We all know for competative players that having good pads matter, I myself get frustrated going to places where you constantly get pad misses or the arrows get stuck and it gets on my nerves. Over the past month I've been going to our arcade and trying to get our ITG2 machine pads to be more sensitive because over the years they kinda got worn out. Keep in mind with ITG machines you have several things to look for.
1. The first thing you wanna look for and you almost always need permission from the owners/managers of the gameroom that you play at "unless you have your own machine" is the Sensor test which is in the Options menu of your machine and its called "Test Input" Each panel "arrow" has 4 sensors one in each corner so you wanna test the sensitivity of those making sure it is making correct contact and that when you press on it that the sensor isn't flickering which could mean that the sensor is no good or that it is oversensitive, in any case replace the faulty sensor or reroute the bad wiring to a part of the pad that it isn't used "common sense its usually the "Top Sensor on the Top arrow, Bottom sensor on the Bottom arrow, Left sensor on the left arrow, and right sensor on the right arrow" You want to refrain from doing that if players at your arcade play a lot of doubles in which you really only have to worry about the 1p "right arrow right sensor and 2p left arrow left sensor"
Keep in mind Pump it Up and DDR should have their own sensor tests so just follow the instructions the same way, although it will probably take somewhat more time to figure out how to get to the sensor test on the other machines but its mostly common sense and if not you can always ask your gameroom tech.
2. Once you have done the sensor test and made sure everything is working correctly your thinking to yourself, well why do the pads still suk? Well over months and years of pounding those pads retain a lot of dirt, and I mean A LOT!!! those things get really dirty so if you have the chance while opening up the panels get a vaccum cleaner and something like a flat head screw driver to dig out of rocks stuck inbetween the sensors/brackets. In some cases you have to remove the L brackets that cover the sensors to completely get all rocks/dirt out.
3. Weatherstrip tape??? what is weatherstrip tape? its a somewhat thick tape that closes gaps inbetween small spaces kind of like the space between an Pad panel and L bracket, sometimes the L brackets already come with padding or some foamy stuff on them but after a while they get worn out which is why weatherstrip tape, which can be bought at home depot or lowes for like 3 bucks, will be very VERY HELPFUL if used properly. What you do is you stick it on the L brackets as shown that go over the sensors "They are usually black or white" Keep in mind that to much weather strip tape or thickness of it might cause the pads to stick so you need to make sure you don't get one to thick. After that your pads should be very sensative keep in mind DDR/ITG/PIU pads will never be perfect but you can keep them managable.
4. I did all these steps which I read in various forums such as DDRfreak/ITGfreak.. this is not something I just came up with these are tips and tricks from other players have mentioned. I would say keep a rag around to keep your hands semi clean, also if you have problems unscrewing the brackets due to stripped screws I suggest vice grips or a power drill, you really only need to remove 2 of the brackets that cover the panels to remove one so just be cautious and if the pads are already missing them then even better for you.
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