Dude! THANK YOU so much for the update and photos! It really helps me in my decision to modify my zero as opposed to just upgrading to these buttons/D pads.
Earlier in this thread someone gave it a rating like this:
- Original --> 5/10
- Game Boy Pad --> 7/10
- New DPad --> 8/10
Also, buttons are a better feel, but too small For me overall.
**************************************************
You say that you're very happy overall with the upgrades, but can you chime in using this same d-pad rating scale as he did? And what would you say specifically about the buttons (good and bad)? Thank you so much!!! @RupeeClock
It's overall a great deal better.
Although I did get some replica Game Boy DMG d-pad and buttons before, I never got around to installing them unfortunately.
So before the d-pad was squeaky and unresponsive. I had tried the silicone grease treatment but it only helped marginally. The face buttons for quite a while would snap against the casing, making it difficult to press them in especially when pressing multiple buttons simultaneously. This was most prominent with the A button, although eventually this stopped.
One of the most aggressively annoying problems with the d-pad was how it wouldn't register pressing down properly, if you try making a quarter-circle motion from left or right. It actually made it very difficult to play some games, even things like Tetris as the Tetromino would fly off in the wrong direction whilst trying to drop the piece.
After the d-pad and face button mod, I don't get any such problems like this any longer.
The same membranes are being used, but where the buttons are solid, slightly taller as to be less flush fit, and marginally more narrow, everything is perfectly responsive.
As the d-pad is concerned the pivot is comfortable. It can take slightly more effort to do a quarter-circle motion than some other d-pads but it does register correctly.
I like to throw Tetris DX sessions at controllers or devices to see how they shape up, and these 3D printed buttons are absolutely up to the job.
I would've said that before the original d-pad was unacceptable. Whilst the new d-pad is not perfect, it's actually pretty great and more than adequate for my gaming needs.
The face buttons are also good, they are a little small but nothing I have any difficulty using in the heat of gaming.
I've seen that some people opt to enlarge the button holes and install larger face buttons, but simply having less flush-fit buttons is sufficient.