I need some Help about to choice an good Arcade Stick

R

RainerV

n00b
Joined
Apr 20, 2022
Messages
50
Greetings, I'm new of this forum. I'm thinking to buy an Arcade Stick because i ever wanted to get close about the experience of the pure Arcade and more close about fighting games.
I'm totally inexperienced about it and i wanted some advice about it. My budget is 200 euros maximum, and i'll only use it for PC (mainly Tekken and others Fighting games).
Looking around i saw various brands for it , including Hori; Qanba; Nacon daija etc..., but the price varies as well as availability like Nacon Daija it's in sales for 150, while the others are like 200 and more.

At the end i want to know what it's more worth to get for to have an solid and of quality Arcade Stick.
 
Something with Sanwa switches and levers will probably give you the best experience. That includes sticks like the Nacon Daija and Qanba Dragon, which would fit into your budget. If you can find the Hori Real Arcade Pro N in your country, that would be another good choice. I think that is the stick that LordBBH uses. In my opinion the spacing and layout of the buttons on the Pro N is better than the Pro 4.
 
Not necessarily my domain, but I know a little about different sticks. Are you looking for one based on American, Japanese, or Korean arcade sticks? Most fighting game fans prefer Japanese or Korean sticks (they're a little more nimble), but some folks like the larger US sticks, too. The difference is in the top of the stick (ball or "bat") and the type of gate.
 
I've been considering getting a arcade stick (I've been very nostalgic with my gaming lately). I'm leaning more towards a Mayflash F500 due to their compatibility and ease of modding (though, to be fair, most of these arcade sticks seem to be made with self repair/modding in mind.)
 
SeymourGore said:
I've been considering getting a arcade stick (I've been very nostalgic with my gaming lately). I'm leaning more towards a Mayflash F500 due to their compatibility and ease of modding (though, to be fair, most of these arcade sticks seem to be made with self repair/modding in mind.)
Click to expand...
The Mayflash is also on the more affordable side, but since OP mentioned Euros I didn't point to it. It seems that the Mayflash is hard to get in Europe. Amazon carries it, but shipping is long and expensive, so I assume that each one is individually imported. It uses a similar button layout as the Hori RAP 4 that I'm not a fan of.
 
I've got the qanba dragon. It's too large to be honest. I reach for my orginal madcatz TE more often. If it was me I'd buy a smaller qanba that had sanwa buttons and stick.
 
Armenius said:
The Mayflash is also on the more affordable side, but since OP mentioned Euros I didn't point to it. It seems that the Mayflash is hard to get in Europe. Amazon carries it, but shipping is long and expensive, so I assume that each one is individually imported. It uses a similar button layout as the Hori RAP 4 that I'm not a fan of.
Click to expand...
the mayflash f500 it's available with amazon and free shipping for 100 , there's also the elite version with 144 euros. However i heard around in internet that there's of better in terms of quality like Hori or Razer.
 
RainerV said:
the mayflash f500 it's available with amazon and free shipping for 100 , there's also the elite version with 144 euros. However i heard around in internet that there's of better in terms of quality like Hori or Razer.
Click to expand...
I have not used any Mayflash peripherals, so I can't speak to the quality of those products. The only product of theirs that I've used was a PlayStation 2 to USB adapter that worked great and lasted for years. Hori has always been solid for me as far as arcade sticks go.
 
At the end i have choice Nacon Daija, maybe i'll buy hayubusa buttons and korean stick for to can try the different settings.
 
Last edited:
Sanwa and Hori are good, but don't forget about Happ/Suzo. Definitely do a bit of homework. Decide whether you like convex or concave buttons, ball or elongated stick, etc. too. Also, if you play any retro stuff, there are some great spinners and trackballs out there too. For those, check out this site: https://groovygamegear.com/webstore

X-Arcade setups are ok if you want something solid and pre-built, but they're big and bulky, so not exactly a sit on your lap and play sort of thing.

I build my own typically, that are adjustable tilt on legs, so you sit AT them rather than hold them or set them on something. Here's one I've been working on for a bit, (had other projects take precedence, so I haven't finished it yet). (built in anodized, milled, 6mm aluminum, and will be set into a walnut enclosure, with mid-century-modern legs (has to match the living room or my wife won't like it :D )) Those spinners are amazing. You can take the knobs off, and put steering wheels on. I'm planning a Spy Hunter setup for them, (and maybe SuperSrint etc.) I added the energy storage weights, so they feel really nice.

I may change those socket-cap screws on the joysticks to button cap. Since I haven't played on this yet, I'm not sure if those will get annoying or not. I just liked the way they looked :D

I've done curved layout buttons before, but I prefer the 45 degree rows. Reason being, if you want to play some two player Smash TV or Total Carnage or something, you can use the button "+" as the second directional stick.

BTW: this aluminum layout is just a panel drawing that you can send in to Front Panel Express to have made. Their CAD software is free to download on their site. If anyone wants a copy of my drawing, I can post it here. Then you can re-arrange where things are, change the joystick mounting hole locations if you choose other sticks, etc.

JM8.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Happ sucks, fuck them and fuck them hard into the ground.

Sanwa is the legit best for fighters on both buttons and sticks. Hori moved from Sanwa parts into their own Hayabusa parts which are "as good" but there is a good bit of debate over it. That all said their is Seimitsu which has really stiff sticks and buttons and most beat em up and shoot em up players swear bt those.
Domingo said:
Not necessarily my domain, but I know a little about different sticks. Are you looking for one based on American, Japanese, or Korean arcade sticks? Most fighting game fans prefer Japanese or Korean sticks (they're a little more nimble), but some folks like the larger US sticks, too. The difference is in the top of the stick (ball or "bat") and the type of gate.
Click to expand...

You can install a different gate or swap the top from a ball to a bat on any stick out there that isn't American crap. They sell custom ones in all different colors and materials. Koreans use different springs mostly, but you can also swap the springs so I dunno how much truth there is in their being more nimble Qanba is knock off Sanwa. The classic comparison is Sanwa vs Seimetsu. Sanwa has deep angles in it's stock gate to dig into a large empty space you can fumble in and sof springs, Seimetsu has hard springs and is not as forgiving ditto with the button difference. Do you want several mm of play room and soft springs or no play room and hard springs, I can tell you the game you are playing by your answer.
TheToE! said:
I've got the qanba dragon. It's too large to be honest. I reach for my orginal madcatz TE more often. If it was me I'd buy a smaller qanba that had sanwa buttons and stick.
Click to expand...

You can get a far cheaper qanba and smaller then the dragon but you get qanba parts, but then you can rip it open and swap it out with sanwa and it's still cheaper than the dragon. You should not view an arcade stick as a one and done. It's a swappable item and you're going to mod it to hell and back, repeatedly, often per game on the fly!

Back to happ, the only good stick they ever made was the perfect 360 optical which shipped on the good MVC2 cabs. While a damn good stick, they broke down like crazy, and are stupid to maintain. Everything else they made blows. https://www.retroblast.com/reviews/joysticks/happsp360.html I'll also note the happ p360 got crushed by Sanwa and Seimetsu in home built sticks and it wasn't just because they break down fast.
RainerV said:
At the end i have choice Nacon Daija, maybe i'll buy hayubusa buttons and korean stick for to can try the different settings.
Click to expand...

There is nothing stopping you from doing this and there is nothing wrong with it. Just keep in mind that Hayubusa items are Hori's take on Sanwa and most people feel is worse, other than the textured grip on the buttons, but you can swap out button caps at will so that's not a selling point. They set out to be better but it's sort of "meh" in the end. All Hori sticks used to be Sanwa or Seimetsu, they did the Hayabusa for profit and didn't improve on jack shit. The major shift changer is Seimetsu, again. In the US everything used Happ nonsense and the only variation was springs and the p360 for MVC2. In all the rest of the world (for the most part) Sanwa was for fighters (the JLF stick is the classic and what most top end arcade sticks are going to ship with) and Seimetsu for shooters (these are more rare and will cost you more, the Hori HRAP, real arcade pro, came in SA Sanwa and SE Seimetsu for years, they killed this and just went Hayabusa so know that before you go down that road). The parts are one for one slot ins due to them not being idiots, but a normal stick that takes Happ parts cannot take a Happ p360 because again, Happ sucks shot themselves in the feet on arcade parts and never made a damn good one.

Put a bat top on a Sanwa here https://arcadeshock.com/collections/balltops
Change your push button tops here https://arcadeshock.com/collections/pushbuttons
Get gates here https://arcadeshock.com/search?q=gates

What you really want to do, and trust me you will end up doing it eventually if you are asking about arcade sticks, is building your own. And using a PCB that works on all consoles and your PC and hot swapping stuff per game. It's stupid expensive up front but in the end saves a crazy amount of cash and you have control over it. If you get crazy here you can get an all aluminum case and have custom art printed for it as well. You can also swap out the face plates (where sticks and buttons go) for classic (this is the Japanese layout), Mortal Kombat, Tekken, SNK, or other layouts. While the initial outlay in cost and effort is pretty massive it's good for the long term. People sell cases in plastics, metal, or wood, with swappable plates but this is 300 off the bat. IMHO this is the way to go.
 
Well, I don’t agree with all of that, but whatever. I think Sanwa is great, but I’ve had great Happ too.
 
Sorry about that im "a bit" late but i had alot of stuff around. At end i builded my own Arcade Stick.

I Bought One of the last Kuma Bambi Fight Stick around, With Brook Universal Fight board and Crown Sdb 202 Buttons.
 
RainerV said:
Sorry about that im "a bit" late but i had alot of stuff around. At end i builded my own Arcade Stick.

I Bought One of the last Kuma Bambi Fight Stick around, With Brook Universal Fight board and Crown Sdb 202 Buttons.
Click to expand...
You got some pics?
 
I have the Madcatz SFIV tournament joystick. It is like having a chunk of arcade cabinet. So good. Real sanwa buttons, ect.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top