Which Joystick To Choose??

[mumbles]

which joystick shold I choose for my Arcade cabinet. I cannot deicde between the Ultimate J-Stick, Happ super, Happ Ultimate or the t-stik plus. I like the t-stick plus as you can chage from 8 way to 4/way from the top of the control panel.

That brigns me to my next question though - how important is it to switch to 4 way mode for 4 way joystick games?? can they just be played in 8 way mode??

Thanks

[paigeoliver]

FYI, this question is asked roughly twice a day, search for the word joystick and you will find about 1000 threads about this.

My mild advice. Forget the Ultimate even exists, the quality is low and it favors the diagonals making some games more difficult for no good reason.

Most 4-way games are terrible with an 8-way stick, some are ok, a few are completely unplayable. In general using an 8-way stick with a 4-way game will be a rather crappy experience.

[SideShow Rob]

The Happ Ultimate should be had under the trade-descriptions act...Ultimate it is not. Best to forget it.

The Happ Super is a good stick...for 8 way games, but like most 8 way sticks, it doesn't cope too well with 4 way games.

Ditto for the Ultimarc J-Stick....great for 8 ways, not so good for 4 ways.

The Supers and the J-Sticks will have to be changed between 8 and 4 way from under the panel too.

The T-Stick Plus sticks offer the best of both worlds - great 8 way, and good 4 way - the ability to change between 8 and 4 way from the top of the control panel is inspired. Having said that, its 4 way action, whilst being good, cannot compete with a dedicated 4way stick...if you want the minimum of fuss, and less cramped control panel, and an easier time hooking up the controls, the T-Stick Plus sticks are a great compromise.

Check out the Joystick reviews section here:

http://www.retroblast.com/hardware.html

As for playing 4 way games with a 8 way stick...it can be done, but a lot of the time, in my experience, it can be very frustrating...if you intend to play alot of 4 way games, get a dedicated 4 way stick, or a T-Stick Plus...

These are only my opinions, others may have different experiences and recommendations - Joystick performance is very much down to the individual...if you can test the sticks first, or have the luxury of making a test control panel, to make comparisons, so much the better...

[Hoagie_one]

i have a t-stick plus and even though i like teh stick, it has an extrememly short throw....like really short.  AFter reading about teh 49 way encoder that Randy is selling, I'm thinking about getting one of those.  After i hear how they are working out.

[paigeoliver]

In my opinion Happs only has 5 joysticks worth using (not counting various trigger sticks and analog sticks).

The Super (4-way mode on this is suitable only for puzzle games, nothing else, 8-way mode is very nice).
The Perfect 360 (even better if you swap the handle for a Wico balltop handle).
The Universal (I actually like this stick, it is really precise, and it switches to true 4-way mode).
Ms Pac-Man/Galaga replacement stick.
The Space Invaders/Qix replacement stick (same as the Ms Pac, but handle is long enough for a wood panel, the Ms. Pac has the better feel though).

Ultimates and Competitions are fatally flawed because they do not equally distribute the directions, if you sweep one in a circle it will be on an angle almost twice as much as it is on a straight direction, this means you get things like missed shots in Robotron when sweeping a circle (instead of Downright, right, upright, up you get downright, downright, upright, up and other things like that, exact effect depends on the speed of your sweep, but the faster the sweep the more likely it is to miss the primary directions altogether and send ALL the shots into the corners).

[Graham1]

I'm going to use the T-Stik Plus once I start building my cabinet. Simply because (as mentioned) you can switch from the top without having to add an additonal 4-way controller to your CP. Currently, I have a HotRod which uses Happs Super's. Most of the time it is ok for 4-way games (when used in default 8-way mode) but can be a nightmare when playing some games.

[Lilwolf]

If 4 way is important to you... you will want something specific. 

happs supers are great 8way... but they stink for 4way.

but if you can find a wico 4way they are pretty good and mount well in wood.   Or the happs mspacman revo. joystick is GREAT... but requires a mounting kit.

note:  supers and ultimates (and most 8way joysticks...even with 4way settings) you will prefer to play games with your keyboard....  this does NOT include the JSticks... these have restrictor plates on the bottom of the joystick which restrict the motions.

I'm curious to see how the happs 49way + the new keywiz 49way will handle it... If this works well we might have a great all round joystick solution.

I went with 2 joysticks myself (3 actually... have a dedicated qbert/congobongo stick) and am very happy

[paigeoliver]

On my cocktail I went with a pair of Reunion sticks with one (leaf) button each.

On my big cab I have a pair of Perfect 360's with NOS Robotron style handles installed (6 buttons each), 3" trackball, vortex spinner, Wico 4-way and a happs universal set to 4-way mode and rotated 45 degrees for Congo Bongo.

Ideally I would like to pick up a pair of NOS Wico 4-ways to replace the (kind of worn) Wico 4-way and the Universal which doesn't match the other 3 sticks.

[NoBonus]

I have the oval handled J-stick and really like it for 8-way play.  I am not a HUGE player of 4-way games (I like them, but I generally play 8-way games), so the 4-way works well enough for me.  I like the action on the j-stick... it makes me happy.

[FractalWalk]

On my big cab I have a pair of Perfect 360's with NOS Robotron style handles installed

You're making me want to do this. Do you really think this is better than original WICO 8-way leafs?

[NoOne=NBA=]

Do you really think this is better than original WICO 8-way leafs?

I don't know that they could be any better, but they should be comparable.
The only real difference functionally is the switches.
They are both round restricted 8-ways.

The ORIGINAL P-360s were actually Wico 8-ways with an optical kit to replace the leafswitches.

[Flinkly]

you could get a 49-way with the new groovygamegear encoder and have all the joysticks in one and almost silent operation.  just my two cents.  when it comes to a good all around joystick, there is none yet, unless the 49-way works as good as it is supposed to.  basically, it depends on if your looking to experience the same thing that you would in an arcade, or are you willing to make do.  if your willing to make do, the 49-way might be your best bet, if you want the arcade experience, get a p360 and a reunion.