This is the Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- Dreamy Theater 2nd Controller by Hori. Announced in March 2011, the controller underwent an extensive preorder period to determine if it would be manufactured. The controller's release was timed to coincide with the release of Project DIVA Dreamy Theater 2nd, on August 4, 2011, for 29,939 yen.

The Hatsune Miku -Project DIVA- Dreamy Theater 2nd Controller was a pre-order only item and is sold out and unavailable at the time of this writing. You may find more information on its current availability at the following:


The design of the controller is inspired by the arcade, which uses four 100mm domed buttons. To accomodate the difference in playstyle between Project DIVA 2nd and Project DIVA Arcade, the layout has been adjusted into eight buttons, mimicking the D-pad and buttons of a PlayStation controller.


The controller has two layout modes: A mode is the standard PlayStation layout, while B mode is more similar to the Arcade (with Triangle, Square, X, and Circle occupying a single row from left to right). The layout is switchable via a switch near the top of the controller and each button cap can be twisted off and removed. When active, LEDs illuminate all 10 domes; the LEDs turn off only when the dome is pressed down, mimicking the behavior of the arcade machine.


Removing the button cap exposes the LED assembly - Hori suggests not removing the button caps while the controller is plugged in as the LED is quite bright. I can personally vouch for this advice.


The caps are attached to the buttons via small grooves that prevent the cap from being inserted at an incorrect orientation.


The controller also includes a marquee stand that can be inserted onto the back.


Use of the marquee stand is completely optional.


The box the controller came in. Note the controller was shipped internationally to me in this box without additional packaging.


A closer look at the top of the box.


Opening the box. Undoing the top flap reveals this message.


With the box fully opened, the controller is seen in a styrofoam bag being held by molded styrofoam legs. No real surprises here.


A smaller box under the controller contains the marquee stand, marquee inserts and clear plastic cover, and four blank button caps.


There is also a small fold-out manual. Inserted into the manual is a quality certificate. Note the certificate seems to indicate that the controller was manufactured in June 2011, two months before it was actually sent to customers.


The bottom of the controller is a piece of sheet metal being held to the case by 10 philips head screws. One of the 10 screws is obscured by a sticker. In addition, there are four larger screws holding rubber feet to the metal plate. These screws do not actually hold the metal plate in place and should not be touched unless you wish to remove the rubber feet.


Closer look at the two stickers, in their original placement.


I simply used a hair dryer to heat the sticker, then peeled it up from a corner and relocated it to gain access to the screw underneath its original position.

I should reiterate that in doing this, the warranty for the controller is now void. I attempted to contact Hori (US) to find out if they would honor the controller's warranty stateside, but have not received a response at the time of this writing. (Update: I received a response from Hori (US) on August 29, 2011. They stated that they are unable to provide warranty support due to the fact that this product was not an official US release. I would still suggest not voiding your warranty unless you have the skills necessary to service the controller.)


As mentioned before, the larger screws serve only to hold the rubber feet in place. The screws are secured on the other side of the bottom plate by a nut.


The controller is not molded into one large piece; the sides of the controller are secured by screws lining the left and right inner walls. The top of the controller, which appears to be sheet metal, is secured by countersunk screws which are obscured by the artwork. Note most of the sheet metal top rests on the plastic surface of the main body.


Overall view of the controller's wiring. It is pretty organized; zipties are used to keep the wires collected and prevents them from tangling while the controller is being moved. The wires are color-coded so each button has a distinctive color.


A close look at the sole PCB in the controller. The USB cable and what I believe to be the LED power cables are connected to the PCB via plug-in adapters and glued down. The signal wires for the microswitches appear to be soldered down alongside the LED pins.


A close look at one of the main buttons. There are four wires per button - two for the switch and two for the LED. The switch wires are connected via quick disconnects. Note the choice in switch types is my main cause of concern for this controller, but more on that later.


Another look at one of the buttons. Unlike most 100mm buttons, these appear to use a snap-in design; two prongs on the left and right sides of the button hold the button tight to the sheet metal top.


This is the 24mm button being used for the Start button. It is identical to a generic Hori 24mm button removed from a Real Arcade Pro 1 or 2, albeit with a different color scheme. The equivalent Sanwa part can be ruled out due to the switch design not matching, and the equivalent Seimitsu part would have a perfectly flat button surface rather than the slightly convex surface seen here.


The Start button detached from the case.


This is one of the smaller domes (in this case, R1) removed from the case. The smaller domes use the same snap-in mechanism, switch, and wiring layout the 100mm domes use. Note the use of a locking pin to prevent the dome from spinning in place.


The smaller dome partially reinserted.


One of the 100mm domes removed from the case.


A closer look at the locking pin used on the 100mm domes.


Another look at the notch on the sheet metal which serves to hold the button in place to prevent twisting it.


This is a comparison between the 100mm domes seen here and another 100mm dome used as an actual arcade part. Nearly all arcade part 100mm domes are a screw-in design rather than a snap-in (this button is missing the screw-in plate but the locking nut is still present). Also of note is the different switch used; the standard arcade part uses a clicky microswitch (in this case a Cherry) which is actuated by a long pole reaching down the button's shaft. This button also has LED leads on the piece securing the microswitch, rather than leading into the button from the side. In the case of the 100mm dome on the Project DIVA controller, the design appears to essentially be a blown-up 24/30mm button, using a switch that has no click and with the actuation hidden inside. As opening the button for further inspection involves removal of the LED assembly, I opted not to investigate further.


Side view of the two 100mm dome designs. The Project DIVA design has a larger main body but a much shorter button shaft than the stardard arcade part. In all, it is significantly more shallow.

Gameplay demonstration
There are a significant number of gameplay videos with this controller on my YouTube page and my TwitchTV channel.

Conclusions
My main concern with this controller would be its longetivity. Though the controller does not exhibit any issues after roughly 10 hours of gameplay, it disturbs me to see a switch designed for a 30mm button being used in a 100mm button - 100mm buttons are often struck with an order of magnitude more force than a 30mm button would on a regular basis, and if the button's design doesn't cushion the impact well, it could cause the switch to fail prematurely. While it appears the switch could be replaced, this could be a somewhat intensive task as the entire button, including the LED assembly, must be disassembled to reach the switch (unlike the standard 100mm part where the microswitch is fully exposed without disassembly and can be slipped out quite easily). As opening the 100mm button carried risk, I opted not to open it to further inspect the mechanism inside.

As for why the controller deviates from the standard arcade part, I can think of two reasons: mainly, the fact the caps can be removed by the user without opening the case already makes it different from the standard (as for obvious reasons this cannot be done with the arcade part). Secondly, as noted, the Project DIVA 100mm button is significantly more shallow than the standard arcade part; while I believe the standard part would still fit within the controller (though whether the standard part's screw-in mechanism would function properly is another story), it would be near flush with the bottom of the controller.

This article was written by StarCreator on August 28, 2011. Do not reproduce without permission.