Sticks, Controllers, and TVs: Difference between revisions

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====Korean Parts (Crown and Myoungshin Fanta)====
====Korean Parts (Crown and Myoungshin Fanta)====
The style of stick that many Tekken players swear by. Not much was known of these parts in America until recently, they use rubber instead of a spring to give the stick tension, and have no gate so it's feels like a circular gate. Because it uses rubber instead of a spring, the stick wears in in the directions that you hit the most often. Crown has recently released a version of their arcade stick that fits into standard Japanese panels (CWJ-303A) without any modification. Both Crown and Myoungshin sticks feel very similar, the main difference being that the Myoungshin activates the switches a bit faster, and the Crown sticks rubber is a bit softer.
Crown buttons are the go to buttons for korean sticks. They come in both screw-in and snap-in buttons, and fall somewhere between the Seimitsu and Sanwa buttons as far as force needed to activate. They will not fit into a standard Japanese panel, they are too small.


===="Stock" Budget Arcade Stick Parts====
===="Stock" Budget Arcade Stick Parts====

Revision as of 11:27, 29 May 2013

Joysticks

Joysticks are controllers used by many to replicate the feel of the arcades at home. They consist of a joystick normally on the left side and pushbuttons on the right. Below are what joysticks are readily available along with the type of parts and retail price range.

Madcatz

Madcatz Tournament Edition Fightsticks (Round 1 and Round 2 and Tournament Edition S)
Descirption: Madcatz first venture into arcade quality sticks, the gold standard. A solid choice with a lot of community made customization options.
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons
Price: $99.99-$159.99

Madcatz Tournament Edition Pro Fightsticks (SFxT red, SFxT Black, EVO, Sanrio)
Descirption: A more slimlined stick, same general design, same quality parts as the TE.
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons
Price: $99.99-$159.99

Madcatz Tournament Edition VS Fightsticks
Descirption: A premium stick from Madcatz. Doesn't stray too far from the formula that's worked so well for them, but takes that and runs with it.
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons
Price: $199.99

Madcatz Standard Edition Fightsticks (SF4 White, TvC, WWE Brawl)
Descirption: The low-end stick. A small, cheap stick that comes with in house Madcatz parts. Not a great stick out of the box, but notable because you can install Sanwa or Seimitsu parts with nothing more than a screwdriver, and a bit of time. A great stick if you're on a budget, or want to learn if playing on stick is for you without a major monetary investment, with room to move up to better quality parts if you do want to continue playing stick.
Parts Type: Madcatz joystick and push buttons
Price: $39.99-$49.99

Hori

Real Arcade Pro. EX/3
Descirption: The Classic. An update on the HRAP from previous generations. Same body, same parts. Comes in a variety of themes, and in a few configurations for parts. The non SA or SE versions come with Hori in house buttons, and will require extra work and tools to install Sanwa or Seimitsu parts.
Parts Type:HRAP3- JLF and Hori buttons. SA- Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons. SE- Seimitsu LS-32-01 joystick and PS-14-G push buttons
Price: $149.99

Real Arcade Pro. VX/V3 (SA,KAI)
Descirption: A more modern take on design, looks more like an arcade panel, complete with start button where you would find it on a Vewlix cabinet, and an cable compartment.
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons
Price: $139.99

Real Arcade Pro. EX Premium VLX
Descirption: Hori decided making an arcade stick that resembled an arcade cabinet wasn't good enough. A premium stick with a premium pricetag. Looks like they chopped the panel off of a Vewlix cabinet. Be warned this is a big case, and heavy.
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons
Price: $299.99

Real Arcade Pro NX/N3
Descirption: Hori's second new design for the current generation. Comes with a recessed start button with a door to cover it so you don't accidentally activate it when you're doing that marvel mash. Comes in a variety of themes based upon games from Soul Calibur V to Gundam Extreme VS, and even a generic Hori version.
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons
Price: $149.99

Fighting EDGE
Descirption: A premium stick, with premium Hori parts. Sako (that guy with his own Buletta combo) was brought in to design a brand new lever and buttons. You can only get these new parts in this stick!
Parts Type: HORI original "Hayabusa" stick and "Kuro" buttons
Price: $199.99

Qanba

Qanba Q1
Description: A PS3 stick that has clamps to allow you to attach it to a table or ledge.
Parts Type: Qanba designed joystick and pushbuttons.
Price: $59.95

Qanba Q2
Description: A unique stick for the PS3 that allows for both left and right handed play with the flip of a switch. To accommodate both styles it uses a completely straight layout for the buttons.
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons.
Price: $79.99

Qanba Q3
Description: A 360 stick with a body made from MDF. A barebones case (no stick, buttons or pcb)can be found online for around $60
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons except for the Start, Select, and Guide buttons- which are knock off parts.
Price: $129.99

Qanba Q4RAF
Description: Qanbas flagship stick. Works with PS3 and 360 out of the box and comes stock with Sanwa parts. Complete with a felt bottom and cable compartment located on the left hand side of the stick. Comes standard in Black or White, with special editions ranging from Red, to Blue, to Pink
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons.
Price: $149.95-$179.95

eightarc Fusion
Description:Rebranded Q4RAF, with the Start button moved off of the face of the stick, and located next to Select.
Parts Type:Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons.
Price:$184.99

Other

Sega Virtua Stick High Grade
Description: Segas attempt at a PS3 stick, six Sanwa buttons, one JLF, simple.
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons
Price: ¥7329 (Original retail price, no longer in production)

Exar EXAPRIZE USB Stick
Description: A small arcade stick, stock Sanwa, six buttons. There is a Guilty Gear edition that comes with silent buttons
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons
Price: ¥5,800

etokki Omni Arcade Stick
Description: Laugh decided to have a go at an arcade stick. Steel body, choice between Korean and Japanese parts. PS3 and 360 support out of the box.
Parts Type: Sanwa JLF joystick and OBSF push buttons (Sanwa Edition), Myoungshin Fanta stick and Crown CWB203A push buttons (Korean Edition)
Price: $195.00

Pads

First Party Pads

Sony Dualshock 3/SIXAXIS
Description: First party Sony pad, very similar to Sonys previous models. This controller is banned at some tournaments because even after unplugging the controller, it can still activate on the previous system and interfere with a tournament match. An alternative worth looking into is a Playstation 2 Dualshock 2 and converter.
Price: $49.99-$54.99

Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller
Description: The official microsoft pad. Comes in wired and wireless flavors. Many players are not a fan of the d-pad, there is an edition that has transformable d-pad worth looking into.
Price: $39.99-$49.99

Third Party Pads

Madcatz FightPad (SD)/BrawlPad
Description: Madcatz six button pad, big dpad, two shoulder buttons. SD version has a smaller body. Great for dual mods.
Price: $19.99-$34.99

PDP Versus Controller
Description: Another six button controller, clicky face buttons, Neo Geo CD/Pocket Color style lever switched dpad.
Price: $14.99-$34.99

Sega Saturn (USB) Controller
Description: A pad that people have sworn by for ages. The official Sega USB pad works on PS3, and is incredibly hard to come by, and hard to find in a market flooded with cheap knockoff controllers. Another option would be to make a converter for the saturn version to work on ps3/360.
Price: Vary wildly. Be careful of cheap USB versions, they are almost always bootlegs.

Converters

The converters in this section are generally regarded as "lagless".

PS3

iNPiN PS2 to PS3 Converter
Description: THE ps2 to ps3 converter. has a home button, LEDs for play number, and is plug and play on PC.
Price: $23.00

360

Xtokki 360 converter
Description: a PS2 to Xbox 360 converter that does not require an extra 360 pad. Supports 360 headsets, has a guide button on the converter as well as indicators for player number. Plug and play on PC as long as the PC has the 360 drivers.
Price: $26.95

How to pick out an Arcade Stick

Introduction

It's really easy to rattle off a list of arcade sticks that you "should" buy. What's more helpful to everyone is to help educate you what quality parts to look for in an arcade stick, and help you decide on the perfect arcade stick for yourself. This section of the wiki will help to outline types of parts commonly found in arcade sticks, the differences between those parts, and how to select the stick for you. A good resource for supplementary information is Slagcoin.

Types of Parts

The most important part when picking out an arcade stick is what kind of parts the stick comes with, and what kind of parts the arcade stick can accept. There is no universal solution, and some cases are not tall enough to accept parts such as american style parts.

Japanese Parts (Sanwa and Seimitsu)

Japanese parts have become the golden standard for retail sticks over the last few years, specifically Sanwa. Sanwa buttons are known for being very light, taking very little force to activate, these buttons come in two sizes, 30mm (standard face buttons), and 24mm (standard start/select buttons). Each size comes in two styles, snap-in for metal panels (OBSF/C), and screw-in for thicker panels (OBSN). Snap-in buttons are standard for retail sticks. Sanwa also produces a line of silent snap-in 30mm buttons (OBSFS).

On the joystick side of things, Sanwa one base model, with a few options. The standard JLF, comes with a square gate, and connects to the pcb with a 5 pin harness. The stick also comes in a variation with no mounting plate (not recommended for most retail sticks), as well as their newest version that comes with Silent micro switches. If a square gate is not for you, there are options for octagonal gate, as well as a circular gate.

Across the table we have Seimitsu, the next largest manufacturer of arcade parts in Japan, Seimitsu is known for having a larger variety of colors buttons, as well as earlier options to put art inside the buttons plunger. They fit into the same holes, and come in both snap-in and screw-in styles, but the buttons require more force to activate.

Seimitsu also has more choice for joysticks as well, and produce the go-to stick for Shmup players. They include the LS-32 (Shmup players choice), LS-33, LS-40, LS-55, LS-56, and the new LS-58. (Note: 01 at the end of the stick model means it's the 5 pin harness version. in most cases this is the version you're looking for). While that looks like a lot of models, they fit into two families. The LS-32 and LS-40 are almost identical mechanically (LS-40 is "the" Neo Geo cabinet stick), and offer a very small dead zone. The second style include the LS-33, LS-55, LS-56, and LS-58. All offer a similar small dead zone, but have a faster return to neutral than the other seimitsu sticks. All of these are improvements on the old version, the LS-58 is the newest version, and most available.

American Parts (Happ and IL)

American parts are a bit harder to find in a retail package, but are still the preference for some players. Luckily the choice between two manufacturers is much easier. Both offer the same general product, much more resistance from the stick and the button than their Japanese counterpart, at the cost of being much larger parts, and are very similar parts, with a spin. Happ parts are what you used to find in almost every American arcade cabinet in the 90s. The problem is that in the 2000s Happ spun off their production to China, started using cheaper plastic, and replaced the Cherry micro switches with cheap Chinese "e-microswitches" to save a few dollars.

Luckily, you have an alternative. Ironically, the superior alternative is from Spain, IL (Industrias Lorenzo) offer exactly what Happ used to, quality joysticks and buttons just like you used to find in arcades all across America- built to last. You have the same choice for buttons, convex and concave. They only come in one size screw-in, and will not fit into the holes for Japanese style parts.

Korean Parts (Crown and Myoungshin Fanta)

The style of stick that many Tekken players swear by. Not much was known of these parts in America until recently, they use rubber instead of a spring to give the stick tension, and have no gate so it's feels like a circular gate. Because it uses rubber instead of a spring, the stick wears in in the directions that you hit the most often. Crown has recently released a version of their arcade stick that fits into standard Japanese panels (CWJ-303A) without any modification. Both Crown and Myoungshin sticks feel very similar, the main difference being that the Myoungshin activates the switches a bit faster, and the Crown sticks rubber is a bit softer.

Crown buttons are the go to buttons for korean sticks. They come in both screw-in and snap-in buttons, and fall somewhere between the Seimitsu and Sanwa buttons as far as force needed to activate. They will not fit into a standard Japanese panel, they are too small.

"Stock" Budget Arcade Stick Parts

Price Range

Narrowing down your choice

TV's

Asus VH236
Description: The "EVO Monitor". Low lag, 23" monitor. This specific model is out of production, there are newer models (need to be added to the wiki)
Price: $189.99

CRT Monitors

It's hard to go wrong with a CRT monitor. Always test the set before you buy it to make sure everything checks out, and use your better judgement when selecting a set.