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Arcade Stick Recommendations Needed

DekuStickDekuStick Registered User regular
Looking for a good quality, sturdy arcade stick for PC.

Budget tops out at $150 CAD.

I'm not really looking to build one myself because I can almost guarantee I will screw it up and be left with useless buttons.

Help me please PA

DekuStick on

Posts

  • BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Well, the go-to arcade stick over here is the MadCatz (S)SFIV Tournament Edition. The problem is, for PC use there are some caveats.

    For the 360 version, Microsoft's drivers blows goats because standard DirectInput games don't work properly with them. You can use the XBCD drivers to get around this, but that's not really an acceptable solution for the average user.

    For the PS3 version, you'll need an Intel motherboard because for some odd reason MadCatz uses UHCI (which is one of those Intel-only standards) instead of OHCI (which is used on the 360 stick and practically every USB device out there). But there is a workaround, and it only costs $8. An alternative for Canadian buyers is here.


    You could also look into a Hori stick, but the only ones you'll want to buy are the SA and SE models (which use SAnwa and SEimitsu parts, respectively).

    Barrakketh on
    Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
  • TediakTediak Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    I've heard very good things about the X-Arcade sticks, but I don't own one so I'm not really sure. When I was thinking about getting one this was the brand I settled with however.

    Tediak on
  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    The TE is delicious but it burns me I can't play some Touhou on it or my 360 Gamepad. But those aren't fighters. I use a basic Logitech pad for all my laser needs.

    Cantido on
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  • TheUnsane1TheUnsane1 PhiladelphiaRegistered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Cantido wrote: »
    The TE is delicious but it burns me I can't play some Touhou on it or my 360 Gamepad. But those aren't fighters. I use a basic Logitech pad for all my laser needs.

    Can you not use Xpadder to map custom keys for that game?? I play some pc games with my MadCatz fightpad or te stick just fine.

    TheUnsane1 on
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  • BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    TheUnsane1 wrote: »
    Cantido wrote: »
    The TE is delicious but it burns me I can't play some Touhou on it or my 360 Gamepad. But those aren't fighters. I use a basic Logitech pad for all my laser needs.

    Can you not use Xpadder to map custom keys for that game?? I play some pc games with my MadCatz fightpad or te stick just fine.

    Xpadder isn't free (something like $10, but still something that shouldn't be necessary for a > $100 stick). I also didn't look hard to see if there was a trial version or anything so I didn't test whether it would work for that, it seems you'd have to download the last free version for a "trial".

    Joy2Key doesn't work well (I tried it with Touhou Hisouten and if you use the stick's buttons on the main menu it'll ignore Joy2Key's inputs and behave as though you aren't using it at all).

    I use my TE (SSFIV, 360 version) with the XBCD drivers and can play Touhou when it is set to LS.

    On Linux the stick works fine with the xboxdrv userspace driver, I just start it with --trigger-as-button.

    Barrakketh on
    Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
  • TheUnsane1TheUnsane1 PhiladelphiaRegistered User regular
    edited May 2010
    I downloaded xpadder in the winter for free.. O_o

    http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Xpadder.shtml

    There's a link I think it's free at the xpadder site too but I can't look from behind a filter.

    TheUnsane1 on
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  • DekuStickDekuStick Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Well I took a look at Toodle's Cthulhu PCB and it is a solderless solution. With this new discovery I'll be building a custom.

    Surprisingly now the hardest part is deciding between what color buttons and ball top.

    Thanks for the replies folks.

    DekuStick on
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Tediak wrote: »
    I've heard very good things about the X-Arcade sticks, but I don't own one so I'm not really sure. When I was thinking about getting one this was the brand I settled with however.

    The X-Arcade stick is a pile of bullshit made out of crappy unlicensed knockoffs of already crappy Happ arcade parts. Do not buy it.

    (note: not all Happ parts are garbage, but the parts X-Arcade copied sure are.)

    Daedalus on
  • BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Tediak wrote: »
    I've heard very good things about the X-Arcade sticks, but I don't own one so I'm not really sure. When I was thinking about getting one this was the brand I settled with however.

    The X-Arcade stick is a pile of bullshit made out of crappy unlicensed knockoffs of already crappy Happ arcade parts. Do not buy it.

    (note: not all Happ parts are garbage, but the parts X-Arcade copied sure are.)

    Most Happ parts are...and they started using "E-switch" switches instead of the Cherry switches their Competition sticks had previously been using as a cost-cutting measure. I can't comment on their quality, just throwing that out there.

    Originally Happ's Competition sticks were made from iL (Industrias Lorenzo) Eurojoystick sticks (purchased unassembled) with Cherry switches, so these days if you want a Happ Competition you're better off buying the iL Eurojoystick which now use the Cherry switches. Also, replacement parts for the Happ Competition are made by iL :lol:
    TheUnsane1 wrote: »
    I downloaded xpadder in the winter for free.. O_o

    http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Miscellaneous/Xpadder.shtml

    There's a link I think it's free at the xpadder site too but I can't look from behind a filter.

    Nope, it's a pay app now ($9.99). Cheap, but still something that shouldn't be needed for basic DirectInput functionality. It doesn't help that the way the Xinput/Common Controller driver is implemented means that it will be listed when you enumerate controllers for use with DirectInput.

    On the plus side, in Windows my stick works properly, no thanks to Microsoft:
    eureka.png

    Barrakketh on
    Rollers are red, chargers are blue....omae wa mou shindeiru
  • DaedalusDaedalus Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Barrakketh wrote: »
    Daedalus wrote: »
    Tediak wrote: »
    I've heard very good things about the X-Arcade sticks, but I don't own one so I'm not really sure. When I was thinking about getting one this was the brand I settled with however.

    The X-Arcade stick is a pile of bullshit made out of crappy unlicensed knockoffs of already crappy Happ arcade parts. Do not buy it.

    (note: not all Happ parts are garbage, but the parts X-Arcade copied sure are.)

    Most Happ parts are...and they started using "E-switch" switches instead of the Cherry switches their Competition sticks had previously been using as a cost-cutting measure. I can't comment on their quality, just throwing that out there.

    Originally Happ's Competition sticks were made from iL (Industrias Lorenzo) Eurojoystick sticks (purchased unassembled) with Cherry switches, so these days if you want a Happ Competition you're better off buying the iL Eurojoystick which now use the Cherry switches. Also, replacement parts for the Happ Competition are made by iL :lol:

    Even so, the Competition stick and buttons are way above the Ultimate line of stick and buttons, which is what Happ ripped off from.

    Daedalus on
  • LordOfMeepLordOfMeep Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    @Barrakketh: How'd you go about getting XBCD to work with the autoinstall built-in drivers already there? And can it make LT and RT actually be recognized as buttons instead of this Z Axis goosery that half of my stuff won't recognize as a real button? Recently got a fightpad and wanted to know how well this works.

    LordOfMeep on
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