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Is the Switch Pro Controller still shitty (D-pad)
- Thread starter DongBeetle
- Start date
I can't repeat the call for 8bitdo controllers enough
best investment i ever made.
quoting from the last D-Pad thread from January:
the directional buttons on the joycon are perfect for 2D games.
I've never had issues with my dpad and I have 2 launch pro controllers, I don't know what everyone else's problem is
If you need precise movement.. not with the Pro controllers.
I kept dying in Puyo Puyo and Tetris99 and always thought I made a mistake, until I realized.
The first Pro Controller I bought had ghost inputs on dpad too. I returned it because shoulder buttons were acting up and the new controller I bought got none of the issues. Dpad works fine too.
Yeah Mario Maker is frustrating with my pro controller dpad. I'm actually thinking about preordering 8bitdo's sn30 pro+. Only downside seems to be that you can't wake up the switch with it.
It's been well documented at this point. You're simply lucky.
Still shit but if you fix it with tape it's perfect. I know you shouldn't have to do this but it's really worth it because otherwise it's such a good controller.
After I applied the fix I can play (and win) Tetris 99 without false inputs.
After I applied the fix I can play (and win) Tetris 99 without false inputs.
It's the best controller I've ever used, providing I never have to touch the D-Pad. The form factor, comfort, weight, response, feature set and battery life are all excellent.
I also would have liked the addition of pressure sensitive or analogue shoulder triggers instead of them being binary, just to help out in racing games etc. but as I understand it there is a lawsuit prevent Nintendo from using this.
I'm in EU and picked up my Pro controller when Splatoon 2 launched, but from what I hear it's a global issue and there haven't been any model or design revisions.
I also would have liked the addition of pressure sensitive or analogue shoulder triggers instead of them being binary, just to help out in racing games etc. but as I understand it there is a lawsuit prevent Nintendo from using this.
I'm in EU and picked up my Pro controller when Splatoon 2 launched, but from what I hear it's a global issue and there haven't been any model or design revisions.
No issue here and not bothered to post evidence. Play mario maker a ton and i know those who have issue occasionally have mario do random ground pounds.
I have used the pro controller for countless hours in MM2 and never had any issue with the dpad- I love it. The HD rumble is a nice touch.
Portable mode is a different story. I ordered custom joycons from Etsy.com. For 125$ you get brand new joy cons in a custom color with a fantastic Dpad. I got the white joycons with colored buttons. Would post a pic if I knew how.
Portable mode is a different story. I ordered custom joycons from Etsy.com. For 125$ you get brand new joy cons in a custom color with a fantastic Dpad. I got the white joycons with colored buttons. Would post a pic if I knew how.
Still there are changes. The dpad on my launch Pro Controller was unusable in Zelda. Sold it. Then I bought another one in 2018, usable, but very sensitive to diagonals. Bought 2 more Smash Pro Controllers and the dpad is very usable. Since Tetris can be adjusted to only trigger a hard fall when you press up instead of up/right or up/left it works fine. On the same level as a 8BitDo SN30/SN30 Pro (which is also not the best).
The main problem is that rocking from left to right or up and down triggers diagonals. When you don't rock over and press the directions distintively you don't get issues. This is in contrast to how most used their dpads back in the 8/16bit era.
My 8BitDo improved by swopping the dpad with an original Nintendo SNES dpad (the ball where the dpad rests is wider wil a bigger radius which is less sensitive).
If you're into Hori stuff which is usually top tier for 3rd party stuff, such that it's basically second party for Nintendo systems:
There's the Pokken controller
Hori Digital hooked up through the GCN adapter
Hori D-Pad joycon
And I think they make a pro controller replacement, but I don't think it looks that good.
Personally, I stick with the official Pro controller and very very rarely ever have an incorrect input. It DOES happen, and it's a shame for a $70 device from the company that invented and perfected this input decades ago, but it's far from unplayable.
And the rest of the controller is top tier.
Very true. Nintendo invented a standard and they aren't adhering to it.
I have the original Pro Controller.
Splatoon Pro Controller.
Smash Bros Pro Controller.
Can't say I've had any issues with any of them and I've played the likes of Hollow Knight and Bloodstained.
From EU! Ireland.
EDIT: I should note that 90% of my time on Switch is currently with the Smash Bros. Pro Controller.
Splatoon Pro Controller.
Smash Bros Pro Controller.
Can't say I've had any issues with any of them and I've played the likes of Hollow Knight and Bloodstained.
From EU! Ireland.
EDIT: I should note that 90% of my time on Switch is currently with the Smash Bros. Pro Controller.
I bought a PowerA Switch Pro controller as a replacement for my DS4 which it's Dpad crapped out on PC as well as for my Switch. And yeah it's Dpad is shitty as well. I use it on for my Switch but I don't play fighting games on it.
Get a 8bitdo SN30Pro, the membrane is a bit mushy but it's accurate. I swapped mine out for an actual SNES controller membrane and it's perfect.
My pro DPAD randomly registers a left/right input every time I press up, is that the issue everyone's talking about?
I die at least 100 times in Hollow Knight because of this.
I die at least 100 times in Hollow Knight because of this.
The tape fix does work wonders, ya know! Although having to mod a brand new controller is a shame, especially because the Pro Controller is awesome otherwise...
Bought one at the beginning of the year - a black one in Europe. I can get through the input test unscathed (although I get some unwanted down or up inputs occasionally during frantic Mario or Tetris moments... So it's still more sensitive then usual.)
8Bitdo feels great. Doesn't have HD Rumble though which is one of my favourite features... And pairing them can be a major hassle.
8Bitdo feels great. Doesn't have HD Rumble though which is one of my favourite features... And pairing them can be a major hassle.
You may not be playing the games where the problem manifests in a perceivable way.
They worked fine for a decade or two, Nintendo just refuses to make them the same way.
Not really, no. An unintentional Up/Down input for a split second while you are running left or right isn't going to do much (or that x 90 degrees). It isn't like in Tetris where a block will drop at random while you are trying to maneuver it into position.
Basically, when you are holding down a direction, it is too easy to "rock" the pad back an forth unintentionally to the directions that are perpendicular to the input you are pressing. It has to do with the design of the contacts on the board, the membrane that separates the board and the pad, and the pad itself.
This is exactly my configuration except I can't say I've really noticed any issues with the d-pad on the Pro controller. Is it that bad for that many people?This is the ideal setup. I just got the Pro Controller and I'm loving it, but I still love the 8Bitdo SF30 Pro for 2D games or as a second controller in multiplayer.
The D-pad sucks, but the controller as a whole is still a million times better than the Joy-Cons.
Agree with this. The Switch Pro controller is my first choice for Smash though.
Sorry to bump kind of an old thread. I impulse bought a Switch Pro Controller today, then remembered that I kept reading that the D-pad was the worst ever. Anyway I brought it home expecting to either have to return it or resort to opening it and modding the inputs with scotch tape. But actually, the d-pad feels really good to me and seems responsive. And I tested it immediately and heavily, looking for problems. For example:
The Switch's Own Calibration Settings: Every left, right, up, down, diagonal seemed to respond appropriately.
Tetris 99: I remember many complaints about accidental fast drops (caused by the game registering "up" on the d-pad when the player didn't mean to). I played 3 games and didn't have a single issue. Granted, I was playing on the setting that turned the drop sensitivity down. But I'm also rather decent at the game, I scored in the Top 20 in each match where it starts to get hectic and the controller didn't fail me. I think I would have noticed input issues.
Contra Collection (Contra 1 NES): I remember it being a pain emulating this game on PC with whatever controller I came across. Too often I would try to duck but ended up giving a down+right signal which would cause me to run into bullets. Although I died quick in my test, it was all user error, not controller issues.
Ultra Street Fighter II: After a few seconds with Ryu, I was performing fireballs and dragon punches without issue. I even was able to do the Super finishes, which I sometimes struggle to do with my fight stick connected.
So, I dunno if they fixed the issue, or if it was hyperbole in the first place, or if there are some bad ones out there. If there's a date/revison number to share mine, I don't know how to check it. Lemme know and I will. But ultimately I feel very relieved and happy with my purchase so far. And who knows, maybe something like my huge hands make the controller inputs more readable to the system than other people?
The Switch's Own Calibration Settings: Every left, right, up, down, diagonal seemed to respond appropriately.
Tetris 99: I remember many complaints about accidental fast drops (caused by the game registering "up" on the d-pad when the player didn't mean to). I played 3 games and didn't have a single issue. Granted, I was playing on the setting that turned the drop sensitivity down. But I'm also rather decent at the game, I scored in the Top 20 in each match where it starts to get hectic and the controller didn't fail me. I think I would have noticed input issues.
Contra Collection (Contra 1 NES): I remember it being a pain emulating this game on PC with whatever controller I came across. Too often I would try to duck but ended up giving a down+right signal which would cause me to run into bullets. Although I died quick in my test, it was all user error, not controller issues.
Ultra Street Fighter II: After a few seconds with Ryu, I was performing fireballs and dragon punches without issue. I even was able to do the Super finishes, which I sometimes struggle to do with my fight stick connected.
So, I dunno if they fixed the issue, or if it was hyperbole in the first place, or if there are some bad ones out there. If there's a date/revison number to share mine, I don't know how to check it. Lemme know and I will. But ultimately I feel very relieved and happy with my purchase so far. And who knows, maybe something like my huge hands make the controller inputs more readable to the system than other people?
This has been covered extensively. They haven't fixed anything, really. It was also not hyperbole. The issue just manifests inconsistently and you may end up with a controller that has no issues at all.
I've had five different Pro Controllers since the Switch release (and three different consoles but that's another story) and I haven't had any d-pad related problems at all. With any of them in Puyo Tetris or anything else.
I finally got fed up with my launch pro controller enough to open it up and mess around with the tape.
I must've made about 10 adjustments before settling. For my controller I found the better fix was using tape to add height to the pivot point. I did end up with a small piece of tape to also cover a sliver of the up direction contact, but it was mainly the pivot point that helped the most.
It ended up being a compromise between constant unintentional hard drops in Tetris 99 (how it originally worked) and being unable to run diagonally in games like Link to the Past(when I used too much tape). I found it simple to resolve either of these issues, but took a lot of fiddling to have both of them work.
While it is not perfect, it is a massive improvement over how it was, so I'd encourage others that are frustrated to try it out.
How disappointing that Nintendo's premium controller fails in such a fundamental way.
I must've made about 10 adjustments before settling. For my controller I found the better fix was using tape to add height to the pivot point. I did end up with a small piece of tape to also cover a sliver of the up direction contact, but it was mainly the pivot point that helped the most.
It ended up being a compromise between constant unintentional hard drops in Tetris 99 (how it originally worked) and being unable to run diagonally in games like Link to the Past(when I used too much tape). I found it simple to resolve either of these issues, but took a lot of fiddling to have both of them work.
While it is not perfect, it is a massive improvement over how it was, so I'd encourage others that are frustrated to try it out.
How disappointing that Nintendo's premium controller fails in such a fundamental way.
I really feel like someone could make bank on making replacement dpads for the switch pro controller.
I think the people who don't have issues likely have different D-Pad techniques. If you're the type of person to do "rolling" motions, you'll get shit inputs. It's almost impossible not to doing this. If you just press directions individually, you'll be fine most of the time.
With 8bitdo, it really depends on their controller model. Their older models also have d-pad issues.
The ones that I would recommend without caveats are:
M30 - their Saturn/Megadrive styled controller. I love that thing, to the point that I don't really want to go back to a Nintendo style plus pad. Probably the best d-pad I've ever used, never having had a Saturn.
SN30 Pro+ - the one with the handles. (!) They've fixed the problem with input registration, and it's a great Nintendo-Style D-pad.
The ones that I would recommend without caveats are:
M30 - their Saturn/Megadrive styled controller. I love that thing, to the point that I don't really want to go back to a Nintendo style plus pad. Probably the best d-pad I've ever used, never having had a Saturn.
SN30 Pro+ - the one with the handles. (!) They've fixed the problem with input registration, and it's a great Nintendo-Style D-pad.