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."
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.
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)
Am I the only person who always chose the Mad Catz controllers *purely* because I thought they looked cool? I actually got so accustomed to their... ahem... "quirks" that I could actually beat my friends using those controllers.
I remember Caddicarus' video about useless PS1 accessories, and want to say two things. 1. They also made a cord extension for PS1 controllers that was designed with a weird plastic device it winds inside of that basically chews on the cable. 2. For whatever odd reason, the steering wheel control is fully compatible with the original Silent Hill, I'm not making this up, it somehow works.
If i remember correctly the early ps1 and ps2 steering wheel controllers here just contollers shaped like wheels i remember using the ps1 steering wheel on a bunch of games that it shouldn't be used on like Medal of Honor but i could be misremembering lmk if u know if im right or wrong
My buddy ruled at Goldeneye using the Mad Catz steering wheel and pedals. His older brothers would take the two standard controllers they had and left him with the steering wheel so he got really good using that and preferred it after a while.
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 I don't remember specifically having a problem with the sticks. Mine though had a face button that mushed and stuck like it was caught in silly putty.
I owned two Mad Catz wireless GameCube controllers. Both broke the same way, characters kept veering to the right or whatever direction. Controller drift.
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.
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
My younger brother was born end 90’s so he never got into gaming untill later on. I had a og xbox back then and trust he knew the pain of 3e party controllers. Its not a only a 90’s problem. I still consider it a problem today. Its much better but its still you get what you pay for. So i invested in a elite series 2 controller fully customized just for me. Best controller i ever bought by far, also the most costly by far and the best!
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.
@@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".
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?"
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
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
That downscroll you show at 23:45 shows a few controllers I recognized the shape of from your Soulja Boy videos. Remember how one of his consoles had a plain black controller that had a sticker thingy in the middle, and it just popped off after a while because the glue dried out? The shape was very similar, if not the exact same, as some of them in that screen scroll shot. So Soulja Boy actually ripped off Mad Catz. He ripped off a set of B- off brand controllers. The fun always finds a way to come full circle, doesn't it. PS I have a Mad Catz Dual Force for the PS2 myself. Almost works perfectly, except that the R2 button has to be pressed HARD to work at all. Just like the A button for Mario Kart 64. This makes playing Armored Core games a *pain.* I'm better off sticking with my PS2 wireless controller. It was the original Dual Force, with the Start and Select buttons more centered like they were supposed to be. On some occasions, I found that the analog sticks would work with Armored Core 2 despite that game not supporting analog in the series until the next game. Whether it's because of a mode switch I didn't know I toggled, or because the controller started to malfunction over time, the analog sticks on the Mad Catz Dual Force are NOT analog. They actually just duplicate the D-pad inputs directly as one single, unmodifiable input, making the game think you're pressing the D-pad fully. It's just 1 and 0, nothing in between. Keep in mind, this might have only been my controller (not working well after a while), or maybe some setting I wasn't sure how to switch, but it sure doesn't speak well for the quality of these rabid lions.
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.
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 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.
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?”
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."
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
I actually got madcatz'd in like 2019. I was just getting into retro gaming. I'm like 20, so I wasnt there to learn this stuff originally. I bought a PS2 at goodwill, and at a different thrift store a month later, I recognized the same plug on an unofficial controller. I'd never heard of madcatz, so I just bought it, thinking it would probably be fine. It's not fine. Lol
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.
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.
There's a visual image burned in my brain of a big, clunky controller that had terrible handles and an obnoxious yellow logo in the center. Probably for psx.
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
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
@@Darth001 Smart! Me and my friend literally worked at paid labor (Manpower) for a day so we could split the cost of an official Sony memory card together. We got assigned a terrible job of washing used refrigerators at Sears, and stayed up all night so we could be there at 5am. Was awful - so much mold - but was worth it. EB also had a destroyed FF8 strategy guide which was marked down for $5 - we bought it, too! I still have it, 25 years later. We suffered for our love of games!
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 “.
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.
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!)
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.
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 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
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.)
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...
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.
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.
every gaming youtuber's archenemy: AVGN: LJN Caddicarus: Dingo Pictures/Phoenix Games DashieGames: Donkey Kong DarkSydePhil: Whoever developed the game he's playing Rerez: Mad Catz
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.
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.
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.
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.
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~
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.
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.
@@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?
@@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.
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?"
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.
@@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.
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!
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
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
@@patrickriarchy6054Oh, you don't know how common the parents not knowing would be. Grown adults have asked "what's the difference?" When referring to the Master System compared to the Sega Genesis, my friend
I remember my Mother would have to buy us a new memory card all the time, because she always bought the Mad Catz 1x memory card for gamecube, and the entire memory card would just die after like a month or so or fill up super fast before being corrupted. Even if the entire memory card would last longer than a month it would constantly corrupt the data and delete everything, then you would have to format it and MAYBE the card would work after that again, but it was always a gamble with your data. then she would just buy another one at Wal-Mart for like $2 back in early 2000's instead of getting the name brand Nintendo one that wouldn't die and had way more memory for like $15 or $20.
Ooh I was a victim of their dumb memory cards as well good thing only TT and reply data was only on there otherwise it would've crush me asap all that hard work😢 luckily I knew better.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
@@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)
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
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.
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!
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.
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
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.
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
@@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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
I realize this is for a video series called "Worst Ever", but a MadCatz video that doesn't even mention the good arcade sticks they made for a bit feels wrong
Can confirm. I was gifted many a Mad Catz controller growing up. Your experience is accurate to a new controller 25 years ago. I, and my family, learned the lesson of price vs value. We haven't cheaped out since.
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.
1:04:12 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.
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.)
The intro is 100% relatable to my childhood. For years I thought I sucked at console gaming until I finally got a friend with multiple official controllers.
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.
1:07:53 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.
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.
@@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.
Okay, so, my mom, not the best person. Her friend worked at mad cats, even mad Katz, when they tried to rebrand in the mid 2000s. They had the worst hiring method. My mom's friend was a known cleypto. They put her in charge of product management and display showcases. So ya, I ended up with a decent, almost to the mark, n64 madcatz controller.... and it failed two days after I got it because of the joystick. Buttons worked fine, but try playing 007 with that and your doomed. Half the time it didn't respond. The other half it went the opposite direction. After that experience, I said no and bought mine own.
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
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.
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]).
Everyone had that one friend when you went over to his house to play video games and he hands you something that doesn't even look like it belongs to the console you're using it on..maybe you were that friend, I know I was. Thank you Mad Catz, Good Times
It's crazy how it's basically a universal experience for anyone who gamed in the 90s/2000s to have either been given a garbage madcatz to use by a friend or stuck a younger sibling with one. They definitely had a terrible reputation even back then. Also I had a 3rd party memory card that broke almost immediately.
You could always tell where you stood on a friend’s social hierarchy based on who got to use the legitimate controller and who had to use the MadCatz controller.
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 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
@someguy5319 to be fair, while it would have been nice and certainly more balanced if it was in the video, he's painting a pretty accurate picture of what madcatz was like for the vast majority of consumers. they, by default, made crap. with their actually good quality products being the exception rather than the rule. 99% of their customers never got to touch a product of theirs that wasn't at least dubious in some way, which this video highlights
I remember I got an NFL licensed wireless PS2 controller as a kid and used it more than the official controllers I had. It was my favorite controller at the time. It wasn't until much later that I realized it was Mad Catz. I still have it amongst my collection, as a badge of shame for a tainted childhood.
I have the wired version of an NFL controller as well. Somehow it ended up being my favorite controller as well. I still have it with a broken wire that I wanted to repair.
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
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.
@@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.
@@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.
15:15 that ad for the steering wheel is insane. You'd have to be an Aussie or a motorsports fan to know, but the ad features Peter Brock. That man is basically a God to any Australian petrolhead.
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.
Apologies for replying to an older comment, but I was wondering if I was the odd one out. I had a PS2 Mad Catz controller, and it was the only one anyone wanted to use because it was by far the best. The stick calibration was better than any others we had. It was pretty solid honestly.
When I was finally able to afford an N64 in 1998, I made sure to grab a real Nintendo controller for my younger brother. I had the same thing happen over and over again and the Madcatz controller was the culprit. It wasn’t even comfortable! Great video.
The Mad Catz Dreamcast controller is actively dangerous. If the controller fails in just the right way, it will instantly burn out the controller board killing all four controller sockets simultaneously on every single console you plug it into.
I wire Dreamcast pads that’s not how that works at all, it’s simply a piece of debris that can carry a voltage signal get stuck in the controller plug and fries the console by bridging incorrect contacts causing a shortage, also fun fact the madcatz dreampad is actually the best controller for competitive fighting games in Dreamcast once you pad hack it it has the 2nd lowest latency out of every Dreamcast option, the only pcb that’s faster is the Sega agetec green goblin , anyway no one in these comments knows anything about madcatz those terrible 360 and ps3 pads were only sold so they could fund making their arcade sticks which are highly regarded and are still in use to this day 15 years later, they sell on eBay for like 150 sometimes but yall are just casuals who wanna complain
@@Ole_CornPop they’ve made multiple generations of arcade sticks up to ps4 and after the company disbanded a few years ago they’ve recently came back and are trying to reach they’re old status , if you played any fighting game , or ask anyone who’s been around street fighter 4 they will tell you madcatz is legendary literally to this day the most popular arcade sticks are madcatz and hori also watch any fighting game tournament a majority of the controllers are madcatz , just look up “custom madcatz te1” cuz they’re still sought after and modded to this day 15 years later
Somehow Mad Catz ended up making official arcade fightsticks in association with Capcom for the release of Street Fighter 4/5. This was in 2008 for IV, and then 2016 for V. They actually used premium arcade quality Sanwa components, and had sick artwork(especially the Marvel vs. Capcom versions). The premium sticks retailed for just under $150, and there was a smaller, cheaper version(without Sanwa stick/buttons) for around $60 iirc. I've owned and modded several myself. These are the only good MC controllers probably ever. I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned in the vid!
Something I always find funny as someone into fighting games is that, in complete contrast to their reputation in the general controller market, Mad Catz fightsticks are usually among the top-tier in terms of quality. Mayflash and Hori are still way more popular and overall "better" but several pros and competitive players use and swear by Mad Catz sticks.
The fighting game controller phase was spearheaded by one markman, who brought quality to the brand and made sure even their lower tier controllers were easily moddable with good parts down the line if you wanted. He left shortly before the bankruptcy when they tried to be the exclusive builder of the rock band peripherals, which was a bust since the music game craze had come and gone. He's currently doing marketing for Evo staff iirc
Similar story when it comes to pc gaming. Their Cyborg Mice are unique, popular and well-regarded, if kind of prone to problems, especially in their earlier iterations.
Fight sticks are junk tech so that kinda makes sense. Real pros know a controller is better due to way less travel for inputs. A thumb moves faster than an entire arm.
@@RitzStarr If you're using your whole arm when moving a fightstick, you're using it wrong. That said, in the actual community there's no elitism about it. Everyone just plays with whatever they're comfortable with. Saturn-style pads, fight sticks, fight board, WASD inputs, nobody really cares. That said, most D-pads aren't as precise as microswitch sticks, so what they may potentially lack in speed (though most people don't actually move they're entire arm lol) they make up for in precision. Keyboards and Fight boards are the most precise because you're directly manipulating the switch, but also direction inputs can be weird. My FAVORITE controller was one by Pelican that had a microswitched thumbpad a la the Neo Geo controller, but had a saturn style button layout. AMAZING, but it broke eventually and it's entirely out of stock. Using a hori commander atm but I might get one of those 8bitdo reissues of the Neo Geo pad for PC. I just wish it had more than 4 face buttons. I mean, I mostly play KOF so I can more than accommodate, it would just be nice for games like SoulCalibur, SF, or MK. But, long story long, no, fight sticks aren't "garbage tech". They actually require a ton of intricacy to properly manufacture.
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.
@@rayelgatubeloThe others had peripherals to give you more slots too. The demand came from the garbage stick that stopped working properly after a week.
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.
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
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.
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.
I grew up with two brothers, I was the oldest. We had two decent controllers and a Nerf controller. Yes, Nerf. It had chunks ripped out similar to the Nerf football. We would hand this controller to the youngest brother followed by tears flowing down his face. All we could say was, "It's Nerf. Or nothing." True story.
![[CrossCode] Memories hazy...](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ghga4xMK1rA/mqdefault.jpg)
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.”
Sound advice from the Flingsmash man himself
I think back to the Caddicarus PS1 accessory video
They use Tofu Dregs construction??
This wasn't a life support machine, this was just a bread box
they give these away with car stereos!
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."
Would've been my first thought. No one answers the phone like that at work willingly lol
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.
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
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)
Thank god i was never used to buy the cheap crap back in the 90´s
“The controller brand for unloved brothers and sisters” -caddicarus
Was that from the PS1 accessories video
@@CHATNOCEDA it was
The controllers that let you know who the outsider of the friend group was....
The controller for the friend of a friend (but not yours) who came along
Am I the only person who always chose the Mad Catz controllers *purely* because I thought they looked cool? I actually got so accustomed to their... ahem... "quirks" that I could actually beat my friends using those controllers.
I remember Caddicarus' video about useless PS1 accessories, and want to say two things.
1. They also made a cord extension for PS1 controllers that was designed with a weird plastic device it winds inside of that basically chews on the cable.
2. For whatever odd reason, the steering wheel control is fully compatible with the original Silent Hill, I'm not making this up, it somehow works.
If i remember correctly the early ps1 and ps2 steering wheel controllers here just contollers shaped like wheels i remember using the ps1 steering wheel on a bunch of games that it shouldn't be used on like Medal of Honor but i could be misremembering lmk if u know if im right or wrong
My buddy ruled at Goldeneye using the Mad Catz steering wheel and pedals. His older brothers would take the two standard controllers they had and left him with the steering wheel so he got really good using that and preferred it after a while.
I wanna see somebody actually play that with the steering wheel and pedals. 😂😂😂
Man...that's a major FU to someone if they got beat by a guy playing GoldenEye with a steering wheel and pedals
Bested by a steering wheel? Impossible! 🤯
@@bleejis_krilbin THAT is bad ass!
Your friend did the "beat the Halo 3 campaign on legendary using a guitar hero controller" meme
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.
I have a feeling that their control sticks were taken from crappy 3rd party C64/Amiga controllers from Europe.
@@furrysourcecode9809 I guess that could be evidence of them being microcomputer controller imports?
The funny thing is first party GameCube controllers were like $20 at MSRP. If only it were that cheap nowadays 🙃
@@furrysourcecode9809 I don't remember specifically having a problem with the sticks. Mine though had a face button that mushed and stuck like it was caught in silly putty.
I owned two Mad Catz wireless GameCube controllers. Both broke the same way, characters kept veering to the right or whatever direction. Controller drift.
the duality of Mad Catz having great Fightsticks but then dog water controllers has always been so strange to me
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.
@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 😂
Fr tho
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
@@naes412 MarkMan was actually hired to work in the Tech Support department before the FightSticks were around.
Madcatz: The enemy of every younger brother in the 90s
I was born in 2000 but my older brother is 93 and I remember him giving me the shitty madcatz controller that felt horrible sometimes
My younger brother was born end 90’s so he never got into gaming untill later on. I had a og xbox back then and trust he knew the pain of 3e party controllers. Its not a only a 90’s problem. I still consider it a problem today. Its much better but its still you get what you pay for. So i invested in a elite series 2 controller fully customized just for me. Best controller i ever bought by far, also the most costly by far and the best!
Or broke kids.
I feel like an AVGN style “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?” warrants for many entries here.
“hehehe let’s get money from unaware families” probably
@@MrSkerpentine The sad part is: chances are, that was what they were thinking.
avgn did a episode covering the worst mobile game that fans pissed that this is not AVGN
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.
@@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".
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?"
Same as it ever was
🎶letting the days go by 🎶
Talking heads. Good one
@@nateholt429 Aren't Talking Head canadian like Shane and Adam from Rerez?
The only thing worse than a Mad Catz controller, is a used Mad Catz controller.
I can still hear all the parents saying "How about this one...its the same thing" 😳
Mad Catz is the "we have _____ at home" of video game accessories.
Ayoo 😂😂
Don't worry, if any of us have kids, we'll know better.
Man when I heard the Oceangate submersible had been being controlled with a third party video game controller, my first remark was. "Was it MadCatz?"
Mad Catz: Official creator of that controller you give to your younger sibling that’s never plugged in.
It arguably does a better job that way, too!
@@TheOnlyTherazanArguably? No, it *does*
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
works better that way
Jeez
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.
i just think it's funny that third party nerf blasters generally outperform genuine nerf blasters these days
@@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.
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.
@@nate6045 I know, right? Lol
Go mom! We stan 1st party moms!
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.
Those Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition fight sticks were were awesome. I still use mine to this day.
Solid construction, came with reputable parts, and highly modular. If only they hadn't spent the last decade plus.... just being absolute dogwater.
The MADCATZ Tournament Edition helped a whole new generation of fighting game players understand the wonder of Sanwa Denshi parts 👏
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.
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!
That downscroll you show at 23:45 shows a few controllers I recognized the shape of from your Soulja Boy videos. Remember how one of his consoles had a plain black controller that had a sticker thingy in the middle, and it just popped off after a while because the glue dried out?
The shape was very similar, if not the exact same, as some of them in that screen scroll shot.
So Soulja Boy actually ripped off Mad Catz.
He ripped off a set of B- off brand controllers.
The fun always finds a way to come full circle, doesn't it.
PS I have a Mad Catz Dual Force for the PS2 myself. Almost works perfectly, except that the R2 button has to be pressed HARD to work at all. Just like the A button for Mario Kart 64.
This makes playing Armored Core games a *pain.* I'm better off sticking with my PS2 wireless controller.
It was the original Dual Force, with the Start and Select buttons more centered like they were supposed to be. On some occasions, I found that the analog sticks would work with Armored Core 2 despite that game not supporting analog in the series until the next game.
Whether it's because of a mode switch I didn't know I toggled, or because the controller started to malfunction over time, the analog sticks on the Mad Catz Dual Force are NOT analog. They actually just duplicate the D-pad inputs directly as one single, unmodifiable input, making the game think you're pressing the D-pad fully. It's just 1 and 0, nothing in between.
Keep in mind, this might have only been my controller (not working well after a while), or maybe some setting I wasn't sure how to switch, but it sure doesn't speak well for the quality of these rabid lions.
Do any of these controllers work with the Soulja Boy Buyee?
TD?
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.
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 🤣
@@NeRo-uwu Wrong! There's 2 that work and we own them
@@carternance9386 awesome haha
@@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.
I had one that just never worked, ever.
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?”
Underrated comment
hahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OMG THAT IS JUST SOOOOO FUNNNNNNNYYYY OMG OMG ONG 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Found the top shareholder of mad catz
Ngl i want to go buy some now
@@HansBelphegor Lol, me too for some reason.
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."
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
@@MrSkerpentine damn
I also had a madcatz wheel with the dicky gear stick too!
@@furrysourcecode9809 Good taste teens still think the NSX is cool, specially the pop-up headlights one.
@@furrysourcecode9809 NSXs are cool! Aside from their relative lack of soul, they are (still) the daily drivable supercar
I actually got madcatz'd in like 2019. I was just getting into retro gaming. I'm like 20, so I wasnt there to learn this stuff originally. I bought a PS2 at goodwill, and at a different thrift store a month later, I recognized the same plug on an unofficial controller. I'd never heard of madcatz, so I just bought it, thinking it would probably be fine. It's not fine. Lol
Oh gosh is ps2 retro now?
@@NiSE_Rafter: **Stares at PS3 and GameCube **
Almost everything is now.
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.
They still broke even if you didn't use them.
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.
There's a visual image burned in my brain of a big, clunky controller that had terrible handles and an obnoxious yellow logo in the center. Probably for psx.
The only Mad Catz controller I ever bought was for the PS2. The left analog stick broke on DAY ONE
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
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
Cue the controller being thrown into the trash
I have one for the GameCube
It's fallen apart but it all works still 😊😅
Your left analog stick was just like most Triple A games nowadays! 😂
I will never.... EVER forgive MadCatz and their AWFUL PS1 Memory Card for destroying my FF8 save. NEVER.
😂
Their memory cards were in fact, awful
My friend lost their FF7 save for the same reason.
I feel you. I left my psx on first week I owned one playing ffviii before I got bought a memory card as didn't get one with console for Christmas
@@Darth001 Smart! Me and my friend literally worked at paid labor (Manpower) for a day so we could split the cost of an official Sony memory card together. We got assigned a terrible job of washing used refrigerators at Sears, and stayed up all night so we could be there at 5am. Was awful - so much mold - but was worth it. EB also had a destroyed FF8 strategy guide which was marked down for $5 - we bought it, too! I still have it, 25 years later. We suffered for our love of games!
You deserve much more subscribers. I never saw a "lazy" video from you. You make quality content.
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 “.
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.
I never had the misfortune of getting a madcatz controller but if I was your child you would be my main role model
I would have told them, We can get that one, but its BAD so don't complain later.
Good parenting 😂
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!)
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.
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
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
@@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
Me still using my SFV shadaloo stick after all these years, they really locked in for them and nothing else
@@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
Heroin truly doesn't pay for itself. - MadCatz CEO, presumably.
Mad catz tought me what input lag was at 10 years old
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.
🤣 true
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 😛
you playing on proper game hardwear is basically the equivalent of rock lee removing his weights lol.
Ditto
Kinda like training with weights. Take them off (use a first party controller), and you'll be unstoppable.
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.)
yeah, that is how slomo works. You keep pausing and unpausing the game. Because while it's paused, it doesn't move forward.
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...
@@MeepChangeling Transparent plastic looks cooler
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.
@@MeepChangeling most of the transparent controllers were colored/tinted.
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.
You, my friend, are a saint!
Nah, that makes sense. You make do with what you have, or make do without. Some places be like that.
Nah, sometimes you gotta make do with what you got, or make do with out.
@@ItsDaJaxwhat’re you saying “Nah” to?
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.
every gaming youtuber's archenemy:
AVGN: LJN
Caddicarus: Dingo Pictures/Phoenix Games
DashieGames: Donkey Kong
DarkSydePhil: Whoever developed the game he's playing
Rerez: Mad Catz
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.
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.
and gaming computer mice
@@DragonHiss4 proof that they should have just made good products all the time
@@5274jacob I had a mad catz r.a.t. 9 and loved that mouse.
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.
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.
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~
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.
@@johnmickey5017 The DC pad isn't bad, just lacking buttons. When the fucking Saturn 3D pad was a better option...
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.
@@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?
@@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.
Mad Catz the radioactive waste of gaming peripherals
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?"
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.
I used a wavebird and gave my friend a wired first party GameCube Controller.
Probably the kindest thing I could ever do.
@@UtushoReiuji😂😂😂
@@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.
I remember mad catz gave me and my friends alot of bad memories of getting into heated arguments because one of us got the knockoff controller 😂
The rattling plastic in the controller was a nice detail that i forgot about until now 😂
1:01:18 and this. Would've been funny if he landed on his butt after he tripped.
@@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.
first vibration function :D
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!
That's what bootleg game companies and bad games prey on and it unfortunately does work.
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
Your parent knew they were just cheaper than the official ones.
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
@@patrickriarchy6054Oh, you don't know how common the parents not knowing would be. Grown adults have asked "what's the difference?" When referring to the Master System compared to the Sega Genesis, my friend
I remember my Mother would have to buy us a new memory card all the time, because she always bought the Mad Catz 1x memory card for gamecube, and the entire memory card would just die after like a month or so or fill up super fast before being corrupted. Even if the entire memory card would last longer than a month it would constantly corrupt the data and delete everything, then you would have to format it and MAYBE the card would work after that again, but it was always a gamble with your data. then she would just buy another one at Wal-Mart for like $2 back in early 2000's instead of getting the name brand Nintendo one that wouldn't die and had way more memory for like $15 or $20.
Ooh I was a victim of their dumb memory cards as well good thing only TT and reply data was only on there otherwise it would've crush me asap
all that hard work😢 luckily I knew better.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@vtubersubs3803 Still a mixed bag. Some are really good, some are still crap.
Ah yes, Mad Catz racing wheels, for if you want to drive like you're in a sitcom.
Crazy accurate description.
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.
That's disrespectful to sitcoms. You might as well be driving like Dingo Dog if you use such a racing wheel.
It works great for George Costanza's Test Drive New York
This may be the shortest, yet most precise definition I've ever seen. Just need a set of fake wipers and a camera!
It's not a scam. Now u gotta buy another Mad Catz controller. That's 2 for the price of 2! MREHH!
i like how the controllers are dogsht
but somehow
they made some of the best gaming mouses around
You thought we wouldn't notice. We did. We all heard you slip in the word "borked". Nice. Love Monster Squad.
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
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.
Yea thanks to Marc man working with them to make those
@@Horvath_Gabor I think it still does them an immense disservice to not even touch upon it here.
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.
Yep had good times with the PS3 fight stick.
When I was a kid, we called MadCatz controllers "The _Bad_ Controllers."
"No fair! You're only winning because I have 'The _Bad_ Controller!' "
Same here. Exact words actually
The fact Madcatz lasted until 2017 truly amazes me.
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.
their main thing for a while was fightsticks, which they did very well at. they sponsored a bunch of fighting game players.
Carried by the Fighting Game Community and Guitar Hero lol
Their pc gaming peripherals were actually decent, that's probably the only thing that kept them afloat.
@@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)
MadCat was revolutionary and way ahead of his time! They even had stick drifting before Nintendo could even think of such a feature!
Only fighting game people will die on a hill for madcatz because they imported japanese parts for the SF4 TE sticks.
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
@@RusticRonnie???
Was looking for this comment! The official arcade fightsticks they made for SF IV/V were legit!
Madcatz TE sticks were incredibly but from what i remember modern madcatz sticks suck balls
No I bought one and it’s broken
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.
Yeah, Rerez is one of the hidden gems of UA-cam and it's frustrating how hidden it stays. C'mon algorithm!
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!
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.
It’s a shame so many great channels like Rerez aren’t getting more views. I only heard about them through Vinesauce
I'd have to agree. It's an awesome channel.
The best comparison I could think of was that MadCatz controllers are to controllers what Tiger Electronics games are to video games.
My X360 gamer motto to this day is "Sponsored by MadCatz". good memories
Whats baffling is they make good arcade sticks used by pros, But they cant make decent controller
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!
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
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.
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
@@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.
I'll never forgive my Mad Catz GameCube Memory Card for dying with my Sonic Adventure DX save
Playing Big The Cat levels on MadCatz controllers: 😐😒
Your Big The Cat save data being destroyed by a MadCatz memory card: 🤬🤬
Really? I still have my saves from 2005 and play gc on a wii. I should back them up then
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.
I literraly had this same thing happen with my adventure save lol
The GameCube remote was horrible is smash bros especially
You lost your Chao Garden?!
Now imagine if someone used a Mad Catz controller to pilot a sub 💀
It wouldn't be as funny. Logitech didn't have QUITE the toilet reputation MadCatz does.
Or maybe that makes it funnier.
There was some project where they used an game controller on a U.S. sub. They stuck with official Xbox controllers from Microsoft, though.
Honestly, it probably would save lives because the sub would never make it to the water before the controller broke.
😂😂😂
Inside parts were mad cats shell was just logitech.
Mat Catz controllers is the same thing as "We have McDonald's at home."
That's disrespectful to McDonald's. Even Mr. Krabs has a better sense of quality control than Mad Catz.
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
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
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.
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.
Stik, what are YOU doing here.
I realize this is for a video series called "Worst Ever", but a MadCatz video that doesn't even mention the good arcade sticks they made for a bit feels wrong
Can confirm. I was gifted many a Mad Catz controller growing up. Your experience is accurate to a new controller 25 years ago. I, and my family, learned the lesson of price vs value. We haven't cheaped out since.
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.
1:04:12 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.
No one needed a specific Van Halen release with that ugly as heck GH3 character design. But they made it happen.
because money.
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.)
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!
And now the people who made Rock Band are all part of Epic Games.
So...Mad Catz Fortnite controller? 😂
I appreciate this video. Don't even need to watch the screen, just left it on as background noise while cleaning my bedroom.
The intro is 100% relatable to my childhood. For years I thought I sucked at console gaming until I finally got a friend with multiple official controllers.
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.
when your dad's the incredible hulk
@@Romanticoutlaw
LOL. He beat the sh!t out of those things.
you dad should stop throwing controllers.
@@Ferrochrome12
He never threw one. All broken by forces applied during "normal" play.
1:07:53 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.
the keyboard controller is actually pretty good too, speaking as someone who has one
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.
And the keyboard gameplay is actually fun
@@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.
Those four weird red lines on the Mad Catz logo make me uncomfortable.
Okay, so, my mom, not the best person. Her friend worked at mad cats, even mad Katz, when they tried to rebrand in the mid 2000s. They had the worst hiring method. My mom's friend was a known cleypto. They put her in charge of product management and display showcases. So ya, I ended up with a decent, almost to the mark, n64 madcatz controller.... and it failed two days after I got it because of the joystick. Buttons worked fine, but try playing 007 with that and your doomed. Half the time it didn't respond. The other half it went the opposite direction. After that experience, I said no and bought mine own.
Your childhood adult figures sound, uh, hellish
Not to sound like a grammar nazi, because mine isn't good either. But it's spelled Klepto
I’ll take things that didn’t happen for 500$ Alex.
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
Dayum! For real? 😳
It's Gamestop. Nobody should be surprised.
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.
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]).
yeah i had one that cost around £200 i think, it was quality bit of kit, very well made.
I bet the joy cons that nintideo uses where made my mad catz engineers
15:28 "They look like they run around supermarkets and unpeel bananas"
_-Caddy_
Probably one of the funniest lines spoke by a human being
My brain just goes to the supermarket scene from Fatal Deviation
Remind me again what video that was from
@@CHATNOCEDA PS1 accessories
I was hoping another Caddy fan would be here 😂😂
Everyone had that one friend when you went over to his house to play video games and he hands you something that doesn't even look like it belongs to the console you're using it on..maybe you were that friend, I know I was. Thank you Mad Catz, Good Times
It's crazy how it's basically a universal experience for anyone who gamed in the 90s/2000s to have either been given a garbage madcatz to use by a friend or stuck a younger sibling with one. They definitely had a terrible reputation even back then. Also I had a 3rd party memory card that broke almost immediately.
My back up Gamecube controller was a mad catz which was for friends that come over….
I had no friends oddly enough. Weird…
You could always tell where you stood on a friend’s social hierarchy based on who got to use the legitimate controller and who had to use the MadCatz controller.
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
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
@@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
@someguy5319 to be fair, while it would have been nice and certainly more balanced if it was in the video, he's painting a pretty accurate picture of what madcatz was like for the vast majority of consumers. they, by default, made crap. with their actually good quality products being the exception rather than the rule. 99% of their customers never got to touch a product of theirs that wasn't at least dubious in some way, which this video highlights
Cuz nobody cares about that, they still sucked overall
@@chrismarq6669ya ever play a game without a ball, gun or car in it chris
I remember I got an NFL licensed wireless PS2 controller as a kid and used it more than the official controllers I had. It was my favorite controller at the time. It wasn't until much later that I realized it was Mad Catz. I still have it amongst my collection, as a badge of shame for a tainted childhood.
Yuppp. Those controllers were fucking goated.
that's nuts considering how good the OG PS2 controllers were
I have the wired version of an NFL controller as well. Somehow it ended up being my favorite controller as well. I still have it with a broken wire that I wanted to repair.
The ps2 madcatz controllers I had were dope, I avoided the n64 ones though
Even that "advanced" Mad Catz N64 controller, I kept destroying those analog sticks.
Kid: Points at new, first party controller.
Mom: Starts eyeing up the cheaper Mad Catz controllers, thinks that she's getting a deal.
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
Let the friends play with the crap controller.... they don't like it, they can buy their own hahaha.
@@CErra310 It's jealousy. Now enjoy being poor but morally righteous.
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.
the mom just cares it shuts the kid up for the least price
Mad Catz ruled the fight stick world during the Street fighter 4 days. They made really good quality sticks. You still see them today.
They were designed by Saitek. Watch the video.
@@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.
@@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.
I was gonna say the same, the fighting sticks are really good!
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.
15:15 that ad for the steering wheel is insane. You'd have to be an Aussie or a motorsports fan to know, but the ad features Peter Brock. That man is basically a God to any Australian petrolhead.
As a wise Scott Wozniak once said : "If you enter a building that's built by Mad Catz, get the f*** outta there!"
If I had any of these third party controllers and I invited a friend over, I'd let him use the official one while I sacrificed my own gameplay.
You’re a good friend. My group always rotated who played with the shitty controller
Yeah we'd generally rotate. And if anybody ever complained that it was the controller, you'd swap to shut them up.
We would always switch after a few games/matches to keep it even.
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.
Yeah I had one that was good too.
Someone at MadCatz didn't do their job.
Same Game Cube Game Catz gear worked well and last years.
I guess broken clocks are right twice a day (unless you use 24-hour time).
Apologies for replying to an older comment, but I was wondering if I was the odd one out. I had a PS2 Mad Catz controller, and it was the only one anyone wanted to use because it was by far the best. The stick calibration was better than any others we had. It was pretty solid honestly.
@@ItsEirinn oh. It's only a couple weeks old bro. You're good. But I've seen replies to even 2 year old ones or more.
Quoting the words of caddicarus...
"MAD CATS, the number one brand for UNLOVED BROTHERS AND SISTERS"
When I was finally able to afford an N64 in 1998, I made sure to grab a real Nintendo controller for my younger brother. I had the same thing happen over and over again and the Madcatz controller was the culprit. It wasn’t even comfortable! Great video.
Plot twist - Adam was the friend who offered Shane the Mad Catz controller to play Mario Kart 64. :P
No sheit.
@@WhoJustStoleMyNameNot Funny. Didn't laugh.
Plot twist: I was the manufacturer of that specific controller >:)
@@MarioLuigiAndJr. NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :O
@@freeuploads4290 Is my comment supposed to be funny? No!
The Mad Catz Dreamcast controller is actively dangerous. If the controller fails in just the right way, it will instantly burn out the controller board killing all four controller sockets simultaneously on every single console you plug it into.
Oh snap!
Really!. Wow.
I wire Dreamcast pads that’s not how that works at all, it’s simply a piece of debris that can carry a voltage signal get stuck in the controller plug and fries the console by bridging incorrect contacts causing a shortage, also fun fact the madcatz dreampad is actually the best controller for competitive fighting games in Dreamcast once you pad hack it it has the 2nd lowest latency out of every Dreamcast option, the only pcb that’s faster is the Sega agetec green goblin , anyway no one in these comments knows anything about madcatz those terrible 360 and ps3 pads were only sold so they could fund making their arcade sticks which are highly regarded and are still in use to this day 15 years later, they sell on eBay for like 150 sometimes but yall are just casuals who wanna complain
@@bloodthirstydeitysht9244making one good controller is the sign of an amazing company? 😂
@@Ole_CornPop they’ve made multiple generations of arcade sticks up to ps4 and after the company disbanded a few years ago they’ve recently came back and are trying to reach they’re old status , if you played any fighting game , or ask anyone who’s been around street fighter 4 they will tell you madcatz is legendary literally to this day the most popular arcade sticks are madcatz and hori also watch any fighting game tournament a majority of the controllers are madcatz , just look up “custom madcatz te1” cuz they’re still sought after and modded to this day 15 years later
Mad Catz controllers were the ones you always got gifted from well-meaning relatives but that you never actually used.
Every friend had a mad kats controller you were always stuck with
Somehow Mad Catz ended up making official arcade fightsticks in association with Capcom for the release of Street Fighter 4/5. This was in 2008 for IV, and then 2016 for V.
They actually used premium arcade quality Sanwa components, and had sick artwork(especially the Marvel vs. Capcom versions). The premium sticks retailed for just under $150, and there was a smaller, cheaper version(without Sanwa stick/buttons) for around $60 iirc. I've owned and modded several myself.
These are the only good MC controllers probably ever. I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned in the vid!
Something I always find funny as someone into fighting games is that, in complete contrast to their reputation in the general controller market, Mad Catz fightsticks are usually among the top-tier in terms of quality. Mayflash and Hori are still way more popular and overall "better" but several pros and competitive players use and swear by Mad Catz sticks.
Maybe that's how they're good...they bank on crappy controllers making the money and actually put money into the fight sticks.
The fighting game controller phase was spearheaded by one markman, who brought quality to the brand and made sure even their lower tier controllers were easily moddable with good parts down the line if you wanted.
He left shortly before the bankruptcy when they tried to be the exclusive builder of the rock band peripherals, which was a bust since the music game craze had come and gone.
He's currently doing marketing for Evo staff iirc
Similar story when it comes to pc gaming. Their Cyborg Mice are unique, popular and well-regarded, if kind of prone to problems, especially in their earlier iterations.
Fight sticks are junk tech so that kinda makes sense. Real pros know a controller is better due to way less travel for inputs. A thumb moves faster than an entire arm.
@@RitzStarr If you're using your whole arm when moving a fightstick, you're using it wrong. That said, in the actual community there's no elitism about it. Everyone just plays with whatever they're comfortable with. Saturn-style pads, fight sticks, fight board, WASD inputs, nobody really cares.
That said, most D-pads aren't as precise as microswitch sticks, so what they may potentially lack in speed (though most people don't actually move they're entire arm lol) they make up for in precision. Keyboards and Fight boards are the most precise because you're directly manipulating the switch, but also direction inputs can be weird.
My FAVORITE controller was one by Pelican that had a microswitched thumbpad a la the Neo Geo controller, but had a saturn style button layout. AMAZING, but it broke eventually and it's entirely out of stock.
Using a hori commander atm but I might get one of those 8bitdo reissues of the Neo Geo pad for PC. I just wish it had more than 4 face buttons. I mean, I mostly play KOF so I can more than accommodate, it would just be nice for games like SoulCalibur, SF, or MK.
But, long story long, no, fight sticks aren't "garbage tech". They actually require a ton of intricacy to properly manufacture.
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.
And it had four controller slots, so it was the console with the highest demand for controllers!
@@rayelgatubelo Yes that is so true !!!!
@@rayelgatubeloThe others had peripherals to give you more slots too. The demand came from the garbage stick that stopped working properly after a week.
This N64 game isn't called Irritating Electric Stick for nothing!
The ones that try and replicate normal N64 controllers maybe, but I still swear by my Ultra Racer!
“Mad Catz: The number one controller brand for unloved brothers and sisters!”
- Caddicarus.
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.
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
@@EarlFaulk don't forget, a subscription model for features that should come standard (such as heated seats).
@@EarlFaulk This is what they consider "the ultimate driving machine"?
@@jmal
Maybe the BMW fanboys do. I consider German cars to be overengineered gaudy trinkets
@@EarlFaulk That's disrespectful to BMW. These crazy "video game controllers" were probably made by hand in a sewer.
"Here's a name sure to send a chill down your spine: Mad Catz!"
That name fills me less with chills and more with simmering discontentment.
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.
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.
I grew up with two brothers, I was the oldest. We had two decent controllers and a Nerf controller. Yes, Nerf. It had chunks ripped out similar to the Nerf football. We would hand this controller to the youngest brother followed by tears flowing down his face. All we could say was, "It's Nerf. Or nothing." True story.