Top Fire Button Joysticks

[NoBonus]

Does anyone have an opinion on these? It seems like they are needed for a few specific games (especially if you do not want to buy a rotary joystick, but use a joystick and spinner combo). But which one to buy?
Groovygames?
Wico?
Happ?

Any ideas?

NoBonus

[Doc-]

  I have one I can pop in and out on my fully modular "piece" panel.  Its an 8 way and I think it is a Happs, though I bought it second hand.

  It works well as a second stick on tank games.  It also works OK as the stick for Tron type layouts.

   I've also found myself using it for a lot of other single stick games since quite a few games operate off one button.  Its nice to be able to play with one hand at times!  I've been contemplating purchasing a second.

  Only downside is that it is designed to be metal mounted - so you either have to buy a mounting plate for it or counter sink it with a router from the top and then put some kind of laminate over it.  If you mount it on the bottom of a wood panel it is just too short.

I can't really comment on the Grovygames and Wico versions - they appear to use a different joystick base.

[NoBonus]

Do you have photos of you modular panel?  I am considering different modular options myself.

[Doc-]

Here are some samples: this one with a full size trackball in the middle...

[Doc-]

Or here's one with the top fire joystick and spinner...the flash and lighting are pretty bad here - it is not nearly as glossy in real life.

[Doc-]

One more picture...Here's one with a few joysticks removed - you can see the RJ45 patch panels below as well as the mounting rails.

[NoBonus]

Very nice setup.  I am hoping to do something similar with a desktop console.  Should be interesting.

[Nailz]

I had one from happs on my last cab, and I personally thought it sucked.  First off, it just didn't feel right, doing it over I would go with a rotary instead, and secondly, the control just felt extremely spongy.

[NoBonus]

But where can one get a rotary joystick (other than Happ's $50 one)?

[Nailz]

You could try ebay, they occasionally have them float through, or just eat it and buy at Happs....

[NoBonus]

Yeah, I think $15 for a top fire stick (maybe one from groovygames) and a spinner (free if I can manage to make an encoder wheel and mount it to my armiture) seems like a better route than $50 on a rotary joystick... but if a rotary joystick had two modes, rotary joystick and spinner, then it might be worth it.

But for now, I will have to settle for the spongy stick.

[19rjs99]

SNK ROTARY JOYSTICKS (LS-30): replacement for Time Soldiers, Victory Road, Ikari Warriors and TNK III (NEW).Originally $75.00 new.
Super Low Discount Price $39.99

www.videoconnect.com

[NoOne=NBA=]

There's been alot of rotary sticks on e-bay lately.

As far as the top fires, I'm really happy with my Happs super.

[NoOne=NBA=]

As a matter of fact there's a set of the rotary sticks closing in 2 hours that are at 12.01 US at the moment.

Here's a link

[StLouisRod]

I've had a Happs top fire in my Virtuacade Mame cabinet (www.virtuacade.com) now for several months, and overall I'm very happy with it.

True, the spring action is a bit light and springy, which may make precise fighter game moves a tad trickier, but with all 8 way games, it plays great!  And like most people, I originally bought mine to play Tron properly, which it does allow.

One thing that pleasantly surprised me about the stick is that it plays 4-way games like mspacman incredibly well !!!  Because the stick is lightly loaded, you rarely get those "sticky spots" when you lean diagonally.  I can play the fast-hack version of mspacman without a hitch using the topfire, whereas my Happs Competitions occassionally stutter.  It all has to do with the construction of the contacts within the joystick.

My ownly complaint with the Happ topfire is that it's a bit uncomfortable to hold the "tulip-style" stick between your fingers and press the button quickly with your thumb.  A bat-style stick might feel better, at the expense of some precision, but I've never had one so I can't say for sure.