New Arcade Stick: worth it?

[Damocles]

Also a problem with the TE stick is that my PC would not recognize the stick motion at all, under any setting. It did not even work as d-pad, allowing me to shoot and bomb but not move. Can anyone confirm if this was just my stick or is typical of the TE?

My TE (which is still for sale, hehe) works fine on both of my 360s and my PC.

[speedlolita]

Yeah, that's why I wouldn't go with a TE - poor PCB.

say what?

It might not affect you now - or ever - but there are many people saying the PCB is of poor quality. Mad Catz fault ofc.

[Jeneki]

Also a problem with the TE stick is that my PC would not recognize the stick motion at all, under any setting. It did not even work as d-pad, allowing me to shoot and bomb but not move. Can anyone confirm if this was just my stick or is typical of the TE?

I ran into this issue using a 360 converter on PC a while back.

The Windows 360 controller driver mapped directions (up/down/left/right) to the analog stick on a regular 360 controller. The joystick, on the other hand, assigned stick movement to the thumbpad. So basically, the stick wasn't assigned to movement and wouldn't do anything.

I did eventually fix it, but I don't remember what I did. I use a dedicated PC joystick these days.

[CptRansom]

Coming from someone who started off with the EX2 and switched to the EX-SE a few months later, I would just skip straight to the EX-SE. I really didn't like the EX2 at all. I hated the feel of the stick, the buttons, and I never felt like it was quite doing what I wanted it to do. Like someone else in this thread said, if it's your first stick, fine; but if you think you're ever going to upgrade your stick, then you might as well just go ahead and get the SFIV TE or EX-SE or something.

[ubersaurus]

Can you please explain exactly how hori parts are bad? is the reception off? do the buttons occasionally not register, or does the stick register the wrong direction? is it super fragile? is it too sensitive? I also noticed that some of the reviews said that this would be better. I notice it uses sanwa parts, so can you explain what I can expect from all three manufacturers, when compared to a US arcade cab (i've had a chance to try those)?

I have both the EX2 and the SF TE stick you've linked here. The Hori is alright, and I haven't had issues with it as far as breaking down, but the stick is not as accurate as I prefer when I'm playing shooters and fighters. It's also a pain to mod if you ever want to swap parts, though it isn't impossible. The TE stick is arguably the best commercial stick on the market, the Sanwa parts are one of the brands used in Japanese arcade cabs, and they're sensitive and solid. Easily one of the best sticks I've ever used on that alone, but the buttons and stick are also fairly simple to swap out for new parts of Seimitsu brand ones if you feel like it. I do not personally know anyone who has had issues with the TE, or its PCB, but it's got a decent warranty policy if the thing is busted.

[DBHashman93]

This link has what seems to be an insane deal on a HRAP EX:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?s ... d=70069871

I have the HRAP 3 (more or less the equivalent stick for ps3) and for that price it should do you just fine. Don't know anything about the seller though.

FWIW, I have a 360 TE and it's definitely the best stick I own.

[Exarion]

Is that stick PC compatible? I play often enough on PC that I need it to be.

[Exarion]

I bought the EX2 on sale, and now it is failing. See first post for more info.

[Voxbox]

...my EX2 is failing. The B button that I use for fire has begun sticking down. I have a workaround by putting a small bit of paper around the pushbutton, but it won't keep it alive forever. Now, I'm wondering which stick to get when this one fails, or sooner. I'm currently looking at 5 sticks. I've made a brief summary of each, in no order at all:

Well, it's just a button. Change it with one of the lesser used ones, or just buy seimitsus and put 'em in.

[Exarion]

...my EX2 is failing. The B button that I use for fire has begun sticking down. I have a workaround by putting a small bit of paper around the pushbutton, but it won't keep it alive forever. Now, I'm wondering which stick to get when this one fails, or sooner. I'm currently looking at 5 sticks. I've made a brief summary of each, in no order at all:

Well, it's just a button. Change it with one of the lesser used ones, or just buy seimitsus and put 'em in.

There's also an extra frame of input lag on all buttons that I found today, with occasionally more lag. I'd heard that once a button starts to stick down, the PCB somehow starts dying, and I've now confirmed this.

[StarCreator]

If my memory serves correctly, I've already made my thoughts on this matter known - a TE breaking within 5 minutes is highly abnormal and should not in any way be used as an example of the company's quality as a whole. It's really quite insulting to see "it's made by MadCatz" as a con on nearly every one of the OP's pros/cons lists when they really did incredible work on the product line as a whole.

My vote is still for the EX-SE regardless, simply because I'm not a big fan of Sanwa parts and it's great to have an option that has all-Seimitsu parts out of the box. And anything to put another EX2 in the junk heap where it belongs is a good thing.

[Axelayer]

is there any adapter to use the old neo geo home console "joyboards" to work on a pc and/or xbox 360? had my neo geo from 1993-1997 with 2 sticks,never had any issues with em,a friend of mine had also an neo geo,never problems with the neo geo sticks(just a little crackle on the joystick ball).still think the neo geo sticks are really great,would love to use one of these..

today i`m using a madcatz fight stick se for mame and xbox360,dont know if its me but as i remember those neo geo sticks were a lot lot smoother than the madcatz one im using today...maybe i should simply upgrade my madcatz se with quality buttons,dont like them,they are too easy to push down,i would like some buttons with more response...got this as a bargain, it was around 40euros,i think with modded buttons it`ll be a very good deal,like the joystick itself,its not good for fighting games (thats the joke because it is a sf4 stick but for stg it is nice so far

[Exarion]

is there any adapter to use the old neo geo home console "joyboards" to work on a pc and/or xbox 360? had my neo geo from 1993-1997 with 2 sticks,never had any issues with em,a friend of mine had also an neo geo,never problems with the neo geo sticks(just a little crackle on the joystick ball).still think the neo geo sticks are really great,would love to use one of these..

today i`m using a madcatz fight stick se for mame and xbox360,dont know if its me but as i remember those neo geo sticks were a lot lot smoother than the madcatz one im using today...maybe i should simply upgrade my madcatz se with quality buttons,dont like them,they are to easy to push down,i would like some buttons with more response...

Though the TE stick are of higher quality than would be expected from a madcatz product, the SE is normal madcatz quality, which means it has about a 20% working rate after one month. The TE use genuine sanwa buttons, which are most likely even more sensitive than the knock off sanwa buttons you have now. The stick will start getting stuck to the right relatively soon, and wil destroy the PCB, which means you have to buy a whole new unit. Seimitsu parts are durable, and require more force on the buttons and have less throw on the sticks. Those should be what you're looking for. As for a neo geo> 360 adaptor, someone in the trading station forum can modify your old pads to work with the 360.

On the topic of my stick, the B button now fails to register occasionally. I see that my stick is going to fail gradually rather than suddenly.

[Sandlegs]

EX-SE. it is awesome. i also threw some sanwa buttons in mine, but that is just my cup of tea.

[Axelayer]

thanks for the infos Exarion,think ill get some decent seimitsu buttons and a seimitsu stick to replace the stock parts in the madcatz se,buttons are 3euro each,a good stick is around 20euros.

i bought the madcatz se for 40 euros,think the best and cheapest way to have a really good arcade stick is to mod this sucker,checked out some videos,seems to me that modding that stick is really easy(i`m not very talented when it comes to technical things,thought modding would be harder but seems like a no brainer to do it) and i dont want to spent another 100euro for a hori arcade pro which also has shitty buttons...

[kemical]

amazon has had the EX-SE on sale for 60 or 70 bucks a couple times in the past few months..

[ubersaurus]

thanks for the infos Exarion,think ill get some decent seimitsu buttons and a seimitsu stick to replace the stock parts in the madcatz se,buttons are 3euro each,a good stick is around 20euros.

i bought the madcatz se for 40 euros,think the best and cheapest way to have a really good arcade stick is to mod this sucker,checked out some videos,seems to me that modding that stick is really easy(i`m not very talented when it comes to technical things,thought modding would be harder but seems like a no brainer to do it) and i dont want to spent another 100euro for a hori arcade pro which also has shitty buttons...

Yeah, having modded my TE and Tatsunoko Wii stick, it's pretty simple stuff.

Also, Madcatz PCBs are common ground, which means you can use them for dual-PCB mods down the line. The MC Cthulhu has PCE, Saturn, PS1/2/3, PC, Gamecube, Xbox1, NES, and SNES capabilities, so you can certainly make something crazy out of all that.

[vld99]

One more vote for EX-SE. Got one a few weeks ago, on vast recommendation of this board, and it's simply perfect. I'm no expert though, being completely new to arcade sticks. And it did feel uncomfortable for the first few days, but now I don't see myself playing shmups using anything else. Definitely worth it!

[Exarion]

B button has begun failing more often and has begun sticking again despite the paper. Also, about swapping the buttons:





How am I supposed to mod that?!?

I've also noticed that amazon has the Street fighter IV standard stick on sale for less than the EX2. I'm wondering if this thing is mod-friendly. If it is, would it be worth modding if I can get the original stick for $45? at that price, an all seimitsu setup would cost much less than an HRAP EX-SE.

[StarCreator]

How am I supposed to mod that?!?

The most common EX2 mod involves desoldering all the buttons off the PCB (thus freeing it), removing the buttons from the casing, widening the button holes to a standard 30mm wideness, placing new buttons in, then either soldering in very short wires, one end on each button contact and the other in the corresponding hole left behind by the previous solder joint, or taking wire cutters to the button contacts and threading them into the solder joints, finishing it off with more solder. For a fancier job, you can discard the "daughter" PCB entirely and run longer wires to the outer buttons to the main PCB, but this involves a little more work.

Aka, you should just put the thing in the trash and not bother.

[roker]

never get cheap with a stick

I've been through 5 of them

with one costing me well over 200

but in the end I ended up settling for a PS2 Sega Virtua Stick modded with Sanwa parts (though I want to change the stick to a Seimitsu now)

I've had it for 4 years now and the only way that's coming off me is when I'm buried six feet deep.

[Exarion]

How am I supposed to mod that?!?

The most common EX2 mod involves desoldering all the buttons off the PCB (thus freeing it), removing the buttons from the casing, widening the button holes to a standard 30mm wideness, placing new buttons in, then either soldering in very short wires, one end on each button contact and the other in the corresponding hole left behind by the previous solder joint, or taking wire cutters to the button contacts and threading them into the solder joints, finishing it off with more solder. For a fancier job, you can discard the "daughter" PCB entirely and run longer wires to the outer buttons to the main PCB, but this involves a little more work.

Aka, you should just put the thing in the trash and not bother.

It isn't going in the trash, but it is getting replaced by an HRAP EX-SE. The input lag has increased to 4 frames now, and all buttons fail to register at least 10% of the time.

[2dvertical]

Is the wireless stick included in the tekken6 bundle any good? Seems like an alright deal. I saw a youtube video comparing it to another hori stick which basically said it was lighter than most, no noticable lag being wireless etc, he did not go into detail about what the stick and buttons were. Im also wondering if one can remove the tekken artwork easily or put plexi over it or something of that nature. Im not crazy about the game but it seems like a good deal depending on quality..

[Exarion]

Is the wireless stick included in the tekken6 bundle any good? Seems like an alright deal. I saw a youtube video comparing it to another hori stick which basically said it was lighter than most, no noticable lag being wireless etc, he did not go into detail about what the stick and buttons were. Im also wondering if one can remove the tekken artwork easily or put plexi over it or something of that nature. Im not crazy about the game but it seems like a good deal depending on quality..

It's based on the EX 2 rather than HRAP like the wired stick from the videos i've seen. They've made it thinner and added two extra buttons. Same low-grade hori parts, best off avoided from what i've seen.

Also, my EX-SE came today, and after being shocked by the size of the thing, I found that the buttons and stick are much more responsive and have less input delay. The flatter buttons are also much better. It is a huge upgrade.

[DAY]

The Tekken wireless stick is indeed made with the cheaper Hori parts, but imo it isn't a bad stick. It's light and thin and therefore practical. There is a small imput lag though, therefore it is not very good for fighters. But the lag is very minimal and I don't mind it. I prefer it over playing with a Stock Mad Catz TE, that is way to sensitive for shmups.

[Pulsewidth]

I've also noticed that amazon has the Street fighter IV standard stick on sale for less than the EX2. I'm wondering if this thing is mod-friendly. If it is, would it be worth modding if I can get the original stick for $45? at that price, an all seimitsu setup would cost much less than an HRAP EX-SE.

I'm using a modded Madcatz SFIV SE with Seimitsu LS-32-01 and PS-14-KNs. I followed the instructions at:
http://pineconeattack.com/2009/08/06/ho ... tsu-parts/

My mounting bracket was slightly different to the one in the instructions so I had to disassemble the stick to access the screw holes. I also had to sand down one of the buttons slightly to get it to fit. Other than that is was a very easy mod.

I'm very happy with the LS-32, but the buttons are a bit less responsive than I'd like. I've occasionally broken chains in DoDonPachi because the laser stopped when I wasn't pressing the button hard enough. I think I'd prefer clicky microswitch based buttons

No problems with the electronics. No perceptible lag, works fine on Linux.

[yyr]

The Tekken wireless stick is indeed made with the cheaper Hori parts, but imo it isn't a bad stick. It's light and thin and therefore practical. There is a small imput lag though, therefore it is not very good for fighters. But the lag is very minimal and I don't mind it. I prefer it over playing with a Stock Mad Catz TE, that is way to sensitive for shmups.

I don't feel any input lag with it. It feels the same to me as the stock 360 wireless controller, which is to say it doesn't lag.

However, the stick is pretty loose and the buttons feel cheap. It's not a great joystick, and I'd even go as far to say that I like the EX2 better. But it's the only wireless stick on the 360, and so I can use it while I'm laying in bed, all the way across my room. It's great for casual fighting game play, simple arcade games or when you just feel like using something wireless. I wouldn't use it for Futari or Galuda though.

BTW, I currently own a pair of EX-SEs and I've used the EX2 extensively, just for comparison's sake.