Children are dancing on poles to video games? Somebody call Jack Thomson!
Seriously, this is one item you don't need to go cheap ass on. If you're willing to drop a mint to merely have a hard pad (versus a $8 soft pad), go for the Cobalt Flux. Expensive, but you want something reliable if you're gonna go this far, right?
I agree with everyone else about the Cobalt Flux. I have had mine for 2 years and it still works perfectly. You can build your own bar if you build a base and put the pad on that. All those metal pads with the bar attached are just the regular junky metal pads with a bar attached that supposedly is flimsy anyway.
edit, I see this thread is old, why was it bumped?
I'm really considering a Cobalt, but is there a converter I can get so it can work for my Xbox, PC, and possibly Cube? Without a converter, I'd rather not get a pad that only works on PS2.
I use the gemini game elements converter from CompUSA....it's the only one I found in a B&M store that is recommended by the people on the ddrfreak forums. My CF works flawlessly on my xbox with it...don't have mario mix (yet) to try.
Wow. I never expected this to be brought up again. I just frequent the arcade now, so I don't need anything. I have already tried making that angelfire pad too a long time ago: http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10874