joystick opinions...

[krion]

I have a couple of happs supers at the moment.  I wanted to grab some blue sticks so i dropped by starburst and got 2 blue ultimates.  Now, I find the ultimates a little too "loose".  This is where im looking for some opinions hehe.  I have used and enjoy the competition sticks, so i know they are gold, but i would like to have some 4-8way switchable sticks.  How do the t-stick+'s or the sticks that ponyboy is selling feel in comparison to happ sticks?

[jopenner]

The Ultimarc J-Stick is a nice 4way/8-way unit and it has that classic look (red ball handle).  There is a restrictor plate on the bottom of the unit to switch from 4-way to 8-way.  It is not convenient to switch on the fly, but it would make a great addition to a system that already has a couple of Happs Supers set up in 8-way mode.
I use it and John St. Clair used it in his Project Arcade system.
Cheers.

John

[pmc]

Agreed. I love my J-Sticks, but they are indeed very "loose". I don't know how they'll compare for you, but I (and friends) found them somewhat disorienting at first. Once you are used to them, they are fine and they can be tweaked a little too. The 4/8 switch and ball-top features sealed it for me and I'm happy with them.

Still, I ordered some Competitions for another panel and might change my mind once I get some playing time with them. Comps with a balltop shaft and a 4-way restrictor plate sounds very appealing to me.

Anyway, the reason for my post is that if you find the Ultimates "loose", you may not find salvation in the J-Sticks. I haven't personally tried the Ultimates so I cannot comment on them but some searching in these forums will likely get you where you wanna be. I've also not used the T-Sticks.

-pmc

[mahuti]

It is not convenient to switch on the fly

Maybe the t-sticks... where you have to get under the panel, but the T-stick pluses are super easy to change... you just pull and rotate.

Also.. the t-sticks are anything but loose... if anything too tight, short throw. Very small range of movement. Totally depends on the person, but in a shoot-out of the different sticks, my guests are usually split between the loose sticks and tight sticks (like the T-stiks)

[Tiger-Heli]

The Prodigies from www.groovygamegear are easily switchable, but very short throw compared to Happs.  The T-Sticks, I haven't used, but most of what I've read implies the same with a stiffer spring.

You best bet is probably the 49ways and GPWiz49 interfaces from www.groovygamegear.com, but expect to drop some serious coin - Minimum $55 per stick, but you can save by not needing a keyboard encoder.

[Minwah]

Agreed. I love my J-Sticks, but they are indeed very "loose". I don't know how they'll compare for you, but I (and friends) found them somewhat disorienting at first. Once you are used to them, they are fine and they can be tweaked a little too. The 4/8 switch and ball-top features sealed it for me and I'm happy with them.

Just to elaborate you can stretch the springs to stiffen them up a tad.  This and reversing the restrictor plate to lessen the travel slightly make the stick feel quite a bit different.  I really like these sticks.

[pmc]

Just to elaborate you can stretch the springs to stiffen them up a tad.

I still haven't tried that but always planned to. How do you do it? Do you have to disassemble the whole stick?

I bent out the switch levers (so they are closer to bottom of the stick). That helped make it a little less sloppy feeling. But that's as far as I've gone with it so far.

-pmc

[Minwah]

I still haven't tried that but always planned to. How do you do it? Do you have to disassemble the whole stick?

It's pretty easy, I think you can do it with the stick in situe.  You need to remove an e-clip and then take out some other parts.  The spring just comes out.  Makes some noticable difference...

[Sinner]

I have 2 T-sticks and 2 T-stick plusses in my CP...at first they were different to play with (not difficult, just weird), because of the short throw, but I wouldn't trade them in for anything now...it's really nice to be able to switch to 4/8 way from the top of the CP...
I have some optical joys, but I have never connected them, so I can't comment on them...
I also have some Supers, but since I can't switch them from the top of the CP, I decided to go with the TS+...
Oh, I also have an X-Arcade, and I liked the sticks, when I hadn't played with actual arcade controls, but now that I have the other options, I can see a difference...