Hardware Fixing uncomfortable 3DS/2DSXL Dpad! (My idea) Need feedback! Thank you :)

[nashismo]

Summarizing, I have been using the dpad more and more on the New 2DS XL, and I think I have found the culprit on to why is not comfortable.

Here is the thing, if you use it for 10 minutes or so, it's just fine, but any more than that is starts to hurt your thumb like hell. But it is still better than the 3ds XL dpad, because the 2DS XL is horizontally thinner.

The problem is: The Dpad is too short (low height)! And the plastic is too hard. Nintendo uses microswitches for that same reason because silicone rubbers would not be possible for such a short Dpad.

My solution would be: Somehow build a Dpad made of some kind of rubbery plastic. Similar to the original Sega Saturn Dpad in terms of plastic. Maybe someone could print and sell such a thing, but it would have to be a bit taller and a lot more rubbery, this way it wouldn't hurt your thumbs and it would be simply perfect for longs stretches of play.

What do you guys think? Maybe someone already did this? Do you like my solution?

Cheers!

 

[Shikkichu]

If you're talking about the corners of the dpad digging into your fingers you could try sanding the edges a bit to smooth them out that's what I did for my old 3ds because delicate fingers lol
You could also try 3d printing a new dpad however I'm not sure how well this would work as I've never 3d printed anything I think rubber can be 3d printed, I feel like if you could make one exactly by hand with rubber that might help but it'd be a lot of trial and error

 

[nashismo]

I ended up selling my 2ds xl, I bought then a standard 2ds as it is more comfortable and from here I will try to fit a GBA dpad on the 2ds, sadly in my country there is literally 0 places to buy an original GBA dpad.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

[aliexpress] Multi-Color Replacement Buttons Keypads L R A B Buttons For Gameboy Advance Buttons Frame For GBA D Pads Power ON OFF Buttons
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The likeliest way of retrofitting the GBA d-pad on the o2DS is to sand down the o2DS d-pad at the top so that it's flat, shave the bottom of the GBA d-pad to get the face side, glue the GBA d-pad face on top of the o2DS d-pad base, and dremel the hard shell t-shaped hole to fit the bigger d-pad.

 

[nashismo]

[aliexpress] Multi-Color Replacement Buttons Keypads L R A B Buttons For Gameboy Advance Buttons Frame For GBA D Pads Power ON OFF Buttons
[aliexpress] Plastic For GBA Buttons A B L R Button D-Pad For Nintendo Game boy Advance
[aliexpress] FUNNYPLAYING Buttons and Accessory For Gameboy Advance Replacement Keypads L R A B Button For GBA D Pads Power ON OFF Button

The likeliest way of retrofitting the GBA d-pad on the o2DS is to sand down the o2DS d-pad at the top so that it's flat, shave the bottom of the GBA d-pad to get the face side, glue the GBA d-pad face on top of the o2DS d-pad base, and dremel the hard shell t-shaped hole to fit the bigger d-pad.

Well, if I were to do all that, then I could take the dpad from my gamecube controller and use that. Sadly I don't have a dremmel. Do you know a way to make dpads taller? I know I saw something somewhere (something easy), because in the end, all that is left to do, so that the 2ds dpad becomes glorious, is to make it taller.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Well, if I were to do all that, then I could take the dpad from my gamecube controller and use that. Sadly I don't have a dremmel. Do you know a way to make dpads taller? I know I saw something somewhere (something easy), because in the end, all that is left to do, so that the 2ds dpad becomes glorious, is to make it taller.

1. Wet sand the top of the o2DS d-pad until it is flat or flush.
2. Get the d-pad of another (o/n)(2/3)DS(XL/LL/regular) that has the same size and dimension as the o2DS d-pad.
3. Wet sand the bottom of that second d-pad until it is flat or flush.
4. Test stack the two halves and check for satisfactory height and fitment.
5. Carefully superglue the two pieces together.

If done correctly, your custom d-pad will not only sit higher but also won't require dremeling the housing shell.

Here's an example of this technique where I retrofitted a SNES d-pad (surface layer) to on a PS3 controller.

​

***

Edit - Another idea is using this Nintendo Switch accessory on the o2DS. No guarantee those d-pad add-ons will fit and sit correctly without interference.

• [eBay] Skull & Co. D-Pad Button Cap Set for NINTENDO SWITCH Joy-cons
• [Amazon] Skull & Co. D-Pad Button Cap Set for Nintendo Switch Joy-con

 

[nashismo]

1. Wet sand the top of the o2DS d-pad until it is flat or flush.
2. Get the d-pad of another (o/n)(2/3)DS(XL/LL/regular) that has the same size and dimension as the o2DS d-pad.
3. Wet sand the bottom of that second d-pad until it is flat or flush.
4. Test stack the two halves and check for satisfactory height and fitment.
5. Carefully superglue the two pieces together.

If done correctly, your custom d-pad will not only sit higher but also won't require dremeling the housing shell.

Here's an example of this technique where I retrofitted a SNES d-pad (surface layer) to on a PS3 controller.

View attachment 188954
​

***

Edit - Another idea is using this Nintendo Switch accessory on the o2DS. No guarantee those d-pad add-ons will fit and sit correctly without interference.

• [eBay] Skull & Co. D-Pad Button Cap Set for NINTENDO SWITCH Joy-cons
• [Amazon] Skull & Co. D-Pad Button Cap Set for Nintendo Switch Joy-con

Thank you, I ordered one of those original GBA buttons and dpads combo, because I saw a guy simply putting a GBA dpad inside the 2DS without sanding anything, only cutting a bit in the sides to make it fit.

Thank you for your idea also, I will update this post with pictures of my modding next week. Hopefully everything will turn up great!

Cheers and thank for the feedback Turdpoo

 

[nashismo]

Ok here it goes!

I finally received my package yesterday, I bought a set of transparent buttons and dpad of the original GBA, which are all chinese stuff. I also asked the seller if he had any "original" Nintendo GBA dpads, but at the end I couldn't buy them those, because I didn't have any more money for that.

The seller was so amazing that he STILL sent me the original GBA dpad together with transparent buttons set for the GBA!

I was so happy!

But on to the modding (using original GBA dpad):

I will try to summarize, I sanded the dpad perfectly to fit the 2ds, the corners, etc, but hear me out! This is not enough! Why? Because the pivot is much "shorter" than the one on the 2ds dpad!

This is key, because the pivot needs to touch firmly the bottom of the board, otherwise you get a flimsy dpad movement and worse of all, failed inputs.

Continuing, the pivot of the GBA is not only shorter, but also much fatter. So what I did was sand down the entire bottom part of the DPAD, in order to make the pivot taller at the same time, get it?

While doing this, I also made the pivot "thinner" to fit the dpad rubber membrane better (essential, believe me). I also made the hole on the middle of the dpad rubber, a bit wider (is hard not to screw things here, you can ruin it if you don't do it right, as the rubber is very delicate).

Then I sanded the end of all 4 sides of the plastic dpad, making sure not to sand the edges that you touch while you use the dpad (you will kill that "nintendo feel" if you do).

Lots of test's proving and testing, and in the end I also sanded a bit on the 2ds itself where the 4 sides of the dpad meet the 2ds plastic, remember! Sides! Never touch the corners on the "2ds hole" (where the dpad goes)! It is the only thing keeping the dpad in place.

After working for 12 hours, finishing at 5 am (I took long not to screw my 2ds, not to break anything, etc.) I did it!

This is the most fantastic dpad I have EVER used! Only rivaled by the Sega Saturn and Classic controller dpad!

I could not believe how comfortable it became, but again, it needs to be remade, re molded with sand paper and a HUGE tons of PATIENCE, I added the pics.

(The corners of the dpad are much more sanded than what it looks on the picture)

P.D Be carefull with the stupid little pieces of plastic inside de 2ds, there are like 3 very tiny pieces of plastic for the leds, etc, super easy to lose, also the plastics for the volume and sleep. I lost the upper right plastic (transparent) where the battery indicator goes. I replaced it with liquid silicone, but is not ideal.

 

[Celsiusss]

Ok here it goes!

I finally received my package yesterday, I bought a set of transparent buttons and dpad of the original GBA, which are all chinese stuff. I also asked the seller if he had any "original" Nintendo GBA dpads, but at the end I couldn't buy them those, because I didn't have any more money for that.

The seller was so amazing that he STILL sent me the original GBA dpad together with transparent buttons set for the GBA!

I was so happy!

But on to the modding (using original GBA dpad):

I will try to summarize, I sanded the dpad perfectly to fit the 2ds, the corners, etc, but hear me out! This is not enough! Why? Because the pivot is much "shorter" than the one on the 2ds dpad!

This is key, because the pivot needs to touch firmly the bottom of the board, otherwise you get a flimsy dpad movement and worse of all, failed inputs.

Continuing, the pivot of the GBA is not only shorter, but also much fatter. So what I did was sand down the entire bottom part of the DPAD, in order to make the pivot taller at the same time, get it?

While doing this, I also made the pivot "thinner" to fit the dpad rubber membrane better (essential, believe me). I also made the hole on the middle of the dpad rubber, a bit wider (is hard not to screw things here, you can ruin it if you don't do it right, as the rubber is very delicate).

Then I sanded the end of all 4 sides of the plastic dpad, making sure not to sand the edges that you touch while you use the dpad (you will kill that "nintendo feel" if you do).

Lots of test's proving and testing, and in the end I also sanded a bit on the 2ds itself where the 4 sides of the dpad meet the 2ds plastic, remember! Sides! Never touch the corners on the "2ds hole" (where the dpad goes)! It is the only thing keeping the dpad in place.

After working for 12 hours, finishing at 5 am (I took long not to screw my 2ds, not to break anything, etc.) I did it!

This is the most fantastic dpad I have EVER used! Only rivaled by the Sega Saturn and Classic controller dpad!

I could not believe how comfortable it became, but again, it needs to be remade, re molded with sand paper and a HUGE tons of PATIENCE, I added the pics.

(The corners of the dpad are much more sanded than what it looks on the picture)

P.D Be carefull with the stupid little pieces of plastic inside de 2ds, there are like 3 very tiny pieces of plastic for the leds, etc, super easy to lose, also the plastics for the volume and sleep. I lost the upper right plastic (transparent) where the battery indicator goes. I replaced it with liquid silicone, but is not ideal.

Where did you get that d-pad specifically from? The one I ordered from ebay looks different

 

[gohan123]

I propably another issue with the dpad on the new 3ds xl, I bought the cheapest grip https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81PgUkLN2kL._AC_SL1500_.jpg and now I have 0 problems with it. it's much more comfortable and there propably better grips out there.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

Where did you get that d-pad specifically from? The one I ordered from ebay looks different

Either yours is a low quality part -or- you got a d-pad meant for the GBA SP.

See this.

• [ZedLabz] search results for "gba buttons"

From my past experience fixing worn out GameCube controllers due to Super Smash, this company sells high quality replica buttons and rubber pads. You can opt for different colors than the standard gray.

 

[nashismo]

Where did you get that d-pad specifically from? The one I ordered from ebay looks different

The Dpad is taken out from an original standard GBA (non SP). But by the way, I have had only one issue with the Dpad, it is simply too tall. And I have found that a Gameboy Color Dpad would be PERFECT for my 2DS in terms of size and height, but I still haven't got it, when I do, I will replace my GBA dpad for the GBC dpad and will update this post.

Cheers to all!

 

[WarioWaffles]

Ok here it goes!

I finally received my package yesterday, I bought a set of transparent buttons and dpad of the original GBA, which are all chinese stuff. I also asked the seller if he had any "original" Nintendo GBA dpads, but at the end I couldn't buy them those, because I didn't have any more money for that.

The seller was so amazing that he STILL sent me the original GBA dpad together with transparent buttons set for the GBA!

I was so happy!

But on to the modding (using original GBA dpad):

I will try to summarize, I sanded the dpad perfectly to fit the 2ds, the corners, etc, but hear me out! This is not enough! Why? Because the pivot is much "shorter" than the one on the 2ds dpad!

This is key, because the pivot needs to touch firmly the bottom of the board, otherwise you get a flimsy dpad movement and worse of all, failed inputs.

Continuing, the pivot of the GBA is not only shorter, but also much fatter. So what I did was sand down the entire bottom part of the DPAD, in order to make the pivot taller at the same time, get it?

While doing this, I also made the pivot "thinner" to fit the dpad rubber membrane better (essential, believe me). I also made the hole on the middle of the dpad rubber, a bit wider (is hard not to screw things here, you can ruin it if you don't do it right, as the rubber is very delicate).

Then I sanded the end of all 4 sides of the plastic dpad, making sure not to sand the edges that you touch while you use the dpad (you will kill that "nintendo feel" if you do).

Lots of test's proving and testing, and in the end I also sanded a bit on the 2ds itself where the 4 sides of the dpad meet the 2ds plastic, remember! Sides! Never touch the corners on the "2ds hole" (where the dpad goes)! It is the only thing keeping the dpad in place.

After working for 12 hours, finishing at 5 am (I took long not to screw my 2ds, not to break anything, etc.) I did it!

This is the most fantastic dpad I have EVER used! Only rivaled by the Sega Saturn and Classic controller dpad!

I could not believe how comfortable it became, but again, it needs to be remade, re molded with sand paper and a HUGE tons of PATIENCE, I added the pics.

(The corners of the dpad are much more sanded than what it looks on the picture)

P.D Be carefull with the stupid little pieces of plastic inside de 2ds, there are like 3 very tiny pieces of plastic for the leds, etc, super easy to lose, also the plastics for the volume and sleep. I lost the upper right plastic (transparent) where the battery indicator goes. I replaced it with liquid silicone, but is not ideal.

Nice work, I admire the patience!