Genesis six-button pads: is this one official?

[BIL]

I'm looking for a new six-button pad. Just came across this one I've never seen before. The only offical Sega ones I've known are an autofire-less wired, and a wireless version of the same. As you can see, this one has autofire and slow controls.





Is it an official Sega pad? Seems so from the second picture, but I'd like some advice... don't want to buy a knock-off. If anyone's tried it, how does it perform? The regular autofire-less six buttons have my favourite d-pads for shooters. Thanks for any help!

[XERO]

looks legit....where did you find them?

[Ganelon]

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20483

[BIL]

Ah, thanks Ganelon. That answers everything. Guess I'll pass on these, then.

looks legit....where did you find them?

They're fairly common on eBay, it seems. Just do a search for Genesis 6 Button Controller and you'll see a few.

[Ed Oscuro]

There's a pretty comprehensive topic on the Retrogaming Roundtable about different types of Genesis pads.

Bill's example is indeed a pretty common one, and I think the packaging puts it pretty close to the Majesco era (at least into the Sega CD era).

[BIL]

Very nice, thanks Ed! I had no idea just how many variations there were... makes me wish I'd held onto my old six-button wireds ("D" in that thread), they were definitely quality. I'll probably stick with the ASCII pad I have for now, it's at least decent.

[Ganelon]

At least into the Sega CD era? The Sega CD actually came out before any 6-button pad was made. This pad originated with the Majesco re-release, coming packed with the Genesis 3 and separately.

[ED-057]

I've had one of the ones shown above (made in China) for quite some time. It's small but otherwise perfectly usable. I also have the other style (made in Japan) with the mode button on the right shoulder. It is a bit larger, and the D-pad doesn't have as much travel.