NeoGAF Arcade Stick Thread

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I actually opened up my EXSE to fix something yesterday, and what's with the blue restrictor? It's sqaure by default but the other side is..? It doesn't look octagon.
 
ponpo said:
I actually opened up my EXSE to fix something yesterday, and what's with the blue restrictor? It's sqaure by default but the other side is..? It doesn't look octagon.
Click to expand...

The other side should be a 4-way gate. It makes it so it's impossible to register diagonals, making games like Pac Man and Tetris easier to play (or rather, play as intended).
 
I actually suggest you go ahead and take that sub-guide completely off if you're just going to leave the stick in 8 way operation - the sub-guide can scratch up the actuator if you're particularly forceful with it.
 
_dementia said:
The other side should be a 4-way gate. It makes it so it's impossible to register diagonals, making games like Pac Man and Tetris easier to play (or rather, play as intended).
Click to expand...

Ah makes sense. The shape of it seemed to be showing that but I couldn't figure out why it would be that shape.


StarCreator said:
I actually suggest you go ahead and take that sub-guide completely off if you're just going to leave the stick in 8 way operation - the sub-guide can scratch up the actuator if you're particularly forceful with it.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'll try it out.
 
Looking at buying this for $130 shipped:



It's a MAS Super Pro Stick - Happ 8-way competition stick + concave Happ buttons. Wired for PSX/PS2 but I have Playstation converters for Saturn, Dreamcast, and Xbox (my main systems I would use this with).

I'm a big fan of American/Happ parts; so disregarding a preference for Sanwa/Seimitsu parts, what do you guys think of this purchase? Thanks!
 
LegatoB said:
The absolute easiest solution is to buy a stick that works with anything out of the box. Qanba's Q4RAF and its many variants come highly regarded.

Barring that, if you want a PCB that works with 360 and PS3 from scratch, the easiest option is probably something like the Paewang Revolution PCB (available from Focus Attack). It requires some soldering, and you'll need to add the Turbo button since it also functions as the mode switch button, but there's only one PCB to worry about, so installation is straightforward. If you already have a working 360 stick that you'd like to dual-mod, you could get one of Toodles' solderless Kitty kits from Godlike Controls. He makes them for most MadCatz and Hori fightsticks. If you're willing to do some soldering, there are even more exciting possibilities.
Click to expand...

Doing a little more research, it seems that the some of those dual mod pcbs are prone to failure when you switch consoles a lot (which is kinda the point of having a dual mod stick). I found a thread the other day documenting the problem, but I can't find it right now. It might have been in Spanish.

I'm interested in the Qanba Q4, but can't find anywhere with decent worldwide shipping that also sells the plexiglass.

I'm considering getting the ChimpSMD and sanwa parts and building the stick from scratch. It might be a fun project.
 
Look what showed up today from our friends at Mad Catz Inc!

100_1515.jpg

100_1516.jpg


We got SFXT sticks for our SFXT tourney, as well as a Soul Edition for our SCV winner! Stop in and try them out for yourself before each tournament starts.
 
Genesis Knight said:
Looking at buying this for $130 shipped:



It's a MAS Super Pro Stick - Happ 8-way competition stick + concave Happ buttons. Wired for PSX/PS2 but I have Playstation converters for Saturn, Dreamcast, and Xbox (my main systems I would use this with).

I'm a big fan of American/Happ parts; so disregarding a preference for Sanwa/Seimitsu parts, what do you guys think of this purchase? Thanks!
Click to expand...

They are great american sticks. I had one for several years before ebaying it. $130 is a fair price. The company is out of business, despite some people on SRK being able to buy them not long ago. There was a big fiasco and they stopped returning calls and filling orders. Consider them out of production.
 
I dunno if any of you guys saw this, but Razer has shown off the latest version of the arcade stick they showed at TGS.

razerstickrev12a.jpg


Razer said:
Some of the notable changes you can see on this latest prototype from the earlier TGS prototypes are:

• Acrylic top plate to cover customized artwork
• Gas strut to support the easy opening of the chassis for mods
• Honeycomb structure for easy dismount/mount of additional components throughout the bottom chassis
• Removable buttons, joystick, cable tray and screwdriver tray
• Increased height to 7cm / 2.8'' to accommodate both Sanwa and Seimitsu joysticks and buttons
• Overall weight of the arcade stick around 3.4 kg / 7.5 lb
Click to expand...

If people are happy with the latest revision they're going to roll out the beta test to 200 people within 2 months.

Looks good to me, but man I can see it being crazy expensive.

http://iplaywinner.com/news/2012/3/19/razer-presents-their-latest-arcade-stick-revision.html
 
Moofers said:
They are great american sticks. I had one for several years before ebaying it. $130 is a fair price. The company is out of business, despite some people on SRK being able to buy them not long ago. There was a big fiasco and they stopped returning calls and filling orders. Consider them out of production.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information! I went ahead and bought it. As you can see in the photo the art is a little dirty (yellowing in bottom left corner) but I downloaded an art template from SRK and I'm going to try to do some custom art for it.
 
Genesis Knight said:
Thanks for the information! I went ahead and bought it. As you can see in the photo the art is a little dirty (yellowing in bottom left corner) but I downloaded an art template from SRK and I'm going to try to do some custom art for it.
Click to expand...

my first sticks were a pair of MAS minis, they are built like tanks. Good stuff on the purchase. For the price you paid though, I think it would have been much more worth it if there was a P360 on board, since those go for like 50+ by themselves if I'm not mistaken. No reason to complain, though. I plan on modifying mine with metal control panels and plexi/custom art in the near future.
 
MezzoForte said:
my first sticks were a pair of MAS minis, they are built like tanks. Good stuff on the purchase. For the price you paid though, I think it would have been much more worth it if there was a P360 on board, since those go for like 50+ by themselves if I'm not mistaken. No reason to complain, though. I plan on modifying mine with metal control panels and plexi/custom art in the near future.
Click to expand...

I actually kind of wanted the Competition stick because all I really want is an authentic 90s USA arcade feel for Metal Slug and shmups and stuff. Could you get back in touch with me when you do your plexiglass and custom art? Maybe we could swap notes.
 
Genesis Knight said:
I actually kind of wanted the Competition stick because all I really want is an authentic 90s USA arcade feel for Metal Slug and shmups and stuff. Could you get back in touch with me when you do your plexiglass and custom art? Maybe we could swap notes.
Click to expand...

right, Metal Slug on a Competition is absolute class. Sure man, just shoot me a PM whenever. It's a project that's been on the backburner for a while to be honest but I still know what I'm going to do and I'd be glad to help.
 
Arcade Shock has a 10% off coupon on their new Qanba Seimitsu sticks. Helps to pay for postage (and/or tax if you are in california). Coupon is on the product page.

I ordered the tacky/gaudy red one. Hoping it does not get locked out...if it does then it becomes my dedicated Crimzon Clover stick. First Qanba stick for me.
 
bloodyroarxx said:
Yea that seems to be the par for Razer honestly.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Considering how they're trying to push this as the best arcade stick on the market, it wouldn't surprise me if it's at least $200. Hell, maybe $250.

If they actually release it at somewhere closer to $150 to compete with the HRAPs, I'll be pleasantly surprised.
 
BiggNife said:
I dunno if any of you guys saw this, but Razer has shown off the latest version of the arcade stick they showed at TGS.

razerstickrev12a.jpg




If people are happy with the latest revision they're going to roll out the beta test to 200 people within 2 months.

Looks good to me, but man I can see it being crazy expensive.

http://iplaywinner.com/news/2012/3/19/razer-presents-their-latest-arcade-stick-revision.html
Click to expand...

I just don't see what advantage this has over the sticks that are already out. It looks like a te-s and has the same stick and buttons.
 
Please help me, GAF!

I recieved my MadCatz TE Round 2 a few days ago and either I got a faulty unit or I'm just so used to Suzo Happ's sticks that I'm too old now to adapt to this style. I can't do dragon punches for the life of me. Ha-Dou-Kens work at a rate of 60% but even that is not acceptable. I never had this problem before, neither back on the original arcade machines, nor with the Neo Geo AES which also sports a lolipop stick.

I believe it has to do with the square gate, maybe I should switch to an ocatgonal gate and add a bat top because old habits die hard it seems.

The buttons also seem a bit less responsive than I wished them to be but nothing to complain about.
 
Duxxy3 said:
I just don't see what advantage this has over the sticks that are already out. It looks like a te-s and has the same stick and buttons.
Click to expand...
Read the list of tweaks they've made again. They're including a lot of nice features & "extras" that people would otherwise have to get as aftermarket additions. Things like including a top layer of acrylic plastic to place over custom art right out of the box, or the latched lid which lets you open up your stick to swap buttons/etc. without having to carry a screwdriver, and other structural changes to make it easier to work inside. If you're fine using a stick right out of the box, yeah, you probably wouldn't be interested in this, but I can see a lot of people being interested in an "above stock TE" class of stick but don't want to have to pay for a custom job.
 
GreggTheGrimReaper said:
Please help me, GAF!

I recieved my MadCatz TE Round 2 a few days ago and either I got a faulty unit or I'm just so used to Suzo Happ's sticks that I'm too old now to adapt to this style. I can't do dragon punches for the life of me. Ha-Dou-Kens work at a rate of 60% but even that is not acceptable. I never had this problem before, neither back on the original arcade machines, nor with the Neo Geo AES which also sports a lolipop stick.

I believe it has to do with the square gate, maybe I should switch to an ocatgonal gate and add a bat top because old habits die hard it seems.

The buttons also seem a bit less responsive than I wished them to be but nothing to complain about.
Click to expand...

I put an extra spring in my jlf. Plus a bat top and circle gate. I used a mas stick up untill 2010. Helped me switch over. I can't stand stock Japanese sticks personally.
 
I have a lot of respect for the Razer stick. One of the main things that's really awesome is the guts of the stick. The honey comb interior is supposed to make it really easy to mount custom PCBs.

I'm personally not a big fan of the turbo panel in the top left corner. I think I'd prefer to see something more minimal, or it removed completely. With the lock and dp,la,ra switch somewhere else.
 
Damn, the stick in the SFxT Pro that I got squeaks like mad whenever it resets from the left. Really annoying.

Should I contact Amazon or wait and see if I can work it smooth?
 
toasty_T said:
Damn, the stick in the SFxT Pro that I got squeaks like mad whenever it resets from the left. Really annoying.

Should I contact Amazon or wait and see if I can work it smooth?
Click to expand...

I had this problem with 2 JLFs of mine. It's solvable if you're feeling brave (and don't mind voiding the warranty), it's usually caused by dirt in the micro switch. I solved it doing the following:

  • Open your stick and disconnect the cable from the JLF PCB.
  • Remove the restrictor gate so you can remove the entire micro switch PCB
  • Take a small screwdriver and pry the top off the squeaking switch (it takes more pressure than you'd like) and clean any dirt off the red plunger
  • Re-assemble and you're done!

I had a very decent windfall recently (thank you UK PPI insurance reclaims) and am considering ordering a B15 stick. I'm scared.
 
_dementia said:
b15 sticks aren't my cup of tea since they're so gaudy and overdone, but it would be cool to see a gaffer have one
Click to expand...

Completely agree on the b15s. I really wish I could have got a nice, plain Finkle. No idea if he's still making. I used to make sticks and sell to SRK members, but got burned out quickly with such high demand (before SF4 came out).

It's nice to see Arthong still doing well. I had to make the thread for him so he could start his plexi businesssince he was a new member then. How times change.

Also unbelievably sad to see all the negative about Lizard Lick. I ordered so much from Chad for my builds. Only had one issue with them when they forgot some nuts for some Sanwa buttons. They were top notch.
 
It's funny you guy say that about B15 'cos I agree, but that's only going off his clients brief. If I do go ahead with it i'll be asking him for something very sleek and minimal. Thinking piano white with aluminium, black/red accents. with his build/finish quality it would be amazing.

Classy :P
 
toasty_T said:
Damn, the stick in the SFxT Pro that I got squeaks like mad whenever it resets from the left. Really annoying.

Should I contact Amazon or wait and see if I can work it smooth?
Click to expand...

I have this same exact problem.

It wasn't there when I first got my stick. It's becoming an issue now. And it only happens when it resets from the left.

This SFxT stick is the first stick I ever bought, so I had no idea if this was normal or not. It's kind of a bummer :(
 
milkham said:
try to remember that you don't have to ride the gate with the stick, it will register the direction before it hits the edge of the gate so you dont have to get stuck on the corner for your fireballs.
Click to expand...

I've returned mine now and wait for a replacement since the first one came with some scratches. I will probably try out the octogate and maybe even circular gate since I'm not good at doing small motions.

Has anyone tried the circular gate?
 
rivals said:
Yeah, his work itself isn't necessarily gaudy, he does everything exactly how it's requested of him afaik.
Click to expand...

But they're just so boring. Just a box with a stick and buttons. The only differences between his sticks are the colors and art.

If I were to go to the trouble (and expense) of having a custom stick built by someone else, I'd want something a little more original, not just a different art work.

I'm a big fan of Big Pockets sticks. They are amazingly creative.

This for example:

Akuma_top.jpg


Or this:

Ragna_Joystick_Standing.jpg


Doing something really custom with the shape of the box, I find that really cool. Of course if I ever decide to make on myself I'd be sticking to the idiot box design given my skills, but if I were to pay someone else to do it, a cookiecutter case wouldn't cut it.

The best I've seen however is this X-23 one:

gGug7.jpg


The amount of work that went into it is just insane:
http://kasucodedesigns.com/shop/index.php/project-x-23

If you're gonna commission a custom stick, go all out like that.
 
The Akuma and X-23 stick both look uncomfortable and awkward. The buttons and the stick on that Akuma stick, for example, are way too far apart.

I like the box with buttons because it's comfortable and it works. I prefer functionality over being different just for the sake of it.
 
Skilletor said:
The Akuma and X-23 stick both look uncomfortable and awkward. The buttons and the stick on that Akuma stick, for example, are way too far apart.

I like the box with buttons because it's comfortable and it works. I prefer functionality over being different just for the sake of it.
Click to expand...

Actually for a normal sized human being I think it's much better to have them as far apart as possible.

In regular production sticks they're close together because of space reasons more than anything else. You can't just move it to the corner, it still needs to be centered, so if they were to place them at a proper distance for your wrists not to cramp up, the sticks would be too big.

This was one of the philosophies of Big Pockets when he started building sticks. If you're going custom there's no reason to have the stick and the buttons close together IMO. It's certainly not more comfortable for me.

If you prefer functionality though, why make a stick at all? The Qanba 4R should cover pretty much every need and you're not gonna save any money making one yourself.
 
crazygambit said:
Actually for a normal sized human being I think it's much better to have them as far apart as possible.

In regular production sticks they're close together because of space reasons more than anything else. You can't just move it to the corner, it still needs to be centered, so if they were to place them at a proper distance for your wrists not to cramp up, the sticks would be too big.

This was one of the philosophies of Big Pockets when he started building sticks. If you're going custom there's no reason to have the stick and the buttons close together IMO. It's certainly not more comfortable for me.

If you prefer functionality though, why make a stick at all? The Qanba 4R should cover pretty much every need and you're not gonna save any money making one yourself.
Click to expand...

I disagree. A moderate amount of distance between buttons and stick is fine, too much feels awkward for me. All of my customs have more space than the norm between the buttons and the stick.

I go custom because I like wood cases. These are luxury items, so it's not about saving money (for me).
 
Skilletor said:
I disagree. A moderate amount of distance between buttons and stick is fine, too much feels awkward for me. All of my customs have more space than the norm between the buttons and the stick.
Click to expand...

It's probably because you're not used to it. A little less than your shoulder width should be best for ergonomics IMO. Obviously more separated than your shoulders would be ridiculous and worse than having them too close together. The akuma stick looks pretty small, so I don't think they're that far apart.

A valid concern though would be that there's no space to rest your wrist on the button side. That could be a bit uncomfortable.


Skilletor said:
I go custom because I like wood cases. These are luxury items, so it's not about saving money (for me).
Click to expand...

This is a perfectly valid answer and I totally agree, however you did say:

Skilletor said:
I prefer functionality over being different just for the sake of it.
Click to expand...

Wood doesn't bring any added functionality over a plastic case, it just feels better (for some). If it's a luxury item, what's wrong with trying to make it more unique? I feel it's what a custom arcade stick builder should go for.
 
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