I had a whole bunch of NES controllers, but the problem with most of them is the D-pad rubber portions. Most of them are worn to a point where just cleaning them isn't going to fix anything...

The NES is 35 years old. I'm not surprised I'm having these issues. I have tried a few different replacement rubber pads and wasn't too satisfied. They don't feel like they *should* when replaced.

I have yet to look at the insides of my SNES controllers, but I hope cleaning them will suffice for most of them. I have yet to open up a SNES controller to even check them out though. Hopefully they just need some good cleaning. We'll see.

@somewes suggested some rubber replacements for the NES controller. I forget which website now. I liked the way the A and B buttons felt, but the D-pad (again the main issue) was an issue for me. Curious if you had a similar experience?

Anyway, the point of this thread is that I'm looking into various options for controller replacement/fixes with minimal cost. So far I am pretty dissatisfied with any rubber replacements. The cheapest seems to be just buying lots of NES controllers and taking the best parts.

Also, the worn D-pads I'm sure are MY fault mostly. I often cycled through controllers to find the ones that felt the best... and I eventually probably cycled through and ruined almost all of them.