Ultrastick 360 vs Mag Stik Plus : My review

[007craft]

Finally finished my arcade cab.  I ended up ordering 2 sets of sticks so I figured I would give a quick review.  Rather than state all the features of them, which you can find elsewhere, ill just give my opinion on the feel of the sticks.

 A little background about me:  I played arcade machines maybe a handful of times growing up.  My parents never gave me quarters as arcades where money pits.  Also there was none located around me.  So my experience with joysticks prior is almost nill.  The reason I built my machine was more of the challenge of restoring something, and I built it to showcase games I did grow up with (mainly NES and SNES games).  So here is my review.

Mag stick Plus

Well lets just say these were the first sticks I bought, and was unsatisfied with them.  The 4-8 way switching worked great, but even games like pac-man, I found to work fine with the 8 way mode.  All my classic games I played used 8 way, and I found I would NEVER switch the mode.  I would of kept these joysticks but there was a major flaw that I could not overlook.  The throw is WAY to short.  So short in fact, that it caused problems when they joystick sprung back to the center.  It would almost always hit the opposite direction.  This means if Im playing a scroller and walking right, and release the stick, rather than gently bring it back to center, it would flick the left button just before center.  This was completely unacceptable.  Playing games like street fighter and Contra led my character to constantly be turning back wards after walking forward.  My stick was not defective either.  I had 2 of them and they both did it.  I wouldn't want these sticks in my cab, even if they were FREE.  Very disappointing.  What was nice about these sticks was the quality.  They felt beefy and strong.  If your building a cab with only a small handful of classic games (frogeer, pacman, galaga, etc etc, then you can buy these sticks.  If you plan to do any sort of emulation of console gaming, avoid the Mag Stik Plus like the plague

Ultrastick 360
I have mixed feelings about this stick.  2 things that bothered me where the price and build quality.  The price is ridiculous.  at $59 a stick you might think its not too bad, but that's just a marketing ploy.  $59 gets you the BASIC configuration.  And with that, it feels like a cheap childrens stick.  You're 100% going to need the restrictor plates ($14), the harder spring ($3) and the longer handle ($12).  If you want the wiring harness, that's also another ($8) (and really, $8 for a set of wires?  Come on).  After all the upgrades, you will need to spend approx $100 a stick.  I gotta say I ordered 2 of these sticks without the longer handles, and now regret it.  I read peoples reviews saying that the longer handles are needed for wood panels and since mine was thin and metal, I figured I wouldn't need them.  WRONG.  The short handles are meant for kids.  even with NO PANEL, they are too short.  Unfortunately its going to be another $15 shipping if I want to buy 2 long handles, and I've spent enough money on controls, so I'm sticking to the short ones.  The spring for $3 is a bit of a ripoff.  There is BARELY a difference.  Deff not worth the $3 IMO.  Why cant this thing just come with the hard springs and let the light springs be optional? 

I tested this stick out in every configuration I could.  The 8 way restrictor is not good for my snes games.  It makes ducking in games like contra very difficult.  It also didn't feel nearly as good ad the mag-sticks.  No restricter makes the stick feel way to cheap.  Almost like its broken or fake.  The circular restricter is the one I like and prefer.  I do not own an octogon restricter to test, as that would be even more money (eek).  The build quality on the screw hardware is junk.  I ran into the same problems that others have mentioned.  One of my screws actually broke off and I had to take a dremel saw and cut the thing down.  It is now jammed in there permanently .  Luckily, the board fits on snugly and 3 posts were able to do the same job as 4, without any difference to the controls.  I like the software this stick has.  I found the best configuration of the software was analog or 8 way with a circular restricter.  I also created my own called Hard diagonals, which make it a little bit harder to hit the diags, helping a lot in both contra and street fighter.  For some reason there's an "easy" diagonals preset.  Not sure why anybody would want to use that?  I found leaving it in "Analog" mode was the simplest and works decent on ALL games, so the software is not really needed.  I play such a wide variety of games on my cab that I really needed a stick that could do it all, WITHOUT switching for every game.  I don't want to take the time to switch it, or even set up scripting to switch it.  I want to play a brand new game  and have it work right out of the box.  Analog allows this.

My overall opinion is I would Not recommend either of these sticks.  If the U360 CAME with the circular - 8 way and Octo plates, longer shaft handles and harder spring, all for $59, THEN I would recommend it.  And judging by the build quality of the sticks, that does not seem like a far-fetched idea at all.  I find the price gouging going on for the U360 to just be too much for me.  Thankfully im done with my controls now, but I'm sure with all the sticks out there, there has to be another 8 way or analog stick that is cheaper than the u360. Oh If you are buying this stick, don't waste 8 on a wiring harness.  The pins are easily accessible enough to solder your own wires on there in under 5 minutes.

Ultimarc Review:[/b]

I bought all my stuff from this site.  Some quick things

- Shipping is blazing fast.  My stuff both times came within 2 days
- Prices seem to be average to high.  I bought my marquee light and buttons here also.  The light is pretty good (other than some weird non electrical standard markings on the attached 12v converter) and the buttons all worked fine.
- I originally wanted light-up buttons, but they are too expensive.  I have not looked at prices elsewhere for these tho so it may be normal.

I wouldn't order from ultimarc again.  Mostly because of pricing reasons.  They seem to be a quick and reliable service, and if you've got money to burn, I would recommend them for their service/support and selection.  However, Trying to refurbish an arcade machine, I was trying to keep costs down.  One thing that could improve is there web store.   They have all the descriptions and products on a separate page/site for actually ordering them.  Why isn't it like every other site with an "add to cart" button right on the same page as the product description?  That said, the product descriptions are detailed, which I like.  But some of the lesser products need their own description pages too.

[Nephasth]

Well what sticks would you recommend?

[Ginsu Victim]

I played arcade machines maybe a handful of times growing up.  My parents never gave me quarters as arcades where money pits.  Also there was none located around me. So my experience with joysticks prior is almost nill.

Literally stopped reading at this point. I have no need to continue.

[kowal]

Finally finished my arcade cab.  I ended up ordering 2 sets of sticks so I figured I would give a quick review.  Rather than state all the features of them, which you can find elsewhere, ill just give my opinion on the feel of the sticks.

 A little background about me:  I played arcade machines maybe a handful of times growing up.  My parents never gave me quarters as arcades where money pits.  Also there was none located around me.  So my experience with joysticks prior is almost nill.  The reason I built my machine was more of the challenge of restoring something, and I built it to showcase games I did grow up with (mainly NES and SNES games).  So here is my review.

Mag stick Plus

Well lets just say these were the first sticks I bought, and was unsatisfied with them.  The 4-8 way switching worked great, but even games like pac-man, I found to work fine with the 8 way mode.  All my classic games I played used 8 way, and I found I would NEVER switch the mode.  I would of kept these joysticks but there was a major flaw that I could not overlook.  The throw is WAY to short.  So short in fact, that it caused problems when they joystick sprung back to the center.  It would almost always hit the opposite direction.  This means if Im playing a scroller and walking right, and release the stick, rather than gently bring it back to center, it would flick the left button just before center.  This was completely unacceptable.  Playing games like street fighter and Contra led my character to constantly be turning back wards after walking forward.  My stick was not defective either.  I had 2 of them and they both did it.  I wouldn't want these sticks in my cab, even if they were FREE.  Very disappointing.  What was nice about these sticks was the quality.  They felt beefy and strong.  If your building a cab with only a small handful of classic games (frogeer, pacman, galaga, etc etc, then you can buy these sticks.  If you plan to do any sort of emulation of console gaming, avoid the Mag Stik Plus like the plague

This is one of  the best shmups stick
never hit opposite direction because use magnet
only one thing sucks - switches XG
next time look what you buy and do not write dumb reviev
street fighter.... jessus

[BobA]

Agreed,  a review with little backing it up is next to useless.   I would aways order from Ultimarc as Andy has proven to have the best support.  To say you would not order again due to price and not give an alternative that you would order is not of any use.

[Mental]

You might want to try the new servo stik. They're similar to the U360 and their build quality has improved recently.

[yotsuya]

A little background about me:  I played arcade machines maybe a handful of times growing up.  My parents never gave me quarters as arcades where money pits.

You know what's an even bigger money pit? A MAME Cabinet. 

So my experience with joysticks prior is almost nill.  The reason I built my machine was more of the challenge of restoring something, and I built it to showcase games I did grow up with (mainly NES and SNES games). 

I see the problem. You are expecting gamepad performance out of joysticks. I pulled all the console stuff from my first MAME cabinet, and I will never add them to any future builds of mine unless I have gamepads attached.

[Dawgz Rule]

I have nothing but great things to say about Andy and Ultimarc.  I use the mag stik plus and love it....especially for shmups.   

[DaveMMR]

I see the problem. You are expecting gamepad performance out of joysticks. I pulled all the console stuff from my first MAME cabinet, and I will never add them to any future builds of mine unless I have gamepads attached.

You beat me to this. I was going to add that spending the money on an Ultrastick for NES and SNES games is overkill. It's a fine joystick, I think, but are suited for those quirky arcade sticks that all have to be so different all the time. Next time, just glue an NES Advantage* to your CP and call it day.

(*Warning: Don't actually glue an Advantage to anything.)

[007craft]

You elitists need to relax.  I'm an average person giving a real review.  People who come to my house and play are even more average than me and my friend who helped me build it felt the exact same way about the sticks, and was happy when I changed them out.

Expecting console controls to work perfectly?  Hardly, but I want them to work decently, and they DO with the U360 once I spent all the money on the extras.  No I don't have "alternatives", but that doesnt mean I cant review what I have.  Maybe there is nothing better?  But I doubt that, and it would be a shame if that were the case.

What alternative would I use to ultimarc? I don't know.  I have no plans to order anything else.  But there are other sites out there.  I would try one of the other sites and give my review of it too.  I liked the ipac I got from ultimarc.  I would order another one of those, but sorry If I'm a critical person when it comes to my finances.  Your community love for Andy and his support is great and all, but the man runs a business, and as a customer,  I have the right to my opinion about my experience with that business.

So get off your high horses.  Me and my friends happen to like playing street fighter.  Thanks.

Good thing MAME cabinet building is not a sport, you fellows sure like to form a niche club here and denounce newcomers.  I had alot of fun building my cab, and it turned out great.  While I wouldn't build another for myself, I would deff help a friend if they wanted to build one.  I honestly don't play many games at all these days (former gamer mostly).  I only play about 1-3 hours a month.  I built this thing because I liked the idea of restoring something and I like projects.  I was looking for the best all around controls as i'm running hyperspin with over 30 Consoels + Mame.  I even added pinball buttons to the sides of my machine.  I also have 2 xbox controlers attached for use on the more complex systems, like N64 and higher.  Future plans are to possibly add a light guns (When the dust has settled and spending the money wont be such a hit)

[DaveMMR]

Yes, you are correct. You are 100% entitled to your opinion. But other people can address your complaints. Especially when you preface everything by basically admitting that your opinion may not be qualified. (i.e.: "So my experience with joysticks prior is almost nill"... "mainly NES and SNES stuff"... and later "I honestly don't play many games at all these days".) Plus it doesn't help that it was only the fourth post you ever made here...

Regarding the price: Yes the Ultrastick 360's are a little pricy. But you also need to understand that this is a niche market. I hope I'm wrong but I'm sure Andy's not moving a million of these. He has to make back money spent on R&D, parts, fabrication, software, testing and whatnot. And these are high quality products he's putting out, not some cheap-o sticks just thrown together.

And keep in mind, not everyone has a need for the springs or the restrictors. I'm guessing that not including these things keep the price down instead of charging everyone for things they may not need.

Finally, for the most part, I do not think any of the follow-up comments were at all mean-spirited, immature or even "elitist". Yeah maybe a couple of light jokes but not at your expense. If you're going to post strong opinions, your skin needs to be a little thicker to back it up.

Just my two copper coins there.

[Dawgz Rule]

007, I would hardly call anyone here an elitist.

Your review was pretty strong and some people felt compelled to give an opinion in return. 

I have no doubt that some sticks are better for one type of game or the other but the last time I had a swarm of people over, I didn't hear the masses complaining about the short throw of the sticks and how they felt cheap.  In fact, most were amazed at how "authentic" everything looked and felt.

I guess it really depends on the target audience and the games you have in mind.

[Nephasth]

I liked the ipac I got from ultimarc.  I would order another one of those, but sorry If I'm a critical person when it comes to my finances. 

Why buy an ipac, when the U360s you ordered support 8 buttons each on their own? That's another thing you overlooked when you considered their price, they have an encoder built into them, they're not just joysticks.

[shponglefan]

Other people have already adddressed some of the other stuff I was going to post in response (console gaming w/ joysticks, limited experience, etc). 

But on the subject of U360's, one thing I don't think was mentioned is the fact they don't require a seperate interface, which is why the base price is more.  So if you factor in interface costs with most other sticks, the price is going to be more comparable to the U360.

One more thing re: shaft length.  The stock shaft length on the U360 is comparable to other sticks; it's the same length as the Sanwa JLF's, which in turn are longer than the Seimitsu LS-32.  And with a bat top, it also reaches the same height as my HAPP Super's.  So I don't see the regular shaft length of a U360 as a valid complaint.

[chopperthedog]

Take the word review out of the title. This is a blog like uneducated pissed off rant of products you don't know anything about. For being a "reviewer" you got pretty defensive and arrogant fast. "If you plan to do any sort of emulation of console gaming, avoid the Mag Stik Plus like the plague" I laughed out loud after reading that line. I interpret that comment to be the same as "If you plan to do any off road driving, avoid the Honda Civic like the plague". Stick to playing games and keep away from the keyboard.


good day.

[kowal]

wastage off time.... for any explanation. this guy is child or yokel.
please deleted this subject

[Gray_Area]

Woww. Some serious anti-semitism.....I mean....sentiment here. I don't know what to say except that the U360s are pretty tuff. It took me months or more of slamming the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of it before I busted a restrictor, and years before I busted the handle threads off the shaft. So maybe we'll call you Lurch or something. The rest is fine, but severly personal and not well-rounded.

[007craft]

I bought an ipac because I didnt originally have the u360s.  Also, I needed it anyway because my cab has more than 16 buttons. 

I compared the shaft length to the mag stick, which had a better shaft length.

I did read plenty of reviews before I bought my parts.  The problem was I had tons of negative and positive reviews for the mag-sticks.  I was banking on the positive reviews and it turned out that all the stuff I read about in the negatives, was way to noticeable for me.  Like I said, my friend was equally annoyed by those sticks.  And I'm happy with the U360s, just not the price I paid for them.

[Warborg]

I bought an ipac because I didnt originally have the u360s.  Also, I needed it anyway because my cab has more than 16 buttons. 

I compared the shaft length to the mag stick, which had a better shaft length.

I did read plenty of reviews before I bought my parts.  The problem was I had tons of negative and positive reviews for the mag-sticks.  I was banking on the positive reviews and it turned out that all the stuff I read about in the negatives, was way to noticeable for me.  Like I said, my friend was equally annoyed by those sticks.  And I'm happy with the U360s, just not the price I paid for them.

I certainly hope that you put on your asbestos underwear prior to your initial post...  Also, hoping for anyone to listen to you here and calling the other users of these boards "elitists" for disagreeing with you is a pretty quick way to assure that your posts are completely disregarded as nothing but a rant.  Add that your adding a qualifier right off the bat about not having any real experience with the original hardware that inspired what you are reviewing vs many of the people here (such as myself) that grew up in the arcades doesn't help, especially considering this IS a niche market catering to those classic gamers that grew up around this stuff to begin with.

And because this IS a niche market is relevant to the pricing that you are complaining about.  I'm not sure you had realistic expectations trying to dabble in this hobby and didn't sufficiently research what to expect coming into it.  The people that sell this custom hardware, such as Ultimarc and GroovyGameGear (both which sell excellent products, are very responsive to their customers, and provide excellent support) are selling hardware that they have done the R&D on themselves, and are manufacturing themselves.  These do not come off an assembly line and are sold on Target shelves everywhere, these are manufactured and sold in limited numbers which is naturally going to spell a higher end-user cost.  When I decided to build my first cabinet I was on a serious budget and kept the costs down by performing a bunch of the stuff as DIY (such as hacking gamepads and a keyboard for interfaces, coming up with a cheap way to make my own spinner hacking a mouse and using cheap Home Depot parts along with a roller blade wheel), but I did sufficient reading to at least know what I was getting into before I started.

So I appreciate your opinion, you have every right to your own and to be able to express it, that much is certain.  However, you yourself qualified your whole review by saying you had very little experience in the subject matter, and were also attempting to use the controls you bought for games that weren't originally written to use those controls so it makes your view on them questionable, and then to get all arrogant and judgy when called out on that makes you seem new to the internet.  Don't put a rant out there and be surprised to be called out on it.

[Xiaou2]

Nobody likes hearing an Opinion that does not go along with how they feel about something.

 It does not matter if you have more experience, or none at all.

 Nobody likes a critic... unless that critic is a guy who always reviews things he likes, and or is super tip toe about
putting out any kind of slant at all.   Like those guys who just show multiple product, but dont put out any personal
feelings about it. (just merely data specs ,pics, etc)

 Dont take anything personal.  You cant win over the entire choir, especially the fanboyist's.

 It doesnt always matter if you have previous experience or not, in regards to poor control.  If something isnt working well... its not working well.  Its plain and simple.  You dont need to test 100 sticks to know it.

 And of course, he doesnt have any other recommendations.  Does that matter?  If I say I did not enjoy a movie, do I have to recommend something else instead?  Nope.

 He added to the already existing complaints about the sticks.  Plain and simple.   Its up to others to decide if this is helpful to their future purchases, or not.

 I will also say, that paying over $100 for a stick is very expensive, and for many, wouldnt be worth it if the controls were not absolutely perfect for type of use its said to be able to handle.