Stick a good investment?

DrakeAldan

DrakeAldan

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ahh, here we go.

I've heard stuff about how a stick can offer you a... richer fighting game experience, was it? specifically, I was wondering about the amount of precision (it seems like a great amount... did you see that Chang's FD JF topic? dude makes it look easy...)

Though I know that you have to get used to a stick.

... thing is, I'm a 90's kid, and I never went to the arcade (yay consoles...)

I mean, I don't even use a "Tekken"/"Claw" grip (thumbs and button mapping).

so I'd have almost zero experience. I don't even know how you'd train to use it properly.

(I definitely won't be exploring the subject with SCIV. Maybe the next fighting game.)

But... if I had the time, would it be worth it to learn someday?

Could I possibly execute things I never thought possible with a pad?!
 
PS3 or 360? Casual play or tourneys? Just SC, or other fighters, too?

If it's no big deal for you to drop $40~ on a standard Hori, then go for it.

Will it help you? That's completely down to personal preference. These days the playerbase is divided between sticks and pads, and there's no clear skill difference between the two, so you shouldn't feel like you can't skill up without a stick.

You'll need to practise your balls off to get used to it, though. Especially if you haven't used sticks before.
 
For 3D (Tekken, Soul Calibur) you can do just fine with a pad unless you're playing a character with a lot of motion based moves (Say like Ivy and her special throws or characters with a wavedash in Tekken). But with so many characters who just have simple directional presses for moves...eh. If you use a pad, stick with pad. If you use a stick, go with that. You aren't hurt either way.

For 2D? It's almost essential to have a stick as it makes everything so much easier. I don't think it's too hard to learn a stick if you want to learn it. I never played in an arcade until I was like 20 and it took me a grand total of a week...or two to get used to it and I had been playing pad long before that. To get good...just use it, play on it and just get used to it. It's not as hard as one makes it out to be...:)
 
QFT. Soul Calibur is a manually easy fighter, when we compare it with games like guilty gear, sf3 or even tekken.
Of course there are some hard things (some JF's, moves, timings for some combos) but there are not many of them, and even those can be make by pad and they are not harder to perform on it (sometimes its even easier on pad then on stick).
But, playing on stick, is much more fun then on pad. So if you have time to train and you are patient, do it, leave the pad:).
 
I see you have a PSN so I'm assuming you want it for use on PS3

I'd recommend just getting a Hori Fighting Stick 3 for starters. that's what I have at the moment.

If you look hard enough you can probably get one for about 35-40 dollars. They're USB sticks though so they'll only work on PS3 and computers. If you want it for use on PS2(which is understandable considering it has the most fighting games), you should look for a PS2 stick and a converter if you want to use it on the PS3 and computer. There are alot of PS2 sticks out there though so you shouldn't have any trouble finding a somewhat decent one.

The FS3 isn't anything remarkable as far as arcade sticks go, but it's cheap and is good to practice and get used to using arcade sticks, as well as figure out where you stand on using them. If you like using them you can then invest in more expensive higher quality sticks. If not you're only out about 40 bucks instead of 100-200 like most of the high end ones.

I've been using mine for King of Fighters 98 on GGPO(2D fighting online client on my computer) and Soul Calibur 4 for a few months now and just recently decided to buy an HRAP2 SA off of ebay(got it for a steal at 83 dollars). So yeah it was pretty much my starter stick as well and I enjoyed using it.
 
PS3, both casuals and tourneys, end-all be-all one-stop-shop for fighters.

I know that one's grasp of the game doesn't change regardless of the means to carry them out; however, it seems like expressing oneself through stick is... more fitting than pad.

I'd put in the practice (but I regularly practice now with a pad anyway).

It's just that... I would like the luxury of more control... if a stick even offers that.

like I said, I wouldn't even be touching a stick with SCIV.
Regionals are too close...
 
Sticks are really nice if you play 2d fighters. SC has easy enough inputs that you wouldn't get much additional benefit out of it. I think shaking stuns and multiple button inputs are pretty much the only things that would get a lot easier.

They also have the tendency to make arcade style games in general just more fun to play, like manic shooters. A little expensive though if you're just buying it for that reason.
 
I ABSOLUTELY CAN NOT recommend getting a Hori FS3 or a Hori EX2... they are the worst sticks Hori has ever made. They will break in a good 2 months if you are lucky. If you want ot make an investment, get a Hori RAP3; its a better stick; if you really want to make a good investment, get a Hori RAP3 Special Edition; as it has all Sanwa parts in it.
 
The hrap is also easy enough to mod with your own sanwa parts, and quite a bit cheaper if you do as it is still 90 dollars on amazon.
 
Yeah, it didn't make too much sense to me... if I were buying a stick for the luxury of precision and control, why would I get a cheap stick that didn't have that?

Hearing stuff like how you can activate a button by just brushing your finger across it... it's like there's a lot more subtlety when using a proper stick.

This is the hobby I've chosen to (I hope) keep me from going senile in my older years, so money isn't an issue if it's reasonable.
 
Also.

Saying I did get a stick, where would I go to learn how to use it?

I'm figuring there must be a technique to it other than the natural response (grab the stick and hold on for dear life) but I can't find anything...
 
Just hold the thing. Put it on your lap, put your fingers on the buttons, grab the stick. You don't need to read up on all the different hand positions, just stick with whatever feels the most natural.
 
I've been wondering about this too. Where can I find xbox360 sticks besides the 80 dollar one made specifically for soul calibur 4? I really want to try one but I won't have 80 bucks for awhile and I'm looking for one a little cheaper.
 
One thing about the stick is, chances are you aren't going to be as good as you were with a pad for quite a while. Imagine how long it took you to get comfortable with a pad (long time ago for some), pretty much you have to do it all over again when you start using a stick.

Though, when I started using a stick for 2d fighters, I was pretty quickly up to par with the level i was at with a controller, but that's just because i never got good using a controller. Keyboard ftw.

In the end, its just practice and internalizing the joystick motions.
 
iKotomi said:
One thing about the stick is, chances are you aren't going to be as good as you were with a pad for quite a while. Imagine how long it took you to get comfortable with a pad (long time ago for some), pretty much you have to do it all over again when you start using a stick.
Click to expand...

Well, that's what I meant.

I'll wait until I start the learning process over again with a new game before I get a stick. However-

If such a big commitment comes with the eventual possiblity of precision inputs and smooth control, I'd be glad to do it.

all I was asking is that if it was possible to ascend to that level, if you could possibly learn it. because if you can, in my eyes you'd be miles above someone with a pad, just because you have more flexibility in expressing yourself through the stick.
 
At the very least, I'd like to aim to be more consistent with execution, and I think that may be possible with a good stick and practiced technique.

Here, lemme give an example...

Amy's 6BB236BB. Fast poke and/or punisher into (almost) uninterruptable 60+ damage followup if mashed correctly.

A lot of times, I do the move, and it comes out 6BBB.

6BBB is horrible.

this is on a pad, which I have been on my entire life.
I've had years to practice my execution on this thing.

But...

I began to notice, looking directly at the DS3's pad- there's nothing there. 3, 9, 7, 1. There's nothing there but plastic.

Which means every time I try to input a diagonal direction I have to press two directions (6, 8, 4, 2) at the same time.

That's... hardly precise, I'd think.

So I got to thinking- wouldn't it be great- if I could just will a move to happen, and it happened? Every single time? Given that I put in the practice, the only mistakes I would make would be the ones in my head, and not due to a physical disconnect between me and the input device?

Would a stick offer me this kind of accuracy?
 
Wait for the SF4 stick, all quality parts with features you'd normally see from sticks costing 100 bucks more. This thing is a beast, unless they're completely lying to us.
 
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