Poll of the Day > Current gen consoles all have glaring issues with analogue sticks.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Anyone else notice this? I've gone through 3 PS4 controllers and 2 left joy cons because of drifting or not working properly.

Meanwhile, my ps2 controllers that are over a decade old still work perfectly fine.

What gives?
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the only controller issue i've had in the past 10~ years is the rubber grips on my elite controller falling the fuck off.

i've even spilled orange juice on a 360 controller and, after cleaning it off so it's not sticky, it still works flawlessly.
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Yeah, all if my controllers are in great shape. I've never had a problem with any official controller except for my wired xbox360 controller-the wire was starting to get exposed on the cord, which was probably my fault.
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Of all the problems I've ever had with controllers, analog sticks are almost never the problem.

I had one Xbox 360 controller go wonky years ago where the sticks went off-center so there was always a "drift" unless I constantly manually re-centered the sticks, but that happened once out of like 7 controllers.


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Ive had a couple issues with my second set of joycons, but not the first. Actually, Ive gotten soda on my controllers. My older controllers never really got sticky, but Inalsonhad way more. My newer ones seem to stay sticky. Like, I clean them off and they are fine for a little, then are sticky in the same spots...
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DrCidd posted...

Anyone else notice this?

Nope. Never had to replace my controllers ever.
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They all have their strengths and weaknesses. My older controllers will sometimes just wear down and buttons don't make contact. Some have gotten sticky and it stays that way cause of shape and stuff. Then I have controllers where the analog will spin.

To be more specific, I have a Saturn 2d controller where a trigger doesn't always react, same with my ds lite. On my dreamcast and Saturn 3d controller, both have triggers where they got a little sticky, but won't completely clean. They work perfectly, but the first push might crunch. My ps3 controller, well at least 2 of them, have analog tops that spin from use.

So, some of it is preventable, others is just accidents I can't recover from, but spanning 3 generations of controllers.
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pedro45 posted...

same with my ds lite.

ds lite was notorious for having shitty triggers and a shitty hinge, to be fair
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I am using the same 360 controller today that I bought for my PC 11 years ago. (It came with the wireless receiver)

It's starting to feel old. Rubber is done from the sticks, the left stick is slightly less springy but works fine, but the main issue is the right bumper. You need to press it hard for it to work
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The only controllers I've ever had drifing analog issues with were third-party.

One of my Dualshock 3s eventually developed issues with the face buttons and d-pad (occasionally either ignoring my presses or pressing them on its own), but I think that was because of all the times it was dropped or sat on.
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2 things I can say here. First, you'd be surprised what can collect inside a controller. Try cleaning it. Take it apart carefully and wipe down the analog caps, the buttons, and preferably wipe off the contact pads. Although I tend to buy 2 or 3 controllers a gen I almost never have to give up the one that came with the platform. Even if it has seen better days (the rubber coming off the DS4 or whatever).

The other is something I noticed in Gravity Rush 2. If my character starts jogging to the side it might not be so much to do with a dirty analog as the game has tiny dead zones. Certain games will move with barely a nudge, others require more tilt. The 'more tilt' games are more forgiving when the analog doesn't return perfectly to center.
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DPsx7 posted...

2 things I can say here. First, you'd be surprised what can collect inside a controller. Try cleaning it. Take it apart carefully and wipe down the analog caps, the buttons, and preferably wipe off the contact pads. Although I tend to buy 2 or 3 controllers a gen I almost never have to give up the one that came with the platform. Even if it has seen better days (the rubber coming off the DS4 or whatever).

The other is something I noticed in Gravity Rush 2. If my character starts jogging to the side it might not be so much to do with a dirty analog as the game has tiny dead zones. Certain games will move with barely a nudge, others require more tilt. The 'more tilt' games are more forgiving when the analog doesn't return perfectly to center.

Oh, I'm fully aware of the crazy **** you can find inside of a controller. But I've never had so much trouble (for at least 30 years) out of controllers as I have this current gen. And let me take it a step further. My NES controller still works fine, yet my ps4 controller and joy cons have both failed.

Maybe I'm just unlucky. But I know it isn't for lack of care of my stuff.
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1,000+ hours of sprinting in MW2 broke the analog sprint "click" on two of my 360 controllers
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Oh, and my 3DS circle-pad broke off after 600 hours of Monster Hunter 4U
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DrCidd posted...

DPsx7 posted...

2 things I can say here. First, you'd be surprised what can collect inside a controller. Try cleaning it. Take it apart carefully and wipe down the analog caps, the buttons, and preferably wipe off the contact pads. Although I tend to buy 2 or 3 controllers a gen I almost never have to give up the one that came with the platform. Even if it has seen better days (the rubber coming off the DS4 or whatever).

The other is something I noticed in Gravity Rush 2. If my character starts jogging to the side it might not be so much to do with a dirty analog as the game has tiny dead zones. Certain games will move with barely a nudge, others require more tilt. The 'more tilt' games are more forgiving when the analog doesn't return perfectly to center.

Oh, I'm fully aware of the crazy **** you can find inside of a controller. But I've never had so much trouble (for at least 30 years) out of controllers as I have this current gen. And let me take it a step further. My NES controller still works fine, yet my ps4 controller and joy cons have both failed.

Maybe I'm just unlucky. But I know it isn't for lack of care of my stuff.

A lot of people will say their retro stuff still works. They are near bullet proof and have a lot less going on inside. Other than the pads wearing out I suppose what else can go wrong?

Yeah I dunno what to say exactly, sometimes it's repairable. I've replaced the analog caps and R2 on my DS4. Everything else is ok. There's no doubt it gets plenty of use.
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I think you're too rough on your controllers.
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Most of the problems I have had with controllers in my life were either 3rd party controllers (NEVER buy 3rd party controllers) or design problems with the controller itself. Most of my controllers outlast the consoles themselves.

I still have a perfectly fine NES controller from 88 that is currently on it's 3rd system.
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My left joycon has some, I guess you'd call it stick drift? But not the kind where it's kind of loose/floaty. Basically if I press in the up or down direction, after it centers it will press that direction once or twice more. It's been like that since I got it but didn't happen that often. Now it seems to happen more, I found that blowing it out helps a bit, but not for very long anymore. I think. I have a pro controller now anyway so I basically never use the joycons unless I'm in portable mode.

Other than that I haven't really had issues with a first-party controller (sticks or otherwise) since of course the N64 and its shitty analog sticks

Gonna go ahead and disagree. The X1s controller is pretty much perfect and the Switchs pro controller is almost as good. Its the PS4 and the Switchs joycons that I have issues with
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