Looking to buy an Arcade stick

[inveterate]

I'm not really sure what to buy. I don't mind the price. I just want good quality. Don't say the X-Arcade cuz i've actually used one at sam goody and my fingers hurt from having my arms together so closely.

 

[Howard]

The X-Arcade is a piece of crap.

What console/system are you using it for? PC?

EDIT: You won't find many commercial sticks with more spacing between the actual stick and buttons than the X-Arcade. I believe it's 4" center-to-center (from cneter of stick to center of first column of buttons) for standard American layouts.

 

[inveterate]

I am going to be using this for my PC,, "mame" "neogeo" Samurai Shodown V

 

[Howard]

A MAS stick will probably work for you.

http://www.massystems.com/ProStick.html

These use arcade-authentic parts, while I believe the X-Arcade does not. If you get one of these, get the convex Competition buttons instead of the concave Ultimate buttons.

 

[inveterate]

Ok,,, called those guys up.. Guy from INDIA "engineer" Thouroughly CONFUSED ME..

He said:
"The PS/2 connection is a SERIAL connection. Every button is recognized as ONE after the other. which is why i don't recommend the perfect 360 joystick because it sends signals such as left+right which a computer will not recognize."

NOW if the PS/2 is SERIAL.. what happens when i want to do a Shinku Haidoken which requires 3 buttons simultaneously.

 

[Inappropriate4AT]

The buttons would be fine, he's saying the perfect 360 joystick (optical) would cause problems, in which case it can be swapped with the competition stick, which is even cheaper.

 

[inveterate]

If I was to build my own arcade stick,, where do i get the thingy "mobo??" that all the buttons and stick plugs into

 

[Inappropriate4AT]

Most people use the PCBs from gamepads, usually Playstation/Dreamcast/Saturn. You take the circuit board out and solder the leads from the PCB to the arcade parts. Link

 

[Howard]

I have no idea why the P360 would send left+right simultaneously. There's no game that would ever use L+R together. He's probably wrong, because there are 4 separate triggers for the 4 directions and a common ground; to send left/right together would require the joystick shaft to be in two opposite directions at once.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I wouldn't listen to him at all. If what he said was true, all PS/2 keyboards would have non-functioning Ctrl, Shift, Alt, Enter, etc. keys.

Anyway, if you want to hack a gamepad to use for PC (I've hacked a few myself), use this one:

http://us.thrustmaster.com/products/d_prd.php?p=T44&fam=5

It has a common ground and digital buttons, so wiring will be relatively easy. But, I don't know what kind of power is supplied, so you may not be able to give the P360 the approximate 5V it needs, if you want to use it.

Be prepared to do a LOT of reading here:

http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=177

Happ produces the authentic parts used in nearly all American arcades. You can buy directly from them, though there are several smaller resellers that sell the parts for less.

http://www.happcontrols.com/

Inappropriate, you post on SRK?

 

[inveterate]

If i don't use the p 360 does that mean i won't need 5 vs?

 

[Howard]

That is correct. Non-optical-sensing parts do not require a separate power feed. The microswitches just act to open/close the respective circuits.

Feel free to PM me with questions. I don't check this forum very often.