8bitDo NES30 Pro D-pad Mod

caver01

I have a pair of 8bitDo NES30 Pro controllers. These also come in the Famicon flavor FC30 Pro and they have been around a couple of years I think. Anyway, overall, I am pretty happy with them with one exception: The D-pad seems just a little bit off. They seem to hit the diagonals just a little too easily.

The effect in my case can be demonstrated easily by loading up Punch Out on the NES. When you try to make your move pushing UP and jabbing punches over and over, your player will often punch, then dodge right?! When this happened, I was like, WHAT IS GOING ON? Well, the controller is picking up a diagonal UP/RIGHT, while I am thumbing UP. If I am more careful, I can avoid leaning RIGHT when pushing UP, but it should not be happening, and this kind of sensitivity is very distracting. Furthermore, If I launch Donkey Kong (arcade), or any 4-way game, it is all too easy to jam up the movement with accidental diagonals.

I am considering a simple, non-destructive MOD to the controller. Basically, this entails placing tape across half of each directional contact. By covering the innermost area, it should prevent accidental triggering of all four directions. You would need to fully commit to pressing in the direction to make the pad short the gap.

This is not a new idea, it comes from a discussion thread about a similar issue with the Switch Pro. Here is an image of the proposed mod as shown for the Switch Pro:

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Of course, this is the wrong circuit board, but the idea is the same on the 8-bitDo.

Has anyone in the forums tried this yet?

caver01

@caver01 Well, I finally did the mod. Put it back together and it works just fine. You really have to commit to the diagonals now, and no accidental left/right when holding UP on the D-pad. I think it works great now.

AndersHP

Cool idea. Does it not make the intentional diagonal movement hard to perform?

Also, how hard was it to pry open the controller and reassemble?

caver01

@andershp no, diagonals still work fine, but it eliminates accidental diagonals. You have to commit to them. Before the mod, I was having a hard time in some games keeping the dpad centered on UP or DOWN. It was always tripping a left or right (usually right) at the same time.

Getting the N30 Pro open was really easy. You can run your fingernail around the edge of the bottom plate and it pops right off. Once that is done, there are about seven screws (one under a little round sticker). These come out quickly, and you can lift the half with the board up and off, flip it over, and you have the pads exposed like the image above. Just be careful with the other half, as the rubber pieces and plastic buttons are just sitting in their spots with nothing holding them in.

This was pretty easy to do, and did not even require taking the battery out.

My kapton tape is a 11/16" square.

Rion

@caver01 @AndersHP

There is a new fix that got posted to reddit a while ago.

Instead of using kapton tape you can use "ring binder hole reinforcers"
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Reddit thread

More info here on youtube

ClassicGMR

I would definitely be interested in doing this but the question I had immediately upon seeing this is:

"How well do the ring binder reinforcement stickers hold up to the constant presses versus tape?"

caver01

@rion pretty clever! Getting the kapton cut and placed perfectly is a PITA, but since I did it I have not had problems. I like this idea a lot, but I wonder if they will hold up. It is just pads making contact, but aren't these rings made of paper? It make me wonder if someone makes a thin plastic tape version. I will checkout the reddit thread.

Rion

@caver01 You can also get them in Vinyl.

Quick google search
ring binder hole reinforcers vinyl

caver01

@rion what’s interesting to me is that they are making a round area over what is already a round area while the kapton tape solution is trying to block the innermost sections of the pads to desisitize the diagonals. I wonder how round openings achieve that. Are they placed off center? Because the example video does not seem to show that.

Rion

@caver01

Taken from the reddit thread

The reason the 8bitdo dpad slips into accidental diagonals is because the ball point on the underside on the cross is too thick. Thus, it's too easy to rock into a diagonal when pressing a single direction. Adding more distance between the magnetic plunger and the contact makes it less easy to press diagonals accidentally.

If they don't feel thick enough, stack them over each other. 2 should do it.

Quackwalks

I've been having issues with the sensitive dpad, but after tinkering with tape I can reliably duck and run with Mario, but throwing a Haduken with Ryu is less than reliable. I wonder if these rings provide the best of both. I'll try it as soon as I can.