Broken Xbox controller
Posted on October 01, 2004 @ 15:56 in Games
Bah! It seems my Xbox controller is kaput. The left thumbstick doesn't relay left and upwards movements properly anymore. It's not that it doesn't react at all, but pushing the thumbstick left or up only translates in a very slight reaction on the screen. The thumbsticks are analog, meaning that if you move the stick further to the left the car you're steering on the screen will be turning left more sharply than when you move your thumbstick just a little bit to the left, in which case the car will only drift to the left a little (handy for those long curvey parts of the track). The thumbstick seems to be stuck in the just-a-little mode and the extreme left and up positions of the stick are not communicated to the console anymore.
It's no fun trying to win a race in Project Gotham Racing 2 when you can't make any left turns nor is it much fun trying to navigate the Grand Theft Auto cities driving backwards and being able to only make left turns!
I opened up the controller and removed some cat hair from its innards, looked pensively at the little gizmo on the printed circuit board that holds the thumbstick, wiggled it around a bit, and screwed it all back together. Sometimes just giving a piece of technology this kind of attention works wonders, but unfortunately this time it didn't. My other controller still works but I made the mistake of not buying an official second Xbox controller and the non-official controller is not nearly as sensitive and direct as the official one.
Guess I'll have to buy a new Xbox controller then, but a new problem presents itself... I have one of the original, big Xbox controllers and those are a lot bigger than the new "S" (for Small) controllers that come with the Xbox nowadays. I've tried those "S" controllers in the store and they feel so, well, tiny and all the buttons are so close together. The original, big controllers have either been discontinued all together or they're just really hard to get, because I've been able to track down only one shop that appears to sell them. I suspect though, that the listing of that item in their online store is mistake, so I just phoned them if the otherwise featureless item "xbox controller" really is the original, big Xbox controller and they'll get back to me on that. Fingers crossed.
Comments and Trackbacks
Try second hand videogame stores. They may even have used original controllers that'll fit your needs. Plus you can pick up Madden 2003 for just a few bucks. :)
Posted by Brandon on October 01, 2004 @ 19:52
I've called and visited a couple of videogame stores that also sell second hand stuff, but no luck so far. You'd be surprised to learn how few specialized game shops there are in Amsterdam (or maybe I haven't been able to locate them yet). One shop I went to I remembered having a stack of big Xbox controllers on display, but they'd sold out.
As for Madden... I'm afraid I don't care much for sports games. Besides, even second hand games over here appear to cost 20 to 30 euro anyway. While that is half the price of a just-released game, it's still a considerable price.
Posted by Frank on October 04, 2004 @ 11:32
Post a comment
Comments and trackbacks have been closed on this site. My apologies.
Since MT-Blacklist inexplicably stopped working I had no other recourse than close comments and trackbacks to stop the spam. I've been meaning to correct this for quite a while, but life got in the way... in a good way I should add.