Recommended Arcade Sticks?

I really want to try the eightarc sticks (eightarc.com)

Those sticks and the TE are pricey, though.

I played SCIV on a Hori EX2 with a JLF in it. I still have it somewhere around here..... Cost about $50 for the stick + parts. Been using the Madcatz TE for a while ($150).
 
What would you rate the following arcade fight sticks brands out there? Add more to this list if you know more than me.

Madcatz
Hori
Eightarc
 
I haven't tried the Eightarc/Qanba sticks, but there's no reason why they shouldn't be great. JLFs and OBSF30s for days and they'll be usable with the "silent" sticks that should be out soon (not too hype about that, but whatever - I know people have roommates/parents/etc).

Razer has an offering coming up - http://www.razerzone.com/bredtofight
The Hori EX2 with default parts is mediocre. My buttons stopped working and the springs in the stick softened up pretty quick in my SCIV Hori EX2. They're a pain to refit with new parts: requires some soldering, a couple of washers, a dremel and creative engineering... Overall, the ex2s are very light - which can be a pro or a con depending on what you're expecting.

Not a huge fan of MadCatz, but their TE sticks are #1 for right now.... at least until eightarc gets their shipments to be more reliable and Razer releases their offering.
 
Sticks are pricey, you want to make sure you prefer it to pad first:
You can get a cheap stick in GAME for £35 so get one and learn how to play stick first. You don't want to spend a lot of money on something that doesn't work with you.
 
^I can vouche for this.

I went out and bought a Madcatz SF4 TE stick thinking I would be unstoppable with it. After a couple months of getting used to it, I still prefered the pad over the stick. So I sold that son of a bitch for a fraction of what I paid for it ($140).

Be sure using a stick is what you want first. Lots of players prefer the PS1 controller with a converter over any stick.

Took me a few weeks to get used to the PS3 controller myself. But now that Im really comfortable with it. I strongly prefer the PS3 controller to any stick/xbox controller there is!!

HRD
 
Hitbox vs Arcade stick.

-Are inputs easier with one than the other?
-Do your fingers hurt after a while?
-Is it better with a 2D (Street Fighter) than a 3D (SC)?
-Is it actually worth it?

Discuss
 
Talisman said:
Hitbox vs Arcade stick.

-Are inputs easier with one than the other?
-Do your fingers hurt after a while?
-Is it better with a 2D (Street Fighter) than a 3D (SC)?
-Is it actually worth it?

Discuss
Click to expand...

#1- depends on the player
#2-yes but will get better with time.
#3-depends on the player
#4-depends on your pocket book.

Like all things in life, all those questions are subjective to each person. If your guys are younger and grew up using a pad all your lives, then I would bet money that a pad will be easier.

If youre an old fart like me and grew up in the arcades playing on cabinets, then it would prolly be better to get a stick. But then there are cases like me who grew up in the arcades and still prefer the pad for fighting games. Its all about the individual.

My suggestion is to go to an arcade or get your hands on a stick and mess around with it for awhile. If its to your liking and think you can get the hang of it....then do eeeeeettt!

HRD
 
HRD said:
#1- depends on the player
#2-yes but will get better with time.
#3-depends on the player
#4-depends on your pocket book.

Like all things in life, all those questions are subjective to each person. If your guys are younger and grew up using a pad all your lives, then I would bet money that a pad will be easier.

If youre an old fart like me and grew up in the arcades playing on cabinets, then it would prolly be better to get a stick. But then there are cases like me who grew up in the arcades and still prefer the pad for fighting games. Its all about the individual.

My suggestion is to go to an arcade or get your hands on a stick and mess around with it for awhile. If its to your liking and think you can get the hang of it....then do eeeeeettt!

HRD
Click to expand...
I see and agree, but I have the arcade in my house!!!
I like overall feel for the cabinet. Pad is getting old and boring.

I'm desperate to try Hitbox though...
 
HRD is pretty much spot on about it depending on the player:
The general heirarchy of precision is this:
Hitbox>Arcade Stick>Pad.
While hitboxes are technically the best, very few players have put in the large amount of effort required to play them and even fewer use them competitively.
I myself was a pad player, but nowadays I only play siegfried on pad, every other character on every other game I use stick.

Bear in mind though that Soul Calibur is a game you would never need a stick to play at high level, it is purely an optional thing.
 
HRD said:
Be sure using a stick is what you want first. Lots of players prefer the PS1 controller with a converter over any stick.
Click to expand...

I don't always play on pad, but when I do,
I play on a SEGA Six Button in claw style.

Joking aside, totally valid point. There are heated (and I mean *heated*) discussions on SRK and Dustloop about Pad vs Stick and I would hate to revisit that here...... :)

At the end of the day, I *personally* (tastes vary) prefer SC slides, justs and cross-buttons (ie: A+K, G+B) on a stick for very obvious reasons. SFIV plinks are annoying on a pad, but the directional inputs are literally idiot proof. KoF is just more fun on a stick (5D 6A 214A 41236B 214A DC 41236B (loop) 214A 236A 41236982A, anybody?) and BlazBlue is probably pretty fair either way. The upcoming Skullgirls actually includes features for sticks (you get extra input frames on non-adjacent directions) that pad users won't even notice.

Edit: I was hoping no one brought up the Hitbox. :P
 
Supa said:
I don't always play on pad, but when I do,
I play on a SEGA Six Button in claw style.

Joking aside, totally valid point. There are heated (and I mean *heated*) discussions on SRK and Dustloop about Pad vs Stick and I would hate to revisit that here...... :)

At the end of the day, I *personally* (tastes vary) prefer SC slides, justs and cross-buttons (ie: A+K, G+B) on a stick for very obvious reasons. SFIV plinks are annoying on a pad, but the directional inputs are literally idiot proof. KoF is just more fun on a stick (5D 6A 214A 41236B DC 214A 41236B (loop) 214A 236A 41236982A, anybody?) and BlazBlue is probably pretty fair either way. The upcoming Skullgirls actually includes features for sticks (you get extra input frames on non-adjacent directions) that pad users won't even notice.
Click to expand...
They really have heated arguments on SRK about that? Wow.

I use pad btw. Sometimes when I'm doing Chun Li's 236 236 LP+MP+HP, It won't respond and I have to struggle to redo it again. I heard it's easier to do on Hitbox and Stick.
 
The important thing to remember in Soul Calibur is that at high level: Non-pad players are a minority. It comes down to what works for you, the player best.
 
HRD said:
ohhhh. That would be really akward for me.

HRD
Click to expand...
It seems wieird to me but since I don't have a lot of experience on pad, it won't effect me as much.

YouTube has a lot of videos on it, you should check it out.
 
Hitbox is just a keyboard made out of arcade buttons. :(

Notice that I'm not calling it a keyboard just because it's used kind of the same way - it actually is the same config as a keyboard. Anyone that's played an FPS, or has spent any time in Mugen/NullDC/Melty Blood PC, knows WADS (up, left, down, right). Bind 'W' to the spacebar and you have a Hitbox controller. :\

I'm not a fan of Hitbox, controller mods, button binding or 33 to SRK... but....

I'm going to make my own "arcade stick", I think. It'll have 24 buttons. 8 are just going to repeat the four primaries (for SCIV Hilde players), 4 will be directions and the other 12 will be completely programmable by SD card (one-button Summon Suffering/Dust Loop, perfect IDs with every character, etc). While I'm at it, I'm going to put a pistol grip inside the bottom of the case so you can use it on CoD and pre-configure the buttons to autofire perfectly with the recoil-to-level-ratio for the most popular guns. I could probably cram wallhacks and aimbots into it.... Maybe I'll fit a camera or video-in with some decent software so I don't even have to play the game....
 
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