Did 90s' arcade games use mostly Happ Ultimate, or Happ Competition joysticks?

[LightningBolt]

Anytime you'd see a bat top, of course.

NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat etc..

[RandyT]

Anytime you'd see a bat top, of course.

NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat etc..

Hmm...The NBA Jam machine supposedly used a HAPP Ultimate, but you won't convince me that either were used on Mortal Kombat. 

FWIW, the "Ultimate" are one of the worst 8-ways you can buy, IMHO.  When I first started out in the hobby (close to 25 years ago) I put these in my cab.  I HATED them immediately and went with the Competitions.  Of course, I eventually dumped those as well, but they were a LOT better than the "Ultimates" and low-cost like they were.

[pbj]

Who cares?  It’s current year, use a Sanwa JLF

https://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/attributes_brands.html#JLF

[BadMouth]

IL Eurostick feels most correct to me for 90's bat top games.

I have Sanwa JLFs in my cab, but they took a ton of modifications to make them feel correct to me (for multiple eras of games).
In stock form the springs are way too weak and the switches are way too loud.  After installing a stiffer spring you have to grease the hell out of them to prevent the movement from feeling notchy.
My modified ones work better for shmups and have ball tops which feels more correct on early 80's classics, but they aren't any better than the IL sticks for hack n slash or fighting games.

[pbj]

IL Eurosticks were probably what I was getting for $7/ea shipped from Spain 20 years ago on eBay.  They were nice sticks and felt like what I was accustomed to in 90s arcades.

And I know I've been a broken record on this for decades around here, but frankly anything you buy new nowadays is going to feel better than the blown out stuff we were playing on location.  I don't think you can really go wrong.  The only bad modern stick I've purchased was some Chinese butt plug dildo looking thing that blinks multiple colors.  It flops around everywhere and plays terribly.  Looks cool, tho, so it stays.  That's the one you want if you really want to party like it's JAMMA conversion 1992.

[RandyT]

I have Sanwa JLFs in my cab, but they took a ton of modifications to make them feel correct to me (for multiple eras of games).
In stock form the springs are way too weak and the switches are way too loud.  After installing a stiffer spring you have to grease the hell out of them to prevent the movement from feeling notchy.
My modified ones work better for shmups and have ball tops which feels more correct on early 80's classics, but they aren't any better than the IL sticks for hack n slash or fighting games.

I cringe every time I hear that someone wants to increase the tension on a metal "ball" mated with a plastic socket, by introducing a stronger spring.  Those assemblies are meant to "float" with just enough tension to return the stick to center reliably.  Anything more will cause increased wear and then sticking/binding.  And god help you if something abrasive is introduced into the lubricant.

Japanese style sticks aren't designed to be stiff.  If that's what someone wants, they should look elsewhere, IMHO.

[pbj]

Settle down, Randy, nobody actually plays their cabinets.

[LightningBolt]

Who cares?  It’s current year, use a Sanwa JLF

https://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/attributes_brands.html#JLF

  no thanks

[RandyT]

Settle down, Randy, nobody actually plays their cabinets.

If you are referring to the typical department store cabinet purchaser, you'd probably have a point.  But anyone going through the trouble to try to fix controls, probably has more than a passing interest in using actually them.