VKB-SIM

I got my NXT standard in the mail a few days ago and I've noticed that the A1/POV hat switch seems to require quite a lot of force to register as being moved up, down, left or right to the point where I'm concerned about it breaking eventually. Is this normal for that switch?

Also, if I hold any direction in with what feels like a normal amount of pressure, the signal bounces between 0 and the direction I'm holding it in. I've gone through the calibration process a few times, but nothing seems to change this.

The standard version has no microsticks, only three 4-way HATs.
To check the physical triggering of each position, you need to activate the Poll checkbox in the Profile-Buttons tab. And by moving the HAT in all directions, observe the operation of each button by lighting up the red square.
If this test fails, then only then can we talk about a malfunction of the HAT.

Sorry, I wasn't sure what to call that hat. VKBDevCfg has it set up as a POV by default, so I wasn't sure if it somehow operated differently than the others. The buttons all work if I use a fair bit pressure to hold them in (more than the other hats), but I oftentimes get this while holding the button in. I'm not releasing the hat in this .gif:



There's also a pretty audible creak to the up and down buttons.

Pull out the cap and see if it's properly seated; try the HAT without it and see if anything changes.