wico 4-way and 8-way leaf differences

[MiKman]

Ok I picked up 4 Wico 8ways and apparently they can be easily converted to 4way.  Now I also have a couple of NOS Wico ball top shaft replacement kits which have a .600" diameter actuator for 8way and 2way and a .500" diameter actuator for 4way. Is this the only difference between a 4way and 8way Wico is the actuator? Or is there some other physical difference with the base?  Also are replacement grommets easily found for these guys?

[RayB]

600 inches!?!?! WOW! That's a big joystick!

[MiKman]

600 inches!?!?! WOW! That's a big joystick!

I apologize profusely for not including the decimal points in the original post.  The original post has been edited for clarification, and for those who have nothing better to do than nitpick.

[Thenasty]

a true wico 4-way has a diamond shape.

[MiKman]

a true wico 4-way has a diamond shape.

So the hole in the top of the base is diamond shaped on the 4way and just plain round on the 8way.  Is that only difference?

[Kremmit]

That's the difference, but it's a pretty big one.  The diamond shaped hole makes the stick travel only to the cardinal directions, instead of freely roaming the full 360 degrees.  If you put that 4 way actuator on your p360 kit, the stick will only send 4-way data, but it will still feel like an 8-way.  If you've never played with a true 4-way before, you won't know the difference.  But if you have, you'll miss the tactile feedback it provides.

It's like the scroll wheel on your mouse.  A few years ago, there was no such thing, and we all navigated the internet without one, and we were perfectly happy that way.  Have you ever pulled out an old wheel-less mouse and tried to switch back?  Now that you're used to the extra control, it's hard to do without it.  The tactile feedback from the diamond shaped hole gives you extra control.

If you've never had a true 4-way available to try, you can feel the difference I'm talking about if you have access to the Jakk's Pacific TV game sticks.. The Pac-Man one has a 4-way on it, and the Ms. Pac-Man one has an 8-way.  Play a bunch of Pac Man, then switch to Ms. Pac.. you'll feel it.  Of course, those aren't quite the same as real arcade sticks, but they should illustrate the difference.

[paigeoliver]

I am a stickler for true 8-way sticks or 4-way sticks as needed, but I can switch between mouse, scroll mouse, trackball, trackpoint nipple, touchpad, and touchscreen without even thinking about it.

The difference is that you don't DIE on a website because your mouse wasn't the right kind.