U360 Octagon Restrictor

[EddieArcadian]

Has anyone used the U360 Octagon restrictor plate?  How does it feel?  I currently have the long handle, hard spring, and round restrictor on my U360's - I love the current throw and stiffness, I just want to be able to hit corners/diagonals a little better, but I still want to be able to "roll" the stick for fighting games (hence I don't want a 4/8 way restrictor). 

Your experience? Thoughts? Is there a shorter throw vs a round restrictor?

Also, I don't see them on Ultimarc's site - are they discontinued or sold via another vendor?

I did find these helpful posts in the archive, but wanted to see if y'all had additional thoughts.  Thanks!
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=90389.0
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=86610.0

[lamprey]

Not sure about the availability of them, but I have one in my mini build and like it a lot. I didn't/don't have a round to compare against, but given your goals I'd say go for it if you can get one.

[jimmer]

Have you tried the 'easy diagonals' map?

[8BitMonk]

I have two octagonal restrictors and really like them. I compared the round, 4 and 8-way and liked the octagonal best. It's easiy to round the corners for fighters but nice to still be able to feel the diagonals a bit. Not as mushy as the circular, I have the hard spring as well.

I'm sure the they're still available, probably just email Andy and ask.

[EddieArcadian]

I emailed Andy, haven't heard back.

Meanwhile, it appears I have several options if Andy is out of stock or doesn't supply anymore (for those who are curious):

The always lurking, ever-present, king-of-BYOAC-buy-sell-trade, Divemaster127, via ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/UltraStik-U360-Restrictor-Plate-Kit-A-MUST-FOR-MAME-/390241133910?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5adc2f2556

Divemaster's website (where you can save on shipping and save the him the ebay fees):
http://www.arcadeemulator.net/cgi-bin/shop/cp-app.cgi?usr=51F9739832&rnd=6405129&rrc=N&affl=&cip=75.64.24.224&act=&aff=&pg=prod&ref=UltraStik+Restrictor+Plate+Kit&cat=&catstr=

And this site:
http://www.shapeways.com/model/269646/sanwa-jlw-series-octagonal-restrictor-plate.html

I'll wait to hear back from Andy and if he doesn't stock 'em I'll probably pull the trigger on buying one from Divemaster to test 'er out.

In the meantime, other folks' opinions on the Octo are appreciated.
~Mr. Arcadian

[EddieArcadian]

Thanks for the feedback/reply Monk.  I have a feeling I"ll like them too.  Nice happy medium on directional feedback and looseness, I would imagine.

[AndyWarne]

These are back in stock now.

We had the mold re-made to correct a very slight mis-alignment of the mounting holes, and also I very slightly widened the octagonal restriction. The originals were slightly tight.

Andy

[EddieArcadian]

I'm excited to try the new and improved versions.  One of the previous complaints I had read was that they are a bit tight and could use a longer throw.  I'm glad I waited... Heinz ketchup baby.

[yotsuya]

These are back in stock now.

We had the mold re-made to correct a very slight mis-alignment of the mounting holes, and also I very slightly widened the octagonal restriction. The originals were slightly tight.

Andy

Glad to hear you fixed the mounting holes. I ended up ruining two of those special posts because of it (I was able to use nuts and bolts to work around it, though).

[EMDB]

The new octagonal restrictors are great! I just mounted them without any issues. I tested several of my favorite games with different mappings (4, 8 , diagonal):  e.g. Donkey Kong, Q-Bert, Metal Slug and last but not least Super Pac-Man. For all games besides Super Pac-Man I was already very happy with my U360 but with the new restrictor the throw is a bit shorter and hitting the directions is slightly better. The overall feeling is even better than it was. The only game I could not control right without the restrictors was Super Pac-Man and even this one is now controlled perfectly.

Thank you for a great product and very good support Andy