Kontrol Freek Forums

	5/7/2010 2:04:36 AM permalink
jdietz43 Posts 1	As any avid Blazblue player will tell you, if you want serious competition you play on the PS3 and not the Xbox360. Why? The D-Pad. Let me explain: As in many fighters, special moves can only be performed though a series of movements combined with a button press to execute. Some are relatively easy while others are more complex. The stick is fine and all, but when you get down to it imputing the commands on the D-Pad is faster and more exact. On a stick there's some degree of error, it's very hard to pop a stick exactly to the 8 directions recognized by the game and back to neutral at the speed you can mash down a D-Pad. For games that usually measure time in frames of animation, usually 1/60th of a second each, you can see how reducing the time from thought to input can be the defining factor in a match. Though the stick is fine with practice, you can see how the D-Pad would be preferred. Here's where the consoles come in. As you probably already know the Xbox360's D-Pad pales in comparison to the PS3's on almost every level. It's floaty, bulky, and imprecise, misreading directional inputs on an unacceptable level. (Just try using the D-Pad to message someone on Xbox Live for a few minutes and you'll understand what I mean... it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth) You can never quite be sure it read your input right, so anyone with the option will opt to use a PS3 D-Pad instead. So what I propose is you try and fix just that. Attempt to make a modifier for the Xbox360 controller's D-Pad that makes it more precise and manageable. The way I see it the biggest problem is the way the D-Pad refuses to be wrangled in position, instead of the thumb rolling motion that we've become used to from Gameboy, Playstation, and the like. The pad demands that you to mimic a joystick motion as it doesn't comfortably rest in any particular spot without already registering inputs. The natural thing you want to do is push the D-Pad down into the controller as you use it for extra control, but it's too unstable to be used as such and doesn't find a center to rest at causing unexpected inputs. (Still trying to type out that message? Try to keep the pad pressed down into the controller and centered without moving your selection to another letter to see what I'm talking about) The ways I could possibly see fixing this would be along the lines of: - a sort of stopper ring around the edge of the D-Pad to limit/control movement - an overlay of plastic structure to give your thumb a neutral to rest at without moving the pad itself (similar to the spot at the center of the PS controller D-Pad) - a similar structure that keeps the D-Pad pressed down in the center and stops it back at the centered neutral position when you release the D-Pad (hopefully this and the above can be combined for best effect) - or a structure where you basically overlay an entirely new pad with better control that transmits your motion to the original in a more precise fashion (Think old fashioned Gameboy Color Pelican D-Pad accessory that snapped on top of the existing one with some plastic snapping to each side to stabalize... but where they turned the perfectly fine Gameboy D-Pad into a predecessor to the Xbox360's terrible one you would do the opposite. I attempted to find a picture of the one I still own online, but it seems everyone else liked it as little as I did so just use your imagination here) If you find a solution that works I'm sure a lot of people would be game to fix what should have worked in the first place, especially if it's as relatively inexpensive as your other products. In the (unlikely) event that this idea actually becomes a reality It'd be nice to receive some sort of kudos. I don't expect anything really, but since I'm giving this idea away for free you can at least send me a pair of "FighterFreeks" for myself. Of course I wouldn't turn down cash kickbacks either! You can be as generous or miserly as you like, but I'm ahead of myself by far I'm sure you'd receive many thanks if you can find even a halfway decent solution. Good luck! - Jay Dietz
	6/1/2010 5:19:13 PM permalink
trevor Posts 299	Thanks, Jay! We are certainly aware of the issues with the 360's standard d-pad. We appreciate the idea and are always looking for that next great one.
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