Support NeoGAF

[japtor]

I have a question for those with experience building arcade sticks from scratch. When I changed out the buttons on my Fightstick TE, I used the Sanwa snap-in type buttons. Those seem pretty dependent on the mounting surface being relatively thin though. If I were to use the same brand of buttons, what would I use for mounting them into say a piece of wood? Would I want to buy the screw-on type buttons?

I'm thinking about putting together a MAME cabinet sometime in the future and would love to use the same brand of buttons.

For wood you can route/bore out thinner sections for the buttons, or if you're going to cover with plexi (or other thin surface material) you can depend on that to lock them in. Or just make the hole tolerance in the wood tight enough that the buttons just stay in by friction (and I've heard sticking a rubber band on the bottom can keep it from loosening out).

...but yeah, generally for thicker mounts I'd just go screw on type. Just keep in mind thickness still though, since they still tend to be somewhat shallow buttons afaik (at least for the Japanese types).

 

[BiggNife]

Some people here might be interested in this - Play-Asia is selling a PS3 SFxT Fightstick Pro along with a CronusMax Plus (which lets you use it on PS4/XBO) for $80. The two together would normally cost $150+ so that's a pretty good deal.

http://www.play-asia.com/street-fighter-x-tekken-arcade-fightstick-pro-tournament-edition/13/704krj

Two things to keep in mind though -

1) Play-Asia shipping can be a bitch. Apparently it would cost $55 to ship it to my home in NJ, but I'm assuming shipping to Europe would be a bit cheaper.

2) I've heard the CronusMax has gotten progressively better than it used to be (you no longer have to set it up on a computer like you used to), but the CronusMax site does mention that it has to reset the connection every ten minutes. The site says it's automatic and takes less than a second, but I could still see that being an issue if it leads to dropped inputs.

 

[twozerotwo]

Hmmmmmm.

I have everything to put together my stick except for my buttons and balltop.

Fucking torture waiting for everything.

 

[klaus]

Hey arcade stick gaf! I have a question for you experts in the field of ultimate control (only losers play analog, clicky digital or bust ;-)

An old friend and I are looking for a well built & affordable arcade stick for two player sessions (might be separate sticks or a combined model). Our main interest are 2P Shmups (mostly Mame, Amiga, Retro Console version emulators on a mac, Xbox 360 compatibility would be a nice bonus but not necessary). One model we've been considering is this baby.

What are people's recommendations, Hori or bust? Or is the above model a go? Would be great to stay in this general price range, shipping costs to Switzerland can be quite high like in the above case ($80).

Thanks in advance!

 

[Neoxon]

Hey arcade stick gaf! I have a question for you experts in the field of ultimate control (only losers play analog, clicky digital or bust ;-)

An old friend and I are looking for a well built & affordable arcade stick for two player sessions (might be separate sticks or a combined model). Our main interest are 2P Shmups (mostly Mame, Amiga, Retro Consoles on a mac, Xbox 360 compatibility would be a nice bonus but not necessary). One model we've been considering is this baby.

What are people's recommendations, Hori or bust? Or is the above model a go? Would be great to stay in this general price range, shipping costs to Switzerland can be quite high like in the above case ($80).

Thanks in advance!

I'd actually argue that Mad Catz is now the golden standard since Hori went with what's considered to be inferior buttons. Overall, just go with the TE2. That plus I don't think that would work with the PS4.

 

[jbug617]

From Markman. Alpha stick is still being worked on

 

[Cthulhu_Steev]

Hey arcade stick gaf! I have a question for you experts in the field of ultimate control (only losers play analog, clicky digital or bust ;-)

An old friend and I are looking for a well built & affordable arcade stick for two player sessions (might be separate sticks or a combined model). Our main interest are 2P Shmups (mostly Mame, Amiga, Retro Console version emulators on a mac, Xbox 360 compatibility would be a nice bonus but not necessary). One model we've been considering is this baby.

What are people's recommendations, Hori or bust? Or is the above model a go? Would be great to stay in this general price range, shipping costs to Switzerland can be quite high like in the above case ($80).

Thanks in advance!

X-arcades are fine for knock-a-bout play on PC, but the two-player models can be quite 'uhm' cosy if you and your friends are of a larger variety. The button lay-out can be a bit unforgiving as well, due to the straight lines, but fine (as far as I'm concerned) for two-button games. Me and a friend completed loads of two-player games with one. They aren't the most quality build though, cheap MDF cut-out but pretty easy to mod button and stick-wise and decent for the price - if you can find a Swiss reseller you might save a bit.

They are excellent for Robotron: 2084 I have one that I haven't used for a while, but I've got it set to one 8-way stick, and the other 4-way for Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Mr Do etc.

 

[BiggNife]

From Markman. Alpha stick is still being worked on

holy shit that's tiny.

e: Also looking at Markman's tweets he said it's still moddable, so I guess the assumptions that it would have to be welded to fit in a case that compact are false.

 

[klaus]

I'd actually argue that Mad Catz is now the golden standard since Hori went with what's considered to be inferior buttons. Overall, just go with the TE2. That plus I don't think that would work with the PS4.

Ha, further proof I'm an old geezer who is out of the loop ^^

Unfortunately, 2 x $200 (+ international shipping) is a bit much for our budget, plus I couldn't find anything about mac compatibility on the page (console compatibility is just a nice to have). Ideally, it would cost $200 or less (excluding shipping) for 2 players / sticks - any recommendations in that price segment? Thanks again!

 

[Neoxon]

From Markman. Alpha stick is still being worked on

I'm not sure if the parts on the budget stick are Sanwa or not from looking at it.

Ha, further proof I'm an old geezer who is out of the loop ^^

Unfortunately, 2 x $200 (+ international shipping) is a bit much for our budget, plus I couldn't find anything about mac compatibility on the page (console compatibility is just a nice to have). Ideally, it would cost $200 or less (excluding shipping) for 2 players / sticks - any recommendations in that price segment? Thanks again!

Frys has a $20 discount on the TE2.

 

[klaus]

X-arcades are fine for knock-a-bout play on PC, but the two-player models can be quite 'uhm' cosy if you and your friends are of a larger variety. The button lay-out can be a bit unforgiving as well, due to the straight lines, but fine (as far as I'm concerned) for two-button games. Me and a friend completed loads of two-player games with one. They aren't the most quality build though, cheap MDF cut-out but pretty easy to mod button and stick-wise and decent for the price - if you can find a Swiss reseller you might save a bit.

They are excellent for Robotron: 2084 I have one that I haven't used for a while, but I've got it set to one 8-way stick, and the other 4-way for Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Mr Do etc.

Cool, thanks for the writeup! Robotron (and Smash TV & Total Carnage) are sooo good!

Frys has a $20 discount on the TE2.

Unfortunately, that's still too much since we'd need two of these babies.

 

[BiggNife]

A TE2 would be overkill for your situation anyway, since you're only interested in Mac/360 and not PS4/XBO. TE2s are cool, but not everyone needs a $200/$180 stick.

I know X-Arcade has a good rep if you're cool with American-style sticks/buttons, and as far as I can tell it's the only stick I've found that guarantees working for mac out of the box. I believe there are 360 drivers for mac so you should be able to get any 360 stick to work but I have no familiarity with that so ymmv.

e: Other low-priced sticks that I think would work on mac are the Mayflash V2 and Qanba Q1. They're both really reasonable price-wise and while neither has particularly great stock parts, you could swap in Japanese (Sanwa) parts for $35 per stick.

 

[klaus]

A TE2 would be overkill for your situation anyway, since you're only interested in Mac/360 and not PS4/XBO. TE2s are cool, but not everyone needs a $200/$180 stick.

I know X-Arcade has a good rep if you're cool with American-style sticks/buttons, and as far as I can tell it's the only stick I've found that guarantees working for mac out of the box. I believe there are 360 drivers for mac so you should be able to get any 360 stick to work but I have no familiarity with that so ymmv.

e: Other low-priced sticks that I think would work on mac are the Mayflash V2 and Qanba Q1. They're both really reasonable price-wise and while neither has particularly great stock parts, you could swap in Japanese (Sanwa) parts for $35 per stick.

Good to read! Gonna check out the alternatives, but the X-Arcade sounds promising, even though I'm more used to Japanese-style controls.

Thank you all again for the helpful posts!

 

[Skilletor]

I need that Chun stick.

 

[Spladam]

I replaced the buttons and joystick on my TVC stick with Sanwa parts. It was my first time replacing all those parts. The hardest part was pushing the new buttons in. The whole process was pretty easy after watching some Youtube videos. I think it looks much better and it also feels much better. What do you guys think?

Nice dude, cool project, I think I'll try the same.

On topic: I remember hearing something about lots of stick pics on snapchat. Never checked.

 

[Skilletor]

Nice dude, cool project, I think I'll try the same.

On topic: I remember hearing something about lots of stick pics on snapchat. Never checked.

Sounds like a trap, imo.

 

[spindashing]

On topic: I remember hearing something about lots of stick pics on snapchat. Never checked.

bruh

 

[notworksafe]

Not interested in that kind of sticks tyvm

 

[PureYeti]

Hmmmmmm.

I have everything to put together my stick except for my buttons and balltop.

Fucking torture waiting for everything.

No kidding. I only got the joystick and case but no buttons and pcb.

 

[sixteen-bit]

From Markman. Alpha stick is still being worked on

looks a lot better than the render, but I'm still not a fan of the case design

 

[Fitts]

looks a lot better than the render, but I'm still not a fan of the case design

Yeah, I don't understand the decision to slope the corners like that.

 

[MarkMan]

Yeah, I don't understand the decision to slope the corners like that.

I'll post more pics in the future that show why we made that design decision.

 

[Spladam]

From Markman. Alpha stick is still being worked on

Hey new to the thread, can someone tell me what that black arcade stick is, google images is of no help here?

-Edit: image search actually led me back here.....

 

[New002]

I'll post more pics in the future that show why we made that design decision.

Is that stick an homage to the PS1 Namco stick?

 

[jon bones]

Hey new to the thread, can someone tell me what that black arcade stick is, google images is of no help here?

-Edit: image search actually led me back here.....

that's the yet-to-be-released Mad Catz stick. it will apparently be moddable to some degree, we are waiting for full details.

the poster MarkMan is on the team that is developing both the TE and the new stick.

 

[Spladam]

that's the yet-to-be-released Mad Catz stick. it will apparently be moddable to some degree, we are waiting for full details.

the poster MarkMan is on the team that is developing both the TE and the new stick.

Cool, thanks. It looks sharp as hell. Hope it's USB PC X-input compatible.

 

[japtor]

Good to read! Gonna check out the alternatives, but the X-Arcade sounds promising, even though I'm more used to Japanese-style controls.

Thank you all again for the helpful posts!

I thought the X-Arcades were considered garbage but maybe they've improved? I'm working off vague memories from years ago, like the controls were second rate Happ imitations (course Happ themselves have supposedly become crappy since then) and the control encoders they used were laggy.

...but ultimately it'll work and if you can get it cheap it might be hard to beat for the price. If you can (or don't mind) DIY projects you might want to look into putting together something on your own. Particularly for a two player setup, one easy trick is to just drill holes directly into a desk/table instead of building a fancy enclosure. Stick the parts in and wire up to some USB control or keyboard encoder board to hook up to the computer. As long as it's a standard USB joystick or keyboard signal it should work fine on the Mac.

Yeah, I don't understand the decision to slope the corners like that.

Mentioned it before I think, but it might have to do with the size and where your hands would be. With squared off edges the corners would be jabbing right into your palms, I noticed it when building my mini stick last year and tweaked the size a bit to compensate. I imagine the slanted surface helps without enlarging the overall footprint. Then again it still has some corners where the slants begin so who knows (other than MarkMan).

I'll post more pics in the future that show why we made that design decision.

...but will there be any showing the insides? Curious how everything is crammed in there if it is as moddable as mentioned.

 

[Shaneus]

I'm still itching for someone to release a stick that has some kind of support for pinball (side) buttons. Bugger having to do all the work myself!

 

[Spladam]

I'm still itching for someone to release a stick that has some kind of support for pinball (side) buttons. Bugger having to do all the work myself!

My 360 triggers work fine for this on FX.

You a member of the =PB Family= by any chance?

 

[Shaneus]

My 360 triggers work fine for this on FX.

You a member of the =PB Family= by any chance?

PB Family? Not sure I get the reference.

 

[BioBooster]

Much appreciated.

Can anyone else comment on the difference they noticed switching to silent sanwa parts?

Never posted back, have had the silent parts for a few weeks now.

They are excellent, no complaints from the family or from me in terms input accuracy.

I recommend these to anyone worried about stick noise.

 

[Neoxon]

I'll post more pics in the future that show why we made that design decision.

Are those Sanwa parts?

 

[Spladam]

PB Family? Not sure I get the reference.

No reference, the answer is no. It's a group on Steam, the best group I've ever joined on Steam, we have weekly challenges in Pinball FX and prizes at the end of the challenge runs. Real cool folks who make for real cool Steam friends. Check it out if you have Steam:
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/PinballFamily

Waring, it's filled with pros who will light your leader boards up with unreachable scores hahaha. One of the top Pinball players in Japan is a friend of mine on there. There are a bunch of real world Pros in the group. Check it out.

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

I'll post more pics in the future that show why we made that design decision.

will the better plexi from that chun li stick be purchasable separate by chance?

 

[SoraNoKuni]

Hi, I am planniing to make an ultra cheap cardboard diy arcade stick with those parts: http://ebay.to/1MbmxnF
and a cardboard box(obviously).

Has anyone tested those? As long as they are not complete garbage I will probably buy them.

Thanks in advance.

 

[vg260]

Just some thoughts on replacement springs if you find the Hori Hayabusa sticks too loose.

I tried a 2 lb spring, but it felt way too stiff and it was hard to keep the joystick stable when moving the stick around (with a Hori 4Kai). However Paradise Arcade Shop has a 1.5 lb spring which I put in instead, and it feels just about perfect. I think I finally prefer it to a default Sanwa stick now. I think Sanwas have a 0.9 lb spring.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Yeah, I don't understand the decision to slope the corners like that.

I'm guessing that's where the wrist and heels of your hand will rest.

 

[LegendX48]

Random question: would it be worth it to mod an old Madcatz TE with a ps360+ board to use for pc/ps3 if I already have a pc compatible stick?

 

[Fitts]

I'll post more pics in the future that show why we made that design decision.

Cool, thanks.

I'm guessing that's where the wrist and heels of your hand will rest.

If it extended the length of the front I could see it being a palm rest, (ex Hori) but not with just the corners sloped like that.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Random question: would it be worth it to mod an old Madcatz TE with a ps360+ board to use for pc/ps3 if I already have a pc compatible stick?

What stick are you using? If it's a good stick I see no reason to do it unless it's for fun.

 

[LegendX48]

What stick are you using? If it's a good stick I see no reason to do it unless it's for fun.

It's one of those fightstick pro's that came out with SFxT. I kinda want to mod the TE mostly for fun and to just do it. As it is, it is basically neglected lol

 

[PureYeti]

Hi, I am planniing to make an ultra cheap cardboard diy arcade stick with those parts: http://ebay.to/1MbmxnF
and a cardboard box(obviously).

Has anyone tested those? As long as they are not complete garbage I will probably buy them.

Thanks in advance.

I'm pretty iffy to have chinese sanwas knockoffs. Quality wise are not so great

 

[notworksafe]

If you're making a stick out of cardboard, I think those will work just fine.

It's one of those fightstick pro's that came out with SFxT. I kinda want to mod the TE mostly for fun and to just do it. As it is, it is basically neglected lol

The PS360 is a good first mod, not hard at all.

 

[Shaneus]

It may have been asked here or elsewhere but I'll just throw this one out to people: Would it be difficult to dual-mod my iCade Core (yes, I know) with something like a PS360+ (or whatever other USB-type board) so it can work as both a wired stick (for at least PC use, but probably PS3 and/or 360 too) *and* BT joystick for iOS?

 

[spk]

Any idea when TE2s will be back in stock?

 

[Neoxon]

Any idea when TE2s will be back in stock?

Frys is all out, but Games Parx has some in stock.

 

[ColonelSkills]

Figured it out, ignore this

 

[spk]

Frys is all out, but Games Parx has some in stock.

It says in stock but I see no way to add it to a cart? Below that it just links to Amazon/Ebay/Walmart.

 

[Momentary]

What are your top custom stick makers out there? Really looking for a minimalist and/or clean design. Looked at Foehammer but it seems they are only selling shells.

 

[Running Wild]

I dunno if it's been mentioned in this thread yet, but Hori's Real Arcade Pro V Kai for the Xbox360+Xbone is up on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0136JP894/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Pretty sure it's the first retail stick to offer both Xbox360 and Xbone compatibility. I own the PS3/PS4 version of the stick and I absolutely love it. Yet to bother modding it since I've adjusted to Hori's parts pretty quickly, but I may eventually swap in some Seimitsu's.