Controller Wear and Tear

[Syeekoh]

Hi. I'm an extremely infrequent poster here, but I do read quite a bit. But one topic has never come up, and that is controller damage.

I've been playing Melee recreationally since it came out, and I've seriously misaligned 4 standard controllers since I got the game, including one Wavebird, due to just playing.

What I'm asking is, how many of you have controller casualties, and if not, how have you learned to prevent them over time?

Thanks, and sorry mods if this is in the wrong forum.

 

[Terios the Hedgehog]

I don't think you can just prevent it.


I can't C-Stick Up or Down anymore. That gets REALLY annoying.

 

[Aiko]

Well, my original black controller has reached its expiry date now as the grip on the analog stick has completely worn off and the rubber has started to peel too, but then again, i've had it since I got my Gamecube and it wasn't used just for smash. I used it for every game I so i'm completely satistfied with it. It lasted the entire 5/6 year lifetime of my cube. None of my 3 controllers have ever misaligned or become sticky or broken, just wear and tear, and if anything, its just annoying not having the grip. Its perfectly acceptable for other people who use it.

now that i play smash on my wii, i bought a new controller, purely for smash.

 

[Syeekoh]

^Really.

That sucks man, I've only damaged one of my c-sticks.

But I can't really use my wavebird anymore unless I hang the analog to the right before turning it on, and then i lose some sensitivity there. It sucks.

 

[Corigames]

My school has (or had) about 6 regular and 4 wavebirds. All of the regulars have something wrong with them (no more rubber on the joystic, c-stick broken, stuck R/L buttons, etc.) and the wavebirds never have batteries and are laggy. We play on HD TVs that already have lag, so the wavebirds don't help.

 

[vericz]

I've been through 3 controllers and am now on my 4th. the first was left at a friends house for a while and he had so much dust build up on it it would never work right. the second one was chewed up by my friends cat but it was his controller, and the last one was just an extra with no rudder grip on the analog. my mom bought me my 4th and it works so good. thanks mom

 

[Uck]

This may sound strange but I use the same controller I had since the first gamecube came out with the component connection.Its a bit bigger than the new controllers after that model and I hope it never breaks.

 

[Dogysamich]

Before i started to play smash competitivly, i had 4 controllers, and went through all of them with normal wear and tear (actually, a 5th, but i cant find that specific controller, which ironically im lookin for)

Since I have started, though, i've gone through 4 controllers.

And actually, they're not too bad (cept for my 3rd one, the R button almost died on me in the middle of a tourney this weekend)
The rest of them though, the analog stick is kinda loose, and when I mean kinda; i mean i'm the ONLY person who notices when they play with the controller.

 

[Deleted member]

I've gone though 2 silver, 5 black, 3 blue, 3 orange, 1 blue and clear, 1 japanese teal, 1 european white, and a wavebird. Of those, Cactuar has the white one and I'm on the 5th black one, and I took the clear back and put that on it. I've broken the other 15 since March 2003 when I got my first controller.

I always break a button or get it stuck or mess up the control stick before the rubber wears off.

 

[Virgilijus]

I am on my third controller, and it is about to shut down in the next couple months so I'm going to have to go out and get another one.

There is no way that I know of that stops the wear and tear, maybe other than not smashing the control as hard as you can while dash dancing and other frequently used technical skills.

 

[kamikaze falco]

I have gone through quite a bit myslef

 

[AS Money]

the controller im on now is 1.5 years old and going strong

dope should tell the story of his controller being draged by a car going 50 for a while and it still works and he has won tournys with it. he recently retired it though

and i am pretty sure pyrogamer has gone threw atleast 70 controllers lol

 

[purekorea]

I had a silver one for 2 years which I messed up the control stick by playing too much home run contest towards the end of the 2 years. Then I started using my sisters controller, it's fine but the grip is wearing out and I only use it for non-smash games. I just got my 3rd last december just for smash since I found out about some tournies near my area.

 

[Diddyrules]

When we play SSBM, my siblings (esspecially my sister) smash the control sticks like crazy, so I'm not surprised that we've had to replace controllers a lot.

However when I'm the only one playing our controllers tend to last longer, but that's because I tend to be a bit more delicate with the controllers than most are.

... Okay, so I do smash the control stick pretty hard sometimes, but I do have a good excuse...

 

[H20 Melon]

I've used my Wavebird since 2003, which before that I used one of the small madcat controllers. No casualties otherwise...

 

[Aeramis]

My friends and me have gone threw 12 nintendo brand name gamecube controllers over the duration of playing ever since the release date of gamecube. I take very good care of my controllers unlike some people I know that chunk their controllers on the ground when they lose and then say they weren't trying... lol. One of the worst problems I find is they start to get weak joysticks and tilt without being held after alot of use. Either that or it is something in the wiring but I just get a new one and problem solved.

 

[RashTuvai]

Prolly only on my 2nd controller. Other ones were used more by my friends and the joystick is really loose. All my friends have broken C-sticks... don't know how that happens since I use the C-stick and it's been working fine forever. Smash and Mario Party 1 are infamous for damaging controllers.

 

[Battousai780]

I used to use the same controller i bought with my gamecube a million years ago, but the padding came off and the wires got stretched so it constantly held down. Im mad now, cause since my controller isnt "lazy" whenever i do b moves, such as shl it turns me around in another direction.

 

[nitro-blazer]

I just killed my orange one, I'm buying a Jet Black later today.

I've only broken 1 indigo controller, and 2 3rd party controllers. However, I have lost a lot of them. Mind you, my orange one isn't really broken, either. Just slippery.

 

[Syeekoh]

****...controller death seems to be a common problem.

That being said, I'd like to take this opportunity to redirect the thread away from casualty numbers and towards a more helpful tone:

1.Recommendations for sturdy controllers
2.Decreasing controller damage during play
3.Proper controller storage to preserve lifespan

------

Here's my piece on that:
Nintendo standard controllers and wavebirds seem to hold out the longest for me, with nintendo standard faring better with the analog stick. As for during play, I would think practicing controlled, more precise taps as opposed to SMAAASHING the buttons and sticks would go a long way. And for storage, well, I guess keeping it off the ground and protected from dust would be best.

 

[Big Burn]

yeah i have gone through several controllers.... some i have broken cause of anger.... others just plain wear and tear....

 

[Red Exodus]

My original controller and my black [my GC was purple] controller [which I use] are mostly fine, my [black] controller's analog stick has a tear in the over hang part and the trigger buttons don't have much spring as they used to. Oh well...

 

[pikachun00b7]

I still have my original controller . You really have to keep care of them.

 

[Impp]

Those mini controllers hold up well for me. Game Stop brand, I think. I'm only on my second. I've had the worst luck with game cube brand controllers than any other kind. I've been through probably six. The joy stick is usually the first to get all screwed up. In this one generic controller I had, (I forget the brand) everything on it worked perfectly, except it wouldn't let you air dodge with it. You could roll, sheild, and side step, but air dodge wouldn't work.

 

[Red Exodus]

Bad luck indeed. Nintendo controllers hold up better for me, but controllers like Madcatz or Gamestop never seem to last more than a few months.

 

[E3E_IceClimbers]

i just broke my controller the other day dd'in.....joystick snapped...dunno how old the controller really is b/c i got the system from a friend....but i bought a brand spankin new one off ebay....so let's hope it last for awhile

 

[ChronoSquare]

It was very comical to me, that fateful day I had met KSSB for the first time on the battlefield... or might've been the second... he had taken a usage to his pad-less joystic controller, because he could direct it better this way with more accuracy (sans comfort), and then I come over with one in the same way, except mine was good all around - his had trouble with up/down. Had he not bought a new one the week before Beezo 6, it's likely he would've used mine like that :D

...I'm not so sure that it counts, but other than that one I've got a semi-decent black one that it's only problem is a less-than-desireable joystic spring. Something's just plain wrong with my wavebird; it won't communicate with the port on any channels... (and yes they were the correctly synched channels; any idea on what I could do to possibly fix my wavebird?) And the third-party odd used controller (The D-pad and C-stick areas're square...) is just used when camera mode I want, because it randomly does what it wants...

I've tried other controller layouts at my friends, like bigger, bukier ones with turbo or this sleek one, but they feel too alien for me. It's traditional or bust for me... (Speaking of controller malfunction, somehow her purple turbo controller got its rumble damaged... as long as its plugged in, you can turn the rumble on/off at will, depending on the angle of the cord into the controller...

 

[FairSheik]

good thing target sells the controllers for 20 bucks now huh?

 

[thatsmybutta]

i got a brand new wavebird and by the second day it was hard as hell to waveshine. just goes to show how intense smash is.

 

[Endless Nightmares]

On my first controller, the rubber was wearing off the control stick and it separated in mid-match while I was trying to DI. Good thing it wasn't a tournament. I modded my control stick to make it exactly like the c-stick but since it lacked rubber it was uncomfortable to play Smash with.

Another one of my Smash controllers, I was playing NBA Live 06 with it and The rubber came off again in the Slam Dunk Contest. I reattached it and it works fine, it's just lacking grip these days. The L-button sticks now, it started sticking when I was L-Canceling with Roy.

So I bought a new one and it works fine right now. My Action replay memory card broke, so I took off the AR emblem and stuck it on my controller lol

 

[CWolf20]

I beat the stuffing out of my controllers (more Xbox than GC) and I still haven't had a single broken controller.

I must be doing something right.

 

[1048576]

I've gone through three controllers and my fourth is starting to get slippery really quickly because my friends use it. I grab, I start wobbling, they start mashing the control stick and the buttons...you know how it is.

 

[Uck]

I've gone through three controllers and my fourth is starting to get slippery really quickly because my friends use it. I grab, I start wobbling, they start mashing the control stick and the buttons...you know how it is.

Number one rule in melee is to never let your friends use your controller.

 

[Razed]

I've had the same four since the game came out... only problem is with a black one- the control stick wobbles loosely to the right side. So it's like I'm always walking somewhere =(
Then there's just the silver controller, who's L button makes an annoying springing sound when you press it

I let my friends use those two controllers and no one has noticed :3

 

[Eaode]

Only roblem with mine is that the control stick does the usual resting to the left or right. It doesn't really affect me at all, but when you're hand moves slowly accross the char select screen it's kinda annoying.



As for controller storae, I don't think you should keep it in your backpack for extended eriods of time. The placement and tight sace will keep the sticks in awkward positions.

 

[BrTarolg]

i recently brough ta new controller which seems to have no signs of wear n tear, but all my other controllers started screwing up since i let people at school use em

rule 1 - never let others use your controller.

 

[Red Exodus]

Lol once I buy a new controller it becomes sacred and no one else can use it unless I trust them enough. Normally the old controller I would have used goes to the second best player there.

 

[Mechab]

Mine are brand new, so no signs of wear or tear yet. However, i think my second one is prone to messing up soon, what with my brother throwing it on the floor out of pure anger.