im never buying a used controller ever again

[antoj]

you guys.

last night i was trying to play MOAR jak x because it's my life suddenly and like the R2 button (THE TURBO BOOST BUTTON IN THE GAME) was getting stuck to the point where it was ruining my races because my character would be like IDK HOW TO TURBO LOOLOLLOOLOLOL and then everyone and their dog would pass me and it was lame in a bun.

AND THEN I WAS LIKE!!!!1 IM GONNA OPEN THIS CONTROLLER AND CLEAN THE BUTTONS. THEN IT WONT STICK ANYMOAR.

so i opened it up and it was the most disgusting inside.

i am never buying another used controller ever. :'c I usually buy my stuff new but I was late to the ps2 land and I got it used at Gamestop like a year ago I guess. The dust and grime inside the controller was nothing like I'd seen. I don't know if they rolled the thing in dirt at some point or not??

i mean look at these, and how it just gets worse:
first glance inside. note the dust on the cord inside the controller.
gross analogue stick
THE GROSSEST BUTTON I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. q-tips would hardly pull the grime off that X button. I just..... HOW DO YOU EVEN MANAGE TO GET THIS MUCH SHIT CAKED INSIDE YOUR CONTROLLER!?

the most disgusting thing about this is that i realized i had been actually PLAYING GAMES WITH THIS MONSTER for this long without realizing how gross it was inside.

it took nearly 20 q-tips and almost 2 hours to clean that controller.

and if it doesn't fix my button sticking issues in Jak X I'm just gonna throw it against a wall.

Comments

[eyebrowaddict.livejournal.com]

Ngl, this makes me wonder what is living inside of my controllers too. :/ I have had greasy black gunk leak out of both my ds2 and ds3 from the base of the analog sticks LIKE TO THE POINT WHERE IT GETS ON YOUR THUMBS so I can only imagine what's on the inside.

BUT I REFUSE TO TAKE MINE APART BECAUSE I'M NOT THAT BRAVE. I think seeing these examples kinda makes me wanna rethink buying things used... my near-future psp purchase comes to mind. :I

[antoj.livejournal.com]

the greasy black gunk is a sony controller curse. it has little to do with the quality of care on the controller itself and just.....sony's weird material they use to make the sticks. SO ITS NOT GONNA MAKE A PILE OF CRAP APPEAR UNDER YOUR X BUTTON LOL. Or even that dirt in the analogue stick. :| Bcuz my DS3 has had the greasy button syndrome too, but its not gunky sticky button feeling at all.

just see if you can buy it IRL if possible, and inspect the shit out of it before you buy it. My PSP looks near mint condition despite being a launch system, so people DO take care of their stuff. THEY EXIST. It'd be a good idea to check PSP's over anyway since they suffer from dead pixels sometimes. My PSP has a dead pixel actually, finally. lol. THEY'RE KIND OF ANNOYING SOMETIMES.

[eyebrowaddict.livejournal.com]

OH I HAD NO IDEA... I figured it was somehting I was doing since it's happened on a few of my controllers lol. THAT'S KIND OF A RELIEF THEN.. :'D I wouldn't have expected dirt anyway, but maybe grease or crumbs? My brother totally sneaks and eats on my ps3 when I'm not around lol.

WHAT IS A DEAD PIXEL? An issue with the screen? D: And honestly, there isn't a very big difference in cost for a new psp versus a used or refurbished one, so I'm considering just buying a new one and taking good care of it myself. :/

[antoj.livejournal.com]

NOPE ITS JUST SONY... also my gamecube controllers got sticky and all they did was sit in storage for a few months. :| Yeah. I'm super picky about my shit too (AS IM SURE YOU KNOW) so idk.

A dead pixel is exactly what it sounds like. lol idk how to describe it so here is a picture: http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/F7P/S1GM/FABRX1RO/F7PS1GMFABRX1RO.MEDIUM.jpg

[kyogres.livejournal.com]

also my gamecube controllers got sticky and all they did was sit in storage for a few months
Wow, glad to know it's not just me. I pulled them out of storage and was like "WHAT HAPPENED? I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. AM I GOING TO BE REPORTED FOR CONTROLLER ABUSE?"

[antoj.livejournal.com]

Was it just the tops of the analogue and c-sticks!? Because yeah, it happened to every single one of my gamecube controllers. :| I spent a good 20 minutes cleaning them all off before I played any games.

tbh the sony controller weird grease issue is a lot more tolerable than the sticky GCN ones.

[kyogres.livejournal.com]

It was mostly on the tops, and sometimes there was a bit of caked on dust or something on the base. I wish I knew what caused the greasiness so I could prevent it.

[eyebrowaddict.livejournal.com]

That would drive me crazy omg. :c I would be picking at it forever trying to scratch it off and ruin my screen lmao.

[antoj.livejournal.com]

They're really tiny, the one on my PSP isn't noticeable unless its on a light background. Because they are very small (PIXEL/ETC) but sometimes it can be more than just one or w/e. IT CAN HAPPEN WITH NEW UNITS TOO its kind of a random thing.

[eyebrowaddict.livejournal.com]

Now I'm gonna be extra paranoid in my psp selecting. ;3; I haven't done a whole lot of research as of yet though, so that's probably a good thing. >> But I had no idea that could even happen ffff. :c

[tortoises.livejournal.com]

oh man controller insides. i recently restored the n64 set i bought secondhand and it was bought on launch for a couple of little kids in a smoking household, so.... it was so gross :'D

if you want a new PS2 controller, i saw a couple in gamestops for $15 each new last year (official), and kmarts for $20, or there's some guy on CAG who had a bunch for about $15 each i think, i bought like three off him and he still had more.

[antoj.livejournal.com]

im a bit horrified to even imagine how awful that must have looked. The good thing is it's possible to fix this crap. LOL.

Oh, they still sell new ones for that cheap? I might actually look into it. I realized now that my rumble feature had never been working in my controller, and when I looked inside it its because the rumble wires from BOTH SIDES are snapped off from the circuit board. :|

[tortoises.livejournal.com]

yeah they're cheap now since they're trying to clear them out! c:

[pheonixxfoxx.livejournal.com]

"and then everyone and their dog would pass me and it was lame in a bun."

This gave me a good laugh, especially the "lame in a bun" part!! XD

I let the young man across from me borrow one of my PS2 controls. When he finally gave it back, both analogue sticks were sticky. It was disgusting and I really don't want to know what made them so sticky.

So, does your turbo boost button work now?

[antoj.livejournal.com]

Oh man, this is why I'm so picky about lending out my things too. I always feel like an asshole but I have such high quality I keep my things to. D: And when I see the condition things are in in the hands of other people (and not specifically the people I lend things to either) it just makes me horrified inside that people can ever treat their things like that. ;_;

I did a few test races last night, and it seems ok! I won't know for sure until I do a few more, I think... but the D-Pad had been sticking really bad too, and it actually works now! So the cleaning did something.

[pheonixxfoxx.livejournal.com]

The thing is, I have lent Ryan things before without a problem. I always try my best to take care of my stuff and if someone lends me something, I treat it as if it were gold. Sadly, some people just don't give a flying turd!

Sounds like your 2 hours worth of cleaning might of paid off then...;)

[antoj.livejournal.com]

Same here! If someone lent me anything I'd be super careful with it until it was time to return it. But then again, I treat my own things with that much care too :|

The worst looking thing I own is probably my DS Lite, and it started to break on its own... lol.

I hope it did! I'm gonna play some more tonight and give it a nice long test...hopefully the turbo won't be giving me issues. The AI in this game is hard enough without my controller adding to it!

[pheonixxfoxx.livejournal.com]

I think the DS Lite had a few design flaws. No, the original Gameboy that thing was rather tough. Well, at least mine was...:3

All I can say is good luck...;)

[kyogres.livejournal.com]

Ew, that X button is disgusting.

I have a bad feeling that my PS2 controller would look like this if I opened it up, especially since I used to eat while playing video games. I try to keep the analog stick relatively clean, but I've never opened it up for a deep cleaning or anything.

[antoj.livejournal.com]

I have a hard time believing a controller could look like this through regular use. D: The best way for me to test this would be to open one of my gamecube controllers, cuz of their age and see how they look inside... but I mean, I doubt it. None of my buttons have ever had that gunky feeling like they did in this controller (AND NOW I KNOW WHY THEY DID :D)

[roxiexcore.livejournal.com]

omg I legit almost gagged at the picture of the button WTFFFFFFF ;___; how does that even happen, omg.. what.. just.. brain is broken ewwww ffffuu

Used controllers do tend to be pretty dingy -- PS2 ones especially -- I can't count how many nasty-ass controllers I've had to pick at with toothpicks to try and get out all of the caked-in dirt at work... it makes me cringe just thinking about it ugfbuuifgbiuer .___. I know some dirt is a little understandable, especially given the age of the system, but some people I have to honestly wonder if they tossed their controllers into vats of poop because that's what it freakin' looks like haha

[antoj.livejournal.com]

OH GOD THAT WAS MY REACTION UPON REMOVING THE CIRCUIT BOARD INSIDE THE CONTROLLER (if the caps lock spaz caption to go with the twitter pic says anything) i was seriously telling myself to stop thinking it looked like poop so i could bring myself to clean it.

I have to wonder what people do with these things too!? Last night on twitter a friend and I came to the conclusion that the previous owner of this controller must have used it to plant a garden, because I can't think of any other way. I mean, my gamecube got a LOT of use and I seriously doubt you will find poop-like dirt caked under the buttons. :(

At least I know the controller is clean now. D: