Question for 49-way owners.

[JMB]

Hello all,  yet another noob here.  This site is amazing.  I have finally decided to take the plunge a build a cab of my own. I am leaning toward 2 49-way sticks for the versatility.  I would love to hear some thoughts from people that are using them currently.  Any complaints?  Would you go with something different if you had it to do over?

Thanks for any info.

[mccoy178]

I really like them.  No complaints here.  Powermame is your friend young jedi.

[Teknique]

They are very versatile, no regrets about having them on my CP.  With PowerMame, your life is much easier (auto switching between modes). 

Pros: 

1. versatility- this is your best "all in one" stick.  We are monsterizing our cps enough, it is nice to not have to make dedicated sticks for dedicated games (my original cp had a dedicated 4 way) or to try to figure out which stick you need to be using. 

Cons:

1.  An optical encoder means that there is no "click" of the microswitches.  A click has more of an arcade feel for me....

2.  There is a rubber grommet that recenters the stick (Happs/ Midway 49s)- no springs mean there is no "boing" to the stick.  Another less-than arcade feel for me...

3.  Handles come in black only so it can be challenging to match sticks to buttons [Christian at SlikStik is working on custom colored shafts and tops for these]

4.  Significantly more expensive and complex to wire than a standard Happs 8-way joy, but doable even with little technical expertise.
 
5.  The footprint is a little deeper than the 8-way competition Happs sticks- be aware if your control panel box is thin. 



For me, the PRO is worth more than all the CONS I have listed,  but these are some of the things you should consider.


Tek

[KenToad]

Some people have had issues with the centering of the rubber grommet.  I have not had issues, although some of my guests have complained that the joysticks don't have the easy spring of the competitions or supers from Happ.

Also, RandyT over at Groovy Game Gear sells an excellent replacement cherry balltop for the 49-way.  Looks and feels great, my only complaint with it is that the dust washer then doesn't snugly fit the shaft since the replacement shaft is more narrow.

Look for a link to my Retroblast review of the 49-way setup over in the Hardware reviews section.

Cheers,
KenToad

[JMB]

Thanks for the responses. 

[mccoy178]

Thanks for the question.

[Kremmit]

Thanks for all the politeness.

[quarterback]

Thanks for the memories......








...... of the 49-way!

BOOYAH! 

[Minwah]

Cons:

1.  An optical encoder means that there is no "click" of the microswitches.  A click has more of an arcade feel for me....

2.  There is a rubber grommet that recenters the stick (Happs/ Midway 49s)- no springs mean there is no "boing" to the stick.  Another less-than arcade feel for me...

3.  Handles come in black only so it can be challenging to match sticks to buttons [Christian at SlikStik is working on custom colored shafts and tops for these]

4.  Significantly more expensive and complex to wire than a standard Happs 8-way joy, but doable even with little technical expertise.
 
5.  The footprint is a little deeper than the 8-way competition Happs sticks- be aware if your control panel box is thin. 

I know you said the pro outweighs the cons...but if I may say so these cons are mainly based on the fact you are comparing to an 8-way stick, which is totally not what a 49-way is used for...if anything it should be more compared to an analog stick.

Also just want to second the GGG replacement sticks...I have a red balltop and love it   I believe the grommet problem corrects itself after some use too...

[Lilwolf]

Other Cons -

Makes a TON of console games playable.  Mario / Zelda n64 games and type really need an analog control for moving around, but they don't need the detail.  (you need move fast, move a bit and move slow and you can get the 49 way to seperate into the right analog settings easily).  You do have some issues getting enought buttions in the right location.  I came up with a setup that works pretty well, but I wish I had a push button on top.

Then you also have a rotary option you can get for it to make it work with a ton more games.

[RandyT]

I believe the grommet problem corrects itself after some use too...

Please see this thread



Lilwolf, are you sure you don't mean "Pros" ?

RandyT