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| 1UP:
I have to second markrvp. I hate those sticks. There is a long learning curve to get used to the short throw, and the action is very stiff. If you are prone to wrist pain, do NOT use these sticks. The feel is very different than what you are probably used to. :) Personal story that I never get tired of telling: I had my cab at work for a couple months, and the most popular game was the fast version of Ms. Pac-Man. I started out with an Ultimarc E-Stick, which was ok, but most people had trouble with the bat stick for 4-way games, and the throw was very short. Next I tried a Competition stick with a ball-top. No dice. I picked up a brand new T-Stick Plus balltop in my quest for the perfect balltop. Everyone almost hanged me, and it was easily the least popular of the bunch. (Expensive too.) The number one complaint was that the throw was so short, you couldn't tell if you were going in the right direction. It comes down to this: in the higher levels of 4-way games, you are going faster, and your enemies are going faster. You have to start your turns BEFORE you hit the intersection. That means that you have to know for certain that you are pushing in the right direction before you get there. This is not helped by a stick with a short throw. Finally, I put in an Ultimarc J-Stick balltop, and bingo! Everyone loved that stick. High scores in Ms. Pac-Man and many other games soared. I know there is a hardcore fan club for the T-Stick, but if you like your 4-ways with distinct corners and spring action that is not tiring, I highly recommend the J-stick. I can not understand for the life of me why the T-stick is so popular, but I think it has to do with people forcing themselves to get used to a crappy stick, just so they can switch 8-4way without going under the panel. Not worth it to me. :-\ If you are looking at multi-function sticks, you may want to consider the Happ 49-way with the GGG GPWiz49 interface board. This is quickly shaping up as the true do-it-all joystick. It also has a pretty authentic old-school feel, because there is no microswitch click, and it uses a rubber grommet like the old arcade games did, rather than a spring. You switch modes electronically, which is ultra cool. My 2 cents. |
| Grasshopper:
I think the 4/8 way switching mechanism of the T-Stik+ is a work of genius. But I do have a question mark over the long term durability of the mechanism as it is essentially a hack. I'm wondering how the T-Stik would feel with a significantly longer shaft. That would increase the throw and reduce the stiffness at the same time. |
| Gradius:
I really cannot understand why people wish longer throw. What for? to spend 5 miliseconds in reaching the microswitch instead of 1? That's increasing the time from the moment you take a decission (let's move the space ship to the right to avoid being hit by that bullet) and the actual action (the ship moving to the right). Result: you've lost a valuable life. You end up in frustration and don't know what to think: are you a bad player or has this game a pathetic playability. Wrong: your are using a bad stick with a long throw which is bad for arcade games which are conceived for digital controls. And as regard other kind of games, it's the same. I feel much easier to do special moves in fighting games, for instance, using a stick with a very short throw. Honestly, I've tried using Happ Universals in the CP of a friendof mine and they feel horrible! Trying to push right quickly so as to make your sprite run is a pain, and forget about shmups or platform games where you need precission. I'd rather use a keyboard than a Super, a Competition or a Ultimate. |
| mahuti:
I think I had the opposite story from 1Up in my house when my relatives drop by. The absolutely HATED the longer throw sticks I put in, and wanted to use the T-Stick Plus instead. I imagine that... if you are playing arcade games for the first time in 15-20 years and someone lets you play a week on long-throw sticks, you'll like those, and it might feel weird to then switch & vice versa. |
| PaulG:
--- Quote from: mahuti on March 26, 2005, 10:15:51 am ---I think I had the opposite story from 1Up in my house when my relatives drop by. The absolutely HATED the longer throw sticks I put in, and wanted to use the T-Stick Plus instead. I imagine that... if you are playing arcade games for the first time in 15-20 years and someone lets you play a week on long-throw sticks, you'll like those, and it might feel weird to then switch & vice versa. --- End quote --- You're probably onto something there. I haven't (Nor anybody who's played mine) have any of 1UPs problems, but then none of us had touched an actual arcade machine in many years. Maybe that's a defining trait among those who like the short throw and those who don't. |
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