the others.