This is an odd one...
I have 4 controllers for my genesis.
1 3 button official controller
1 6 button official controller
1 6 button 3rd party controller
1 3 button Sega arcade stick
With no controller plugged into controller port 1 The genesis acts like down is being pressed and held. No matter what game I have in it.
With the arcade stick plugged in it behaves the same.
Every other controller works as expected.
The arcade stick works perfectly in port 2.
The official 6 button controller used to have the same problem but magically started working perfectly.
I have taken the console apart and cleaned the board. There do not appear to be any shorted pins.
Any ideas?