Ultimarc UltraStik 360 Joystick

[Ginsu Victim]

(take less than few seconds to switch)

Then you don't have it set up well enough. It should be damn near instant.

[Todd H]

Another thumbs up for the U360. I've got two with the stiff spring and circular restrictor and they work beautifully. A big thumbs up from me.

[Chris]

How are the analog or 49 way games with the circular or octagonal restrictors?  In, say, Star Wars or Sinistar, do you have enough control or is the throw just too short when restricted?

[Ginsu Victim]

Sinistar is fine. Star Wars is definitely playable, you just can't reach the corners of the screen, but that never seems to cause a problem.

[Ummon]

Sinistar is fine. Star Wars is definitely playable, you just can't reach the corners of the screen, but that never seems to cause a problem.

I thought with the scaling feature in the U360s, that wasn't an issue.

[Ginsu Victim]

The circular and octagonal restrictors obviously cause this slight issue, though. The shape causes the corners to be just out of reach, but like I said, it's never given me any problems.

[Todd H]

Sinistar is fine. Star Wars is definitely playable, you just can't reach the corners of the screen, but that never seems to cause a problem.

If you don't mind me asking, what are your analog settings for Star Wars?

[Ginsu Victim]

I don't have any, so whatever the default is. I've noticed if I move the stick around a few times, it tends to center properly when I'm ready to start.

[gcbrowni]

It's worth noting that the U360's are gamepads. Mame should have no problem with them however several other emulators have immature, or no, gamepad support and you'll need to rely on joy2key or joytokey and it's ilk for those emulators.

Hrm. In fact, i have a whole list of issues for the u360's. I'll post them in another thread.

[mooro]

I'm not too sure my Ultrastiks are beahving properly in analogue mode.

In Star Wars for example, the "sight" is not centered unless I wiggle the joystick up/down and left/right quickly when on the level select screen (I don't recall having to do this with the yoke on the original machine). I am using the hardened spring with no restrictor, and find playing Star Wars pretty impossible. I notice that full control is acheived with the sticks not at full defelction, and that it is incredibly hard to control the sight, especially when pushing down it seems. It may just be the mechanical feel of the springs, but I always feel my contol is imprecise. And yes, i have selected "no restrictor" in the mapping software.

Out Run i have had to play around with the analogue settings in Mame. I can play it now, but again there seems to be so little mecahnical difference between say hard right and easy right that I am almost having to treat the stick like a digital 8 way, which rather defeats the purpose.

Any tips guys?

On a positive note, the sticks play non-analogue games really well.

[Ginsu Victim]

In Star Wars for example, the "sight" is not centered unless I wiggle the joystick up/down and left/right quickly when on the level select screen (I don't recall having to do this with the yoke on the original machine)

This is just what you have to do to calibrate it, but I agree the game is almost unplayable. (really need the yoke anyway...)

[isucamper]

I get much better control in Star Wars using the Flightstick on my CP than the U360. 

Keep the U360 handy for games like Afterburner 2 and Steel Talons though, they work great as analog throttles in addition to a flightstick. 

[Ummon]

Yup, I wouldn't use it for either of those games. I can't think of any analogue control game I use it for, though there must be one or two....

[Ginsu Victim]

Food Fight, once you calibrate it right.

[isucamper]

Escape from the planet of robot monsters.

[Ummon]

I thought of Food Fight, but I don't really like that game. (Same theme and way better is Williams' SPLAT.) And I don't know as I've noticed much difference between using it and a digital stick. I actually can't imagine why this game was given an analog stick - especially as later on, the ice cream melts so quick, it kinda reminds me of the eventual banality of Leprechaun.

EPRM - right. Not one I've played much, but useful. Actually, probly the best game that comes to mind for the U360 is Sinistar. Then there's I, Robot. Starhawk if they ever get that done right. Could probly use it for 720. Of course, any analog flight stick game, but preferably with a flight stick on it. Well, there's Atari's Road Runner, too....but that game just kinda sucks anyways. (Neat idea, great graphics, dead game play after thirty seconds.)

[Ginsu Victim]

I thought of Food Fight, but I don't really like that game.

As a kid, I enjoyed the Atari 7800 version. The arcade....eh, not so much.

[Timstuff]

So, for those of you who have gotten to use this game in 8-way mode, particularly with circle or octo gates, what is your opinion of diagonal sensitivity? One of the reasons I have been averse to jumping on the Japanese joystick bandwagon is because the only way to get sensitive diagonals is to use a square gate, which means that you now have the opposite problems of the X and Y directions being poorly defined. I liked the iL Competition / Euro sticks because the X, Y, and diagonal directions were all equally sensitive and accessible, making it feel like a true 8-way stick rather than a "4 way + diagonals."

The iL / Happ sticks have plenty of other problems like being too bouncy when released, causing unwanted inputs and the articulator getting twisted causing an irritating "crunch" during play, which is why I am looking into Japanese style sticks like all the pros are using, however I don't want to give up the wonderfully balanced 8-way sensitivity of the Competition sticks. The Ultrastick sounds promising, especially since you can choose between a long throw (no restrictor plate) or a short throw (8 way / circle plate) which could help me in my transition (especially with a harder spring installed), but it's the balance between diagonals and X/Y movement that I am most concerned about, since aside from the nostalgia of American-style parts that's the one thing that Competition sticks actually do better than JLFs.

I use mostly charge characters in Street Fighter so good diagonals are important, but I also need good X/Y directional movement since I'm also into Mortal Kombat. Would the Ultrastick 360 meet my needs as a fighting game enthusiast who plays a lot of Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, MVC etc? How hard is it to get used to playing a fighter on a stick with no micro switches, and are there advantages / disadvantages I should be aware of before I consider investing it the U360, P360, Sanwa Flash, or any other switchless stick? I think am ready to graduate from the school Happ, but I don't want to dive in head first-- I want the familiarity of a long throw and equal responsiveness from all 8 directions, without the springiness, crunchiness, and all around decreased precision that comes with Happ / iL joysticks. Also, keep in mind that I would be using the U360 in 8-way mode, not analog, since it would be in a fightstick case for consoles rather than hooked up to Mame.

And out of curiousity, does anyone know if the U360 would fit inside a Madcatz TE fightstick, even if it means making some modification to the internals of the MCTE's housing? I have a buddy who is sick of opening up his to swap between his 8-way JLF and his 4-way Seimitsu every time he wants to go from Street Fighter to Tetris, and he is interested in the U360 too.