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*At higher difficulties this pad starts to drift in its ability to register steps on time.
**The pad used for testing was a first generation with arrow problems. According to RedOctane this issue has been fixed.

Through all of the torture that these pads were put through, I have this to say.

The best buy for your money in the lower cost area is the Madcatz beat pad. It held up to my punishment quite well unlike the Topway's which eventually died completely.

For those without $100 to drop on a higher end pad, they can count on the Ultra "DX" to be their best buy for around the same price range as an official Konami pad. The raised arrows and extra padding are very tough to beat, plus the support from the company is very good in case of defects or problems you might encounter. The Konami Pad is a great product as well but it does have some bunching and slide issues to be addressed.

For the high dollar category, I have to go with the Ignition pad hands down. Despite the problems it had during testing, it blew away the hard pad in all tests. Also, the Topway since testing, has lost all response as far as button registering goes.

To all the consumers debating on the Ignition or the Ultra "DX" pad I can tell you this.

BNS offers a lower cost alternative to the Ignition pad with variable differences product wise. The support the company gives though for broken items or production defects is quite excellent. The pad features a bit more bounce in its current stage than its Ignition competitor, and is slated to have improvements over the flaws which I discovered in my tests.

RedOctane offers a nice product at quite a bit higher price. The Ignition pad has a lifetime guarantee on it that the user will be pleased with. The response on the pad is great, and the surface offers some resistance so that travel is reduced when playing on the pad. The only real problems that I encountered were those associated with the 1st generation of the product which I only mention because some users will or have sold their old pads by auction. New buyers take note!

-VeGiTAX2