Most versatile joystick? ("frankenstick")

[Galvatron]

Hi folks,

I'm brand-spanking new here, still working on planning out my cocktail cabinet.  I'm planning on having 4 player stations, 2 head-to-head, 2 side-by-side.  In addition to the coin and start buttons, I was thinking I'd have a full set of 6-7 buttons each (can anyone give me an example of a game that requires 7 buttons?  All I can think of are the Street Fighter games using 6), although I'm not sure if that's strictly necessary for the head-to-head positions.  I'm going to have a trackball for each of the two side-by-side panels (I love Marble Madness), and a spinner for the two head-to-head positions (I love Arkanoid).  The one thing I haven't figured out is which joysticks to use.

As I understand it, there are basically 2 mutually exclusive features that I can choose for the sticks:
Rotary stick (Happ Optical Rotary Joystick / Happ Rotary Joystick)
360 degrees (UltraStik / Happ Perfect 360)

Exploring the forums, I'm hearing very good things about the 360 degree sticks, so my initial concerns of whether or not those would work for 4- and 8-way games have been mostly allayed, so unless someone has strong opinions to the contrary, I'm assuming that either of those two options would be superior to a plain 4/8 way switchable stick.  Presumably the 360's also work nicely for 49 way games.  However, as a kid, I honestly didn't pay a whole lot of attention to joysticks.  I really can't remember which games used which sticks.  So, I'm asking you forum-ers, which is the most versatile stick?  Basically all I can remember is that Sinistar is 49-way, and so would need a 360, and Ikari Warriors would need a rotary stick.  I'm also hoping that I could play Smash TV with a rotary stick in place of the second joystick (although as I think about it more, I'm becoming less certain.  I'd need some way to start/stop firing in addition to changing facing...).  Are there any other games that would use a rotary stick?  I'm sure there are other games that would use a 360, but could someone give me an idea of what they might be?

Any other thoughts people might have on my control panel plans are more than welcome as well.

[Kremmit]

I was thinking I'd have a full set of 6-7 buttons each (can anyone give me an example of a game that requires 7 buttons?  All I can think of are the Street Fighter games using 6), although I'm not sure if that's strictly necessary for the head-to-head positions. 

I think there was some Dungeons and Dragons game that used 7, people who want to do console game emulation sometimes want the extra button(s), and some people add in another button to properly duplicate the Neo-Geo 4-buttons in a row configuration along the bottom row.  If none of those matter to you, then 6 will do nicely.  I can't think of a game that needs that many buttons on your head-to-head panels, I think the magic number there is four.

... and a spinner for the two head-to-head positions (I love Arkanoid).

 

If Arkanoid is your killer game, either find real Arkanoid spinners, or get the TurboTwist from GroovyGameGear.com.  It's the only way to get the super-high resolution control Arkanoid needs. 

As I understand it, there are basically 2 mutually exclusive features that I can choose for the sticks:
Rotary stick (Happ Optical Rotary Joystick / Happ Rotary Joystick)
360 degrees (UltraStik / Happ Perfect 360)

The UltraStik 360 and the Happ Perfect 360 have unfortunately similar names, but they are not comparable sticks.  The P-360 is just a plain-old 8-way joystick, with super-spiffy optical switches.  The P-360 is a very nice joystick, but it won't do anything that any other standard joystick doesn't do.  The U-360 is a fully analog joystick, which allows you to play games that originally shipped with 49-way, Hall-effect, and analog joysticks, as well as flight yokes.  The U-360 also comes with some nifty electronic restriction functions that allow it to emulate a true 4-way, 2-way, and other special modes. 

I'm also hoping that I could play Smash TV with a rotary stick in place of the second joystick (although as I think about it more, I'm becoming less certain.  I'd need some way to start/stop firing in addition to changing facing...).  Are there any other games that would use a rotary stick?  I'm sure there are other games that would use a 360, but could someone give me an idea of what they might be?

You can't play SmashTV using the rotary functions of a rotary joystick.  You need two 8-way sticks, per player, to play that game.  A good list of rotary games, as well as a partial list of analog games, can be found in the BYOAC Wiki.

[Galvatron]

Thanks for the response, a lot of useful info.  Sounds like 4 buttons head-to-head and 6 side-by-side is the way to go (no need for console emulation, and the only D&D games I remember enjoying are the side-scrollers which I just checked are 4 buttons).

Had no idea on spinner resolution, thanks for the heads up!  Looks like vintage Arkanoid spinners come up regularly on Ebay, so that seems like it shouldn't be a problem. 

The Wiki is great in terms of explaining what games require what joystick, that's exactly what I was looking for.  If anyone else is in my position, here's the direct link:
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Joysticks
Now I'll just have to go play all of those and decide which set I like more

[Kremmit]

The Wiki is great in terms of explaining what games require what joystick, that's exactly what I was looking for.  If anyone else is in my position, here's the direct link:
http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Joysticks
Now I'll just have to go play all of those and decide which set I like more

That is an awfully good Wiki page, isn't it? 

[shardian]

There is a rotary mod for the 49-way joystick if you really want everything.

[Lilwolf]

Yeah, the most versitile will be the 49way with the rotary mod + a gp49.  great for almost everything... perfect for about 5 games.

Always consider the hotswap control panel option.  Really the best option for people who like original controllers.  That or a modular design... I love those and wish I went that route... now that i know that my kids will never swap a control panel without me being there.