XBox 360 Hack into XBL Stick - Is MadCatz better than official XBOX controller?

[PacManess]

Hello,

I am going to attempt my first arcade stick for the XBox 360. Playing Pac-Man and Pac-Man CE is just too annoying with the controller. But I have a question: are the MadCatz controllers as good or better than the official ones? First, I know they can be a bit cheaper. Also, I think I saw in the store for the 360 a "mini" controller by them. If that's the case, it'll fit inside even better...but may be a little harder to do (especially at my extremely novice skill level).

Anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks!

[northerngames]

offcial is better quality off coarse

there is tutroials for the offcial everywhere were the madcatz may not have one but if you can look at the pcb and know what needs to be done withut one then it is not a problem

I never been a 3rd party fan for console stuff becuase everything I tried never lasted longer then a month and something alway's either went goofy or they just quit working completely.

[HaRuMaN]

It may be cheaper...  but you may have quality issues later. 

Also, I'm almost ready to start my controller hacking services again, I just have to find what box contains my tools, lol.

[Howard_Casto]

No offense, but these guys are giving you the absolute wrong advice. 

You are going to hack it, and thus quality is NOT an issue.  When's the last time you heard of a gamepad's pcb go bad?  Never right?  What goes bad are the physical sticks and buttons, which you won't be using anyway. 

Generally speaking, third party pads are often easier to hack because the traces are bigger.  Worst case scenario it'll be just as difficult to hack as the official controller and you'll still have saved some cash.  The only issue you'll have is you might not find a step-by-step full pictorial of a hack, but in all honesty any idiot can hack a gamepad (they are all essentially the same), so it shouldn't be an issue.

I say go generic, it won't hurt anything.

[northerngames]

No offense, but these guys are giving you the absolute wrong advice. 

You are going to hack it, and thus quality is NOT an issue.  When's the last time you heard of a gamepad's pcb go bad?  Never right?

not really I just said they die most the time or go goofy and that is not a broken or cracked case or button I even got shocked from some and they were dead dead after that.

also the cheaper the controls the cheaper the quality as stated above wich means cheaper chips cheaper solder cheaper via's cheaper pcb and cheaper equals junk 

trace's burn easier and pads lift easier just like a cheap old mod chip that is why there is offcial and third party.

[Howard_Casto]

Sorry man, but you are flat out wrong on that....  take the xbox (classic) controller for example... it's traces are so thin that it's very difficult to use.  On the other hand the madcatz pads for the xbox are practically built for hacking.

They use the SAME chips for most third party gamepads as they do the originals.  And yes the pcbs are cheaper, that's the point.  Instead of high end "micro" pcbs with very tiny, non-hackable traces, you get pcbs made with older tech, which generally have larger, thicker traces.

I can only assume that either you've never hacked any third party pads, maybe you've hacked a single one and just happened to get a dud or else you are just making things up. 

For the record I've NEVER had a third party pad malfunction on me, and I'm very hard on controllers.  I've had the sticks wear out and get a little wonky, but they still function. 

[northerngames]

yeah I only had a few 3rd party for various console's in my lifetime and they were all junk and all failed rather fast and I stay away from them if I can I stick with offcial controllers becuase there built to last there price.

I did 4 over the weekend along with renryu's analog swap last week all on official wireless 360 controls so they work for me.  I guess if you want a cheap knock-off controller with fat trace's of cheap metal try a 3rd party if that is what suits you best.

 

[DarkBubble]

I used 3rd party almost exclusively on PS and Dreamcast.  Mad Catz pads for Dreamcast were much better than the stock pads, great for fighting games, and easy to hack.  Mad Catz Micro Cons were touted as probably the best and easiest to hack for Xbox.  Of course, they're good pads too.  Every brand has its failure rate, and of all 3rd parties, Mad Catz is the one I hear the least number of complaints about.  Some of their products, at least in my experience, have exceeded 1st party.

[PacManess]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I think I'm going to get a MadCatz first and crack it open to see how it looks for soldering and stuff.

If that fails I'll either purchase a first party controller or have someone do me up a good hack. I hear there are a few people on here who are pretty a-ok with all of that. 

Thank you again, off to go case cracking.