NES Retrolink Controller vs Classic USB NES Controller

[allroy1975]

so I bought Classic USB NES Controller from Amazon a few weeks ago.  it's great and I love it. 

then a few days ago I was at a store called Five Below and they had a very similar product for only $5. The Retrolink USB NES controller that ThinkGeek sells for $30!

I thought it was an awesome price and super cool that I found a local shop (close to me, I think it's a national chain) that had something so nerdy and cheap so I picked it up!

the Retrolink is VERY iffy in the d-pad department.  I played some Legend of Zelda, link moved kinda....oddly...I didn't think he could move diagonally but his movement was....spastic...is the best workd I can think of to describe it.  So I thought I'd play a more simple game and fired up Super Mario Bros.  Everything was going ok until I tried to make Mario slide under some bricks.  Then occasionally I'd have trouble making him go left.  I've since read a lot of reviews saying the d-pad sucks, but no one really discussing WHY it sucks. 

I looked in Windows Devices and under properties where you can test the D-pad and stuff, it seems to be working pretty well.  the only problem is pure "down" is hard to achieve.  it turns out that when I'm running in SMB I'm not usually pushing pure right, I'm pushing up and to the right, but the emulator takes care of it and makes Mario run.  but if I push down to the right, he stops.  if I push down, the controller (USUALLY) thinks I'm pushing down and either left or right, and it turns out that when I'm trying to move left it thinks i'm pushing DOWN and left.  if I push up and left, the emulator works fine and moves him left.  I can see all this from Windows.  The Amazon controller looks identical to the Retrolink controller (except for the sticker....but I'm pretty sure the sticker isn't making the controller behave erratically) so I took them apart.

they're SOOOO much the same thing, which doesn't make sense to me


you can't see it very well here, but the circuit boards are the same model number....


The rubber bits that get pushed by the Dpad to make contact with the PCB look and feel identical:


here is the only difference I can find between the 2 controllers:


they both have 2 caps on the back side of the board...the one that works well (LEFT) has a 25v 47uF cap and the Retrolink (right) has a 16v 47uF cap.

is it POSSIBLE, that the voltage difference in the caps makes a difference?

this turned into a pretty long post for such a simple question....sorry.

TLDR:
2 controllers, one sucks one doesn't, only difference I can find is a cap, could that really affect gameplay?

[CoryBee]

Grab a soldering iron and switch the caps. Then let us know.

[allroy1975]

yeah, I might do that.  I was more looking for an initial reaction to the idea.  because I'm not great at electronics, I have no idea if this could even possibly be the issue.  it seems INSANE to me.  but....who knows.  I'll switch them out tonight.

[allroy1975]

god i hate myself sometimes.....I over complicate things...

of course that wasn't the problem...I didn't look at the plastic closely enough. 

So I swap out that cap, and test.....still sucks...then take it all apart again...wait....wtf...I'm hitting diagonals too easily?  hmmmm i wonder if THIS could be the problem:


well NO CRAP that's the problem!!!  so I swap that part around and now the retrolink works like a champ....so I'm left with 2 options...

try to find a way to re-build those pillars of plastic which china so kindly knocked off, OR return it and swap it out for another one that I hope is better.  as a DIYer I'd rather fix it myself.

suggestions on how?  my first thought as a lazy DIYer is hot glue gun little nubes there.  seems like it would work for a while, but not really permanant.....

[DaveMMR]

This might be the jerky answer but from experience I have learned that "Real NES controller" > those USB knockoffs. Reassemble them, pop them on eBay and pick up the real mccoy and one of these.

In reality, those things are for people who don't know any better. Since you actually notice game play differences, you'll probably be more satisfied in the long run.

[allroy1975]

I don't think it's a jerky answer....I mean...it might help people in the future. 

The amazon one I bought was rock solid out of the box.  those little nubs make diagonals hittable, but not as easy to hit as the up/down/left/right - which is how it should be.  That controller was perfect.

I dropped some blobs of hot glue on the places where the plastic bit had been knocked off.  I gave it some thought and those things shouldn't really be getting much wear at any angles, just pressure put on them ended up like this:


Then put it back together and it didn't work for crap.  the hot glue "restrictors" I made were way too big and restricted almost all movement unless pressed very hard.
Took a sharp knive and trimmed them down quite a bit, tried to get close to the nubs on the other side.  ended up like this:


works much better now...almost (if not) perfect.  Makes clearing a screen like this much easier:

[Seith]

Great post!  I hacked a SNES bootleg controller so that it was USB capable last year only to find the same issue with the plastic d-pad... i may try the hot-glue solution down the road.

[allroy1975]

Great post!  I hacked a SNES bootleg controller so that it was USB capable last year only to find the same issue with the plastic d-pad... i may try the hot-glue solution down the road.

thanks man!  in looking at the different usb controllers I saw a LOT of complaining about issues like that.  So I started digging with the intention of finding a solution.  it's not pretty or elegant, but it's cheap and it works...so maybe some people will find it, and instead of being pissed they wasted $10 bucks or $30 from thinkgeek, maybe they'll roll up their sleeves and try to fix it. 

[Well Fed Games]

I've been tempted by those controllers at five below... interesting to see the inside, thanks!

[NIVO]

hey allroy! I was gonna suggest some simple dowel rods trimmed to the correct height as the good d-pad. I'd drill those nubs out, insert dowels trimmed to same height and then hot glue in place on the other side. Once the glue was set you could simply file down(or use a dremel) the excess glue blob. But since you got it working right........congrats.

[allroy1975]

just took my girls to 5 below and while there got a text from my wife saying she feels like playing Legend of Zelda tonight, can I hook her up, so...obviously I took this as a sign to perfect my "design". 

as soon as I got this one home I took it apart, did't even bother plugging it in.  same thing, the nubs were cut off and left the diagonals too easy to hit.  no surprise.

I started looking for a "dowel" that I could use.  I took apart a Bic type pen and the ink tube inside looked PERFECT.  cutting it as small as I could seemed perfect.  I was going to try to measure it, but it was SOO small.  I would guess less than or about 1/16th of an inch.  then I just hot glued that to the circle where they cut off this important pice and it works perfect.



I should go buy all the ones they have fix them and then return them, so people can buy a good working product. 

also, imgur is awesome letting me upload all these pics and link them from here.  w00t!