720 Degrees Stick

[reality_storm]

I've seen it discussed before, but I'm not sure anyone ever actually did it until now, but had a 720 stick made from an Ultra-stick 360.  I got the longer shaft, ball-top option and had a stick cabinet made by a local builder (tefightstands--awesome!!!).  I removed the centering spring and had some art commissioned at the Baltimore comicon (Air Gears art) and had tefightstands plaster old skate boarding logos all over it.  Retro, but not 80s retro.  More like a mid-nineties look.



Bottom



Paint started



More paint



Completed no art



Top and bottom art design



Finished product



Finally, me taking my brand new pride and joy for a test drive.  Now, I'm terrible at 720, I just love the game (was a broke 11 year old when the game first came out) and my high score is some where around 150k on beginner mode.  But man do I love this game.  The ultra-stick is perfect!

[mytymaus007]

Looks great love the green and the artwork are you using it as a stand alone control panel or puttin it on a cab. Does the 360 work just like the original 720 stick!!

[yotsuya]

I hope you don't see this as a knock (because it isn't), but why is it so wide? I like it and all, but it seems wider than it needs to be.

I'm a 720 fan, so I love the artwork.

[reality_storm]

I hope you don't see this as a knock (because it isn't), but why is it so wide? I like it and all, but it seems wider than it needs to be.

I'm a 720 fan, so I love the artwork.

Not insulted at all.  First reason was that I knew how much I would torque the crap out of the stick while pulling 360s and 720s, so I wanted the extra wide base and heavier cab.  Second reason also answers mytymaus's question...I'll let the pics speak for themselves:





I wanted the 720 stick to stretch all the way across the fight stand that I had tefightstands make for me.  Now I have a modular setup depending on what I want to play.

The ultra-stik 360 is a magnetic fully analog joystick.  The spinning action is a bit too free...not as much friction, or maybe I just had crappy 720 arcade cabinets near me.  However it feels functionally perfect.  I had that fight stand made to match my playstation 3 since most of my fighting games are played on my PS3. But if I had had this stick made first I would have had the fight stand painted to match.

[yotsuya]

I used to dump a dollar's worth of quarters at a time into 720 all the time as a kid, so I share the love.



BTW, the original 720 controller had a bike chain-looking setup to provide that friction you're missing.

[reality_storm]

I actually like it better without the extra friction...I kinda feel this is what Atari would have done if they had had magnetic analog joysticks back then.  A fringe benefit of the massive girth of the stick is that it gave me an excuse to plaster more skateboard art onto the stick cabinet.  I'm not getting much done around the house lately, but you know what? I don't really care!  Skate or die baby, skate or die!

[yotsuya]

Look out for those ---Bad words, bad words, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when saint censors you?--- bees!!! 

[sharpfork]

If you can't tell by my avatar, I am super stoked to see this.

How is the gameplay?

I'm lucky enough to live somewhat close to Denver's 1up so I get to play 720 whenever I want.  My main advice is to gear up as much as you can.  Get two items (pads +shoes or whatever) every time you are skating around town if possible.  Memorize the slalom as well as you can, figure out where you can jump over the water on the downhill, and try to get up on the roof on the half-pie for fun.  I lik the game so much, before 1up I figured out how to play it using a trackball turing the x axis about 2 inches to do a 720.

[Gray_Area]

I actually like it better without the extra friction...I kinda feel this is what Atari would have done if they had had magnetic analog joysticks back then.

They were called Hall effect joysticks. They could've used 49-ways, too. For whatever reasons, they came up with a geared, canted dealie.

[reality_storm]

I've got a 49 way, tried making it work years ago, never got the right feeling out of it.  This one feels right, a bit too free, but otherwise perfect.

[Lilwolf]

bgw, I have a 720 controller.

The trick for the controller is the circle dust protector looking thing with an offset hole in it.  Then a channel it can move in easily around, but can't pop out.  This makes it guide you to turn it in the way you would think you would want, but can't make it go really out of the way.   That and the chain gives it a bit of resistance.

Anyway, it moves around, with a little bit of effort, and then doesn't keep going if you lift your hands much.  It definately has a different feel then most.

Good luck on the joystick.  I would love to see a good aftermarket joystick that works well with it.