Advice on a 8 Way / 4 Way stick???

[Cero21]

Hey everyone. 

I've setup my arcade with 2 Happ Supers which so far I love.  Unfortunately, everyone seems to want to play pacman and donkey kong all the time, which we know aren't great with 8 way sticks.  Now I'm thinking of getting a 8way/4way stick to replace one of the supers. 

My question is, what should I be looking at? 

I saw the mag stick plus but it seems the short throw makes 8 ways games difficult. 

What about the ultrastik360?  I use gameex as a FE, and was wondering if there is an already established way to make the 4 way maps load automatically with 4 ways games?

Anything else I should look at?

[shardian]

I have played Donkey Kong and Pacman on several different 8-way sticks. The games play just fine for the average person. I had my 48-1 setup with wico 8-way leafs and noone ever complained.

Long story short, if you are fine with 8-ways, then your visitors will be too. If you are not fine with it...well your visitors still will be.

[Bond007]

I have to agree with Shardian. I only have 8-ways and I can play Pac-Man fine. My wife on the other hand has issues using the 8-way, it all depends on the person. I know that didn't answer your question but just my .02.

[Jack Burton]

I have heard that some 4 way games act bizarrely when you hit the diagonals, like walking backwards or sideways.   I don't know which games this is an issue for, but you may want to set input in MAME to disable the diagonal directions. 

I have 2 Happ competitions in my cab in the are mostly fine for Pac man, Donkey Kong, etc.  Just takes a little getting used to.  I started out playing on Happ sticks though, and if you grew up playing on 4 way ball tops I can understand how it's just wrong to use anything else.

And I second the sentiment that whatever is fine for you in YOUR cab, is fine for your friends.

[shardian]

I have to agree with Shardian. I only have 8-ways and I can play Pac-Man fine. My wife on the other hand has issues using the 8-way, it all depends on the person. I know that didn't answer your question but just my .02.

My wife stinks equally on Ms. Pac with an 8-way, or on the real machine.

[juggle50]

Wow, I couldn't disagree more with the above posts.  I think you have to get either a dedicated 4 way or U360 (Don't have one but have heard good things) to properly play those old 4 way games like pac-man and donkey kong if those are the types of games you love. I have an original pac-joystick in my MAME cab and it is like night and day.  I'm really not very good at the games either but I'd rather be frustrated with myself than with the joystick IMHO. 

[Ginsu Victim]

I can't stand playing Pacman or Donkey Kong with an 8-way.
I LOOOOOOVE my U360s.

[Bender]

I can't stand playing Pacman or Donkey Kong with an 8-way.
I LOOOOOOVE my U360s.

just what I was gonna say!