Joystick & Pushbutton Approval

[LiquidFlame]

Hello, I'm in the process of planning my cocktail arcade table, and right now I'm looking at joysticks and pushbuttons.  For my table, I plan on having 4-way joysticks for the players sitting across from each other and then for the third control panel on the side, I plan on having two 8-way joysticks.

After doing a bunch of reading, I think I've decided on getting for the 4-way joysticks the Mrs. Pac Man Stick for $20.95 from http://www.tornadoterrys.com/surplus.htm and then getting for the 8-way joysticks, the Happ Super Joystick from the same place.  For the pushbuttons I was planning on getting the Happ Competition Convex pushbuttons also from the same place.  From what I have read, these seem to be the favorites among a lot of people.

What do you guys think of my decision and do you have any advice or other thoughts?  Thanks in advanced.

[severdhed]

i have not used the mrs pacman stick, so i have no idea how they feel. happ supers are OK, but most people seem to prefer Happ competitions over the supers..  as for pushbuttons, i like the concave happ buttons better than the convex ones, probably just because all of the real cabinets i have ever played had concave buttons in them.

personally, i'd go with a Sanwa JLW-TM-8 for all sticks.  (they have a restrictor plate that can be rotated to either 8way or 4way mode) they feel really good as 8way sticks,(they work very well for qbert as well in 8way mode) and are amazing in 4way mode.  they have a lighter more precise feel to them than the happ sticks. 

[Jack Burton]

I am in agreement with Severrdhed.  Happ comps just wouldn't look right to me on a cocktail.

Sanwa JLF and Seimitsu LS-32 are also candidates.

[LiquidFlame]

I'm pretty set on getting the Mrs. Pac Man Stick for my 4-ways from tornado terrys, but i'll have to take a look at the Happ Competitions and the Sanwa JLW-TM-8.  I will only be using the 8-way joysticks for fighting games, and as of now, i have no desire for my 8-ways to be able to switch to 4-ways unless there are some games that play horizontal that require 4-way that I am not aware of or if there is some information that I am missing. How well are the Competitions and JLW-TM-8 joysticks for fighting games.  The main reason I was going to go with the Super was on the main website most of the info pointed towards the Super being the favoriate, but there wasn't any mention of the Competitions, any reasonf for this?

[Jack Burton]

If you are going to be playing fighting games then I highly recommend the Sanwa JLF joystick. 

The JLW is a good stick too, but it is an older model and it's not used much by any serious fighting gamers.

If you go over onto shoryuken.com you will see that 99% of the players who use sticks there use the JLF.

Don't use the Super.  It's an older joystick, and while decent is eclipsed by the competition for fighting games. 

To me it's either the JLF or the competition.  With the JLF winning by a mile. 

[LiquidFlame]

After looking at some videos and reviews, I've decided to definitely choose the competition over the super.  Now I have to read more about the JLF. Which model of the JLF are you talking about?

[Jack Burton]

There's only one version of the JLF.  The only differences you will see online are ones that come with different mounting plates or wiring harnesses.

For your cab you will probably want this one:

http://www.lizardlick.com/Sanwa-JLF-TP-8T-Joystick_p_259.html

It comes with the harness and a flat mounting plate.

A little bit of information about the JLF

-It is the same joystick to be found on official Street Fighter IV cabinets

-It is the same joystick to be found on official Virtua Fighter and Tekken cabinets in Japan and is becoming very popular in the US.

-It is the same joystick to be found in the Madcatz Tournament Edition joysticks.

-It is generally considered to be the #1 competition level joystick for all fighting games.

-It can be switched to 4-way mode by removing the restrictor plate and twisting it into a diamond shape.  This takes about 1 minute if you have access to the interior of the cab.   

The alternative to the JLF is the Seimitsu LS-32.  It is known to be a little tighter and have a shorter throw.  It might also be worth looking into if you want a more retro feel while preserving a great 8-way stick. 

I guarantee that you will be extremely pleased with either stick. 

[LiquidFlame]

I'm pretty torn on which joystick to get because I already have the Marvel vs Capcom 2 Tournament Stick for my 360 which I'm pretty sure uses the JLF stick, and I'm not a huge fan of it, mainly because it feels loose to me, I don't know if I'm just used to using a bat style one or if it's just my lack of using good equipment.  I also want to kind of keep the build cheep and then upgrade later if I want, that's why I'm thinking of getting the Happ Competitions instead.  Thanks for the info thought, I really appreciate it.

[Encryptor]

The U360 is made from a JLW stick.

Encryptor

[DeLuSioNal29]

I own 2 of TT's Ms. Pac joystick replica.  They are great.  Perfect for a 4-way vertical setup on a cocktail.

I have a small review on my youtube account.  Sift through the videos and you'll find it:  www.youtube.com/delusional2971

And you'll also see one installed on my green invader cabinet somewhere in there too.

For future builds:  I'm almost done with my next vertical build and I'll probably go with JLW's.  I want to be able to switch, so that I can play the 4-way classics, but also 8-way for shoot-em-ups.  Not sure if you want to be able to play more modern games on your vertical setup or not.  Just thought I'd throw it out there.

DeLuSioNaL29

[LiquidFlame]

Yea I saw your video DeLuSioNal29, and it was the main reason why I decided on getting the Ms. Pac joysticks from TT.  So it seems like you guys think I should definitely get the JLF's, I guess I could always get the bat top adapter and bat handle.