VKB-SIM

Like the title says: I've recently started using this combo throttle (after it sitting on a shelf for a embarrassing amount of time). And now I'm finding out that all the buttons on the ww2 throttle handle (33 through 38) only activate when the throttle axis is close to its midpoint. I've tried re-calibrating, reinstalling firmware, and both from scratch but no luck.. In the process of writing this I realised I had not looked at the controller physically so I opened it up and the wires going from the ww2 handle to the main board seem like they've been squished against the case... could that be enough to ruin the button reliability?

They can.

Please go for a service ticket to get a replacement cable. When you'll get it make sure the cable is guided like shown in this video, in order to avoid damage.

I've made a ticket. And yeah it was the squished cable: I performed a temporary repair by cutting out the squished bit and soldering the cable back together(wrapped with some heatshrink), and sure enough perfect functionality.
Still asking for a replacement because a ''repair'' like this will surely last shorter than the oem cable without modification.

Anyways thank you both for the short but insightful replies