[Ouya General] jhitesma:
I got my Ouya last Friday and experienced the trifecta of controller issues:

1) lag making most games unplayable

2) Buttons sticking under the faceplates.

3) The funky deadzones making the analog sticks all but useless.

I did a bunch of testing Saturday and Sunday trying to verify the problems were the controllers. I paired them with my computer and found them to be unreponsive and giving random button presses. But when I paired them with my android phone and nook color tablet - they worked better than on the actual Ouya itself, still a bit of lag but not nearly as bad as with the PC or Ouya. Finally on Sunday I decided to e-mail support, I gave them a polite description of the issues I was experiencing and what I had done to try and eliminate anything other than the controllers as the cause of the issues.

I didn't hear back until Tuesday at which time they asked for some details about my order, photos of the controllers with and without the faceplates on, and the serial number from the controllers (which BTW is on the inside of the removable faceplate which just seems poorly thought out to me since you could swap them between controllers making the serial numbers kind of pointless since they aren't really fixed to a controller.) I also included photos of the results from the JoystickTest apk that was posted by one developer in the official Ouya dev forums about the analog stick issues.

I sent those photos and my reply late Wednesday night. I got a reply this afternoon around 4:30 saying new controllers were on their way to me and would be shipped tomorrow (Friday) along with a shipping label and instructions on how to return the originals when the replacements come. The e-mail was a little off in that the plurality changed throughout it - one sentence they would say they would be sending replacement controllers (plural) but then the next they'd say they would send instructions on how to return my controller (no plural.) But I'm just chalking that up to an overworked support staff due to the number of controller issues they're probably dealing with and the people asking where their shipment is.

Immediately following that e-mail I got another e-mail from the USPS confirming a shipment coming to me from Julie in San Mateo - so they seem to be shipping the replacements out of CA so at least there's no long wait for them to arrive from overseas...and I'm hoping they've been through more rigorous QC here in the states but that may just be the optimist in me :)

I usually get shipments from CA in just a day or two so I'm hoping to have new controllers early next week. I could luck out and see them Saturday but I doubt it given my local mail service lately ;)

In the meantime I've had good luck using a borrowed PS3 controller in games that support it. It's literally a night and day difference in the same games. Secret of Universe Alpha plays like your ship is flying through Honey or Molasses and pretty much sticks to the cardinal directions and diagonals with the stock controllers - but with the PS3 it moves fluidly and quickly. Pinball Arcade is unplayable with the stock controllers there's at least a 1 second delay between pressing a trigger and the flipper reacting. But with the PS3 controllers there's only a very very slight delay. I'm really hoping the replacement controllers are a big improvement. (Also, Universe Alpha has been updated and the dev added code to compensate for the funky dead zones. I just installed the update tonight but haven't had a chance to try it yet. He says it makes it playable with the dead zone controllers but the PS3 controllers are still better on it.)

I think the big problem (other than bad controllers) is their support staff is undermanned right now and just overwhelmed. So a bit of patience and friendly tone in e-mails with them pays off.