---Most recent recommended controls 2015---

[Homietheclown]

Hey guys,

Control recommendations are hard to search and some recommendations are sort of old.

I just wanted to run by some of the names that I have found and see what your opinions are.

Suze-Happ - no idea

SEIMITSU LS-32 - These are good for all around use

Sanwa JLF-TP-8T- I hear these are good for arcade games

Ultimarc U360 - Some magnetic type joystick. Not sure about these.

Basically from what I have heard the Sanwa's are well-rounded.  The 2-player full size arcade will be used for fighting games by me, pacman, galaga, and other classics for the wife, and anything in between. So can you guys please weigh in on your opinions. As it's very appreciated.

[harveybirdman]

This will degenerate into a full blown argument by the fifth post.  Perhaps you should order some sticks and try them out, to see what you like.

Randy (groovygamegear.com) sells knockoffs of both the Sanwa and Seimstu (Spitfire and Zippyy respectively)  I suggest getting them and trying them out and deciding what you like and don't like and then go from there.

[WakiMiko]

http://slagcoin.com/joystick/attributes_brands.html

[yotsuya]

My favorite 4-way stick for games is the GGG Pac-Pro Leaf Joystick.

[harveybirdman]

How serious is your wife about Pac Man? Is she just going to play like once and be like, hey how bout that.... or is she a gamer?

I see a stick conflict based on the games you each want to play (it can be solved but you have to spend $ and/or get creative)

[Homietheclown]

How serious is your wife about Pac Man? Is she just going to play like once and be like, hey how bout that.... or is she a gamer?

I see a stick conflict based on the games you each want to play (it can be solved but you have to spend $ and/or get creative) feel

She is not a gamer. I apologize if I opened up a can of worms. I can't believe its so hard to pick out a frikkin joystick haha.
I'm guessing you guys are near my age (upper 30s) and grew up playing fighting games mostly. I'll check out what suggestions you guys posted. It's damned overwhelming.

[Generic Eric]

How serious is your wife about Pac Man? Is she just going to play like once and be like, hey how bout that.... or is she a gamer?

I see a stick conflict based on the games you each want to play (it can be solved but you have to spend $ and/or get creative) feel

She is not a gamer. I apologize if I opened up a can of worms. I can't believe its so hard to pick out a frikkin joystick haha.
I'm guessing you guys are near my age (upper 30s) and grew up playing fighting games mostly. I'll check out what suggestions you guys posted. It's damned overwhelming.

It's alot like picking socks.  Ultimately, your gonna have to pick a stick and see if you like it.

Do keep in mind that fighting games are horizontal  and Ms pac was vertical. Also the sticks are different.

[harveybirdman]

How serious is your wife about Pac Man? Is she just going to play like once and be like, hey how bout that.... or is she a gamer?

I see a stick conflict based on the games you each want to play (it can be solved but you have to spend $ and/or get creative) feel

She is not a gamer. I apologize if I opened up a can of worms. I can't believe its so hard to pick out a frikkin joystick haha.
I'm guessing you guys are near my age (upper 30s) and grew up playing fighting games mostly. I'll check out what suggestions you guys posted. It's damned overwhelming.

just a couple more questions and I might be able to give you a more specific recommendation.

will this joystick be mounted in wood or metal?

if it's mounted in wood do you have access to a router and router bits?

how much do you really want to spend on joysticks?

[Paul Olson]

After over 10 years of research, this is my controller recommendation:

[dashingw]

Right now I have the estik from ultimarc, cheap at $18 each but work well for all the games I play, especially the 4 way like pacman and digdug. But I find it annoying to have to unscrew my panel and go underneath to switch from 4way to 8way which I find makes a Huge difference. So now I just got (2) Mag Stick Plus with the optional Ball top for better grip and you can switch 4-8 way by pulling up on the joystick and turning them. Still not a bad price at $37 each and I think $14 for the ball top each. I haven't installed these as of yet though.

[Homietheclown]

How serious is your wife about Pac Man? Is she just going to play like once and be like, hey how bout that.... or is she a gamer?

I see a stick conflict based on the games you each want to play (it can be solved but you have to spend $ and/or get creative) feel

She is not a gamer. I apologize if I opened up a can of worms. I can't believe its so hard to pick out a frikkin joystick haha.
I'm guessing you guys are near my age (upper 30s) and grew up playing fighting games mostly. I'll check out what suggestions you guys posted. It's damned overwhelming.

just a couple more questions and I might be able to give you a more specific recommendation.

will this joystick be mounted in wood or metal?

if it's mounted in wood do you have access to a router and router bits?

how much do you really want to spend on joysticks?

I'm not putting a budget on the joysticks\buttons. I want to find a balance between something that works for fighting games and something simple like pacman.  Here is where I am at.
I read the information on slagcoin (ty mako).

Suze-Happ seems like it won't be a good idea. The JLF seems like a good choice except for the fact that it doesn't do simple games like pacman very well. So the LS-32 seems like a good trade off, but I am not sure how good they are with fighting games. That's where I am right now.

Still researching.
Harvey: it will be mounted in wood. I'm using 5/8 MDF for the cabinet. Not sure which size thickness to do the control panel in. I do have a router that I bought for this arcade cabinet. So basically I have no routing experience yet but I am good with tools.

I'm not looking to go into debt over buying the joysticks, but I don't have an actual limit. Which ones did you use for cab?

[opt2not]

The JLF seems like a good choice except for the fact that it doesn't do simple games like pacman very well.

Someone should tell Namco that, because they installed JLF's in their Pac-Man Battle Royale cabinets...

[Homietheclown]

The JLF seems like a good choice except for the fact that it doesn't do simple games like pacman very well.

Someone should tell Namco that, because they installed JLF's in their Pac-Man Battle Royale cabinets...

I'm just going by what I hear from others.

[harveybirdman]

I have used zippy, Seimitsu LS 32, LS 60, IL (suzo happ) and Sanwa JLFs what is best depends on what you want to play.

For fighting games, most people I've seen in that genre go with JLFs.  You can swap restictors but what is best seems largly a matter of personal opinion. Octagonal restictors are touted by those who like to "feel" the diagonals.  Still others swear by circle restriction for precision. The default is a square restrictor.  A number of fighter lovers also use Seimitsu though I'd say that stick is much more popular with the shooter crowd.

To make JLFs four way, so that games like Pac man and Donkey Kong don't crap out when you accidentally hit a diagonal, you have to physically rotate the restictor.  There has been a ton of innovation around how to actually do this.  Some people just simply open their panel and turn the restrictor, some people have software that will actually move an actuator and switch the position of the restrictor, and now you can buy commercially a switching joystick.  None of these work on a stock JLF.  So if you like JLF's but want this feature look at GGG's omni2 stick or Ultimarc's Servo stick.

I think you should try an LS-32 and a JLF or at least their cheap knockoffs to make sure you like the feel before dropping coin on switching joys.

[opt2not]

I think you should try an LS-32 and a JLF or at least their cheap knockoffs to make sure you like the feel before dropping coin on switching joys.

Well, if you're going to recommend trying out the LS-32, you might be better of trying the Sanwa JLW. It's similar to the feel of the LS-32 in terms of throw distance and activation, but it's more solid and built of higher quality.

In fact, I'd say it's the joystick of choice for a happy medium for most games. 
Truth be told, there really isn't one joystick to fit both fighting games and classic perfectly. My vote is for the JLW for "good enough for all cases".

[harveybirdman]

Yes and the JLW has the hand rotatable restrictor right? Of course for the prices they're going for on Ebay, id just order the omni2 from Randy instead.

[jimmer]

Putting a dedicated 4way stick in the middle of your fight panel is one option to avoid compromises, and switching things around.

[leapinlew]

My opinion is that even a casual gamer will be unsatisfied trying to use an 8 way for 4 way games. The specific example used was Ms. Pacman and that's the game I usually refer to when I'm trying to explain the differences of a 8 way game and a 4 way game to people.

For whatever reason, I assume because the game was never programmed to deal with diagonals, sometimes when you roll an 8 way joystick while playing Ms. Pacman, she freezes and won't move until the joystick is centered. I noticed it more on fast Ms. Pacmac.

[harveybirdman]

Putting a dedicated 4way stick in the middle of your fight panel is one option to avoid compromises, and switching things around.

Oh there is a compromise alright, its just aesthetic not utillitarian.

But its a valid point to consider.

[mgb]

The JLF seems like a good choice except for the fact that it doesn't do simple games like pacman very well.

Someone should tell Namco that, because they installed JLF's in their Pac-Man Battle Royale cabinets...

I'm just going by what I hear from others.

A lot of people use Pac man as an example but in my opinion it's not correct because Pac man is actually very forgiving on the diaganols as you play.
The JLF actually makes a decent 4 way.

The JLW does too.
While the omni2 is not terrible, I found it to be la king vs the jlw

[ChanceKJ]

This is what i'm using for controls...

it's not bad. holds my smokes, and it doesn't seem to mind getting a little gin spilt on it now and then.  Wal-mart wants $12 for a new one, but Pffft, this is perfectly fine.

[mgb]

This is what i'm using for controls...

it's not bad. holds my smokes, and it doesn't seem to mind getting a little gin spilt on it now and then.  Wal-mart wants $12 for a new one, but Pffft, this is perfectly fine.

That's funny, I just came across this pic yesterday

[Dutsk]

Not trying to hijack thread- but

What joystick would be best for nfl blitz type games/ nhl hitz pro?  I don't think a midway 49 way stick works with my Xbox cab

[lamprey]

Not trying to hijack thread- but

What joystick would be best for nfl blitz type games/ nhl hitz pro?  I don't think a midway 49 way stick works with my Xbox cab

You can play those with an 8-way (it is configurable in the game). I think most people just use 8-Ways. If you want to play with a 49-way and can't use a real 49-way, then I'd suggest the U360.

[Homietheclown]

Who would have thought picking out a joystick could be so difficult.

The compromise to put in a 3rd stick for dedicated 4-way is a good idea if I had the room. Unfortunately like most people I'm using a spinner in the center.

Does I've also been looking at the Ultrastik 360 and the ServoStik.  The idea of a joystick that has a motor to change the restrictor is cool but I am worried about it is a gimick. I can't seem to find many people talking about it. I may be blind...

All I want is a joystick that will be pretty decent (not perfect) on a fighting game and galaga, dk, dig dug, etc. WITHOUT having to switch the restrictor.  Surely there has to be something that the general consensus agrees on that matches the above criteria.

[harveybirdman]

Ultrasticks (U360) from Ultimarc are the way to go, given what you've said so far.

[yotsuya]

Happ Competition?  :

[wp34]

The keyboard at my first programming job had cigarette burns on it.  The previous guy smoked at his desk and occasionally fell asleep. 

On a somewhat related note I'm configuring a new Mame computer and don't have any controls connected to it yet.  While testing Mame I noticed that I am much better playing Zaxxon using a keyboard than a joystick. 

This is what i'm using for controls...

it's not bad. holds my smokes, and it doesn't seem to mind getting a little gin spilt on it now and then.  Wal-mart wants $12 for a new one, but Pffft, this is perfectly fine.

[Generic Eric]

Who would have thought picking out a joystick could be so difficult.

All I want is a joystick that will be pretty decent (not perfect) on a fighting game and galaga, dk, dig dug, etc. WITHOUT having to switch the restrictor.  Surely there has to be something that the general consensus agrees on that matches the above criteria.

There are many sites to purchase a stick from.

http://www.focusattack.com/
groovygamegear.com
ultimarc.com
paradisearcadeshop.com
arcadeemulator.net
therealbobroberts.com Bob is closed until further notice for health reasons.  We wish him the best

[opt2not]

Yes and the JLW has the hand rotatable restrictor right? Of course for the prices they're going for on Ebay, id just order the omni2 from Randy instead.

Yes, a rotatable restrictor is installed on a JLW.

Btw, rule of thumb: avoid Ebay for arcade gear.  They're almost always marked-up in prices.

You can get a JLW for much cheaper at many other dedicated vendors, like Paradise Arcade (BYOAC member armi0024), arcadeemulator (BYOAC member divemaster127 - who also carries a lot of Happs and Ultimarc wares), or Ultimarc itself  (BYOAC member AndyWarne).

Re: Ultimarc's JLW's.  Andy has his J-stik, which is pretty much a JLW...but he also has a switchable 4/8-way stick called the ServoStik   which looks to be a JLW base with a switching motor. You can ask Andy more details about this, but it could be a good solution for you to appease your fighting game needs, as well as the wife's pac-attacks. 

[keilmillerjr]

Who would have thought picking out a joystick could be so difficult.

The compromise to put in a 3rd stick for dedicated 4-way is a good idea if I had the room. Unfortunately like most people I'm using a spinner in the center.

Does I've also been looking at the Ultrastik 360 and the ServoStik.  The idea of a joystick that has a motor to change the restrictor is cool but I am worried about it is a gimick. I can't seem to find many people talking about it. I may be blind...

All I want is a joystick that will be pretty decent (not perfect) on a fighting game and galaga, dk, dig dug, etc. WITHOUT having to switch the restrictor.  Surely there has to be something that the general consensus agrees on that matches the above criteria.

If I was serious about having the best of both worlds, I'd have two different cabinets.

[yotsuya]

Who would have thought picking out a joystick could be so difficult.

The compromise to put in a 3rd stick for dedicated 4-way is a good idea if I had the room. Unfortunately like most people I'm using a spinner in the center.

Does I've also been looking at the Ultrastik 360 and the ServoStik.  The idea of a joystick that has a motor to change the restrictor is cool but I am worried about it is a gimick. I can't seem to find many people talking about it. I may be blind...

All I want is a joystick that will be pretty decent (not perfect) on a fighting game and galaga, dk, dig dug, etc. WITHOUT having to switch the restrictor.  Surely there has to be something that the general consensus agrees on that matches the above criteria.

If I was serious about having the best of both worlds, I'd have two different cabinets.

Yeah, I stopped beating that drum a few months ago, but I'm totally in agreement with you, my friend. 

[Homietheclown]

Thanks. I'm gonna check out the Ultra stik360 and the ServoStik. Well when I say checkout, I mean research other people's opinions. I just need to find some people who actually use the Servo stik and what games they use it on. 

On a side note. I take it everyone here has their own arcade at home. Must be nice

[Generic Eric]

Thanks. I'm gonna check out the Ultra stik360 and the ServoStik. Well when I say checkout, I mean research other people's opinions. I just need to find some people who actually use the Servo stik and what games they use it on. 

On a side note. I take it everyone here has their own arcade at home. Must be nice

I have a mame cab with either supers or comps I purchased way BITD.  They were like $8 each.  Otherwise I have a zippy 4/8 for an aftermarket JAMMA Ms Pacman PCB that I haven't got working yet.  In alot of ways, it is very much like an arcade.  A game that used to work, and a shelf of parts.

Now, I'm sad

[yotsuya]

On a side note. I take it everyone here has their own arcade at home. Must be nice

Actually, yeah.

I started with one cabinet that I wanted to do everything. I quickly learned that you're never going to be able to do everything satisfactorily. Hence, the need to expand. 

You'll get sticks that are great for fighters, but your significant other is going to complain that she can't hit the turns in Pac-Man. Or, you'll get a stick great for the classics, only to realize you can't hit the Hadoukens in Street Fighter consistently. Been there, seen it.

[Dutsk]

Not trying to hijack thread- but

What joystick would be best for nfl blitz type games/ nhl hitz pro?  I don't think a midway 49 way stick works with my Xbox cab

You can play those with an 8-way (it is configurable in the game). I think most people just use 8-Ways. If you want to play with a 49-way and can't use a real 49-way, then I'd suggest the U360.

Does U360 's work with JPAC XBOX and would an 8 way stick compare well enough to analog for arcade games?

[Generic Eric]

@Homie

http://ultimarc.com/BuyersGuide.pdf

You may also consider emailing the vendors that I listed above and explaining what you want.  Sure, they'll try to sell you something, but you are trying to buy something.