Happ Ms Pac VS Ultimarc J-Stik Balltop

[MameJunkie]

I'm building a Ms Pacman cocktail cab and want a 4-way balltop joy.

I was going to order the Happs Ms Pacman $20 but when I was ordering the encoder, I saw the J-Stik balltop (4/8 way $15).

Question is how does the J-Stik feel in the 4-way mode.  If its just as good, it seems like its a better deal.  Its cheaper and I can actually turn in into a 8-way.

[rchadd]

i'm also wondering if the j-stick would be good for a galaxian reproduction machine.

is there better alternative

or should i try and get a original 2 way?

[MinerAl]

I've not played with the J-Stick, but you might also want to consider the T-Stick Plus balltop.  The action is much stiffer and the range of motion is much smaller, but you get a good positive 4 or 8-way feel, and it's switchable from above the CP.

[MameJunkie]

I've not played with the J-Stick, but you might also want to consider the T-Stick Plus balltop.  The action is much stiffer and the range of motion is much smaller, but you get a good positive 4 or 8-way feel, and it's switchable from above the CP.

Yes, I would like the T-Stik Plus w/Balltop...BUT its too expensive...way too expensive.
$24 for the T-Stik plus (not bad) but I have to get the balltop extra ($12-14).
So it ends up being $36-38.

I don't get why he doesn't just sell a T-Stik Plus balltop version without having to get the normal version with a balltop shaft extra.  Probably is a good reason but as of now, I dont have to budget to spend $72-76 for 2 joysticks.  Granted they are some of the nicer joysticks out there.

[SteveJ34]

I'm in the same boat....

I'd like to go with a couple of T-Stick Plus with Ball Top for a couple of classic bartops I'm building but have hesitated based on the total price and then having (2) useless stick parts to boot.

[Trenchbroom]

I seem to be one of the few J-Stick advocates around.  I love 'em!  I also have a T-Stick balltop I've played around with for my cocktail cabinet (not completed) and the longer throw of the J-Stick just works for me.

The cocktail, when finally finished, will have a T-Stick on P1 side and a 20th anniversary on the other.  They won't match for squat but this way I can get all my vertical schmuppy goodness on the cocktail cab and still get sweet 2 player 4-way flipscreen oldschool gaming as well.

[SteveJ34]

I seem to be one of the few J-Stick advocates around.  I love 'em!  I also have a T-Stick balltop I've played around with for my cocktail cabinet (not completed) and the longer throw of the J-Stick just works for me.

...

I've been considering the J-Stick as an alternative to the T-Stick and Happs Ms Pac.

One concern has been the length of the stick as I am likely to use a wood cp for the "classic" bartop projects I am working on.

Do you have yours mounted in metal or wood cp?

What's the distance between the top of mount and the bottom of the ball on the J-Stick?

[rchadd]

to mount the jstick (and tstick - unless you have the long handle version) on a wooden CP you will need to route out underneath.

[bigle]

i got the t-stik plus for the switchability but if you are building a classic machine i'd go with a dedicated 4-way.  i don't mind the short throw but my stick is way to high (i've got a metal cp) and stiff which makes playing fast ms pac man difficult.

[quarterstringer]

I seem to be one of the few J-Stick advocates around.  I love 'em!

I love the balltop J-Stick too for 4 way games. It works great for Nibbler and the Pac-Man games that I only play with the fast speed cheat enabled.

[Will]

In the small testing ive done with the j-stick so far it is great.I cant give a full review yet because I havent done much testing but seems to be a great joystick for older 4-way classics..