It appears it’s available in the U.S. now and I thought about picking one up, however I’ve been hearing about them supposedly breaking down with a month or so of regular use. Can anyone confirm this?
Dpad durability issues. Some have no problems after months of use. Some have the pad get less sensitive in a month, including an SRK’er who wrote a review of the pad when it was only available in Japan via import.
I’d say get it if you have the money to spend, and if Amazon will RMA under warranty.
It was the original version of this controler that had problems due to it’s rotating d-pad. That feature was taken out in the current version Hori is selling.
So E-bay won’t be flooded with cheap PS4 PCBs for me to buy?
lowers head
D’aww…
Nope, was one of the first to get that pad, mine is still working great
The current version STILL has problems with the dpad sometimes-just not as many as the HFC4, but issues may still happen. Amazon was selling this version as an import version since the end of last year. I checked all of the reviews. And someone here on SRK wrote a video about this exact pad. His pad lost diagonal sensitivity within a month.
This pad now is the exact same pad as the Japanese import except now it’s sold in USA. Exact same situation with the VLX Hayabusa that arcadeshock was selling vs the one Amazon started selling a few months ago (import vs domestic).
THIS is the EXACT SAME pad.
https://www.amazon.com/PS3-Accueil-JEUX-VIDÉO-PlayStation-Accessoires/dp/B017QORK8W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471649889&sr=8-1&keywords=Hori+fighting+commander
Sorry I can’t find the SRK thread that had this video, but here is the review (I still had it saved on youtube).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIHD1BFpntg
I found the thread a week ago doing a search…now I can’t find it anymore 
But they were discussing the Japanese import “new” version (the same one in both amazon links now).
I’d say get the older one unless xinput is really important to you. the only issue I heard from people was the rotating dpad which can be easily fixed by opening the pad and glueing it so that it doesn’t rotate.
The latest Hori pad’s d-pad wears out fast. Mine lost sensitivity in the down/left input. Also, the d-pad is really stiff. Pad otherwise is really good. A shame that the d-pad is problematic, though.
That’s what I was trying to warn people about.
I had this new pad preordered for day 1 amazon delivery. But after doing research on the original japan release and finding that video, I canceled it.
Pretty sad. I had to fall back to my Xbox 360 original release controller for a dpad that doesn’t wear out. Yes, the x360 dpad fucking sucks, but if you do a simple business card cardboard cutout mod (you can find it on youtube), it actually feels reasonable and very responsive and tactile (still sucks for fighting games though), and lasts forever.
You can hate Microsoft’s controllers all you want, but at least they don’t just break on you after a month.
This was my experience with pretty much every pad I’ve owned. Switching to stick and I’ve never had the issue since.
Damn, guess that I was one of the lucky few, mine has no problems at all
My DPAD died in about 2 weeks of heavy use. This applies to the Fighting Commander with the Saturn controller design, I have no idea about the pro variant.
the people with the broken dpads, can you guys sell those things in the trade section. those are still perfectly good pcbs for pad hacking.
Alternatively, the people who bought the Hori Fighting Commander 4 (Pro) solely for padhacking can sell the D-pad module to pad-players who have broken their D-pad modules.
For how much should it be sold though? Do I remove the PCB from the shell or do I ship the whole thing? I’m just curious, I have a FC4 Pro with a very loose dpad
Whatever you find appropriate for a poor condition pad. Just think of it as selling a poor condition controller. I will probably buy it off you depending on the price. Ship with the whole case if you can and keep the D-Pad module if you want. But ship it with some barrier at least rather than just ship the PCB. Even an anti-static bag is fine shipped inside of a flat rate envelope.
Edit: PM me actually and we can negotiate something actually.
I’d say $30 or below shipped. as long as the cable is in good shape and the pcb is working fine. and ship the whole thing since it’s extra protection for the pcb just in case it gets damaged during shipping.
@C-Sword
If I remember correctly, you’re local to me, right (Montreal)?
If you want to unload the PCB, PM me, we can talk.
Alternatively, if you want to restore your HFC4 with a brand-new D-pad module, also PM me, we can talk. 
So at $130… not worth It???
I have a bag full of the rotating dpad.