Installing PS3 thumbsticks, or any type of controller joystick mod, can be a great way to up your gameplay in your favorite shooter games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Why get new thumbsticks, you ask? Well, you will get more sensitive aiming, limit finger slip when it counts the most, replace old and worn out sticks that you’ve beaten to hell for all these years, just to name a few.

With that said, here’s a little tutorial on how to install Playstation 3 style thumbsticks, or our Hardcore Stix into your 360 controller.

1. Take Apart Your Controller

This is a simple process that only takes about a minute to do. To save time, I’ll refer you to our guide on disassembling your controller.

2. Removing Your Existing Thumb Sticks

Removing the joysticks that came on your Xbox 360 controller is about as easy as it gets. Just grab a hold of them and pull up. They should come off with very little effort. You will notice that they are sitting on small plastic shafts. Turn them upside down and you will see the oblong holes that allow for mounting onto those pegs.

3. Attaching Your New Thumbsticks onto the Controller Board

Just like you pulled your old analog sticks off, now you’re just going to pop on your new thumbstick kit. It should be as easy as simply popping them on the plastic pegs on your controller. Just make sure to align the bottom of the thumbsticks so that they slip on top of the pegs.

4. Closing the Controller Back Up

Once you’ve got your thumbsticks installed, now you have to put your controller back together. Again, we have made a guide for re-assembly of the 360 controller.

One thing about the PS3 style thumbsticks, is that they are a bit harder to push through the front controller shell hole than the 360 version. This is because the mushroom top of the joystick is slightly bigger than the hole that was designed for the X360. Simply align the PS3 stick over the hole and firmly push it through. Don’t worry, it will squeeze right through without causing any damage to the thumbstick or the face of your controller.

5. Enjoy

You may not think that the PS3 style thumbstick on an Xbox 360 controller will make much of a difference, but it really does! After playing with it for a while on a FPS game like MW2 or Battlefield: Bad Company 2, you will notice that you will be able to acquire a target faster when aiming than you ever were capable of doing before with the stock sticks.

The convex surface of the Playstation 3 style thumbstick lets you make precision movements while aiming that the 360 version just can’t match. With that said, I highly encourage you to try them out and see the difference for yourself!

Let us know what you think! Leave a comment below.

Now that we’ve taken apart your controller in our first part on how to take apart an Xbox 360 Controller, now it’s time to show you how to put that sucker back together again.

Once again, all you will need to piece back your controller is just your hands and our special controller opening tool. So here it goes:

Step 1

The first key step to this is to hover the controller board over top of the face piece of the controller shell. Make sure that the grey soft plastic piece is securely over the AXBY buttons, the start and back buttons, and the Xbox center button.

Now drop both rumble motors into their respective slots in the controller shell. If you followed my dis-assembly instructions, you should NOT have disconnected the rumblers from the controller board. This is both unnecessary and a pain in the azz to put back.

Step 2

Now what you need to do is drop the controller board into the front shell of your 360 controller. You may need to wiggle the thumbsticks around a little bit for them to drop into their slots but other than that, it’s pretty easy.

What I like to do in this step is use my thumbs to gently push down on the back of the controller circuit board with my thumbs while maneuvering the joysticks through their holes with my index fingers. You should feel the thumb sticks drop into their slots.

One really important part of this step is to make sure that the little white tab that connects to your controller’s sync button lays above the board. Test this by hitting the sync button while the board is in place. You should hear it clicking each time you press down. If you don’t do this, you won’t be able to sync your controller ever again because the button to do so will be jammed.

Step 3

Now that you’ve got the board in and everything is looking legit, you’re ready to put the back shell of the controller on top. The first thing that you should do is to slide the battery prongs into their respective slots on the back shell. Make sure these are aligned right and then continue to attach the back of the controller to the front faceplate.

Make sure to hold down the right and left triggers as you slip the back piece on. After you’ve cleared the triggers, simply snap the shell into the front piece of the controller. It should fit flush around all the edges.

Now you can start screwing those special torx screws back into the controller. I like to start with the battery area screw and then go and screw the rest in going from each side. For instance, 1. battery screw, 2. left center side, 3. right center side, etc.

Well, that’s basically it. Make sure everything is fitting right and all the buttons are pushing down properly and you should be set.

Thanks for reading and keep modding! Do you have any tips or techniques you like to use? Please feel free to comment and share!

So you just bought a controller mod, or you’re thinking of buying one, and now you can’t figure out how to dis-assemble the thing. In addition to buying a mod, other reasons why you would want to take apart your gamepad are that you are installing new thumbsticks, cleaning out the inside from years of dirt and grime from your hands, putting in new led lights, or you just like to tinker.

Well, we at Hardcore Mods realized this is a problem and the other guides on how to take apart your controller suck. So here’s how to take apart, and put together again, an Xbox 360 wireless controller.

Overview

Basically, we are going to:

• Remove the screws from the back of the controller with a special wrench
• Take off the back piece
• Gently remove the circuit board of the controller from the shell
• Put it all back together again

Step 1

So let’s take a look at the back of the controller. Flip it over with the buttons facing down. You will clearly notice that there are 6 exposed screws on the back of the controller. At first glance, you would think that was it, but Microsoft doesn’t want you to take apart your controller, so they sneakily hid the 7th screw underneath the serial code sticker.

So what you need to do is: peel that sucker back with a fingernail or razor blade.

By the way, you void your controller’s warranty by taking that sticker off.

Step 2

Now you’re ready to take those screws off. MS really wanted to screw us by putting these “security” screws to fasten their controller together. Luckily, we sell the special tool to take those pesky screws off here. As you can see from the picture, it’s not your average screwdriver. It has a hole in the middle.

Other people have suggested using using small-size screwdrivers, but that is a sure fire way to strip the screws. That is definitely NOT what you want to do.

Step 3

So now you’ve taken all the screws out. Your first instinct is to just pull the front and back cover of your controller apart, but that will lead to you picking up all of your controllers buttons off the floor and then guessing where to put them back to.

Here’s a better way:
With the controller faced down, slowly pry the back piece of the controller off with the tips of your fingers. To do this you will want to use both hands. Your thumbs should be holding down the triggers while your fingers are pulling the back shell off.

You will see some progress when you start to see the back coming off and you get a look at the circuit board inside of the controller. You will want to make sure that the front of your controller is facing down on the table to make sure that the buttons don’t go flying everywhere when you take the back plate off.

Pull slowly and straight out.

Step 4

So with any luck, you got the back shell of the controller off. Now what you’re going to do is take the controller board out of the front shell.
Using the same idea of keeping the controller face down as described before, grip the edges of the circuit board with the tips of your fingers and pull it straight up. Flip the board over onto the table and you will see this:

You’ve taken apart your controller into its main components, the front shell, the back shell, and the controller board. Now you can change out those beaten up thumbsticks, install a rapid fire mod, change the color of your led lights, or whatever you want to do. It’s a good feeling, isn’t it?

Now that you’ve got it taken apart, you’re going to want to put it back together again. For instructions on how to do that, check out the next part.

Do you have any comments or suggestions? Please share them with us so that everyone can benefit.

Recently, we at Hardcore Mods opened up our doors to various gaming clans or teams for sponsorship. We’ve received many requests and they keep pouring in. We learned that there are MANY clans out there that want to get their name out there in the gaming community and get recognized.

This gave us the idea to make a guide for all of you aspiring pro gamers out there that are looking for sponsorship from a reputable company, in our case, a controller mod website. So here are some useful tips that you should keep in mind when applying for clan sponsorships, whether you’re a start-up clan, or MLG experienced pros.

Build up Your Gaming Resume

One important factor that potential sponsors are looking for is something to prove that you’re worth the time (and investment) to their business. We need to see some sort of proof that you’re here to stay and you’ve got some potential customers behind you.

You can show this by building up different channels to showcase your skills. Remember, that nobody wants to sponsor a clan that can’t deliver. Since your clan is most likely playing competitively online, on games like Modern Warfare 2, or other first-person shooters, you should focus on online-based outlets to show off your talent.

For instance, many clans make Youtube videos of their online gameplay. If you’re not good at putting together videos, find someone who can. If you’re truly competitive, you need a solid YouTube account with the focus of getting as many video views, channel views, and subscribers as possible. The fact that you have a weak sauce Youtube account with 4 subs and 0 friends is not good enough for sponsorship.

Another way to get your clan off the ground is by getting a website. There are tons of free website builders out there for you to try. Check out Webs.com or Weebly.com and make your own clan website. This will let people know that you’re serious about gaming and your clan is here to stay.

Be creative about it, everyone has a Youtube, what do you have? What sets your clan apart? Get a Twitter account and use it, get a blog going, get a Vimeo account, get NOTICED.

Our final point for building up your gaming resume is to get noticed online. Simply put, you need to have a solid clan that can move up in rank on competitive gaming websites like Gamebattles. You have got to be able to perform and get noticed.

Get Focused on the Bottom Line

The most important thing that clan sponsors are looking for is the ability of your clan to bring in:

This all means that you have to work to show that you can put their name out there in an effective way that is going to be a benefit to their business.

Don’t Look for Free Stuff

If you’re just looking for free stuff right off the bat, we can guarantee you that 99.9% of all potential gaming sponsors will reject you on the spot. Although getting free mods, or free modded controllers can be a plus of a gaming sponsorship, you and your clan will have to EARN it.

No business in their right mind is going to be like, “Oh, so you’ve got 2 subs on Youtube and your clan plays MW2 20hrs a day, sweet, here are some free controller mods!” Uhm, no. That is most definitely not going to happen. If you want free stuff, look elsewhere. If you want recognition for your clan, a means of getting to the top of the gaming community, and are willing to work for it, you will eventually get discounted/free products.

The point is, the more you get the sponsor’s business name out there and promote their products, the more you will get in return.

Quick Summary

So, that pretty much is the roadmap to success in the gaming sponsorship world. To wrap things up:

• Build up your online presence (Youtube, Twitter, Blogs, Gamebattles, Clan Website, etc.
• Be creative! What sets you apart from the 3489503890 other clans out there?
• Focus on how you can help your sponsor SELL their products
• Don’t look for free stuff from the beginning. If you’re good, it will come

So there it is future professional gamers of the world. Go out there and make your presence felt and get your clan or team sponsored.

If you have a competitive clan that plays MW2 and is looking for a sponsorship, feel free to apply to be a part of the Hardcore Mods Army.

Have you been playing Modern Warfare 2 recently and have noticed that some people are shooting the FAL like an automatic? Believe me, they’re NOT shooting that fast with just their finger. More than likely, they have a modded controller.

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, just check out this video clip of a modded FAL on Modern Warfare 2.

This video clip features several single-fire weapons shooting faster than the human finger can press down on the right trigger at a consistent pace.

These controller mods come in very handy since most of the single-shot weapons in Modern Warfare 2 are very powerful. So as you can imagine, and what you can see in the video above, modded controllers can drastically improve your kill to death ratio in Modern Warfare 2, as well as other first person shooter games.

Now you can have all the same functionality as an automatic gun such as the UMP, with the FAL! All that’s needed is to just hold down the right trigger on your controller and the mod does all the work. Some may call it cheating, but honestly, it makes the game more fun. And videogames are supposed to be fun, right?

Let us know your opinion below!