But which one? I didnt want to make something 100% from scratch, but wanted to spend as little as possible. I found (very little) info on the QJ TopFighter. People said it used arcade components, but never specified brand. It looked decent, so I snagged one on ebay. Its a fairly nice stick upon first impression. The joystick is a little sloppy, and the buttons seem a little hard to press for my taste. Works pretty damn well with Street Fighter Zero 2, but I havnt had the same success with Gradius III. The gate in the case is square btw.
The case itself is pretty nice. Fairly heavy, but not overkill. As you can see from the pictures (sorry for the size of the pics guys) compared to a SNES. Its all metal, and has a ton of screws holding it together. Looks a little industrial, but quality.
I'm no expert on this sort of thing since ive never worked with any real arcade components (YET), but the buttons do indeed look (and feel) like arcade quality parts. Looks similar to a lot of stuff ive seen. The brand name on the Button microswitches is YIIN precision. From the topside, it takes about 1mm of throw to click them. I guess thats not that far, but it sure FEELS like it. Is this normal for generic arcade buttons?
The joystick is a little sloppy feeling. Its not physically sloppy, but its got a light throw and soft return force. It actually works great with the two fighters ive tried (Street Fighter Zero 2 and Mortal Kombat 3), but I think its a little too soft for shooters. I noticed its got a 3-post mounting plate, wheras ever other real stick ive seen is a 4-bolt. Are there any replacement sticks that you guys know of that will bolt in here? If not, I have absolutely no problem drilling holes in this case and modifying.
This last pic is kinda blurry, but here is another shot of the joystick microswitches. Im wondering if its plausable for me to just replace these, and leave the rest of the asembly intact.
Well thats it. I think im going to sort out the stick before I throw the wireless pad guts in there. Im also thinking about picking up a few of those Sanwa buttons you guys always rave about. Overall, its a great stick. Not that its any surprise, but it completly trumps the Super Advantage.
