"Perfect 360° JOYSTICK" vs the "HAPP™ 49-way Joystick"

[CoryBee]

Trying to get a comparison on these two joysticks. The price is vastly different, but is the quality vastly different as well?

Happ - http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=189



Perfect 360

http://na.suzohapp.com/all_catalogs/joysticks/50-0346-00

[paigeoliver]

5 available here.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/360-ELECTRONIC-JOYSTICK-4-OR-8-WAY-OPERATION-/360541273246?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53f1ef3c9e

[CoryBee]

Edited the thread as to not create a new one. See above.

[nick3092]

I can't speak to a comparison of them both, as I only have the P360's, and not the 49-way.  But to your comment about costs - keep in mind that a 49-way is a pseudo analog stick, and requires a special interface that will add to the cost of the stick.  Plus, I think Randy's price is rather dated on the 49-way, as I don't believe he has had them in stock for a while, and isn't going to be carrying them going forward.  A more current price can be found on divemaster127's site.  He is asking $52 for the Happ 49-way right now.  Add the cost of an interface, and you are pretty much right in line the cost of the P360.  The P360 can hook up to any standard joystick interface (ipac, gpwiz40, etc...).  You just have to feed it +5v.

[paigeoliver]

The 49-way sticks are really a trade off stick. They can handle most games that have analog controls fairly well, as well as play most of your 8-way titles too, however they are terrible for 8-way titles that need precision diagonals, such as most fighting games.

[BadMouth]

I believe Randy's 49-way interface has been out of stock for a long time and am unaware of any other options to interface with a PC.
I imagine it could be done with an arduino if you are able to write the code yourself.

IIRC, the 49 way basically has a row of 7 optical switches for each axis, forming 49 possible locations. 
Determine which horizontal and vertical switch is tripped, then relay that to the PC as an analog joystick position.

....or just go big and get Happ analog joysticks to begin with. $$$  Get the 100k version if you are crazy enough to get them.
I remember seeing software similar to what comes with the Ultimarc U360's that would work with any analog stick.
It was in the software forum, but I can't remember the name.  That would make it behave as you would like for 4 or 8 way operation.

[nick3092]

I believe Randy's 49-way interface has been out of stock for a long time and am unaware of any other options to interface with a PC.

It's actually back in stock now.  And on the page CoryBee linked to on his site, he mentions that he is working on a 49-way joystick of his own.  It's not clear but it sounds like he's using the Happ 49 as a "base" and swapping out certain parts to improve it.

[PL1]

The 49-ways are the equivalent of a 7x7 grid.

For the horizontal there are 3 lefts, 3 rights, and centered.

Vertical works the same way with 3 ups, 3 downs, and centered.

An easy-to-follow detailed explaination of 49-way stick operation by Urebelscum is here.

AFAIK MAME only handles analog stick, trackball(?), or 8-way inputs for 49-way games -- not true 49-way inputs.

Therefore, any 49-way encoder ends up as a "stepped" analog stick (works great for 49-way games, but not so well for analog stick games) or a 2/4/diagonal (Q-Bert)/8-way stick, depending on the encoder firmware settings.


Scott

[paigeoliver]

I seem to remember my old 49-way equipped cabinet as doing really well with Nintendo 64 games, or at least with Mario 64 which was the only one I played.

[Gray_Area]

The 49-way sticks are really a trade off stick. They can handle most games that have analog controls fairly well, as well as play most of your 8-way titles too, however they are terrible for 8-way titles that need precision diagonals, such as most fighting games.

HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH - you mean like Comps???  Where if you aren't exactly on it's ---smurfing--- tit any direction, you're in another direction??


Randy recently offered modified Happ 49-ways in a thread to those who might be interested. The GP-Wiz can be programmed on the fly, where it can switch to a sort of mapping relative to the game. That is, I think the stick isn't programmable, so the interface reads only the 'cells' that it's supposed to given a mapping. I was seriously considering a couple, but haven't decided to ---fudgesicle--- with my CP. A bit of a chore.

DO NOT pay more than $35 for a P360. ---smurfin--- highway robbery, otherwise.

[paigeoliver]

I hate comps so much it isn't funny. Only stick I hate more are the ones in my candy cabinet, which are even worse than comps about accidentally triggering diagonals by going outside of the seemingly 2 degree range it allots for primary directions.

The 49-way sticks are really a trade off stick. They can handle most games that have analog controls fairly well, as well as play most of your 8-way titles too, however they are terrible for 8-way titles that need precision diagonals, such as most fighting games.

HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH - you mean like Comps???  Where if you aren't exactly on it's ---smurfing--- tit any direction, you're in another direction??


Randy recently offered modified Happ 49-ways in a thread to those who might be interested. The GP-Wiz can be programmed on the fly, where it can switch to a sort of mapping relative to the game. That is, I think the stick isn't programmable, so the interface reads only the 'cells' that it's supposed to given a mapping. I was seriously considering a couple, but haven't decided to ---fudgesicle--- with my CP. A bit of a chore.

DO NOT pay more than $35 for a P360. ---smurfin--- highway robbery, otherwise.

[RandyT]

The thing to consider with a 49-way VS other sticks is that they feel much closer to the original WICO leaf sticks when in use, due to the rubber grommet centering method.  This unfortunately doesn't apply to the stock sticks being shipped from HAPP, as the grommet is different than the original Midway part.  Apparently, the design they produced was based on the specific needs of a large customer with different requirements than ours, and it was set in stone.  So the grommets need to be replaced, and that's one of things we did.  The other changed were a beefy stainless shaft with the ability to accept a special version of the Hand Candy balltops, and a custom actuator part.

These changes, coupled with the range of operation modes, and the fact that they work extremely well with a large variety of games, except where true analog function is absolutely required (not that many), make them an excellent "all around" solution.  For some, just the ability to play Sinistar in a way which is as close as possible to the original machine, makes them worth the price of admission.

I use them on my primary machine, and I don't think that I could be convinced to use any other stick after having been spoiled by them.