My Misadventures With My New Blueshark

[Chewchewtrain]

I have used a RedOctane Ignition 3.0 for about 8 months, and it was starting to deteriorate. I finally made the decision to purchase a metal pad, and after reading all the glowing reviews here on ITGFreak, I decided to get a Blueshark. I ordered it on February 15 from mymybox.com, and received it on February 20. I haven't played on until today, however (ear infection).

I was kinda disappointed as soon as I opened the box. The 9 "squares" of the pad itself were all a bit misaligned, but that wasn't a huge concern. I cared more about the function of the pad than showing it off, and I realized that this probably wasn't an uncommon issue.

However, there were some real issues that did effect the function of the pad. First, I was never able to use the bar that came with it. The bar is bent at such an angle that the "legs" of the bar are two different heights. This means that cannot be properly aligned in the holes of the bottom of the pad, and the bolts simply will simply not go in.

I called mymybox earlier today, and a very kind gentleman answered the phone. I explained the situation about the bar, and he told me to not worry, that they would send another one as soon as possible (which I should be receiving in about a week, he said). I thought "Awesome. Well, it's kinda incomplete, but at least I'll have a fully working blueshark in a week. I guess I could practice some without the bar."

Nope. Not gonna happen.

I played about 10 songs of In The Groove on PS2, when I realized I couldn't pick a song. I pressed on the X button a few times, and...it wasn't working. I stepped on it. I stomped on it. I slapped it. I did everything I could. I looked under the panel, and compared it to the O button (which still works fine), and they look identical so far as I can tell, except the X button simply will not respond.

So I decided to use the control box instead, but after the VERY NEXT SONG, both the select and start buttons on the control box are ALSO unresponsive. I now have no way to select songs with the blueshark pad.

So to sum up:

1. Panels are misaligned.
2. Bar is bent and uninstallable.
3. X Button, and Control Box Buttons (Select, Start) are all unresponsive.

I have to ask, are any of these common issues? I can believe in the misaligned panels, but, otherwise, it sounds like I got hosed with a (badly) refurbished Blueshark pad.

I'm obviously going to call MyMyBox again on Monday and see what they have to say about the situation. They were very kind and generous regarding the bent bar. I know they obviously aren't going to send out a new pad, but I hope things work out.

Any comments or ideas about repair are greatly appreciated. I really did enjoy playing on the pad what little I did, and I can understand why it gets so much love. I just...you know...I wanna use mine, too.

EDIT: Also, I've seen a few other pictures of new Blueshark pads, and none of them have a layer of blue film wrapped around all the metal. Is this included on all the new Bluesharks, or is this further evidence of a botched refurbishing?

[Discoman]

This looks useful, but put it in the nexen/blueshark thread which is blatantly visible.

http://www.ddrfreak.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=120766