Joysticks, joysticks, joysticks.

[cagey]

I recently grabbed an old nintendo 'Space Fever' cocktail cab which I plan on mame-ing but I am unsure of which joysticks to replace the old 2-ways with. I would prefer a 4/8 way switchable but in the end it isn't too important. Currently I am looking at:

Mag Stik Plus with ball top
Ms Pacman/Galaga reunion
Sanwa 4/8 way Ball Top

Please suggest a good joystick because it isn't easy finding out whats good without actually being able to use them.

Also, what is the differance between Happ pushbuttons and Happ ultimate pushbutons?

Thanks in advance, Cagey.

[deadkenndys1105]

If you want a 4/8 way joystick the mag-stik and the mag-stick plus are switchable. There made by Ultimarc.  Im wondering does everything on the cabnet work right now and was the condition.

[cagey]

The cabinet isn't it bad condition but it certainly doesn't look great, so even if I don't mame it I'm still going to strip it down and clean it up.

When I turn it on the monitor hisses and shows only fuzzy lines going from top to bottom. There is no sound but the coin counter registers a coin when it is inserted so It is hard to tell if the board is working or not. If its the monitor that isn't working then that might affect sound as well, because the amp is on the monitor chassis.

I was aware that mag stiks were switchable, but what I wanted to know was how they compare to other joysticks. Also, Is the J-stik any good?

[deadkenndys1105]

Im not sure how they compare. See im building my first cab and im still learning.

[emerica]

Check out retroblast. They have reviews and a nice comparison chart of the different sticks out there.

You can check it out here http://retroblast.com/hardware.html

[destructor]

J-Stik is Sanwa's joystick. I have one. It has the best 4-way mode. But for air-shooters is useless.
For air-shooters I prefer T-Stik. But T-Stik has weak 4 way mode

If you think about buttons - buy from Ultimarc. They have most solid construction and good colors, Happ has a bit weaker buttons. (I have ultimarc nad happ).

[Kremmit]

The only joysticks you can switch from 4-way to 8-way without opening the control panel are the Mag-Stik and the Omni-Stick Prodigy.  Or the T-Stik Plus, which are discontinued, but you may find somebody selling a set.  The Mag-Stik (and the T-Stik Plus) switch by pulling up on the handle and twisting, the Prodigy switches by moving a lever that would come through your control panel.

If you don't mind opening the game to switch modes, The Omni-Stick (no Prodigy), Mag-Stik(no plus), T-Stik (no plus), E-Stik, Euro-Stick, and J-Stik all switch easily, just rotate the restrictor plate.  The E-Stick might be the easiest to add to your Nintendo control panels, due to it's unique mounting method.

MCA Australia, Sanwa, Semitsu, and most other Asian sticks have unscrewable restrictor plates.  With these, you have to use a screwdriver to switch modes.

Wico, Happ, Betson, and IL joysticks don't use switchable restrictor plates, they just have switchable actuators.  Basically, forget these as switchable sticks.  Changing the actuator to 4-way mode makes it impossible (or just very hard) to hit a diagonal, but leaves large dead spaces in the joystick, and won't have the feel of a true 4-way.  The results will not make you happy.  These are good sticks if you're building a frankenpanel and want dedicated 8-way and 4-way sticks, but on a Nintendo coctail, you're not building a frankenpanel. 

Last, you could go with a 49-way joystick and a GP-Wiz49.  This combo will switch modes electroncally, or at the push of a button.  There is no physical restriction of the stick, so you won't have the feel of a true 4-way, but the higher resolution of the stick eliminates the dead space problem you get with the Happ-type sticks, and will yield pretty good results in gameplay.  Another bonus to this option is that in addition to 4-way and 8-way mode, the sticks have a 2-way vertical mode, 2-way horizontal mode and a diagonal mode for Q-bert.  They also will do a good job on games that originally used a 49-way stick, Hall-Effect Stick, and some analog stick games.

[cagey]

Thanks for the replies guys.

I don't mind about switching from underneath the CP because it is very easy for me to flip my panel down. The only issue is whether it requires a screwdriver or not. I'd hate to have to dig up the toolbox every time I wanted to play a differant game.

Ball tops are much more appealing to me so that means no E-Stik, and no Euro-Stik. I think I am looking at J-Stiks and Sanwas (According to http://www.ozstick.com.au/prod_joy.html they are easy to switch). 49 ways sound nice but aren't they much more expensive?

[destructor]

....and IL joysticks don't use switchable restrictor plates, they just have switchable actuators.  Basically, forget these as switchable sticks.  Changing the actuator to 4-way mode makes it impossible (or just very hard) to hit a diagonal, but leaves large dead spaces in the joystick, and won't have the feel of a true 4-way.  The results will not make you happy.  These are good sticks if you're building a frankenpanel and want dedicated 8-way and 4-way sticks, but on a Nintendo coctail, you're not building a frankenpanel.

T-Stik and Mag-Stik are IL products. They are easy to switch between 4/8-way.

[Kremmit]

....and IL joysticks don't use switchable restrictor plates, they just have switchable actuators.  Basically, forget these as switchable sticks.  Changing the actuator to 4-way mode makes it impossible (or just very hard) to hit a diagonal, but leaves large dead spaces in the joystick, and won't have the feel of a true 4-way.  The results will not make you happy.  These are good sticks if you're building a frankenpanel and want dedicated 8-way and 4-way sticks, but on a Nintendo coctail, you're not building a frankenpanel.

T-Stik and Mag-Stik are IL products. They are easy to switch between 4/8-way.

Good point, I forgot IL made those.

[divemaster127]

I have heard a lot of good things about the sticks at utimart.com

[Paik4Life]

I know Sanwa has 2-way restrictor plates that go with their JLF sticks if that's what you're looking for.  And I beleive their JLF has a restrictor that can be turned to make it 4/8 way depending on how it's attached.  Hope this helps.

~Paik