Need help in deciding buying an arcade stick.

[RuySan]

For a long time, I've been thinking about buying an arcade stick, but price and their size have put me off. Yesterday I've been playing some shmups with my old trusty Quickjoy Megastar (through the stelladapter), and it's night and day the difference a stick makes for shmups compared to a gamepad. Unfortunately the Quickjoy Megastar is one button only (have to map space and alt for the extra buttons).

I need the new stick to be easy moddable (not to mod right away but to replace parts in case they break), to support turbo/auto right away, and X-input is a bonus so a can play Pinball FX3 (which is a bit iffy in detecting non xinput pads).So i've been undecided about the following sticks:

- 8bitdo Arcade stick - This looks lovely, but right now I can't find it anywhere in the EU (I would have to order it through Amazon UK, and risk it being stuck in customs). Seems like my cup of tea, but i've been reading that it's not that easy to mod.
- Mayflash F300 elite - Apparently has Sanwa parts, which for me doesn't mean much because the only joystick i've been playing in the last 20 years is the quickjoy Megastar. It's 100€ which is a bit too much for something a bit ugly. But it's said it's easier to mod.
- Mayflash F300 - The cheap option, but right now it's sold out everywhere.
- Hori - Real Arcade Pro.V Hayabusa - This one has a nice discount now (https://www.amazon.es/-/pt/dp/B07SXSXPH ... =8-14&th=1). But I don't know how good it is for shmups.

And the last option is to just buy the parts and mount them myself. I don't know how good that kind of stuff from Amazon is (https://www.amazon.es/-/pt/dp/B075894V5 ... 820&sr=8-9) and (https://www.amazon.es/-/pt/dp/B07R61WW8 ... 820&sr=8-4).

I have no opinion about gates. I've read around here that octogonal gates are better for shmups, but I think the Quickjoy Megastar is square (it seems so), so I don't mind another square gate.

[Elixir]

Qanba Drone + maybe import a JLF or LS-32 if you want them, it seems to do everything you're looking for: turbo, moddable, xinput.

8bitdo's stuff is more aesthetics than function, and random parts off Spanish Amazon aren't going to get you anywhere.

[RuySan]

Qanba Drone + maybe import a JLF or LS-32 if you want them, it seems to do everything you're looking for: turbo, moddable, xinput.

8bitdo's stuff is more aesthetics than function, and random parts off Spanish Amazon aren't going to get you anywhere.

Thanks for the advice, but qanba products are pretty much impossible to find in Europe.

Even the 8bitdo stick right now is only available at Amazon UK, which will probably mean trouble at customs if I order it. F300 is sold out everywhere, so unless I wait for it I'm stuck between the F300 elite or the hori RAP.

Or risking ordering the 8bitdo from the UK

[emphatic]

I would go for the HORI Real Arcade Pro.

[SCARTicus]

Wow, another help me choose a stick thread. We really needed another of these.

You have serious cognitive issues, ruysan. You are trying to choose between HORI, 8bitdo, and Qanba, but according to you 8bitdo and Qanba products are difficult to procure in your locale. Okay.... well that only leaves one choice, and that is the HORI.

This is an extraordinarily easy choice to make. HORI or nothing. You should be capable of making that decision, although you have surprised me already. And, for the record, ordering from the United Kingdom is incredibly safe. I would never, in a million years, order a product from spain if I could get the same thing from the United Kingdom. The reputations of the two countries are not similar.

This thread did not need to be made. For shame.

[Kez]

And, for the record, ordering from the United Kingdom is incredibly safe. I would never, in a million years, order a product from spain if I could get the same thing from the United Kingdom. The reputations of the two countries are not similar.

Not sure if you've been following the news but the UK recently left the European Union and the single market. There have been a bunch of customs and shipping issues, and people ordering from the UK to EU will now be hit with import duties and potential delays. OP certainly seems to be in the EU, possibly even in Spain, and so order from Spain or any EU country is a much better choice than the UK.

[RuySan]

Wow, another help me choose a stick thread. We really needed another of these.

You have serious cognitive issues, ruysan. You are trying to choose between HORI, 8bitdo, and Qanba, but according to you 8bitdo and Qanba products are difficult to procure in your locale. Okay.... well that only leaves one choice, and that is the HORI.

This is an extraordinarily easy choice to make. HORI or nothing. You should be capable of making that decision, although you have surprised me already. And, for the record, ordering from the United Kingdom is incredibly safe. I would never, in a million years, order a product from spain if I could get the same thing from the United Kingdom. The reputations of the two countries are not similar.

This thread did not need to be made. For shame.

Have you awaken on the wrong side of the bed this morning?

I don't know if you been following the news, but the UK has left the European Union and thus, the single market. Ordering from the UK is now not much different from ordering from China or the US. It can be stuck in customs and subject to double taxation.

And WTF is this "The reputations of the two countries are not similar."? What does it even mean? I don't think even a british person would say something as ignorant and outrageous. If this was Reddit, it would go into https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitAmericansSay/.

And for the question properly, the F300 Elite is also available from Amazon ES. The F300 is soldout but can be an option if I wait. The 8bitdo is listed on German Amazon, so it's another option if I wait to for it to go into stock. So if the answer was that easy I wouldn't bother posting.

[RuySan]

I would go for the HORI Real Arcade Pro.

Are those parts more reliable/better quality compared to the F300 Elite? (which has Sanwa parts)

My main beef with the Hori RAP is that the one which is on sale is the Chun Li one, which isn't much in my alley (I would prefer the Switch/PC one which is plain red, but that's way too expensive).

Thanks for the answer btw.

[bigbadboaz]

Hori's parts are technically "arcade grade" alongside Sanwa's, but most people are going to tell you Sanwa are better.

The problem you're going to run into, IMO and many others', is that for shmups you're going to want to change out either brand for Seimitsu anyway. Factor that into your pricing.

Out of the options you listed, I would get the Hori with some Seimitsu parts alongside it. If you decide you prefer one of the Mayflashes, no big deal, just do the same.

[emphatic]

I would go for the HORI Real Arcade Pro.

Are those parts more reliable/better quality compared to the F300 Elite? (which has Sanwa parts)

My main beef with the Hori RAP is that the one which is on sale is the Chun Li one, which isn't much in my alley (I would prefer the Switch/PC one which is plain red, but that's way too expensive).

Thanks for the answer btw.

I would go for it as:

1. You can get it in your country
2. Should be easy to mod - artwork too

[RuySan]

I would go for the HORI Real Arcade Pro.

Are those parts more reliable/better quality compared to the F300 Elite? (which has Sanwa parts)

My main beef with the Hori RAP is that the one which is on sale is the Chun Li one, which isn't much in my alley (I would prefer the Switch/PC one which is plain red, but that's way too expensive).

Thanks for the answer btw.

I would go for it as:

1. You can get it in your country
2. Should be easy to mod - artwork too

Thanks.

Now I see that Aliexpress sells 8bitdo Arcade Sticks for just 75€ from spanish warehouses. Yes, I know it's not as easily moddable as the Hori RAP or the F300 elite, but the price difference is significant, and is easily the best looking stick. Got to think about it.

[Johnpv]

If you're talking about the new 8BitDo Wireless arcade stick it's super easily modable. You can get the same connector that you would use to mod the F300 and use that for a stick mod in the 8bitdo one. Do you have a preference on size of stick? For me I like the smaller size of the F300 (I have a non-elite version that I put Sanwa parts into, which was before they released the elite).

[RuySan]

If you're talking about the new 8BitDo Wireless arcade stick it's super easily modable. You can get the same connector that you would use to mod the F300 and use that for a stick mod in the 8bitdo one. Do you have a preference on size of stick? For me I like the smaller size of the F300 (I have a non-elite version that I put Sanwa parts into, which was before they released the elite).

I don't have a preference on the size of the stick. Probably it will boxed anyway when I'm not using it because my desk is small.

The thing with the 8bitdo is that it looks lovely. It's something that I'll be proud to show my wife . And my daughter most certainly will want to game with it.

There's the issue about not being Sanwa parts, but I never used Sanwa anyway, and in my country arcades usually used battops and concave buttons. And my experience with Josyticks is mostly about Amiga joysticks like the Quickjoy Megastar. So I won't know what i'll be missing.

The modding aspect is more about being a thing for the long run. I don't like buying, or even having many thing. I use stuff until they break and can't be repaired. So i'm not thinking about modding right away.

[Johnpv]

You can put a battop on a sanwa stick. I did on my modded 8bitdo. Hell all of my arcade sticks have Battops except for my AES stick.

[Harrumph]

Dont know if it’s relevant for you, but on the Mister 8bitdo and Hori has lower lag than Mayflash.

[Elixir]

Qanba Drone + maybe import a JLF or LS-32 if you want them, it seems to do everything you're looking for: turbo, moddable, xinput.

8bitdo's stuff is more aesthetics than function, and random parts off Spanish Amazon aren't going to get you anywhere.

Thanks for the advice, but qanba products are pretty much impossible to find in Europe.

Even the 8bitdo stick right now is only available at Amazon UK, which will probably mean trouble at customs if I order it. F300 is sold out everywhere, so unless I wait for it I'm stuck between the F300 elite or the hori RAP.

Or risking ordering the 8bitdo from the UK

I'd just get the Hori and if you don't like the Hayabusa parts, look into importing or finding parts that fit. There's a lot more than just Seimitsu and Sanwa out there these days.

[RuySan]

Thanks for all the replies and advice. I ended up ordering the 8bitdo. It's much cheaper than the Hori, and I like how it looks.

It's not ultra-moddable, but apparently it's moddable enough if I want to replace some parts. I ordered through Aliexpress, through a seller which has a "spanish warehouse" with free shipping. I asked 8bitdo support if the store and its products were legit, and they said yes. I just hope it doesn't come from china instead and be stuck in customs.

And for some reason I assumed 8bitdo was an American company. Now I know it's chinese, and even when it comes to design, chinese don't need westerners any more:). 8bitdo products look great