Red Octane Afterburner

[neotwig]

[stewlab]

i noticed the flexing the first time i played on it, well.. my sister did as i was playing. she said it bent to the point where she thought it would break, im about 175 and dont stomp or anything. i was also playing on carpet, maybe that isnt a good idea.

not like it matters because i havent touched my pad in about a week...still waiting for the replacement cbox.
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[theheter0c1ite]

Ok, I was looking at the red octane page for afterburner, and I came across these words;

"PS2, Xbox, and PC Compatibility
No more fumbling with extra cables and adapters, the Afterburner Metal Pad is FULLY COMPATIBLE with the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC! "

As you know, this is not true. I think what happened was that they were in a bind, and still were on a beta of the cbox and in a fit to make money and ship it out before ITG shipped, they just sent them out, knowing that there were bugs still in it. I think that until they can send out cboxes that are really fully compatable, that they should not be able to advertise to multi platform support. It's missleading, and is one of the few reasons why people decided to get this pad. Red Octane needs to grow up and get with the plan. I don't see why it would be so hard to make a working cbox. Especially being a big company and all. they could even work out deals with the companies that have converters for these platforms. Anyways, if you think this is false advertisement too, let me know, and maybe we can let Red Octane know.

[cam]

Screw this pad, seriously.... if I wanted to play with it on playstation2 it would work, right? I think I may just buy a cobalt flux and build around it a box, add a bar, and mode the buttons so that they are raised. This pad has too many problems! We might as well all wait for the bugs to b e fixed and a better pad to come out. I'm thinking this pad may cause a revolution in the pad busyness- meaning more companies will start making bu ttons lowered. We'll see.

[runwithscizzors9]

[cam]

[Dollar Bill (OG)]

hmm.. I was contemplating buying one of the two since I desperately need a metal pad since it's a b*tch to get to the nearest arcade to play without some idiot giving me dirty looks because I don't overobsess over 10 footers. :S

It was posted here this week that RO would be fixing the Control box issue, yet I'm hearing CF is adding a recessed feature. To be honest, I just need one soon, so I'm leaning more towards the RO because it's cheaper. But I also play on all 3 consoles, and I really love Ultramix 2's songlist.

The gist of this whole post: how would I find out if RO did fix the control box issue? Because if they don't, I might have to borrow some $ to get the CF.

Dollar Bill
"Sorry if I sound like a troll, but it's really damn annoying trying to play trick/easy heavy songs without someone looking at me like 'I can do better'". That, and the pads stink around here. "
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Permanently retired.

[tepp]

Well, I was told they'd ship me a new cbox in one to two weeks, a week ago. I'll ask again this week.

If I ever get a cbox that works, I will definately post about it here.

I do like this pad. Except for the disconnects.

[Thomas Hobbes]

Recessed pads usually mean that the arrows are lower than the other panels, like in the arcade.
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"I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark."

| Pics | Play-Asia |

[match_head_]

Last summer I bought two of Red Octane's original metal pads. Those pads were the worst use of $480 ever. When I decided to return them because they still had their 60-day "warranty", it took a month get a response from Red Octane with constant pestering. It turned out that I would have to pay the return shipping, a %15 restocking fee, and they wouldn't refund the original shipping costs, so I would spend $200 returning them.
Red Octane uses all of their effort answering questions from potential customers and basically ignores customers who actually bought their products.
Red Octane's new pads may be a great improvement over their old pads, but buying their pads is a bad idea because they don't care at all about quality control. Buying from Red Octane isn’t worth the risk.

[Thomas Hobbes]

Hey! If I recall correctly, one of my friends is a quality tester at RedOctane. Billyjr82.
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"I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark."

| Pics | Play-Asia |

[Hidyman]

I ordered 2 Red Octane Afterburner dance pads. 5 days later the boxes arrived. One had a long gash in the box. Red Octane was wise to double box them. The unit inside was unscathed. I pulled them out and hooked them up to my computer. 30 seconds into Hysteria it stopped responding. It was the dreaded USB connection issue.

After being frustrated with a bad pair of control boxes, I decided to make these puppies work. I took my old home built PSX controller to Parallel port adapter out of storage and used it to hook up my Afterburner to a PC. The PC was set up with XP SP1a, Stepmania 3.9 rc3 and NTPad 2.01 for the controller interface driver. (NTPad 2.01 seems to be broken on SP2, works fine on SP1a)

It worked flawlessly. So I went on the internet and found out how to hook up 2 pads to one parallel port.

http://www.emulatronia.com/reportajes/directpad/psxeng/print.htm

I did the wiring and now I'm in Doubles heaven.

LOVE these pads, but I’m upset that I had to do extra work (wasn't that hard, but I had just laid down a nice chunk of change for 2 shiny rug flatteners).

Even with the cost and the extra work: It was worth it!!!

After watching my younger brother do 4 1/2 hours straight, I decided to take off the protective plastic layer. Very cool look, the center pad and the XB/AO squares look shinier (might be nickel coated). There is some flex (my brother is bigger than me, I weigh 160) but it didn't seem like it was hurting the pad.

It's made of tubular steel for the outside rails. It is very well engineered. I do recommend using it on industrial/commercial carpet or hard flooring. It does move a little on afore mentioned carpeting (a couple of inches over a couple hours of doubles play). The foam bottom would probably stick to flat surfaces very well.

I have two pads. A little bracket is included on each pad. You just unscrew the bracket a little and then you can pivot it around and connect it with the screw on the other pad. Take the one off of the other pad to secure the other end of the pad. It stays together pretty well. With an extra bracket you could actually have three stages (or more) hooked together.

The pad does use copper foil and etched pc board for contacts. The copper seems thick enough that it will last. Even if it doesn't, you could put your own foil on there. I'm very happy with the sensitivity of this pad. I would like to note that the AO and BX buttons in the top corners are really built to use for buttons, but you can play solos (6 arrows) with it, it just requires a little more force and good positioning on the button. Only the center area (just slightly bigger than a CD) is sensitive.

The control boxes are sturdy enough to not worry about breaking when you use your feet to actuate them. One gripe: The lettering is not readable when you are standing up. Red Octane, please use large white lettering on the control boxes!

If this pad’s control box did not have the UBS/Xbox connection issues I would give it a 9.5. (This rating would also apply if you only use it for Playstation where there are no connection problems)
As it stands I give it a qualified 7, if the control issues are resolved this pad will be a steal at $199.

One minor issue I had was with the stated shipping weight of 70 lbs. The box that it is shipped in says it weights less than 50 lbs. Oh well, I couldn’t have drove to California from Ohio and back for the $105.59 that it costs to have them shipped.

I have notified Red Octane about the control box issues, I will follow up with what happens.

Update: 5/31/05
I spoke with Red Octane and they said that they will be receiving "NEW" control boxes that have the issue fixed. They advised me to call back in 2 weeks and they would confirm my order, then they would ship me the new boxes free of charge.

Update: 6/13/05
Called Red Octane today.
They said the cable between the control box and the pad was bad.
They wanted to send me cables but I asked them to send the whole control boxes.
They verified my order number, and said I should be receiving them in 5 days.

Update: 6/24/05
I got my replacement control box (was supposed to be 2 of them, but I think DHL lost 1) and it works fawlessly.
No more disconnect issues. I'm very happy!!

[256kbs]

Ok... Since Ive heard sooooo many complaints about the Xbox and the Afterburner, has anyone tried buying a PS2 to Xbox converter and trying that? Does it work? Any other alternitaves?

[tepp]

[256kbs]

Is there anyone that has gotten an Afterburner that worked for the Xbox??

Anyone?


Help me...

[blueamoeba]

I just got an Afterburner for my birthday. (Well, my wife got it for me, which means I still paid for it, but I'm still happy!) Anyway, I love it, it's awesome, but the control box issue keeps me from using it through USB. I have to go through a PS2->usb adapter.

I called RedOctane tech support (got through right away; what gives, I thought it was supposed to take all day? ) and the guy there was really nice, and said they had a bad batch of control boxes, and should have replacements in a week and a half. (Which would be maybe the Friday June 10th, or maybe early the week after that.) Then they'll ship out replacements, and won't need the old boxes back. Which sounds good.

One problem I'm having that I haven't seen anyone else report, is that a couple times my computer has turned off while I was playing. I play a ton of games and my computer is usually really solid. Also, using the same USB adapter with a different pad, I never had this problem. Anyone else seen this one? The support guy said he'd never heard of that happening. (He has now!)

[Hidyman]

When I call I just keep hitting 0 after the message comes back that they are not available.
I will let you know.
When I called them they said they knew about the bad boxes, and that about 20 customers were affected. They told me to call in 2 weeks and that they would verify my ordering information, and then send out new boxes free of charge.

I plan to call them on June 13th, I will post the results of my call.

I did take the boxes appart and they seem well made, I think there was just a mistake made somewhere. I don't like it, but at least they are making good on the problem. Luckily I am good at soldering.

I've been giving the pads hell just waiting for them to break, but so far I've been happy with the pads through the parallel port adapter.

FYI, I took some cheap Wal Mart $10 joysticks and hooked them up to the interface, but they went kaput. I beleive static from the pad zapped the electronics of the joystick circuitry.

[blueamoeba]

The number I called was from their website:
http://www.redoctanegames.com/AboutUs/contactus.html

Corporate Office:
RedOctane
955 Benecia Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
Tel: (408) 481-9121

I actually didn't think it was going to be the right number, but I was desperate, and figured they could forward me on.

Not sure what I pushed but I think it was 0 for operator, and it went straight to support. The guy I talked to said he works 10a-6p, Pacific time.

Does only 20 or so people affected, mean that's all the Afterburners they've sold since they came out? That can't be right, can it?

[Sinistar]

[timmytoga]

Can anyone confirm that that bottom of the afterburner is completely flat? Or does it have little legs? The reason I ask is because I'm concerned about the flexing, and was thinking if i placed it on plywood, it would help the durability of the pad a bit.

Any help would be appreciated.