Got An Xbox 360? Hate The Crappy D-Pad?

[gruso]

First, we take the Madcatz Portable Drum Kit.

Then we unplug all the drum crap. And we're left with this:

Spoiler

(Not my photo)

The guys on neogaf are saying that this is the ultimate arcade controller for the Xbox, with perfect d-pad and buttons. It lacks shoulders and triggers, but is great for all the retro remakes (Pacman, Digdug...), other XBLA games like N+, and hopefully the upcoming Sonic 4.

Best bit is, these kits are only 7.95GPB at mymemory.co.uk with free international delivery. And as of today, entering the code Fifa20 will get you a further 20% discount. I bought mine the other day and missed the discount, but I'm still pretty happy with 7.95 delivered to Aus.

http://www.mymemory.co.uk/Xbox-360-Accessories/MadCatz/MadCatz-Rock-Band-Portable-Drum-Kit-(Xbox-360)-

This has been a community service announcement, from people who hate shit d-pads.

 

[Iorgy77]

Ordered myself one, with the fifa20 discount. Nice find, cheers Gruso.

 

[OrR]

lol, WTF? That must barely cover the shipping! Whatever, bought!

 

[gruso]

Feels like stealing, doesn't it?

 

[OrR]

Yeah, it does... h34r:

 

[Jourdy288]

Spoiler

(Not my photo)

The guys on neogaf are saying that this is the ultimate arcade controller for the Xbox, with perfect d-pad and buttons. It lacks shoulders and triggers, but is great for all the retro remakes (Pacman, Digdug...), other XBLA games like N+, and hopefully the upcoming Sonic 4.

Can one go about adding shoulders, triggers, analog sticks, etc.?

 

[quote]

Can one go about adding shoulders, triggers, analog sticks, etc.?

You're joking, right? If you wanted a full controller you might as well mod an official one to have a good dpad, no?

 

[Jourdy288]

Can one go about adding shoulders, triggers, analog sticks, etc.?

You're joking, right? If you wanted a full controller you might as well mod an official one to have a good dpad, no?

LOL, that's what I'm getting at.

 

[(naw)mcx]

Could some one try this out on a PC? Might be worth getting as a pad for my EEE!

 

[second exodous]

Could some one try this out on a PC? Might be worth getting as a pad for my EEE!

I don't live in the UK but if that is a good controller that works on a PC then I'll get one! Well, from the US of course, sure it wouldn't be free shipping for me.

 

[Iorgy77]

Shipping was free to Australia.

 

[gruso]

Mine arrived today, much quicker than expected. (Pretty heavy box, I don't know how they do free shipping). The pad component was conveniently placed on top when I opened it, so I haven't even unpacked the drum kit. I've only used it on my PC so far (Ubuntu) and it's pretty damn good. The ABXY buttons are big and flat, very SNES-like. The d-pad is convex as you can see in the pic above, which was the only thing I was hesitant about. But it's really good, well pivoted, nice action and easy diagonals.

Verdict: Yes.

 

[Ravnos]

Honestly, I'd rather have the SFIV Fight Pad. Good thing I have two. This is considerably cheaper though.

 

[gruso]

I cracked mine open last night, and found unused solder pads for buttons "F6" and "F7", located right where the shoulders would go! So I fired up the Eee to use XP's gamepad testing thing (if anyone knows of a Linux equivalent, let me know). I'm no expert at "reading" PCBs but it didn't really appear that they were connected to anything, apart from a ground line on each one. I prodded around with a piece of bridging wire hoping that I'd see extra buttons on the screen lighting up, but no dice. What a tease.

I also learned that the inputs you plug the drum pads into don't respond to a regular closed contact (simulated with bridging wire) so I'm not sure what kind of signal they put out. They're mapped to ABXY anyway (which is probably pretty obvious). The kick pedal is a regular contact though, and is apparently mapped to one of the shoulders. I'll post my mappings after work tonight, perhaps someone could plug a regular 360 pad into XP and list the results so we can see exactly what the kick is mapped to.

 

[Iorgy77]

I only have the wireless adapter and wireless pads, so I am not sure the results would be the same. I'll take a look when I get home.

 

[migo]

That's awesome. That it works on PC is double awesome. What about PS3?

 

[gruso]

Here are those button mappings:

Controller button ..... Windows input
A .............................. 1
B .............................. 2
X .............................. 3
Y .............................. 4
D-pad ....................... hat switch
Kick pedal (top plug) .. 5
Back ........................ 7
Start ......................... 8

 

[Reo]

Here are those button mappings:

Controller button ..... Windows input
A .............................. 1
B .............................. 2
X .............................. 3
Y .............................. 4
D-pad ....................... hat switch
Kick pedal (top plug) .. 5
Back ........................ 7
Start ......................... 8

So you can't use the "home" button or whatever it's called in the middle?

 

[gruso]

You can if you install the official 360 pad drivers from microsoft.com. Then it acts as a home button, bringing up a little status window (looks like the notifications on the Xbox). Without the drivers it does nothing though, and of course does nothing in Linux. You do get the "controller 1" LED quadrant though.

 

[migo]

I just saw this link http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/19/rock-band-3-mad-catz-keyboard-and-midi-pro-adapter/ and they're making one for all 3 systems, but I like the + shaped D-pad better.