Strange Gamepads

 I came across this old aftermarket PS1 DualShock controller and it has some hilarious features so I thought I'd post a teardown of it here. The Analogue Controller Plus Dual Jolt So it looks just like a standard aftermarket controller with bit of a weird design but that was kind of normal back when this was made. Actually the build quality is fine. Nice strong plastic. Feels like you could hammer nails with this thing. And most importantly after all these years it still works. There is no manufacturer name anywhere, just the controller name: "Analogue Controller Plus, Dual Jolt". I guess jolt is better than shock? Searching for Ebay listings seems to indicate that this was sold at least under Joytech brand with silver color. Also one unbranded bright red one was for sale. Now I'm bit sad mine is only grey. Back of the controller Nothing special on the back. Just made in China text with CE mark. Most likely China Export, not Conformité Européenne. Trigger buttons The ...

I recently spotted a good deal for a Retro-Bit's 8-button USB pad that takes inspiration from the original Mega Drive / Genesis controller. It's apparently officially licensed by SEGA and I've read some favorable reviews online so for 16€ including shipping this seemed like a good deal. Front of the box Back of the box The box pretty much says it all. It's compatible with pretty much everything, has 8 buttons, long USB cable and is officially licensed by SEGA. The latter claim unfortunately doesn't tell much since even the horrible AtGames stuff five or so years back was also officially licensed. To be fair it seems that AtGames are now producing some interesting quality stuff but that is another story. The important page of the instructions leaflet Inside of the box is the controller itself in a plastic tray and an instruction leaflet. The leaflet has some important instuctions on how the switch between D-Input and X-Input modes and the button functionalities for d...

I had urge to play some emulated Sensible Soccer but wanted to use the original Mega Drive (Genesis) controller. Unfortunately the only controller I have is not working very well. The conductive pads for buttons are almost gone. I cleaned this one in a previous post  https://strangegamepads.blogspot.com/2019/05/sega-megadrive-3-button-controller.html Sad state of the original conductive pads I still don't have the proper conductive pads for this and replacement pads are still quite hard to find and expensive. However I noticed by accident that the PS1/PS2/PS3 controller conductive pads for the buttons are almost exactly the same size. Mega Drive pads on top of PS3 (left) and PS2 (right) pads There is however slight difference in height. Also the conductive area is smaller in PS pads. But this should not make a huge difference since the copper area on the PCB is so large. So I sacrificed one PS2 replacement conductive pad and just cut it with scissors to separate the four circular a...