messiah wireless snes controller ranting and internal pics

[Reaperman]

I suggested the Messiah Wireless Snes controller to my local gametrader (awesome store) and a couple weeks back they got them in, and were nice enough to split them from $60 pairs to $30 singles for me--because I told them snes gamers have no friends

Short end of it is that I finally got a Messiah SNES Wireless Controller. yay!

 

I bought this one with the intention of hooking it to my retro duo, and for that it works very well. Works in NES mode too when other complex controllers (SN Programpad) only seem to work with the snes half. *OUTWARDLY* it's got all the right buttons, with the exception of a disc instead of the D-pad. All the buttons are awfully mushy, including the disc, and I just figured the worst rubber in history was used underneath them. So I opened it up to take a look, and see if I could swap it for the rubber from a decent new clone controller I have. But to my surprise I found a very unusual setup. Instead of the typical golden pads I found these crazy switches that don't work for crap.

 

 

so instead of a controller that starts out great, and gets mushy (most controllers) Messiah opted for these little switches which start out bad, and stay that way for a good long time. The sad thing is that the slight bit of added bulk on this controller may have allowed the use of microswitches, which I think everybody universally loves--though I may be wrong. (huge 500xj fan) I've noted that most messiah reviews complain about the disc vs. a standard d-pad, but that's obviously not the *real* problem. The real problem is what's underneath the disc which is preventing it from doing its job.

Edited December 6, 2008 by Reaperman

[the.golden.ax]

Back when they started making this crap, the man behind it SPAM mailed me, and tried to get me to buy them wholesale. I basically told him how I felt about spam. He went off on me with a major additude and profanity. I can not imagine that the quality of someone's work who acts like that would be very good.

 

AX

[godslabrat]

Back when they started making this crap, the man behind it SPAM mailed me, and tried to get me to buy them wholesale. I basically told him how I felt about spam. He went off on me with a major additude and profanity. I can not imagine that the quality of someone's work who acts like that would be very good.

 

Man, every time I think the last chapter on this company is written, someone posts something like this.

 

Just... wow.

[the.golden.ax]

Back when they started making this crap, the man behind it SPAM mailed me, and tried to get me to buy them wholesale. I basically told him how I felt about spam. He went off on me with a major additude and profanity. I can not imagine that the quality of someone's work who acts like that would be very good.

 

Man, every time I think the last chapter on this company is written, someone posts something like this.

 

Just... wow.

 

Do tell (links please?) I hadn't heard anything about them at all since that spam all those years ago.

 

AX

[godslabrat]

Do tell (links please?) I hadn't heard anything about them at all since that spam all those years ago.

 

Well, basically, Messiah announced the NEX in response to all the crappy NES clone systems that were being sold. They tried to get a foot into the market by saying stuff like "Our IC is a custom designed IC that is built on the NES algorithm. Every attention to detail has been spent on compatibility." (source) Messiah did everything they could to sell the system as a 100% compatible, redesigned NES. The thing gets released, and wouldn't you know it, it has a compatibility list that look exactly like the NOAC systems that retrogamers were trying to avoid.

 

People bought this thing and tried it out. Despite everything believed before the release of the system, the NEX was nothing more than yet another NOAC clone. Albeit, a really purty one. NES collectors were down right pissed that not only was this thing a crappy clone, but it was an EXPENSIVE crappy clone, and twice the price of a Yobo or FC system. The selling point to the console became the wireless controllers, and for a time that was enough, as said controllers could be used with the standard NES. However, a reciever was needed to enable the use of said controllers on a standard NES, and for some unexplained reason, that reciever went out of production while the controllers continued to be sold.

 

So, the one product that people liked was useless to anyone who didn't own an NEX and wanted to use a standard Nintendo. Meanwhile, after not announcing updates to their NES/SNES lines or acknowledging problems with the products that already existed, Messiah announced useless PS3 "mod" accessories which existed only to "trick out" your system and didn't seem to add any value. They were cheap junk designed to fleece stupid gamers.

 

Messiah then faded away slowly, and only recently has their site gone down for good. Bottom line: They expected premium prices for goods that were no better than what was already on the market, and embittered their customer base when their marketing claims ended up being inaccurate. Not a good business plan when you're selling a niche product to a niche market.

[2600Lives]

Ok, I gotta chime in here. I met the guy (and his wife) that started Messiah at the first OVGE convention where I exhibited. Both of them were VERY cool, very cordial, and pretty damn interesting to talk to. I got to try out the NES wireless controllers, and I was seriously impressed. Excellent stuff. Now, I've not tried out any of their other stuff, sure, but it's strange how my impression of them seems contradictory to how EVERYBODY else percieves them.

[godslabrat]

Ok, I gotta chime in here. I met the guy (and his wife) that started Messiah at the first OVGE convention where I exhibited. Both of them were VERY cool, very cordial, and pretty damn interesting to talk to. I got to try out the NES wireless controllers, and I was seriously impressed. Excellent stuff. Now, I've not tried out any of their other stuff, sure, but it's strange how my impression of them seems contradictory to how EVERYBODY else percieves them.

 

No, I've heard that before. I've seen a couple of people who claimed to have talked to the founders of Messiah, and the consensus is that they're good people who wanted to deliver a quality product.

 

The animosity comes from the fact that, at the end of the day, they DIDN'T deliver a quality product. Good intentions or not, the ball was dropped somewhere... and more importantly, Messiah had numerous opportunities to make their marketing a little more accurate, and those opportunities were not taken.

[yuppicide]

I thought I'd chime in here too.. I was just reading this post and noticed my zipper is undone on my pants. How long have they been like this? Where have I been today when they were undone?

[+remowilliams]

Well, basically, Messiah [...]

I'd say that sums it up quite nicely.

[Royalshin]

So are we talking about the same messiah famicom/NES from 2oo5?

 

If so thank you for telling us about the controller. I allways wanted to get one but never really found it usefull at all.

 

 

About your NES problem maybe you could use a NES controller wireless with your SNES messaih reciever?

[yuppicide]

No we were talking about my zipper. You interrupted us. Oh wait that was me.

 

Anyway, I used to want one of these so bad until I saw the reviews after it came out.

 

The wireless controllers pissed me off too what someone said above about not being able to get the receiver or something.