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Users with a Switch Pro controller, can we try a quick test?

I have a feeling this Dpad issue isn't because of faulty controllers but more because of the design of the Dpad being flawed. The reason why some people are experiencing it and others are not might be because you are not trying to press the inputs quickly. When playing a game like Tetris it becomes pretty obvious that it's unplayable :( but let's try anyway. We need to know if it's worth exchanging it for a new one or if we should just return it.

If you guys can go to settings, controllers and sensors, test input devices. Now use the pro controller and press left right left right as fast as you can. Try this for about 30 seconds. Also try with two hands. (left thumb on left Dpad, right thumb on right Dpad). Now try up down up down. Did it also press other directions you didn't mean to?

Now try with a joycon and see if you have the same problem. (you shouldn't)


IOnEEvd.jpg

I've never had this problem before on any Dpad I've ever used. It's a big deal, especially when most people buy the controller for the Dpad. Just imagine something as simple as a wario ware micro game where you have to press left right as fast as you can. It won't work. My problem was constant hard drops in Tetris (Japanese Puyo Puyo Tetris demo).

Sorry if this is a bit of a duplicate topic but it'll be nice for everyone to try this and for us to come to a conclusion about whether to exchange or return.
 
I had this issue at the Switch Preview event, but not on my controller. Played a bunch of puyotetris

Would you be able to try the settings? I had this problem on Tetris whilst my brother didn't (using the same controller) but that's because I play much faster than he does.
 

Vibed

Member
Could a possible alternative test be to press on the center of the d pad in the home menu and see what happens? Because if it freaks out and presses every direction rapidly, that's basically the same issue (sensitive inputs).
 
Could a possible alternative test be to press on the center of the d pad in the home menu and see what happens? Because if it freaks out and presses every direction rapidly, that's basically the same issue (sensitive inputs).

Yepp it goes everywhere, but the question is were all controllers designed this way or are there a few faulty ones out there?.

Any other Dpads on other consoles controllers have this issue?
 
Tried this the other day and mine seems ok. Didn't try with the Joy Con...not sure why it would happen with that?

Both my Wii U Pro Controllers ended up giving inaccurate inputs after a while though. I blame it on hours of charge-character abuse in Super/Ultra Street Fighter IV. I started to get jumps when I didn't want them.
 

Branduil

Member
I'm fairly sure the faulty inputs happen when you press closer to the center of the D-pad. I tried pressing rapidly left and right and all the inputs were correct, but if I get lazier and press closer to the center it can easily lead to the wrong input. So I'm pretty sure that's just a design issue.
 
I'm fairly sure the faulty inputs happen when you press closer to the center of the D-pad. I tried pressing rapidly left and right and all the inputs were correct, but if I get lazier and press closer to the center it can easily lead to the wrong input. So I'm pretty sure that's just a design issue.

No matter how far apart my presses are if I press left right constantly as fast as I can it registers up and down :( It probably is a design issue I wonder why they done it like this.
 

Vibed

Member
Left and right rapidly means rocking your thumb on the pad, not lifting your finger to press each side successively, I'd assume.
 
Left and right rapidly means rocking your thumb on the pad, not lifting your finger to press each side successively, I'd assume.

Oh no that would never work. I literally mean left thumb on left Dpad, right thumb on right Dpad, then press them alternatively as fast as you possibly can.

Or with one hand lifting your finger yeah. If I do it fast enough I get misinputs. Yes I can be very slow and precise and then it always works but gaming isn't always slow and precise lol.
 

abrack08

Member
Hmm, I've only played Zelda and Snipperclips so I haven't run into problems but it seems like this could be an issue with mine. I tried hitting left and right rapidly like you suggested and it registered either an up or down (mostly up) in between more than half the time. I can also just press down and hold it, and lean slightly to the left or right (while only touching the down section) and it will register as a left/right after down.

Edit: Though if I use it normally, just pressing one thumb back and forth as fast as I can, the inputs are right every time. Might only be a problem for me if some game actually requires alternating left/right over and over and punishes any other direction.
 
Hmm, I've only played Zelda and Snipperclips so I haven't run into problems but it seems like this could be an issue with mine. I tried hitting left and right rapidly like you suggested and it registered either an up or down (mostly up) in between more than half the time. I can also just press down and hold it, and lean slightly to the left or right (while only touching the down section) and it will register as a left/right after down.

Yeah I gave a feeling it depends on what game you play and how demanding the inputs are. That's why this problem is seen more in the Tetris topic.

Id still like a confirmation from Thoraxes though to see if he mashed as quickly as he can...
 

El Sabroso

Member
mine sounds ugly af, but it actually works pretty good, I have been playing KOF 98 with it and have no issues making special moves there
 
mine sounds ugly af, but it actually works pretty good, I have been playing KOF 98 with it and have no issues making special moves there

In that game do you need multiple quick inputs on the Dpad? Or when you say it works did you try it in the settings?

Sorry for trying to double check its just that I can't see how this will possibly not affect some people when it really does feel like it's the design of the pad.
 

ggx2ac

Member
mine sounds ugly af, but it actually works pretty good, I have been playing KOF 98 with it and have no issues making special moves there

That's one thing I was wondering since the Input test in settings wouldn't be able to show diagonal inputs.

So at least it's good to know the Dpad works fine for fighting games.
 
Just tried it.. don't have an issue at all.

Using two hands seems rather pointless btw.. considering there is no situation where you would be doing inputs that quickly.
 
Just tried it.. don't have an issue at all.

Using two hands seems rather pointless btw.. considering there is no situation where you would be doing inputs that quickly.

Thanks. Well that's strange. Maybe it is a fault afterall. I still don't think I'll risk it with an exchange just yet, the joy con Dpad doesn't bother me at all.

Edit: Well considering I had the problem whilst playing Tetris, I was obviously pressing left and right quickly enough for this to be an issue. Besides, many games in the past have you do that.
 
Thanks. Well that's strange. Maybe it is a fault afterall. I still don't think I'll risk it with an exchange just yet, the joy con Dpad doesn't bother me at all.

Edit: Well considering I had the problem whilst playing Tetris, I was obviously pressing left and right quickly enough for this to be an issue. Besides, many games in the past have you do that.

Yeah but not with two hands. It's much easier to do an input wrong using two hands rapidly.
 

Arren

Member
Thanks for opening up this thread. I am definitely experiencing the same exact issue and through the calibration test I realized that, by sliding my finger quickly left to right as I would typically do with top down 2D games or any title that requires fast and twitchy input, the results detected by the system would be entirely inaccurate.

I will be posting a pic of my calibration as soon as I get home, but to all the people who are stating that theirs is working well, could you please take a minute to perform the same test and post a picture of the outcome? This is not to dispute your claims of course, but I think it's useful and strategic to collect evidence and see if it's a:
1) fault in some specific units, as frequent or rare as it may be; or
2) an actual design flaw, which is noticeable to some and not apparent to others.

You can also perform an alternative test by syncing your controller through Bluetooth with your PC (it is recognized as a perfectly valid Dinput controller out of the box) and play some older titles through an emulator. I would suggest trying either an arcade game or even a top-down RPG where you can move very quickly.
 

DatAhmedz

Member
I don't seem to be having this issue. But I did notice that quick right flicks on the right stick often causes it to move left, which kinda annoys me when I'm switching weapons in Zelda and have the habit to flick constantly.
 

El Sabroso

Member
In that game do you need multiple quick inputs on the Dpad? Or when you say it works did you try it in the settings?

Sorry for trying to double check its just that I can't see how this will possibly not affect some people when it really does feel like it's the design of the pad.

yes, front back front punch with Ryo Sakasaki or same with kicks for Robert Garcia gets you a special move, has to be quick

as those both characters have other quarter circle moves, can get other special if not done correctly, but are doable in Pro controller as well

diagonals are also a thing not being shown by input test from the switch, but those work very well in KOF 98

the real test will be when we get a fighting game with a training mode that shows inputs, that would be more accurate than system's input test, so we can compare with other fighting game in Wii U, at least I can help with that, hope Pocket Rumble has that option to show inputs in training mode since I am not buying USF2 and ACA NeoGeo games have only arcade bios and not even training mode from console bios (those tend to not show inputs anyways)
 

Spinifex

Member
I occasionally have this issue but I just assumed I was using the controller wrong. It doesn't happen very frequently mind you, but it does happen.
 
yes, front back front punch with Ryo Sakasaki or same with kicks for Robert Garcia gets you a special move, has to be quick

as those both characters have other quarter circle moves, can get other special if not done correctly, but are doable in Pro controller as well

diagonals are also a thing not being shown by input test from the switch, but those work very well in KOF 98

But what does the up button do in that game? Does it jump, and you've never jumped accidentally?

Yeah it won't show diagonals because it tests each button individually.
 
Thanks for opening up this thread. I am definitely experiencing the same exact issue and through the calibration test I realized that, by sliding my finger quickly left to right as I would typically do with top down 2D games or any title that requires fast and twitchy input, the results detected by the system would be entirely inaccurate.

I will be posting a pic of my calibration as soon as I get home, but to all the people who are stating that theirs is working well, could you please take a minute to perform the same test and post a picture of the outcome? This is not to dispute your claims of course, but I think it's useful and strategic to collect evidence and see if it's a:
1) fault in some specific units, as frequent or rare as it may be; or
2) an actual design flaw, which is noticeable to some and not apparent to others.

You can also perform an alternative test by syncing your controller through Bluetooth with your PC (it is recognized as a perfectly valid Dinput controller out of the box) and play some older titles through an emulator. I would suggest trying either an arcade game or even a top-down RPG where you can move very quickly.

I think it's pretty easy to perform an up or down input when you're sliding your big thumb from left to right on any dpad. As you're sliding you press the middle of the dpad down which could potentially give you any direction.
 

Arren

Member
I think it's pretty easy to perform an up or down input when you're sliding your big thumb from left to right on any dpad. As you're sliding you press the middle of the dpad down which could potentially give you any direction.

It's actually not easy if the D-pad is designed properly, with a central pivot giving it an adequate "deadzone" and thus preventing input misfire from occurring.

In fact, this does not happen on many other controllers I have tried: Wii Classic Controller, Wii U Pro Controller, Xbox One Elite, Dual Shock 4, even some Chinese knock-offs.
 
It's actually not easy if the D-pad is designed properly, with a central pivot giving it an adequate "deadzone" and thus preventing input misfire from occurring.

In fact, this does not happen on many other controllers I have tried: Wii Classic Controller, Wii U Pro Controller, Xbox One Elite, Dual Shock 4, even some Chinese knock-offs.

Ds4 doesn't have this type of dpad and my Xbox one controller defintely gives me up or down inputs in the UI if i slide from left to right. I can't speak on the other controllers you mentioned.
 

Poppyseed

Member
My wife was playing Puyo Puyo Tetris tonight, and complained that every so often the pieces were zooming down the screen. Is this the Pro Controller pressing some funky direction she didn't intend?
 

Thoraxes

Member
So you can press left right constantly as fast as you can even with two hands and it never registers up or down? If that's true then I don't know what to think.

I lift my thumb when going between the two directions, because it's faster for my hands. I have to actively try to press it towards the top or bottom to get it to press more than just left or right. I pressed between left and right about 30 times in 10 seconds and didn't have any issue.

If I sloppily roll my thumb between the two, yes, I get it.
 
I can't test the inputs on the calibration screen right now but I've had no end of issues with DPAD Right registering as DPAD Up in Zelda. I've lost so many hearts trying to switch weapons and constantly getting the Runes selector appearing instead.

I've never had an issue like this on any other controller.
 

N30RYU

Member
My wife was playing Puyo Puyo Tetris tonight, and complained that every so often the pieces were zooming down the screen. Is this the Pro Controller pressing some funky direction she didn't intend?
Mine had the same problem. In options you can toogle one option On/OFF to dissable the instant drop "up" function in tetris.
And if one is playing with tetris and the other with puyo will have japanese letters stating that "up" is only on tetris and you can turn it on or off for both tetris and puyo.
 
I can't test the inputs on the calibration screen right now but I've had no end of issues with DPAD Right registering as DPAD Up in Zelda. I've lost so many hearts trying to switch weapons and constantly getting the Runes selector appearing instead.

I've never had an issue like this on any other controller.

When I read things like this I can't help but believe it's faulty controllers. I've put 110 hours into Zelda and haven't had this happen once.
 
And if you want proof, I made you a short video. I had to sit my phone on my desk so i'm holding the controller weird and not pressing as fast as I can holding it normally, but you should be able to get the point.

Thanks for the video. I copied the way you were pressing it as accurately as I can and I too didn't have any problems.

However I then treated it like I was playing tetris.. So kind of press one side then hold the other then press the other straight away then hold etc and I pressed up a few times. It feels both myself and the controller is at fault but I've played 100s of hours of Tetris on other consoles that have hard drop like DS Wii and 3DS and I've never had this problem.
 

N30RYU

Member
I don't have a pro controller but I'm having this issue with the joy-cons (it's me) cause my body remembers the player1 thunvstick possition and playing as the player two I don't make the inputs correctly.
 
I don't have a pro controller but I'm having this issue with the joy-cons (it's me) cause my body remembers the player1 thunvstick possition and playing as the player two I don't make the inputs correctly.

But keep in mind this is a temporary fix and won't prevent the issue from happening in other games.

Edit: This was regarding disabling hard drop in Tetris.
 

Kneefoil

Member
If I alternate the left and right as fast as possible, I'll get some ups and down, but if mashing or holding down one direction and then at some point change the direction as fast as possible, I've not experienced the issue. Not likely going to be a big issue for me.
 

epicnemesis

Member
I mean, I was able to repeat the problem in settings, but I felt the dpad moving up or down whenever it registered so it's not like they were phantom presses. Also I will never have to have both fingers on the dpad alternating so that's not a particularly fair test either.

I won't know if it's a problem until I play Tetris, but the issue never manifested itself when I played shovel knight with it. If anything I would say the dpad is a little too sensitive/loose, not faulty.
 

meppi

Member
Played quite a bit of Tetris already and never had this happen besides once or twice on the first day when I was getting used to the controller.
 
I mean, I was able to repeat the problem in settings, but I felt the dpad moving up or down whenever it registered so it's not like they were phantom presses. Also I will never have to have both fingers on the dpad alternating so that's not a particularly fair test either.

I won't know if it's a problem until I play Tetris, but the issue never manifested itself when I played shovel knight with it. If anything I would say the dpad is a little too sensitive/loose, not faulty.

Itt no one has played Wario Ware or Mario Party :p Dpad isn't always used to move. What about rhythm games like jam with the band where the dpad is used primarily and fast paced? Would be impossible with this thing. I agree they are probably not phantom presses and rather the d pad itself actually physically pressing the wrong side, but it intrigues me how some of us are not experiencing this

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSJRPC0LY5Q
 
When I read things like this I can't help but believe it's faulty controllers. I've put 110 hours into Zelda and haven't had this happen once.

Well i just managed to get back in front of the Switch to try the calibration and it's all sorts of wacky.

Hitting left and right in quick succession will pretty much also "pass through" up or down about 85% of the time.

I can actually fully press right or left with my finger way over to the edge and then rock my finger very slightly up and down (not taking it off left or right AT ALL) and it will activate the up or down "buttons".

It's like the active zone is almost the entire circumference of the dpad :/

I can't imagine trying to play Street Fighter or something similar with this.

So that's my Switch with a crappy Wifi chip, my left joy con with a shitty signal, and my Pro Controller with a insanely sensitive DPAD... in a country with no Nintendo support :(
 
Well i just managed to get back in front of the Switch to try the calibration and it's all sorts of wacky.

Hitting left and right in quick succession will pretty much also "pass through" up or down about 85% of the time.

I can actually fully press right or left with my finger way over to the edge and then rock my finger very slightly up and down (not taking it off left or right AT ALL) and it will activate the up or down "buttons".

It's like the active zone is almost the entire circumference of the dpad :/

I can't imagine trying to play Street Fighter or something similar with this.

So that's my Switch with a crappy Wifi chip, my left joy con with a shitty signal, and my Pro Controller with a insanely sensitive DPAD... in a country with no Nintendo support :(

Yeah I just tried the Wii U pro and I can certainly rapidly hit any direction without it also registering other direction. There's something faulty with the Switch Dpad. It's too sensitive or maybe it's popping upwards too much I don't know.

It doesn't help the argument when some people are saying they have the same problem on zelda wii u. Perhaps the zelda problem and the controller problem are unrelated?

Edit: Yepp I see what you mean about holding a side down then moving it even slightly. This is just silly, it's basically like a analog stick then, but worse.
 
I'm almost sure it's not the result of faulty controllers, just questionable design.
Hopefully the inevitable Joycon with a d-pad mimicks the 3DS d-pad as its buttons do opposed to the Pro Controller.
 
So you guys are happy to rapidly change directions and it never misinputs? That's gotta be a controller fault then... How can the Dpads differ so much though?
 

MoogleMan

Member
No issues with either of my switch pro controllers. I tried for quite a while yesterday to get the problem to show itself but nothing.

I still need two more pro controllers though so fingers crossed on those.
 
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