6 Button pad

[Jason Allen]

I have a Sega brand 6 button pad that has a 7th "mode" button on the right shoulder. What was this meant to be used for?

[Chris Marsh]

I am not sure, but I have an off brand controller and I love it.

[David J.]

to switch between 3 button mode and six button mode. Some games have problems with a six button pad.

[FishySaysSpoon]

Know of any games that dont support six button mode?

[j_factor]

I don't think six-button pads without mode buttons exist.

To clarify on David's post, you can't just press the mode button at any time to switch back and forth between 3-button and 6-button mode. You have to hold it down while the game is booting.

If you do this in a game that uses 6 buttons, you'll see that the game recognizes your controller as just a 3-button pad and the XYZ buttons won't work. Do it in Zombies Ate My Neighbors and go to the controls screen, and you'll see a pic of the 3-button pad instead of the 6-button pad that you're holding -- because it checks your controller type and only sees a 3-button controller.

The purpose of this is that a few early games have problems with 6-button controllers. In Golden Axe II for example, the game will recognize the XYZ and mode buttons as directions and the d-pad won't work. Using the pad in 3-button mode corrects this problem. I've heard also that some games have problems if you use a 6-button pad in 3-button mode, but they're fine in 6-button mode. I haven't heard of any specific games with this problem, and have never bothered to test random games like this, so I don't know how true that may be.

These compatibility issues are ostensibly because of the way the 6-button controller works. Instead of being a "special" controller with limited compatibility like the Activator or something, the 6-button controller works just like a 3-button controller. The extra buttons aren't "new buttons" per se; instead, they're concocted by an otherwise impossible combination of the other buttons. For example, the X button is all four directions and A at the same time. Supposedly, if you were to take apart a 6-button pad and press down on all these pins at once, it would register in the game as the appropriate button (this wouldn't work on a 3-button controller though, because games that make use of the 6-button controller check your controller type beforehand).

The mode button can also be used as a "regular" button for in-game use. The only game I know of to do this is The Lost Vikings. Contra Hard Corps' little "button test" thing also recognizes the mode button, but the game doesn't use it during gameplay.

Incidentally, the 6-button controller has 100% compatibility with SMS games (meaning no SMS games have problems with it in 6-button mode). I'm not sure why that is. In Brazil they made a 6-button SMS controller; I'm not sure how that works. I'm also not sure if those 6-button SMS games will recognize all 6 buttons on the Genesis controller, or if the 6-button Genesis controller will only work in 2-button mode and the special SMS controller is required.

[Jason Allen]

Thank you! Now I can sleep at night. ;)

[David J.]

I saw a second style first party six button pad, it was very odd looking.

I can't describe it, but it had the sega logo and copyrights.

No, it wasn't the Genesis 3 pad which was a rebranded Interact pad.