Tommy's Joystick Mod

[Tommy]

On my new MK2 I was having trouble with my thumb slipping off the joystick, and also it was not easy to find the up,down,left,right directions without also hitting the diagonal. I felt that the stick could benefit from some bumps at the four cardinal directions to allow my thumb some tactile feedback.

Last night my wife was on her way out the door to go to the local craft store. I explained to her what I needed, and she returned with a pack of "Wiggle Eyes" for $0.79US. These are little plastic dots intended to be used as eyes on dolls.

Four drops of glue later, I had my mod.

Now it is effortless to move the stick in the four main directions, and my thumb never slips off the stick. My Jumpan and Paradroid scores have gone through the roof!

Wooo hooo!

- Tommy

 

[TelcoLou]

Pure Genius!!!!!

I'll try this one out for sure ... many thanks for sharing

 

[iignotus]

Too bad I don't have this such pad. Maybe I should purchase vektar just for the cap :lol:

 

[TelcoLou]

Too bad I don't have this such pad. Maybe I should purchase vektar just for the cap :lol:

NO NO!!! Don't do it .... not for the cap, anyway ... it truly sucks. TRULY! It's like a bad DaveC cap ripoff, but it sits higher on the shaft and has those stupid raised letters. I bought 2 MK II caps from Play-Asia for $1 each, less than $4 shipped for the pair, got 'em in a week or so. They're even better than DaveC's cap.

 

[Claym99]

I thought that it was a MK II cap? with the bump in the middle. and, did you remove the actuall google eyes? I can't see them in the pics.

 

[iignotus]

Too bad I don't have this such pad. Maybe I should purchase vektar just for the cap :lol:

NO NO!!! Don't do it .... not for the cap, anyway ... it truly sucks. TRULY! It's like a bad DaveC cap ripoff, but it sits higher on the shaft and has those stupid raised letters. I bought 2 MK II caps from Play-Asia for $1 each, less than $4 shipped for the pair, got 'em in a week or so. They're even better than DaveC's cap.

WHAT!!! I thought the included cap with Vektar was this very one! The flat one! I have both the DaveC cap and the Printed GP2X cap (as well as the original), but not the flat one. PlayAsia you say? Sounds fine, but I don't want to wait a week just for a 1g item :/

Anyone living in the U.S willing to sell me one of these flat caps for shipping or so? (Sorry to hijack ).

 

[TelcoLou]

Too bad I don't have this such pad. Maybe I should purchase vektar just for the cap :lol:

NO NO!!! Don't do it .... not for the cap, anyway ... it truly sucks. TRULY! It's like a bad DaveC cap ripoff, but it sits higher on the shaft and has those stupid raised letters. I bought 2 MK II caps from Play-Asia for $1 each, less than $4 shipped for the pair, got 'em in a week or so. They're even better than DaveC's cap.

WHAT!!! I thought the included cap with Vektar was this very one! The flat one! I have both the DaveC cap and the Printed GP2X cap (as well as the original), but not the flat one. PlayAsia you say? Sounds fine, but I don't want to wait a week just for a 1g item :/

Anyone living in the U.S willing to sell me one of these flat caps for shipping or so? (Sorry to hijack ).

The cap that shipped with my copy of Vektar is that nasty, "GP2X" stamped atrocity. The one pictured here, in this topic, I got from PlayAsia ... came with a sticker and a $5 off coupon for my next order. Worth it

 

[NoidZ]

Wow, so we get a D-Pad after all. Nice work!

 

[tshroom]

that looks nice too.. It works and looks like it was made that way. Good job. Props to your wife man.

 

[nickspoon]

The GP2X-stamped cap is the best, it doesn't rotate.

Anyway, I have a MK2, GP2X and DaveC cap, so I wouldn't mind modding the MK2 one

 

[bacteria]

Excellent. I tried this idea months ago with my Mk1 - unfortunately the (unrotated) joystick was so intollerant, it didn't work; so I had to make my own design. It is nice to see that this mod works properly now on the Mk2 version - this solves the current issues for a D-pad - good work.

Could someone (preferably in the UK) (Craigx ??) sell the proper no-stamped and plain joystick caps for people to buy, rather than having to go abroad please??

 

[Alex.]

Very nice, I may just give this a try. Through the roof you say!

- Alex

 

[z32fairlady]

Should be enough for us until the real dpad comes...

Well done!

 

[g4m3r]

Very similar to another poster's mod, except he just used dots of hot glue, but great idea!

 

[WhiteFalcon]

Ingenious Tommy! I have just done the mod and the joystick is finally usable for me. Now I am able to play Bomberman and all the other games that I had trouble before due to the shitty joy. Thank you so much!

 

[PokeParadox]

Yes it seems a lot of the problems is the fact that people can't feel which direction they are pushing...
It is a similar difference for me when I play DDR at home (the mat moves around the floor) or at the arcade (it's completely stationary so my feet know exactly where they are.... until I try doubles that is.)
Glad this mod worked out anyhow

 

[WhiteFalcon]

Yes it seems a lot of the problems is the fact that people can't feel which direction they are pushing...
It is a similar difference for me when I play DDR at home (the mat moves around the floor) or at the arcade (it's completely stationary so my feet know exactly where they are.... until I try doubles that is.)
Glad this mod worked out anyhow

True, my mat tends to shift a little but I have got used to correcting its position after every song.
The only remaining problem of the joystick is that you have to push pretty far from the center, aka the dead zone. But still, with Tommy's mod its a lot better.