Fear the Mad Catz - The Worst Video Game Controllers Ever

Join us on the maddening odyssey of the most cruel controllers ever devised.
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0:00 Who Were Mad Catz?
4:51 Third Party Game Controllers
6:33 Mad Catz Control Pad (Sega Genesis)
9:17 Rise of Third Party Controllers
10:25 Mad Catz Controller (Nintendo 64)
15:14 Mad Catz Analog Steering Wheel (Nintendo 64)
18:13 Mad Catz Fazor Arcade-style Light Gun (PlayStation/Sega Saturn)
21:25 Mad Catz in Disguise
23:11 Mad Catz and the PlayStation 2
25:47 Mad Catz Official Gamepad 200 Series (PlayStation 2)
26:09 Mad Catz Dual Force 2 Pro MicroCON (PlayStation 2)
26:47 Mad Catz RetroCON (PlayStation 2)
27:34 Mad Catz Dual Force 2 Pro (PlayStation 2)
28:17 PlayStation 2 Gamepad Wrap-up
30:09 Mad Catz Beat Pad (PlayStation 2)
32:40 Mad Catz Handheld Racing Wheel Controller (PS/PS2)
33:32 Mad Catz Universal MC2 Racing Wheel and Pedals
37:38 Mad Catz Control Pad (XBOX)
38:35 Mad Catz Dream Pad (Sega Dreamcast)
41:16 Mad Catz Panther DC (Sega Dreamcast)
47:11 Mad Catz's Bad Reputation
49:15 Mad Catz GameCube Controller Roundup
50:25 Mad Catz's Bad Reputation Continued
51:38 Mad Catz Tries to Make Amends
54:01 Mad Catz Xbox 360 MicroCON & Arcade GameStick
55:26 Saitek Aviator (Xbox 360) & Damage Inc: Pacific Squadron WWII
57:30 Mad Catz M.O.J.O. Micro-Console for Android
58:57 Mad Catz L.Y.N.X. 9 Mobile Hybrid Controller
59:58 Mad Catz & Guitar Hero
1:02:18 Mad Catz & Rock Band
1:05:01 Mad Catz & Rock Band 4
1:08:28 The End of Mad Catz
1:08:58 Modern Third Party Controller Market
1:10:10 Mad Catz: A Rebirth
1:11:01 Outro
#gaming #gamingvideos #videogames #madcatz

[@zeldagameryt4018]

Anytime I hear Mad Catz I’m just reminded of that Scott the Woz video. “If you run into a building constructed by Mad Catz get the f out of there.”

[@tytbmbutterboi6664]

Sound advice from the Flingsmash man himself

[@PunakiviAddikti]

I think back to the Caddicarus PS1 accessory video

[@TheAzureNightmare]

They use Tofu Dregs construction??

[@KanawhaCountyWX]

This wasn't a life support machine, this was just a bread box

[@Crixer234]

they give these away with car stereos!

[@dontcallmechris8677]

“The controller brand for unloved brothers and sisters” -caddicarus

[@CHATNOCEDA]

Was that from the PS1 accessories video

[@Firitesen]

@@CHATNOCEDA it was

[@furrysourcecode9809]

They had a reason to give them to the friends, brothers and sisters so they can say they were gamers when the game was actually rigged. lol

[@chadlafrennie4065]

The controllers that let you know who the outsider of the friend group was....

[@Caun-88]

The controller for the friend of a friend (but not yours) who came along

[@richardpreston7333]

You may find yourself In a thrift store And you may find yourself Picking up a used Mad Catz controller And you may ask yourself "Well, how did I get here?"

[@chriskelly4299]

Same as it ever was

[@telophasemusic]

🎶letting the days go by 🎶

[@nateholt429]

Talking heads. Good one

[@kenterminateddq5311]

@@nateholt429 Aren't Talking Head canadian like Shane and Adam from Rerez?

[@Lauterec]

The only thing worse than a Mad Catz controller, is a used Mad Catz controller.

[@mtgpackrat7945]

I had a Mad Catz memory card for my PS1. 12 hours after playing Final Fantasy 7 the card failed and I lost my save data. It was soul crushing. I quickly learned trying to save that $6 on a memory card was just not worth the headache.

[@NeRo-uwu]

I got the same Mad Catz PS2 memory card shown in the video, plugged my PS2 back recently and luckily enough everything still works for me, guess i got the only functional one they ever made 🤣

[@carternance9386]

@@NeRo-uwu Wrong! There's 2 that work and we own them

[@NeRo-uwu]

@@carternance9386 awesome haha

[@bassdemolitia]

@@carternance9386 I had a 16mb MadCatz ps2 memory card and I'm 100% confident that if I found it, it would have ALL of the save data I put on it over 10 years. That thing was a monster.

[@krodmandoon3479]

I had one that just never worked, ever.

[@hackwrench5583]

I was at a GameStop when they had a Mad Catz promotion. Line of people at the counter, clerk picks up the phone. "Thank you for calling GameStop, the home of Mad Catz. Get a new controller for your console made with the same quality as an original PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo controller." We all started laughing at him until he cracks and tells us "Corporate makes us say that or we could be fired."

[@michaellittle7522]

Would've been my first thought. No one answers the phone like that at work willingly lol

[@ZeroHourProductions407]

Gamestop's tenure is like one big book at the Geneva convention. Allying with Mad Catz seems so predictable with the execs they had clowning around in there.

[@tristanhallmark2724]

Okay but the rat 8 mouse by madcatz was the single best computer mouse I've ever used. The day that it stopped working will go down in infamy

[@rickgreer7203]

Yeah.... I wasn't there for that, but did run a store early 2000's. Sucked that people really wanted the Kanomi light gun, Kanomi dance pad, etc -- they (when they were a generation old) just couldn't be had and the only options at any local store was the Mad Katz crap. But we tried to talk anyone that would listen into getting first party controllers...even used 1st party...many thought we were trying to upsell, not actually dangerously defying corporate. Would let them try used one's out on a trade-in to compare, etc. (But when you're a solid #1 ranked store and have negative shrink, you can get away with a little more...) That was back when employees could "check out" games to get familiar with them...makes sense. But that included PC games....seriously. I''m sure everyone un-installed those every time they brought one back and we re-sealed-and-shrinked it.... (this was just before all the codes/online reg became much more common -- those were obviously not allowed, but the codes were a huge theft target)

[@satisfied656]

Thank god i was never used to buy the cheap crap back in the 90´s

[@Caddynars]

Mad Catz: Official creator of that controller you give to your younger sibling that’s never plugged in.

[@TheOnlyTherazan]

It arguably does a better job that way, too!

[@fabiosonhandogrande1697]

​@@TheOnlyTherazanArguably? No, it *does*

[@adultmoshifan87]

I would never do that! I have before given my brother my NSO SNES pad when we played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on occasion, but that’s because: - that game CAN be played with the d-pad - ALL my Joy Cons were drifting at the time, so I wanted to save him the hassle

[@omegarugal9283]

works better that way

[@androidps1440]

Jeez

[@boletus2001]

You can't just leave out the part where Mad Catz stopping making the junk, went on to make high end accessories like arcade fightsticks, and those controllers are still revered to this day. Some of the best and most iconic fightsticks ever made.

[@DragonHiss4]

The contrast between my beat up Gamecube knockoff that repeatedly sent Shadow careening off a cliff and paused the game, and my TES+ that regularly turns heads when I pull it out, is just staggering.

[@5274jacob]

and gaming computer mice

[@ctudirector]

@@DragonHiss4 proof that they should have just made good products all the time

[@CSestp]

​​@@5274jacob I had a mad catz r.a.t. 9 and loved that mouse.

[@cactoidpinata]

This is absolutely true. I always hated MadCatz until I saw their fightsticks and the reviews for them. I have one, and it's excellent, with standard genuine Sanwa parts. It was absolutely worth mentioning how they turned their brand around, even if it was too late.

[@forgototherpassword]

Ah yes, Mad Catz racing wheels, for if you want to drive like you're in a sitcom.

[@rerez]

Crazy accurate description.

[@br0bie43]

All the madcatz controllers I've gotten as presents are awful. Except the wheel. It still sucked. Fischer price type cheap plastics, mushy buttons, but when i pulled it out of the closet after learning about assetto corsa it worked perfectly. Steering wasnt just a button press like in the video in gt4. Every axis worked. It still sucked, no one should buy one. But i got lucky ig lmao.

[@zyzzy-ko4ww]

That's disrespectful to sitcoms. You might as well be driving like Dingo Dog if you use such a racing wheel.

[@brianhull2407]

My parents made the mistake of buying a Mad Catz controller once. It was for the GameCube, and the control stick quickly lost the ability to respond to upwards inputs. They immediately realized that the money saved on per-controller costs did not make up for the increased costs of buying new controllers every few months, and they never made that mistake ever again.

[@furrysourcecode9809]

They seem to have terrible control sticks I hear gamers complain when they brought the sports version Xbox controllers when they looked like copies of dream cast controllers

[@ExtremeWreck]

I have a feeling that their control sticks were taken from crappy 3rd party C64/Amiga controllers from Europe.

[@furrysourcecode9809]

@ExtremeWreck when I took one apart with a joycon issue I noticed that white plastic was always broken right on the inside of the housing it snaps like a toothpick when played with too much. In fact found that issue with the series s controllers when it came to the top triggers as they have have these little toothpick size endings that are suppose to press on the buttons deep inside the unit instead of just having the actual buttons near those triggers

[@ExtremeWreck]

@@furrysourcecode9809 I guess that could be evidence of them being microcomputer controller imports?

[@furrysourcecode9809]

@@ExtremeWreck I eventually stopped using their controllers and started using this other brand back then called STD entertainment when I needed third party retro controllers that or I went to sega parts UK I still have one of their memory cards when it came to third party dreamcast stuff and the save file on that thing dates back to the 90s as well as two vhs tapes of game play where I picked up weird audio on cutscenes that came from some of those games. And I think mad catz had some action replay and code junkie accessories I also think they had a hand in some game stop branded controller as it looks very similar to one of those controllers In fact I thought they made that cyborg 7 keyboard that is now being price gouged by scalpers currently where some are selling that thing with missing parts, etc or just selling the keyboard with the missing command module pretty much the major thing that made it look cool

[@SW0000A]

I remember mad cats being the cheap controller people had for extra guests past the first 2 players because they didn't want to spend on a first party controller that would barely get used.

[@erjo2567]

They still broke even if you didn't use them.

[@drbeavis4211]

Yup, everyone had the Mad Cats controllers for guest. NGL I did occasionally use the 'turbo' feature on some games, but first party controllers were always better.

[@The_Obsessed]

I had a green mad cats controller for the Game Cube, worked surprisingly well. Genuinely seemed about on par with my regular controllers, it was my controller of choice simply because I liked green. Maybe I was just a gentle child but it lasted as well. Up until my GameCube got stolen, but still.

[@AfterAllWeAreHuman]

Yeah I had one that was good too.

[@utubepunk]

Someone at MadCatz didn't do their job.

[@mason4354]

The rattling plastic in the controller was a nice detail that i forgot about until now 😂

[@AdriaticTokoru]

1:01:18 and this. Would've been funny if he landed on his butt after he tripped.

[@zyzzy-ko4ww]

@@AdriaticTokoru Apparently, it ain't absurd enough that the MadCatz dance pad (used for for Dance Dance Revolution) is as phony as a three-dollar dill.

[@slippi2476]

first vibration function :D

[@heckssoda588]

Ah yes, the controller came standard with a pre-dislodged plastic threaded hole.

[@Martynde]

I feel like an AVGN style “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?” warrants for many entries here.

[@MrSkerpentine]

“hehehe let’s get money from unaware families” probably

[@Stevin20687]

@@MrSkerpentine The sad part is: chances are, that was what they were thinking.

[@notkimpine]

avgn did a episode covering the worst mobile game that fans pissed that this is not AVGN

[@ThunderDragonRandy]

Even though AVGN primarily reviews bad video games and sometimes bad gaming accessories, I'm surprised James hasn't done an AVGN video about Mad Catz controllers yet.

[@Horvath_Gabor]

@@ThunderDragonRandy Probably because there wouldn't be enough material. As shown here, their 16Bit era stuff was decent, which is the main niche of the AVGN videos. Also as shown here, most of their controllers were just "like the official one, but worse", and it's hard to make that entertaining... which was, honestly, kind of my issue with *this* video. I mean, I loved the personal anecdotes and the running gags and whatnot, but half of these were just "hey, here's a two decades old broken controller we bought off the internet, and guess what, it's old and broken".

[@obsessedwithguitars3157]

Had a Mad Catz steering wheel for my Sega Saturn. My dad put it best as we raced in Need For Speed, "it makes the cars feel like the steering columns are made of ropes."

[@MrSkerpentine]

I’ve actually seen a video before of a dude who replaced the steering wheel of his *actual car* with a rope system and I feel like it’s probably still more responsive somehow

[@nxx99]

@@MrSkerpentine damn

[@feelincrispy7053]

I also had a madcatz wheel with the dicky gear stick too!

[@furrysourcecode9809]

Road and tracks need for speed. Back when teens thought the nsx was cool. We had the dramcast one and that was when we got test dive 6. Our store with the saturn purchase also had a deal to get three free games in a three pack and I had got the one with sega rally, virtual cop 2 and daytona usa and even played as the horse which seemed to be the OP car lol

[@Kalvinjj]

@@furrysourcecode9809 Good taste teens still think the NSX is cool, specially the pop-up headlights one.

[@kineticturtle]

One important bit about the Mad Catz Rockband 3 controllers is that they were also MIDI controllers that musicians could use. Not super powerful, but that keytar controller was frequently available new for $20 or less! I used one for keyboard solos in my band for years, and still have it - works perfectly. Works with any of my synthesizers.

[@FTZPLTC]

IIRC the cast of Star Trek couldn't figure out how to hold phasers comfortably either, so it's kinda funny if they used that as a base.

[@ItsMeBarnaby]

MadCatz always was a head scratcher for me. All they had to do, all anyone wanted them to do, was make a bog standard but lower quality/cost version of the OEM controller. But they couldn't help themselves. They had to try to improve on perfect designs with the worst ideas imaginable. Nobody ever picked up a Playstation controller and said "you know what this needs? Ribbing, for nobody's pleasure". Nobody ever picked up an N64 controller and said "this isn't awkward enough to hold." But the mad lads at Mad Catz did.

[@eddythefool]

I feel like part of it might have been to avoid possible lawsuits since controller designs are owned by the console companies so if it's too similar to the original controller then it might open them to legal issues. For example, Nintendo had pattened the D-pad design from their NES controller, which is why all the consoles up until the Xbox One had inferior D-pads.

[@hwogrillo]

They did make a variety of pretty standard no frills controllers. But they weren't much better than when they tried something wacky. Something would just flat out stop functioning after a few weeks. I had a bunch of them. They really took the lower cost/lower quality motto to heart.

[@birdcrossing]

im mean.... i have violated a playstation controller

[@mcFreaki]

the funny thing is that they were capable of quality, they made some good arcade style fightsticks! they could do it! they just... didn't.

[@stevendobbins2826]

Their business model was going to OEMs in Hong Kong and Shenzhen and hiring the lowest bidders to handle the entire design and manufacture process while they just did the marketing and distributing.

[@LegendaryDorkKnight]

I just realized, since I grew up with a cheap mom who bought 3rd party peripherals, I might actually have been better at games than I thought.

[@Brazil144hopeful]

🤣 true

[@IRgEEK]

I had a wireless one with the grippy rubber for the GameCube and thought I was the sh*t. Now your comment has me wondering too 😛

[@probablyjinxed]

you playing on proper game hardwear is basically the equivalent of rock lee removing his weights lol.

[@annoythedonkey]

Ditto

[@jayive34]

Kinda like training with weights. Take them off (use a first party controller), and you'll be unstoppable.

[@kiwimaddog2020]

My brother and I have a long-running joke about the price of Mad Catz stock. They don’t really exist anymore so it’s like a fraction of a cent per share so sometimes I’ll bust out some pocket change and go “Wanna go buy Mad Catz?”

[@nugg3tmusic]

Underrated comment

[@chronomantiques]

This guy's voice is awesome, he even SOUNDS like he's from the 90s and I'm here for it

[@hitmangfx7162]

Important omission: Mad Catz was a driver of high quality fightsticks in the late 2000's and early 2010's. This shocked pretty much everyone when it happened. I remember buying the 360 Tournament Edition fightstick and thinking, "Wow, I've hated Mad Catz for almost 15 years and now I'm dropping $150 on this stick." They've held up well, although they've gotten some serious competition (I switched over to the Razer sticks in the PS4 era, but they resemble the 360/PS3 Mad Catz sticks). But yeah, it must be pointed out that Mad Catz did a great job destroying their reputation long before these became a thing.

[@WolfmanBrown]

Those Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition fight sticks were were awesome. I still use mine to this day.

[@GeebusCrust]

Solid construction, came with reputable parts, and highly modular. If only they hadn't spent the last decade plus.... just being absolute dogwater.

[@kaworuscott]

The MADCATZ Tournament Edition helped a whole new generation of fighting game players understand the wonder of Sanwa Denshi parts 👏

[@SeedSnatcher]

Nobody ever mentions this, the SE for $80 was an incredible deal. It wasn't genuine parts but unlike all the other cheap MadCatz alternatives it was actually great for the price. I got into arcade sticks because of it and haven't looked back since. The TE was a break from their usual MO because it used genuine Sanwa parts, the same things you'd find in a Japanese arcade cabinet. That opened the door for the other companies to come in. Razer used those same parts. According to an interview with MarkMan, it sounds like they lucked out a little. Another employee saw him and his friend playing fighting games on custom sticks at lunch and they passed the idea upstairs from there. Lines up with their rehabilitation era.

[@boateye]

I was assuming Rerez wouldn't mention this, because this is my experience, too, so I'm glad someone else did. I use my TE2+ stick to this day and I love it!

[@mymomsaysimcool9650]

My children never knew the disappointment of madcatz. Because I went through it with N64. They’d see the wild packages and shapes, I saw the MC logo. No kids, we’re getting the OFFICIAL controller. I taught them “you get what you pay for “.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Interestingly is one of my worst disappointments with an "official" controller. The Xbox 360 controller with transforming dpad to be precise. You could turn it and get a cross instead of a disk thanks to some internal construction magic. Sadly it's still garbage because the underlying design is simply bad.

[@popg21-the-epic51]

I never had the misfortune of getting a madcatz controller but if I was your child you would be my main role model

[@darknessblades]

I would have told them, We can get that one, but its BAD so don't complain later.

[@ruubelegant]

Good parenting 😂

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

Obviously stay away from Mad Catz, but if you still play N64 stuff, I'd recommend an Ultra Racer 64, obviously only if you play racing games (though trying to beat Smash Bros with it is silly fun!)

[@DeadBaron]

"huh that Android controller doesn't seem bad, I know some games I could try with it- THREE HUNDRED BUCKS?!"

[@tygenes]

my thoughts exactly, looks neat but JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!?

[@Jazzypants2007]

Plot twist - Adam was the friend who offered Shane the Mad Catz controller to play Mario Kart 64. :P

[@WhoJustStoleMyName]

No sheit.

[@WildKat25]

My mom didn't play video games or know much about consoles in general. But, she understood the idea that third party accessories weren't always the best choice (example camera parts, nerf guns, etc). So she always bought us official Nintendo/Sega/Playstation/Wii/etc accessories for the console my Dad and I played. I'm really glad that despite not knowing anything about what she was buying for us, she trusted her gut that the sales person in the electronics section didn't know what they were talking about and were just trying to up-sell her with junk.

[@microArc]

i just think it's funny that third party nerf blasters generally outperform genuine nerf blasters these days

[@WildKat25]

@@microArc Now they do, but back when they were first released, the third-party stuff sucked. I never played Nerf, but I had friends that did. So my mom would overhear us talk about so-and-so's third party nerf gun and how much it sucks. My mom tended to eavesdrop quite a bit, but it was more for information gathering than to really snoop on us.

[@nate6045]

Your mom is legendary. Never put her in a nursing home. That's third party housing. She deserves first/second party housing for recognizing the need for first party equipment.

[@WildKat25]

@@nate6045 I know, right? Lol

[@utubepunk]

Go mom! We stan 1st party moms!

[@teriases]

Now imagine if someone used a Mad Catz controller to pilot a sub 💀

[@jordanthejq12]

It wouldn't be as funny. Logitech didn't have QUITE the toilet reputation MadCatz does. Or maybe that makes it funnier.

[@IcyTorment]

There was some project where they used an game controller on a U.S. sub. They stuck with official Xbox controllers from Microsoft, though.

[@johnmcshane4463]

Honestly, it probably would save lives because the sub would never make it to the water before the controller broke.

[@Jason_Voorhees.]

😂😂😂

[@tasty8186]

In my house the rule was that guests got the good controllers and I had to use the worst one. But then you'd go over to that same friend's house and be saddled with the dodgy 3rd party controller lol

[@caliberaid8527]

That's a weird rule tbh. When I played wind waker I used my silver original controller, and when we got more controllers to play double dash and melee, we got +2 nintendo controllers and one madcatz controller, the small transparent one with the rubber side pieces on the palm handles and as a kid it fit my hands perfectly I preferred it over the larger genuine controller. The madcatz controller never broke on us, I still have my madcatz GCN memory card It's transparent blueish-grey.

[@gnbman]

Weirdly enough, I still have that exact gray GameCube memory card, and it still works. Somehow. It still has all my childhood game saves on it.

[@steverye8872]

Mine lasted until 2019, so you may want to save those saves. I lost my Windwaker, Enter the Matrix, an almost complete run of Viewtiful Joe (No small task as you may know) RE4 and REmake files and it nearly broke me.

[@gnbman]

@@steverye8872 The only ones I'm really worried about losing are my Chao gardens from Sonic Adventure DX, but you have a good point.

[@TheZoraman]

@@gnbman I recently backed up my gamecube animal crossing saves. It's pretty easy to install homebrew software on the wii and load gamecube saves onto the SD card. I know they also make SD to memory card adapters but I've never used them.

[@gnbman]

@@TheZoraman I would rather transfer them to my PC and access them through Dolphin. I don't know how complicated that is, though. Or is that what you were getting at?

[@TheZoraman]

@@gnbman When I moved my saves from my game cube memory card to my SD card, they were saved in a format that dolphin understood. Dolphin was able to read the saves just fine.

[@TheKorfish]

The fact Madcatz lasted until 2017 truly amazes me.

[@jakel2837]

They had a deal with Gamestop that kept their inventory In circulation even if no one bought it. Basically Gamestop bought their trash, no one bought it, then it went in the trash. Bad for Gamestop which was failing anyway, but Mad Catz made a profit as long as the inventory went to a store. They never got a foothold on Amazon because their brand name was only associated with poor quality by then, and there were hundreds of Chinese manufacturers that flooded the market with 3rd party controllers at or above Mad Katz quality.

[@SykoFox]

their main thing for a while was fightsticks, which they did very well at. they sponsored a bunch of fighting game players.

[@EbonMaster]

Carried by the Fighting Game Community and Guitar Hero lol

[@2handsome398]

Their pc gaming peripherals were actually decent, that's probably the only thing that kept them afloat.

[@themagitechie9955]

@@2handsome398 And their memory cards were great too. I still have a 16 Gigabyte Gamecube memory card my siblings and I pooled our money for back in the day. it never gave us any problems at all. (16 gigs was WAY more space than any official memory card, if you want to know what we needed that much space for, we had Amazing Island, 'nuff said)

[@absolutesadlad2297]

the duality of Mad Catz having great Fightsticks but then dog water controllers has always been so strange to me

[@Katastrophe9009]

Most likely same parent company (Mad Catz) but a more competent company actually makes the product, similar to how they bought Saitek and now there are actually decent flight sticks out there with Mad Catz branding.

[@MB-qt3fo]

​@Katastrophe9009 Mad Catz actually made the FightSticks. I worked for Mad Catz for 11 years. I used to talk to all of the upset customers 😂

[@ZeChef9000]

Fr tho

[@naes412]

They hired MarkMan23 from the FGC as a consultant and he actually is passionate about arcade sticks and essentially made them use good parts and solid design iirc

[@MB-qt3fo]

@@naes412 MarkMan was actually hired to work in the Tech Support department before the FightSticks were around.

[@Trainfan1055Janathan]

When I was a kid, we called MadCatz controllers "The _Bad_ Controllers." "No fair! You're only winning because I have 'The _Bad_ Controller!' "

[@KittyKatty999]

I got an unofficial PlayStation 4 controller to connect to my laptop for my birthday, from a game shop. *It wouldn't even charge, no matter what I tried.* And my laptop called it a storage debice, instead of a controller. It doesn't have Mat Catz writting on it, but it is a complete rip off.

[@TheBeginnerviolin]

Whats baffling is they make good arcade sticks used by pros, But they cant make decent controller

[@AngelHalo017]

I remember they had an official stick for Killer Instinct for the Xbox One, which at that time cost almost as much as the console!

[@vidmastereon]

Arcade stick manufacturers will often use buttons and sticks from specialty companies like sanwa instead of making them in house which would explain the noticeable difference in build quality

[@Robb1977]

I had a madcatz 360 controller that was just a slimmer, slightly pointier version of the regular one and it was my favorite. Edit: It looked like the microcon one, but wasnt as small, nor did it have those black ridges. I think I preferred it to the original because it was wired unlike the original.

[@milkymilk53]

Because arcade sticks are easy, just a few buttons and a dpad. Kinda hard to screw up. And they don't really move. You just need a hard shell, a motherboard and some buttons

[@TheBeginnerviolin]

@@milkymilk53 controllers are not complicated either, They are the same thing, buttons on a board. And controllers back then are not as complicated compared today, no touch pad, no sensors etc.

[@warbossgegguz679]

It's a weird time where nowadays a lot of 3rd party manufacturers like 8bitdo, Gulikit, Hori, RetroFighter, etc. all make controllers that are arguably better than what the 1st party manufacturers put out (especially in regards to Joycons and pro-controllers) but the stink left behind by Mad Catz and other 3rd party trash from the 2000s still convinces people to pay $70+ for 1st party controllers that are actually less durable and useful than 3rd party offerings. In other words: Mad Catz ruined the reputation of 3rd party peripherals for an entire generation. That's almost impressive.

[@vtubersubs3803]

Interesting. I wasn't aware that modern 3rd party stuff was considered decent nowadays. I've definitely stayed away from them as the ones I used in the past (at least two of them were MadCatz, maybe more) all died within a month.

[@BloodRedFox2008]

Got myself an 8bitdo mainly for PC gaming (primarily for older PC games that play more smoothly with a game pad instead of the keyboard) and I love it. Nice high quality controller, and the companion app actually came in handy for remapping in some select games that joytokey was a bit finicky with.

[@MultiCool55]

I have a PowerA wired Xbox controller for my PC, and aside from the sticks feeling a little cheaper, it's pretty much identical to an actual Xbox controller.

[@user-me8hc3bs7i]

You’re not wrong. I instinctively assume some random Chinese amalgamation of letters for a brand will be junk. I personally blame all the amazon knockoffs of literally everything now. I’ve never felt third party molded plastic products that actually felt nice. I will say, I miss the turbo buttons for cheating better.

[@robertwhite6384]

@@vtubersubs3803 Still a mixed bag. Some are really good, some are still crap.

[@Owen-zm6sq]

No mention of their Fightsticks and Markman is kinda criminal, they got directly involved with an FGC member and made some of the best controllers from 2009 to 2016, and helped popularize Japanese arcade parts in the west. They didn't take *only* Ls

[@someguy5319]

yep, he avoided some of their good controllers throughout the years. he clearly painted a very biased negative picture with none of the positives lol

[@EarlFaulk]

@@someguy5319 Probably because that was the norm with mad catz. They only got better because they bought their way in with saitek. No effort on their part at all thats why they never bothered to mention them probably

[@Lesardah]

I will never.... EVER forgive MadCatz and their AWFUL PS1 Memory Card for destroying my FF8 save. NEVER.

[@ExiledWolf84]

Uhg, these controllers were always the ones that you would get when you asked for a second controller for Christmas, because you parents didn't know the difference!

[@rossjohnstone4689]

That's what bootleg game companies and bad games prey on and it unfortunately does work.

[@samsilverman8579]

This makes sense and I will explain through a story Imagine you are a parent your kid is bringing one of their friends over to play video games you make some good old pb&js and soon a ring at the door both kids sit down to play but oh no you bought the console which only came with one controller so before both kids started running around destroying the house you say "don't worry I will go to the store and buy another one" you grab your keys and your wallet and go to best buy,k-mart or Walmart what ever one and go to the controller section now you think you know which one to buy from how it looks and you buy one for a very cheap price you drive home and give it to them before you go do something else never knowing you bought the wrong one

[@furrysourcecode9809]

They would buy those due to being cheaper and then move on to buying socks, tooth paste and deodorant unless it was the cool grandparents

[@patrickriarchy6054]

Your parent knew they were just cheaper than the official ones.

[@adultmoshifan87]

When my New Nintendo 3DS broke last year (I only recently discovered the CPU cracked after it fells out of my pocket!), my Dad ordered me "another white 3DS", clearly not knowing the difference, but I could tell from the order form he ordered me an original model system! I told him "Wrong model!" and Mom asked me "Isn't it good enough?" and I just got mad! I am sick of having to educate my folks OVER AND OVER on the differences of different consoles! I did get another New 3DS but its screen has a slight blue tint and the volume slider is stiff! Still, after the repair shop told me the CPU in my original system was cracked, I could still ask Nintendo to let me transfer my NNID to the replacement system (I was able to get the broken system's serial number from parental controls e-mails as I've been an uncle since October 2020) and I got my eShop purchases back! And before the recent shutdown! You know a good place to get replacement NN3DS screens? I don't mind whether they're IPS or not, I only care about whether or not the colors display correctly! Also, don't get me started on dead pixels! Thanks

[@fusionspace175]

MadCatz was how you knew how your friends REALLY felt about you. Who got what controller was often a hotly debated topic, especially if competition was involved. And more than just not bundling, often you could not find any first party controllers for new systems, and there was no internet to buy from quite yet, you were stuck with what you found by hand. "Well, I got two real ones, this knockoff, and this one's missing a button." Pause "Um, ok, well which button is it missing?"

[@UtushoReiuji]

I was able to use reverse psychology in my own group because the worst controller made this godawful squeaky noise if you pressed it just right, and instead of playing a game properly, I had more fun just making obnoxious noises with my controller until they took it away from me and gave me a proper one to play with.

[@BrinIoca]

I used a wavebird and gave my friend a wired first party GameCube Controller. Probably the kindest thing I could ever do.

[@spxke_94]

@@UtushoReiuji😂😂😂

[@Hijiri_MIRACHION]

@@UtushoReiuji That's one way to make sure you don't get a knockoff controller, just make them regret giving it to you in the first place.

[@TheBasedNinja]

madcatz was the gold standard for arcade fight sticks right up until they went out of business. it was like the one thing they did correctly.

[@Nougatbars]

WAIT A SECOND?! Is *that* why that GameStop controller I had was bad?!

[@thebigdawgj]

I don't know what controller it was, but yes.

[@RunsWithKniefs]

Only fighting game people will die on a hill for madcatz because they imported japanese parts for the SF4 TE sticks.

[@RusticRonnie]

I looked up the modern stuff, apparently the RAT 8 is a good mouse especially if you like macros. But it may not have reached the gaming audience it wanted

[@masonasaro2118]

@@RusticRonnie???

[@ryancampbell8645]

Was looking for this comment! The official arcade fightsticks they made for SF IV/V were legit!

[@mug5156]

Madcatz TE sticks were incredibly but from what i remember modern madcatz sticks suck balls

[@toodreammy]

No I bought one and it’s broken

[@bigredradish]

the scary thing is that they made VERY good arcade sticks for fighting games but EVERYTHING else was total dogshit. i genuinely swore by madcatz fight sticks for a long while, it's crazy

[@The73MPL4R]

I had one of their GameCube memory cards and it was pretty good, but I guess it's also pretty hard to screw up a memory card

[@FZRBrawler]

@@The73MPL4R you say that but mine broke after like a year of use and was just needing to be formatted at random so much after that that the family just trashed the thing was stuck piggy backing off the 8 remaining blocks of the other memory card because the other 51 blocks of the 59 were taken up by a single game of my dad's

[@PizzamonkeyFGC]

Me still using my SFV shadaloo stick after all these years, they really locked in for them and nothing else

[@bigredradish]

@@PizzamonkeyFGC honestly I think half of it is that it was mostly sanwa parts, they just put them in a box. it's the opposite of a trojan horse

[@RettMikhal]

Heroin truly doesn't pay for itself. - MadCatz CEO, presumably.

[@blknmild]

I can confirm the abomination that was Mad Catz controllers. I grew up too broke to convince my mom to get OFFICIAL controllers for Dreamcast, ps1 or N64. I was lucky enough to get the systems on Lay-a-way. Those Crappy $9 Mad Catz controllers were on sale because sane people knew to avoid them but they where my only choice. GOD I hate them....

[@Nickinator811]

oh man, I'm sorry bro

[@videogameobsession]

The Madkatz MIDI keyboard controllers for Rock Band 3 are actually excellent quality. I still use mine. And BTW, those old RB3 and RB4 controllers are not worthless, they are shooting up in value thanks to Harmonix's addition to Fortnite. Also, 1.2 million sales of RB3 isn't too shabby. They knew the genre was cut way back (thanks to Activision flooding the market with eleven Rock Band titles in just two years!). There is still a dedicated base of people playing RB4, and I commend them for allowing most of the old peripherals to work on the PS4/PS5. Along with allowing you to import nearly all of your precious Rock Band 1-3 music tracks. (The songs included on the main three releases discs required a $9.99 license fee, but that allowed you to move nearly 80 songs, so it was more than fair). Anyway, some of this is off topic. I do think that the rhythm game genre will make a big comeback. It's all cyclical. People will feel nostalgic about it, and some companies will be there to bring it back.

[@ItsJustTrevor]

The only Mad Catz controller I ever bought was for the PS2. The left analog stick broke on DAY ONE

[@raafmaat]

my mad catz for ps2 (also works on my ps1) is still working to this day! it used to be horrible, but after a few years the sticks and buttons have worn down alot and they now require almost zero force to push or move around, it feels horrible at first, but for certain games it is actually preferable over a real one lol

[@synaesthesia2010]

i've had my fair share of shitty controller. the only time i took one back the same day wasn't mad catz though. i can't remember the brand but it was for the PS1 and banana shaped, the d-pad was tarocious, trying to play any beat em up was a nightmare with it

[@powerpuffboy901]

Cue the controller being thrown into the trash

[@SataniaMcDowel]

I have one for the GameCube It's fallen apart but it all works still 😊😅

[@SEiMEi_EXiSTS]

Your left analog stick was just like most Triple A games nowadays! 😂

[@MrMoorkey]

Ah, yes, MadKatz. Pioneers of: - Transparent controllers for...reasons. - Pinpoint accurate military strength LED lights that point directly at your eyes. - That one piece of random debris that rattles around inside a controller. - TURBO buttons ten years after consoles stopped needing them. - SLO-MO buttons that, for some reason, turbo-pressed the pause button. (...and yes, I had a MadKatz Real Wheel for the PS1. It was craptacular.)

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

yeah, that is how slomo works. You keep pausing and unpausing the game. Because while it's paused, it doesn't move forward.

[@furrysourcecode9809]

I remeber those neon controllers in fact i recall the "airflow" controllers that required a second connection to work. And also the afterglow. One guy who hated those didnt tknow that he brought one for his xbox and shorted it out thinking the usb port was something to charge it via a quick charger. Seen many things that should not be happening in housecalls in fact I even found out that someone tried to wash an entire toaster in the sink as the call was about a toaster that was smoking badly. When I heard "i tried to wash it under the sink" and also when he said he was going to add water to a vaccuum cleaner as he thought that was a wet vac after I left I went right to that buildings landlord and gave them a heads up.

[@MeepChangeling]

1. Transparent platic is cheeper (the pigment costs money, and some colors cost a LOT. This is also why most modern cars come in black, white, and silver. The other colors cost like 50 more bucks.) 2. Those used to be like, cool. To boomers. Because blue LEDs were a huge problem and used to be a sign of something being very expensive. It's like how we had that whole "everything is Jello now" period of cooking in the US. Before Jello, gelatin dishes were for rich people, suddenly they were cheep. See? 3. This is just good old fashioned Chineese Manufacturing :D 4. There's no real excuse for this one. 5. I mean, it did, technically, allow for the same effect as slowmo... Bit of a hack but, if it works...

[@eightcoins4401]

@@MeepChangeling Transparent plastic looks cooler

[@VraerynDaDragon]

I'll be the first to say we need more transparent controllers on the market these days, I like the translucent effect and seeing he PCB. But that's probably the only thing they did even remotely right, or perhaps harmless I should say.

[@therealdjap]

I have watched several of your videos before. This one in particular hit me in the feels. I have never used that phrase before this. I want to send you and your beautiful family some love. Respect!

[@SProductions166]

dude after 30 minutes I got the jist and was done watching mentally, I need to get back to work. BUT THE AMOUNT OF WORK you put in for this video? Im finishing it and subbing. You're the hero gothem needs.

[@rush1er]

It's not a scam. Now u gotta buy another Mad Catz controller. That's 2 for the price of 2! MREHH!

[@furrysourcecode9809]

At the time it was cheaper to buy another control that is if they needed it on the same day. And some of these consoles want the offical controller in order to program the third party as I found out when I had a ps3 and ps4 the controller would not work without the official controller. Pawn shops were selling those for the price of an official controller.

[@jayangek3532]

i like how the controllers are dogsht but somehow they made some of the best gaming mouses around

[@SewerTapes]

My dad liked playing GoldenEye with me and my friends, but he also kept breaking N64 controllers. He just had very strong hands and no restraint when it came to the sensitive buttons and sticks. It was all or nothing, full force throttle and mash. After obliterating two first party controls, we started getting him cheap used Mad Catz replacements. Even that ended up being too expensive to just keep replacing, and many had to be rigged to get more life out of them. He smashed the trigger of one so badly the broken spring and plastic inside just made crunching noises and rarely registered the input. I took it apart, cleared out the broken crap, and put it back together with a small screw through the springless floppy trigger that could hit the contact. This video brought back so many memories I hadn't thought about in almost 30 years.

[@Romanticoutlaw]

when your dad's the incredible hulk

[@SewerTapes]

@@Romanticoutlaw LOL. He beat the sh!t out of those things.

[@Ferrochrome12]

you dad should stop throwing controllers.

[@SewerTapes]

@@Ferrochrome12 He never threw one. All broken by forces applied during "normal" play.

[@TonkyTronicus]

Madcatz: loved by the FGC, hated by everyone else.

[@yikes6758]

Anyone at all into fighting games might have a slightly different impression of Mad Catz! For a long time (probably since around the height of Street Fighter 4 around 2011 until their bankruptcy) they were known for making rock-solid fighting game arcade sticks; I still have one that I use from time to time, though I've more recently switched to a qanba obsidian. Mad Catz fight sticks were pretty well regarded and recommended until they went bankrupt, after which they became impossible to buy firsthand and most people don't sell sticks in the secondhand market, so they mostly faded away. But you could definitely see even top level FGC members using them for a while. Admittedly, this could be in part due to the standardization of Sanwa stick parts found in *most* arcade sticks, where the stick manufacturer themselves were mostly responsible for manufacturing the case and certain proprietary hardware. But Mad Catz sticks were sturdy and reliable nonetheless, and choosing to outsource the more sensitive hardware ended up being a great choice for them and consumers, as those parts are easily repaired and replaced (and people LOVE customizing their fightsticks, the same way people love RGB gaming PC hardware).

[@Kreezil]

I have a MvC3 tournament edition stick and this thing still is amazing.

[@slamshift6927]

The irony is my friends hated me in Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 on Dreamcast specifically because *I* used the Madcatz controller. Having an extra two face buttons meant I could weapon swap and jump without having to play thumb gymnastics~

[@johnmickey5017]

The DC had one of the worst-designed controllers in history. (Not in durability, but functions and layout) It’s damning that Mad Catz was worth the trade-offs.

[@slamshift6927]

@@johnmickey5017 The DC pad isn't bad, just lacking buttons. When the fucking Saturn 3D pad was a better option...

[@johnmickey5017]

For a major console, I’d consider it one of the worst - fewer buttons than its predecessors, the N64 or PS1, and its own immediate prior gen, the Sega Saturn. Tiny dpad in a terrible location. A single analog stick. The cord comes out of the wrong end… Good analog triggers, super responsive and reliable, but not suited for the generation of games it was delivering.

[@slamshift6927]

@@johnmickey5017 I would only consider it "the worst" if it didn't work for the games on the system. Which games made specifically for Dreamcast worked just fine, so... cope and seethe?

[@SianaGearz]

@@johnmickey5017 The Dreamcast original pad has some massive advantages and some drawbacks. One is that the stick is long throw, very high precision, and long term durable like nothing else. It also hints you into 8 principal directions by modulating the return force, which to me was helpful since on PS2 pad i couldn't get a feel to which way i was pushing, but on Dreamcast i didn't have issues within a short time. But you need to push it down to overcome return force modulation and achieve precision, which is a drawback if you switch to other controllers. Octagonal external gate like on Gamecube would have potentially been better than force modulation. The stick cap also tended to etch itself into your thumb with sharp protrusions. The other advantage is that it's insanely comfy to hold due to shape and slim wings, at least when you don't need the D-pad, and the controls are close to the edge, good for my little hands. There hasn't been something so comfortable to hold before or since i think. The long throw precision triggers were revolutionary as well, advantage for racing games, drawback for most things else. There isn't much good that could be said about the D-Pad, it's clearly an afterthought, it's quite uneven side to side. Lack of second stick and two extra buttons, which were electronically foreseen but not implemeneted, is a hindsight drawback, like it wasn't a problem in 1999 but it would be one in 2001, but also i can't think of where they could place the second stick comfortably without ruining the controller. Though i feel they were probably going to redesign it and issue a dual stick one if they continued manufacturing the console past 2001. Cord? Who cares where it comes out of? There is a retention clip for it behind the rumble pack socket if you feel it's wrong. To me bottom cord has been good though.

[@hackwrench5583]

Kid: Points at new, first party controller. Mom: Starts eyeing up the cheaper Mad Catz controllers, thinks that she's getting a deal.

[@CErra310]

I get a weird feeling in my stomach when I remember how, for as long as videogames have existed, it has been an industry of locusta getting rich on the naivity of well-meaning people

[@zzygyy]

Let the friends play with the crap controller.... they don't like it, they can buy their own hahaha.

[@maybeitsyou1317]

@@CErra310 It's jealousy. Now enjoy being poor but morally righteous.

[@TheEpikdoom]

That's also just how people are when they see cheap things in general. They assume they're getting a deal because it costs less, when sometimes it costs less because it's not quality.

[@iceink]

the mom just cares it shuts the kid up for the least price

[@MrOakridge]

My parents pretty much exclusively bought off-brand controllers for me when I was a kid. Not a single one of the GameCube ones lasted a year without breaking and becoming unusable. Now as an adult, because of this, I have my GameCube and no controllers.

[@Augrills]

WaveBird controllers for GameCube were sick, though

[@GLakesDivingCompany]

Great video brother I appreciate your hard work in research and getting examples of Mad Catz junk. I was that kid with the crappy MC N64 controller lol

[@PunakiviAddikti]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="928">15:28</a> "They look like they run around supermarkets and unpeel bananas" _-Caddy_

[@RobertoFornaro]

Probably one of the funniest lines spoke by a human being

[@MrSkerpentine]

My brain just goes to the supermarket scene from Fatal Deviation

[@CHATNOCEDA]

Remind me again what video that was from

[@MrSkerpentine]

@@CHATNOCEDA PS1 accessories

[@exocolt15]

I was hoping another Caddy fan would be here 😂😂

[@angelshade]

I'm from Croatia, controllers like these were just a drop in the ocean since the bootlegs and copies were prevalent on the Balkans in the 90s and 2000s , few people could afford the original hardware. But this brought in a very unique thing to this story. Do you know what we would do with the Black Cats and various copy and shoddy bootleg controllers? We'd fix em Yup, we'd open em up, and either mess with the parts or remodel them to get the stuff to work properly. Because most of these things had issues due to cheap or shoddy production you could get most of them to work semi-reliably with a little bit of tinkering. Why bother? Well, it's the most that you could afford. When you don't have the money to buy the original hardware and there aren't even any game stores to begin with, you get what you can and then make it work by any means at your disposal.

[@jtm-inc2912]

You, my friend, are a saint!

[@ItsDaJax]

Nah, that makes sense. You make do with what you have, or make do without. Some places be like that.

[@ItsDaJax]

Nah, sometimes you gotta make do with what you got, or make do with out.

[@TheOriginalDuckley]

@@ItsDaJaxwhat’re you saying “Nah” to?

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

I could see it working with the metal and electronic components, but I imagine the cheap plastic they used was something you just had to live with.

[@Bamfhammer]

Spending an hour to educate kids about how awful 3rd party game controllers were in the 90s is doing us elder gamers a huge favor. Now when I need to justify buying only 1st party controllers and crapping on whatever the hell scuff is because it is not 1st party, I will just make my kids watch this for an hour. It's screens, so they will watch it.

[@donaldmarcato7003]

The ultimate disrespect of the GameCube era was rolling up on your friends with your own personal MadCatz controller and absolutely liquefying them in Melee or Double Dash 😈

[@Groundhog262]

Mad Catz ruled the fight stick world during the Street fighter 4 days. They made really good quality sticks. You still see them today.

[@F40PH-2CAT]

They were designed by Saitek. Watch the video.

[@Jude_Zilla]

@@F40PH-2CAT read the comment again. you're talking about a Flight sim controller, he was talking about an Arcade stick for street fighter that everyone still uses today. (i still use mine after 10+ years) it's very sturdy and definitely set the bar for Stick manufacturers. Saitek is a FLIGHT sim manufacturer, not a stick manufacturer.

[@D3Vlicious]

@@F40PH-2CAT No they were not. Not the fight sticks. These were designed in house by a number of fighting game players who were actually working in the company, plus input from Capcom, and contained the actual hardware used in arcade cabinets in Japan.

[@Deathtank75]

I was gonna say the same, the fighting sticks are really good!

[@AshleyWilliamsN7]

Their 6 button fight pads were the best way for 360 owners to actually play the game without getting curb stomped because they had a decent D-pad.

[@customizablemilk353]

madcatz did make...uh... 1.5 good products: - the arcade sticks (TE 1 and 2) around 2012ish when ultra street fighter 4 was hot - the mouse R.A.T. (this one is only worth a 0.5 because the scroll wheel always broke after aprox. 2 years of use)

[@ziggyq6712]

Bro the Street Fighter X Tekken stick was god like and the TE2+ where you could pop the trunk on your stick, they were truly kings

[@melancholoid]

Awesome Vid! Thank You very much for Your Work! Greetings from Germany

[@dstroyer11YT]

I made a comment earlier "praising" the Mad Catz memory cards, and I now know it's an absolute miracle that my Mad Catz memory card is still working fine, 20 years later.

[@MegaDoomdoomDoom]

My one and only memory of Mad Catz was buying one for our PS2 when our second official controller broke. After 1 day of owning it, my friend and I try to play Tony Hawk’s Underground 2. But the menu wouldn’t stop moving to the left. We couldn’t figure it out until I heard the Mad Catz controller, which was plugged into the 2nd controller slot, violently vibrating. So I unplugged it. The menu stopped moving. I plugged it back in. The menu started moving to the left again. That’s how we figured out the analog stick on that one broken

[@askaykeeners8712]

bruh no way same happened to me and my little brother after that we begged our parents to get us a new one and begged harder for it to be a official sony one lmao

[@avoidthevo1d]

The thing is, their arcade sticks were incredible during the PS3 and even the PS4 era with the legendary Madcatz TE2+, and right after they released those amazing cotrollers used by fighting game players the company just basically died

[@Horvath_Gabor]

Probably because, compared to the larger gamer demographic, fighting game players are a tiny segment. Fighting game enthusiasts invested enough to get specialist controllers are an even smaller segment of that segment. MadCatz might've made some really good controllers for that niche, but they were a big company, and those sales could hardly keep them afloat when the rest of their portfolio ranged from unreliable to downright bad, with a rather negative reputation that went back decades.

[@davose8756]

Yea thanks to Marc man working with them to make those

[@GenericSoda]

@@Horvath_Gabor I think it still does them an immense disservice to not even touch upon it here.

[@jamesdwhite873]

The arcade sticks were a big part of the mad Catz brand. They had so many SKUs at the release of SFIV. I loved my Mc arcade stick.

[@karbin89]

Yep had good times with the PS3 fight stick.

[@robotdude2206]

There is only one single Mad Catz product I will praise them for making. Back when the Game Boy Advance was the current Nintendo handheld, they made a Game Boy connector cable that had a toggle switch to make it work for both Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color systems. The cable even had a port to allow another cable to be connected for the rare 3- or 4-player games that were out there. I'm pretty sure the cords were longer than the official ones too. It worked perfectly as intended. I have zero complaints about it.

[@MostTemporaryOfThemAll]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="280">4:40</a> exactly where a mad catz controller belongs

[@heroteen16]

Wild that within the fighting game community, Madcatz was the first company to bring actually good Fightsticks to the market in the west, just in time for the western release of Street Fighter 4.

[@royalecq]

Still have a SSF4 TES+ working perfectly fine in 2024, their fightsticks were really good back in the day.

[@jordanhickman6381]

Literally came here to see if anyone frome the fgc was commenting lol

[@shortboypinoy]

The fight sticks kept Madcatz alive for several years and was undoubtedly their best products

[@jcags]

Indeed, they also made a decent gamepad with ghost recon branding.

[@s3ctor12]

I slid straight to the comments to see if anyone was defending the TE’s honor 🫡

[@StikAnimationsYT]

My OG GameCube controller stick broke in 2006, and I was in the market to get a new one for Christmas so I could play more of The Sims 2. Instead of waiting til Christmas, my 9th birthday rolls around and I got a new controller with the dreaded Mad Catz name on it. I thought nothing of it.. Until I plugged it in and immediately realized I made a huge financial mistake.

[@PrimeusArbiter]

Stik, what are YOU doing here.

[@ziggyq6712]

Man it really really sucks seeing a Mad Catz video without talking about fighting games. They were a dominant force in fighting games. They were the first major company to sell quality arcade stick controllers with Japanese Sanwa parts, made specifically for competitive play. The Mad Catz tournament edition, te2, te2+ and fight stick pro were legendary sticks. I remember the pain I felt when they went out of business. It was really the only market where they were out playing Hori when it came to quality. I still love my madcatz sticks. They were also super involved in the community, sponsored small and large events. The new “Mad Catz” team doesn’t have the same arcade stick teams, and their current arcade stick line up is just rebranded sticks with much lower quality and the software on the sticks require a controller pass though, which is just awful. RIP to the real Mad Catz, everyone else hated you guys, but you were kings in the FGC 👑

[@exiaR2x78]

I never had any Madcatz controllers growing up and neither did any of my friends, my first exposure to Madcatz controllers were their arcade sticks and fight pads during the Street Fighter 4 era. Those were really high quality so I always found it interesting how Madcatz had a really bad reputation haha.

[@digitalcatcher]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="64">1:04</a>:12 Activision's role in the rhythm game fatigue by forcing Neversoft to release multiple Guitar Hero games in two years should also be brought up here.

[@johnmickey5017]

No one needed a specific Van Halen release with that ugly as heck GH3 character design. But they made it happen.

[@BioCybergoth]

because money.

[@lacriaturadekentucky]

Activision killed both peripheral-based rhythm games, _and_ Neversoft, in one fell swoop? Damn, now I have more reason to hate them, (For the Neversoft thing, at least.)

[@Jlaps941]

Not even two years, 2009 alone had GH Metallica, GH Smash Hits, Band Hero, GH5, DJ Hero, and GH Van Halen. 6 games in one year!

[@user-wg6ej4zu2i]

And now the people who made Rock Band are all part of Epic Games. So...Mad Catz Fortnite controller? 😂

[@ThomasFarmer21]

I'll never forgive my Mad Catz GameCube Memory Card for dying with my Sonic Adventure DX save

[@viscountrainbows2857]

Playing Big The Cat levels on MadCatz controllers: 😐😒 Your Big The Cat save data being destroyed by a MadCatz memory card: 🤬🤬

[@wanavacoa]

Really? I still have my saves from 2005 and play gc on a wii. I should back them up then

[@furrysourcecode9809]

Funny thing about that I still have a madcatz dreamcast card that was made as a dupe with an sonic adventure save. 100 perecnt along with shuffle, airfforce delta, test drive 6, super runabout, speed devils, vigialante 8 second offense, evolution worlds, msr, etc and a gameshark save as some of those codes had to be updated and also chao data. There's a guy on ebay who sells these dreamcast to pc converters that even power and allow one to copy off the memory card. Just like my ps2 memory card saves ive been using that ps2 memory card reader meant for the ps3 to copy old data from the ps2 and ps1 cards.

[@MadameSomnambule]

Funnily enough, the mad catz memory card I had back in the day still works perfectly fine. Did they have like a higher likelihood of failing? Seems to be a crapshoot as to whether or not they'll work right or not judging by others having issues with it while I never had any yet.

[@coletorres1658]

I literraly had this same thing happen with my adventure save lol The GameCube remote was horrible is smash bros especially

[@teutonicbone4388]

I had a Mad Catz controller for the original Xbox back in the day. It was a wireless microcon- it filled a specific niche for me being wireless, since I could use it without siblings tripping over the cord. Plus, it being a little bit smaller fit my hands nicely. It served me well and I actually preferred it over first party controllers.

[@MysteryMii]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="67">1:07</a>:53 There was actually one pretty cool feature of the Rock Band 3 keyboard controller though that didn’t make it completely obsolete: you could use it as an actual MIDI keyboard thanks to the inclusion of a MIDI port on the controller.

[@Bakartridge2095]

the keyboard controller is actually pretty good too, speaking as someone who has one

[@AuroraNemoia]

Also, adding, you can, at least as I know with the Wii one, use it as a MIDI controller just using the USB dongle! I bought it specifically for that purpose. And it works really good.

[@KaitouKaiju]

And the keyboard gameplay is actually fun

[@Brownd55]

@@AuroraNemoia Wish that was true for the Xbox version. Since it uses the 360's native wireless module, they didn't even bother with a USB port. So it's MIDI cable with batteries or nothing.

[@oxymoron02]

It's not a surprise that Madcatz's first efforts were better-- that's literally how most companies start off. Make good product --> Get good rep --> Lower quality slightly --> People grumble but still buy, because you have brand loyalty --> Lower quality more. Rinse. Repeat.

[@EarlFaulk]

Yep the BMW model. Build solid engines, get a good reputation, then replace as many parts as you can with cheap, recycled plastic that crumbles from heat stress. Charge people hundreds for a single cheap plastic part. At the same time make sure to overcomplicate your engineering so the engine is full of rubber gaskets, and awful valve seals that require rebuilding the entire thing at 100k miles to force people to buy a new one

[@thehwguy4293]

​@@EarlFaulk don't forget, a subscription model for features that should come standard (such as heated seats).

[@jmal]

​@@EarlFaulk This is what they consider "the ultimate driving machine"?

[@EarlFaulk]

@@jmal Maybe the BMW fanboys do. I consider German cars to be overengineered gaudy trinkets

[@oscar3618]

This production was gold it made me crack up so much the guy was hilarious great topic 🙂

[@startedtech]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1232">20:32</a> The screen wobbling is from the old-school lightguns requiring the screen to flash white, and a CRT display that doesnt have good high voltage regulation will jump/wobble when the screen makes a bright transition like that.

[@DoodleThis]

If I remember correctly, someone once interviewed a GameStop employee that got into serious trouble when he mentioned during a phone meeting that the mad catz controllers were terrible, basically saying that GameStop knew they were bad and they didn’t care

[@NFSBeast2365]

Dayum! For real? 😳

[@ItsDaJax]

It's Gamestop. Nobody should be surprised.

[@ryelor123]

To be fair, getting cheap stuff that wasn't junk was very difficult back then. It wasn't like they actually wanted to put their brand on garbage. Trade with China was much worse in the past. They probably got a good sample controllers and didn't find out how bad things would get until they started getting shipments in. Its also not like they could just find a better supplier since they'd probably be in the same position again.

[@genesis4322]

The best comparison I could think of was that MadCatz controllers are to controllers what Tiger Electronics games are to video games.

[@_KnuXles]

As the younger sibling, and despite the fact I played the most games, I was always given the MadCatz controller for our PS2. The rubber grip was peeling, it was massive compared to our Dualshock, and they'd decided to add two buttons to it that we never used for the entire time we had it. It's been nearly 30 years since those days and I've still never recovered from the trauma

[@stetsonshirley4387]

Thanks for talking about point blank, I miss those old lightbgun games, and hearing other people's takes on the subject always reveals new games.

[@SkullThunder]

Rerez is really out here making movie-length videos and casually dropping them to a very small audience. Specifically, movie-length videos with high-quality editing, respectable production values, and dozens of hours of research and writing put into every minute. Not to mention the overall well-formed opinions that aren't based on reviews and follow personal experience as well as other common opinions that have been heard, but expressed in different ways. Truly, this is a channel that deserves at least 20k more subscribers than it has. At least.

[@3rdalbum]

Yeah, Rerez is one of the hidden gems of KZbin and it's frustrating how hidden it stays. C'mon algorithm!

[@qwirky1709]

Yeah, I've watching Rerez since like 2017, and they struck me as underrated then. I'd say that especially by now, they definitely deserve more attention!

[@richardadamson1438]

I think Rerez is getting more attention these days due to JBG but is still underrated. Even still channels with millions of subscribers, are still considered underrated these days.

[@forcedemodo]

It’s a shame so many great channels like Rerez aren’t getting more views. I only heard about them through Vinesauce

[@Eff_One]

I'd have to agree. It's an awesome channel.

[@masonasaro2118]

Madcatz had ONE saving grace when it comes to their line of controllers: their arcade style fightsticks. Mark "markman" julio was in charge of making some of the highest quality sticks of their day, to the point the parody game "divekick" had him as a playable character along with Seth Killian (who was the final boss "S-Kill"), Alex "jabailey" and martin "marn" phan (albiet the latter 2 were joke characters, for differing reasons [marn knows what he did]).

[@nick4810]

yeah i had one that cost around £200 i think, it was quality bit of kit, very well made.

[@raymondyu18ify]

I bought a brand new madCatz controller for the Dreamcast way back when. It immediately fried the controller port once I plugged it in. The exact thing happened to my friend with his Dreamcast, too. That was the first and last time either of us had ever purchased a madcatz product.

[@Fedorchik1536]

I only know Mad Catz as fight stick manufacturer from PS3 era that was all over EVO and many other FGC events.

[@farenhaid13421]

Quoting the words of caddicarus... "MAD CATS, the number one brand for UNLOVED BROTHERS AND SISTERS"

[@WarioSaysSo]

The N64 truly had the worst selection of 3rd party controllers. The knock-offs felt so bad to use. The SNES, Sega and Playstation you could find decent variants for.

[@rayelgatubelo]

And it had four controller slots, so it was the console with the highest demand for controllers!

[@WarioSaysSo]

@@rayelgatubelo Yes that is so true !!!!

[@scottneil1187]

​​@@rayelgatubeloThe others had peripherals to give you more slots too. The demand came from the garbage stick that stopped working properly after a week.

[@zyzzy-ko4ww]

This N64 game isn't called Irritating Electric Stick for nothing!

[@scottthewaterwarrior]

The ones that try and replicate normal N64 controllers maybe, but I still swear by my Ultra Racer!

[@Mimikyu_Lov3r]

Mad Catz controllers are a major part of why I generally stick to and prefer first party stuff and reputable name branded stuff such as UGreen, Belkin, and ANKER

[@Kuchito08]

I remember I had a Mad Catz controller for my PS2 that a friend of my parents got me....until I tried plugging it in and came to the realization it was a PS1 controller after the PS2 kept telling me there was no dualshock 2 controller detected. I still appreciated the extra controller I could give to my temper tantrum-prone brother. Thanks, Dio!

[@Night-Jester]

I'll never forget my friend playing a PS1 space fighter game using a Mad Catz controller. The left joystick snapped in half and that's the only analog stick I have ever seen that happen too.

[@thunderbeam9166]

Back in the day, my friends and I would have LAN parties where we’d play Halo CE… every once in a while we had a “Crappy Controller Challenge” where we would play 2v2 using Mad Catz controllers… I distinctly remember mine was “right thumb stick was a suggestion only” and “black and white have ghost presses”. My best friend’s had a glitchy right trigger. Sometimes you’d get one shot, sometimes you’d get a mag dump, sometimes it did whatever it wanted.

[@Drelam]

I was blessed growing up with offical controllers, but I remember going to friends houses and for every friend half their controllers were MadCatz which no one wanted to use and was usually passed off to the youngest friend/sibling when we did 4 player co-op.

[@Gamerlingual]

I’ve always had good experiences with their Fightpad and arcade sticks. So, I can’t complain about their quality when I’ve purchased 5 of their products without issues.

[@PXAbstraction]

I have one actual good experience I can report with regards to Mad Catz: The Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition Arcade Stick. I bought two of these back in 2009, one for myself, and one for a friend as a thank you for letting me stay at his house for a while after a breakup I'd had. These were produced in collaboration with Capcom and were rock solid, built with actual arcade parts. Mine was made for the 360 and PC and I still use it on my PC to this day. Works as good as the day it was new. My friend still has his as well, though he modded it to work with newer consoles. Now that said, these were close to $200CDN a pop over 15 years ago, a premium product that was the exact opposite of what Mad Catz was known for. But it showed that when the thing was priced so that it could be built with quality, they were capable of doing so. This was an oddity though and not any sign of the company turning itself around.

[@Katastrophe9009]

As a relatively poor gamer growing up, I've owned my fair share of Mad Catz controllers. While they were NEVER great, I don't remember having as much issues with their build quality initially, for me they worked fine out of the box for awhile, but wore out FAST. Especially after a few rounds of Smash or Mario Party, those controllers just weren't built with longevity in mind.

[@IcyTorment]

It's actually not true that they were never great. They sold to different market segments and their quality standards were entirely dependent on the target market. So they made generic trash controllers and the best fight sticks in the market.

[@ZeroKitsunei]

The crazy thing is towards the end of the companies life they made really good arcade sticks. I still have my TES+ from 2016, still goin' strong. Only had to replace one HP button. Also picked up a PS2 con back in the day. It was really neat, had fans in the grips to keep your hands cool. Worked well enough, if not a bit small.

[@KatJustice97]

I had a MadCatz Dreamcast rumble pack that I thought was so cool as a kid because it had a little red translucent window at the top that lit up whenever it rumbled. Never had any issues with it, so I was surprised to find it was viewed with such vitriol.

[@TheWonkster]

Those video game store owners are why it's nearly impossible to find a good guitar controller for clone hero for less than $100 anymore.

[@Bukkie661]

DPD has released a new guitroller, but I don't know if they ship world-wide. At €130, it's now smarter to buy new.

[@TheWonkster]

@Bukkie661 it still really isn't because. from what I've heard, those are still worse than the WT, 5, and WoR Wii controllers with the dongle

[@casedistorted]

@@TheWonkster hmm, I need a guitar hero controller! No clue which one to buy though on marketplace

[@monkaWGiga]

@@TheWonkster Warriors of Rock and 5 Controllers are still top tier with the dongle.

[@robertwhite6384]

I mean... I kinda get it though. Having 3 sets of rock band controllers would take up a quarter of your floor space in most game stores.