Mad Catz Beat Pad / Beat Pad Pro

Super_Trooper · Basic Member Joined: 27 May 2005

Glad to hear it's working for you. I spent most of yesterday and today looking for that foam, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Instead I ended up doing this. It's working great, with no signs of wear/tear. Plus, I can use my shoes on it!

ropeadope · Trick Member Joined: 20 Jul 2004

That looks like a good alternative, if you want to use shoes. I think using socks and foam would last a lot longer, but who knows.

I've spotted a lot of foam/rubbery type mats a lot in Sporting goods stores lately. It's not quite the same, but they might work. It's another place to look anyways.

TheRealJaHooty · Trick Member Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Location: Palm Bay, FL

OK.. I've Got to Be the Laziest Person in the world. I went and found some left over plywood from a new roof someone was building and coated it with plastic. I put 3 rows of 2 by 4 under it. I stuck my beat pad on it and nailed the sucker on. It was so heavy I had to use a dolly to move it in my room. It doesn't budge!!!

The only problem is I play in socks so I slip like hell. The whole project was the cost of the pad. I got everything else from the left over pile of some home construction site. I want to figure out a way to make a thick beat pad. I believe It would be possible to take squishy rubber material (you've seen the black material, it feels like a car squeegy rag) and cut it into the shape of the arrow keys. Take the rest of the material and make a stencle to go around the rest of the mat. If you were to mount those on top of the pad and put it on a nice board with a plastic coating ( maybe even a tarp if you wanna get radical) it would work. What I really want to do is make a outdoor pad. I don't play outdoors though, but if I had one I might start.

TheRealJaHooty · Trick Member Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Location: Palm Bay, FL

It Just hit me!!!!! I'm gonna use the foam you put under carpet. It's cheap and you can find it free used. That stuff is so perfect. I can Cut one piece to fit over the whole pad and then seperate the pieces that cover the arrows from the rest. Then cover it with plastic wrap. If it's on the wood, it'll be sturdy and soft. I'll make a "how to" after I attempt it.

xx equestrian · Basic Member Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada

Hmmm..

I have a MC beat pad, it's the one for Gamecube, though..and it's fine, it seems to slip less than my friends for his PS2, I think it's a little thicker, and has a cushy bottom. (Yes, I play MC Groovz for Gamecube, shoot me.) The pad seems to be great, I've folded it (but will stop now), and it's still responsive, and I've had it sense November.

I play at my friends all the time (still waiting to get my own DDR, but I've got a horsey to pay for at the same time as saving for the console) and he has 2 MC beat pads. When he bought them, he originally had to return one for a new one because it didn't work out of the box. He's had his for almost a year now, and as far as I know, they are still great. He's a big guy, and does standard and some heavy songs, and I know they get folded and shoved away after every time he plays. Maybe he just got lucky since his are still fine?
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~Sarah~

Thomas Hobbes · Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 10:53 am Post subject:

I played Holic on my old pad and I was falling and slipping everywhere cause of the pad. The pads aren't great.
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TheRealJaHooty · Trick Member Joined: 14 Jun 2005 Location: Palm Bay, FL

yea the pads aren't really slip resistant. I guess thier only rated for 3 footers! I literally have no pad under my feet after the first 5 steps on legend of MAXX. I had to anchor it to a peice of wood. I anchored that woo onto some really heavy wooden 2x4's. It doesn't move. Heh Heh. Only problem is it isn't the best for storage.

magicmagickatie · Basic Member Joined: 13 Nov 2005

I have an orginal Mad Catz "Beat Pad for Xbox" not the pro model. My question is.. has anyone tried the orginal beat pad with the PC and programs like Step Mania?? What adapter did you use. Whenever i google this i only find info on adapters that work with the PRO model. Anyone have any suggestions? I would like to know before I go out and waste money on adapters if this Xbox Beat Pad will work. thanks

Amoryllis · Basic Member Joined: 25 Jan 2006

Recently my sister and I decided on getting a couple of beatpads for her DDR game, and they worked absolutely fine. It wasn't until we got the second Universal Beat Pad Pro (sister has the MadCatz PS2) that things stopped working. Apparently having two of them blows the fuse, it draws way too much power through the little thing.

So the end result is that we have two pads that aren't much use right now cause we don't have an XBox and I don't have the game for the GameCube. If you do buy the MadCatz UBBP, don't use more than one, especially if you like your rumble feature.

One more thing: Why can't I find any reviews for this product? Its like it doesn't exsist.

XohshitztonysbackX · Trick Member Joined: 10 Jan 2006

I always buy the Gamestop brand. everytime i buy the Madcatz pad, it stop working after 1 day of playing and cant even play on harder songs.

jsweet · Basic Member Joined: 28 Feb 2006

/engage stupid question mode

In the RO Ignition v3 thread, I asked what the "gold standard" for Ignition-style pads are. ( http://www.ddrfreak.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=8391410#8391410 ) I specifically want to get an Ignition-style pad because I am hoping that the foam padding will be easier on my feet (I'm on the heavy side for a DDR player)

psisar recommended this pad, but it doesn't look to me like this one is Ignition-style, i.e. with padding? Am I missing something? Or did psisar misinterpret my question?

/engage total nitpick mode

It's nice that the pad index in this forum has pictures, but it also kinda makes it harder to search for a specific pad or specific type of pad...... Meh, I'm just complaining, ignore me!

psisarah · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jul 2005 Location: Toronto

Wolfman Jake · Trick Member Joined: 13 Sep 2002

Well, I'm thuroughly unimpressed with Mad Catz's Beat Pad Pro. I've been getting RO brand Ignition pads for over two years now. I bought them from Gamestop/EB Games becauese some of their stores would offer extended warranties on them for about $10. This was great, as the pads would wear out before the warranties would expire, so I could just pick up a new Ignition after several months and pay another $10 to insure it. Well, my latest Ignition 2.0 went bad earlier this week (why is it always the down arrow?), so I called the store I typically get them from, but they're out of stock, as is every Gamestop and EB Games in the area. They offered to replace it with a different pad, and all they had of the same kind was the Beat Pad Pros. They even let me get TWO of them to cover the value of the last RO pad I got.

Well, they suck. Seems to work just fine on my XBox (SDGs in abundance), but when I try to play on my PS2, I get HORRIBLE lag. Stepping on the beat gets me Greats or even Goods on the order of 60-150 per song on songs I can usually SDG, or at least AA. I know it's not my PS2, because I tested it with an old Ignition 3.0 (with a finiky down arrow) and got my typical score results. Trying the BPP again, it was back to great attacking. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Is the PS2 side just randomly defective? Should I try the other pad and see how it goes? If all BPP's have this PS2 issue, I'd rather keep the second one sealed and see if I can get refunded for at least that pad, if not BOTH.
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Wolfman Jake

psisarah · Trick Member Joined: 06 Jul 2005 Location: Toronto

Actually, I know what you mean. The second MadCatz BPP I got had that same problem. Now, have you tried modding you Ingition to make it play better? I did it when I got mine and it worked fine 'til I built my metal pad. This was my solution.
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Wolfman Jake · Trick Member Joined: 13 Sep 2002

Thanks, psisar. If that's a recurring issue with BPP's, I'm just going to wash my hands of them now. I have actually replaced the foam pad inside some soft mats before. In fact, I did so for the first pad I owned, but I've never really wanted to gut an Ignition pad. I think I'm just going to hunt down a reasonably priced Ignition 3.1. I was very disappointed with the 3.0 I got a while back (the one with the finiky down arrow); the quality was definitely far below that of the 2.0's I was used to, but I've read a lot of reports claiming that the quality control on the 3.1's is MUCH better than the 3.0's. The only problem is, I think only stores like Best Buy carry them, and they don't let you put extended warranties on them.
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Wolfman Jake

zaphod · Trick Member Joined: 23 Jan 2002 Location: Hayward, CA

I just got one of those MG Groove Beatpad pros. you need to set the timing to around +10 (!) to resynch while using them on a ps.

I'm not kidding here.

At least the lag is consistent. when i bumped it up to +10 i was getting marvs again.

Also theose damn back buttons have a hair trigger on mine. other then that the pad works. It needed some breaking in.

SO yeah. no doubles unless you buy two of them if you are playing on ps2. They ARE among the cheaper clone pads, but if i had to do it all over again i would NOT buy it.
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Stick Fighter Revolution Turbo Mega Alpha +4 Ned

zaphod · Trick Member Joined: 23 Jan 2002 Location: Hayward, CA

Also the one i got seems to have the more dense style of foam insert (dark grey instead of white) but it's a 6 piece. it's also 3-4th of an inch thick, andfits so snug in the pad i don't think a thicker insert will work.
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Stick Fighter Revolution Turbo Mega Alpha +4 Ned

Drake255 · Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 10:54 am Post subject: Damn Crap!

Hello, I bought 2 Universal Mad Catz Beat Pad pro to play with my PS2. I have actually 2 playstations (one original and the slim version). On the old one, only one pad works (the 2nd controller) the first one lights up, but nothing work when I press the arrows or the other button. But the worst is on my second playstation (slim version) Nothing works, no light... and just after I tried the pads my rumble pack (on both controllers) just busted out! I read about the fuse on the FAQ of MadCatz...

Please could someone help me before I turn Mad and burn the pads in my fireplace for christmas ?

Does anybody change that fuse ? How to ?

And ... what are the pads that you recommand ? The best one ? I want something better...

Thanks a Lot! I'm very frustrated...

daikenkai =[ · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 11:09 pm Post subject:

Mad Catz for me has always been a good brand. I do remember for the first time opening my first accesory for the playstation 1, ooh I opened up a controller and played 2 player Cubix Racing with my little sister allt he time. then I got a memory card

sheep · Trick Member Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Location: Victoria, BC

Here's my madcatz setup:

-Mounted two pads on individual pieces of 1/2 in. particle board with duct tape
-Connected the two boards with a door hinge at the top and bottom
-Door hinge should have a removable pin (should say on the box if it does, I got a pack of two at Home Depot for under $4.00 Can.

They stay firmly together because of the pins, and don't move at all because of how large the surface area of the two pads together is. If I want to store them/one of them, I just take the pins out of the door hinges (don't lose them

) and they come apart.

As for connectivity issues, I have two Xbox > USB converters bought from ebay for 1 cent plus shipping each (one's still on the way). Plugged into the computer they work awesome with Stepmania.

Total cost:

$40 for pads
$4 (a bit less) for hinges
$10 for particle board

And you probably have duct tape lying around, I used clear tape.