High-quality controllers, still membrane?

[Erik_Twice]

The buttons on my GCW Zero are dying. They were never great on the first place and over time their cheap plastic has worn down and gets stuck. I started hoping for a better set of buttons, like those in the DS, the Saturn and the like.

But it got me thinking: All these controllers use a plastic membrane. They are not really that different from each other, just better built. And it's strange to me how limited controllers are in that regard. Are membrane buttons and membrane D-Pads the best controllers can do?

I know the NeoGeo Pocket had a joystick, with actual microswitches instead of a D-Pad. Is there nothing like that in the market? Do really you have to choose between the best kind of buttons (Arcade/microswitch buttons) and analog controls?

What is the best in controllers?

[ElkinFencer10]

I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment on the engineering and construction of controllers, but from just a preference stand, I've always preferred a strong, mechanical click and the feel it gives, like mechanical keyboards and legit arcade joysticks.

[TSTR]

click game stronk

[MrPopo]

Membranes are cheaper and require a much shorter distance for their action.

[Xeogred]

???
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 44&t=49906

[chuckster]

I actually prefer membranes, as far as controller feel (Says the guy typing this on a Model M). It's a more natural, quiet, smooth-but-still-positive feel. I wear out analog sticks much faster than buttons. Plus it's way easier to mold them to the weird shapes needed to fit in a compact gaming controller.

That said, mechanical controllers are interesting and could work very well. A Geekhack user showed off a flat controller using Cherry switches he made a while back, in the same style as an SNES pad. It looked rough, being a DIY proof-of-concept, but it was a cool idea.
There are a few modern and vintage controllers using microswitches though, which may be of interest. Microswitches have a very short actuation distance and throw. They're used in the 360 and XB1 bumpers, fightpads from PDP, and the old Neo-Geo CD controller. It's a very different feel than membrane based face buttons, but to me it ended up feeling less precise, distractedly noisy, and simply less enjoyable.

Cherries have a bit of a long throw but that can be fixed. I'm sure there are better solutions for compact face buttons though. Microswitches have no throw and are very loud (just listen to someone playing a fighting game on one). There have to be some switches in between these two extremes that would make for great controllers, I'm just not aware of them.

As for these high-end controllers still using membrane buttons, the discussion of modern controller prices is one for another day in another thread, but I'll say two things: If you can find a better way to make controllers in their current configurations with a healthy profit margin the market will bear, you'll be a rich man; and if you are knowingly paying $60+ for a controller with extra external features or materials (or any controller! ), but don't believe the differences are worth it for the same internal parts (some would actually argue it's important to keep that feel the same), return it and voice your opinion to manufacturers. It'd be very interesting to see more thoughtful designs and meaningful upmarket options for controllers.

But again, membranes have done very well so far.

[KalessinDB]

You could always roll your own, if you like the idea of an arcade stick. I don't think they've hacked 8th gen controllers yet, but almost anything 7th gen or before has an answer for homemade controllers that can have mechanical switches on them (PS360+, PiiWii, MC Cthulhu, etc etc)

But if you want a pad solution yeah I don't really know of any way to do it. I suppose you might be able to rewire a Neo CD pad? I think they're basically just straight +5v, no real circuitry in there. But then you're stuck with 4 buttons which isn't helpful for many systems.