How good is the new Hori 360 Fighting Stick VX variant?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I've noticed on the U.S. amazon site, there's a listing for the new Hori Fighting Stick VX. How does it compared to the earlier release of the Hori 360 RAP EX-SE/RAP EX and the later produced RAP VX-SA arcade sticks?

There's no mention if either Sanwa or Seimitsu parts are used in this new FS VX variant arcade stick. Or all the parts stock Hori from the get-go?

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox360-Fighting- ... 857&sr=1-5

Here's the PS3 version of the new Hori Fighting Stick V3 variant as well:

Again, there's no mention if Sanwa or Seimitsu arcade parts are used in this particular cheaper build as well.

http://www.amazon.com/PS3-Fighting-Stic ... 17&sr=8-15

I've noticed that the 360 FS VX does have the cool new auto-fire capability selectable "on-the-fly" compared to the RAP EX-SE/RAP EX variants (which should've been included from the get-go considering that both the PS3 RAP 3 and the PS3 RAP 3 SA variants both had auto-fire from the get-go).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[STG~PASI]

At that price, i doubt they come with authentic arcade parts, more likely they're made by Hori.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Ah, I see...hence the lower price for one. It wouldn't be that much more to upgrade to full Sanwa or Seimitsu parts for about $25-35 bucks more --then it'd be Japanese arcade-spec.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[STG~PASI]

Those sticks look like they use the same case as the Hori Tekken 6 sticks, which are notoriously hard to mod because of the small case.

[guldberget]

Hi guys! This is my first post.

I own the JP versions of the PS3 V3 and XB360 VX sticks and I have to say they´re excellent sticks although they are a little on the light side. The quick run down is that they are very easy to mod:

-The button holes are 30 mm so no dremmeling is needed for Sanwa or Seimitsu button swaps
-The case is prepared for Sanwa JLF with flat mounting plate so no case mod is required for it to fit. Because of that, the Seimitsu LS-5X will fit aswell with the appropriate mounting plate but may grind against the case bottom. However, you can sand the case bottom down to counter this.
-The main PCB is common ground and is recognized as a HRAP when plugged into a pc.
-It´s not the same case as the Tekken 6 stick. In my opinion, all pictures of the V3/VX make them look smaller than they really are.
-The only visual difference between the VX and V3 besides the color is that the V3 has a dp/ls/rs switch that the VX doesn´t have.
-The stock buttons are soldered to a separate button pcb that you´ll have to deal with if you want to button mod, but it´s no biggie. The VX is slightly easier to button mod because of different wiring setup inside (similar to the T6 sticks difference between PS3 and XB360) but the V3 is still a piece of cake.

I modded my V3s buttons and stick completely solder free in under an hour, and that´s including wire crimping. That should give you an idea of how easy it is to mod. I´d say they´re the easiest "non quick disconnect" sticks to mod. Of course, I don´t know if Hori made any changes from the JP stick editions so things might be different since I bought my sticks.

Hope this helps

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Thanks for the heads up about modding the JPN versions of the Hori VX and V3 Fighting Stick variants, guldberget. They'll come in quite handy. I'm sure the USA region Hori VX & V3 sticks should be the same build and quality of their Japanese counterparts.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[guldberget]

I might aswell just post before and after photos of my PS3 V3 mod.

Before:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/833/img0524gp.jpg/

Note the four pre-made screw pillars around the stick area that are an exact fit for the Sanwa JLF w/ a flat mounting plate.

After:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/51/img0537yc.jpg/

And violá! I made myself a spiritutal successor to the Namco stick.
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/84/img0538xs.jpg/

I used euro style screw terminals to connect wires because I wanted to keep the mod solderless but it would have been alot nicer, but more time consuming, if I had gotten my soldering iron out. The three wires that are laying above the main PCB are unused ground wires since the PCB (on the PS3 atleast) is common ground. I just taped those wires up with electrical tape and saved them in case I would find a use for them later on.

I haven´t modded the stick on my VX, except for installing a JLF octo gate in place of the Hori stock and replacing the spring for a LS-32 one, but I suppose that the XB360 PBC is common ground for the stick as well since the V3 is.

[alastair jack]

Are there any 360 fighting sticks that come with seimitsu stuff? Or do they only sell sanwa stuff now?

[gray117]

They seem to have generally sold out of SE runs. I imagine at least 80% of the demand is sanwa...

Apart from modding, I think the best bet will be to wait for a tie-in-brand one; perhaps the radiant silvergun could be the next announced to have a SE version?

[STG~PASI]

Seems like I was wrong about the case, shows how much I know !