Is the E-Stik good?

[The cranky hermit]

I'm looking for a 4-way to put in my CP. The E-Stik sounds good on paper, with its 45 degree swivel for games like Q*bert. But is actually good?

[rampy]

I'm looking for a 4-way to put in my CP. The E-Stik sounds good on paper, with its 45 degree swivel for games like Q*bert. But is actually good?

aw'cmon hermit... this coulda gone in your other thread...

and why not just do a search for e-stick and skim those... I know 1up has some good posts about his e-stick including altering the spring to his likeness with a hardware store one...

I'll see if I can dig up those posts... but in the meantime you can use the search function as well as I can =P

Rampy

PS I'm not trying to be mean spirited... just bustin your stones a bit... hope you understand.

EDIT: recent 1up summary of e-stick
1ups first impressions of e-stick way back when
spring mod

so... plusses for e-stick easy to mount, small foot print, switchable from 4 to 8 way, able to be manipulated to 45 degree angle for congo bongo/qbert.     minuses -> not a balltop, stiff spring/shortish throw (which might not be minus in some peoples book)

*shrug*

RE:-> getting the pac replacement stick to rotate... i don't think it can be done easily, but i've seen ton of inventive ideas where people have worked through creatively bigger ideas/problems.

[b3atmania]

Getting a precise 45 degrees twist is difficult. You can turn it more than 45 degrees... And if you dont turn it al the way through the end of the thread it will not be fastened securely.

I have had many occassion where the 45 degrees shifted was dislocated slighty. And the following is even worse: in non-diagonal mode (0 degrees) there not much holding the switch plate. It will fall off if you smash a button on the control panel, which happens a lot in frantic Street Fighter II matches.

Unless you are prepared to superglue the switchplate it will not hold into position. The E-Stik is decent, but its use as a switchable diagonal/orthogonal stick is exaggerated.

[rampy]

Getting a precise 45 degrees twist is difficult. You can turn it more than 45 degrees... And if you dont turn it al the way through the end of the thread it will not be fastened securely.

I have had many occassion where the 45 degrees shifted was dislocated slighty. And the following is even worse: in non-diagonal mode (0 degrees) there not much holding the switch plate. It will fall off if you smash a button on the control panel, which happens a lot in frantic Street Fighter II matches.

Unless you are prepared to superglue the switchplate it will not hold into position. The E-Stik is decent, but its use as a switchable diagonal/orthogonal stick is exaggerated.

I've heard you say that before... are you sure you are switching it correctly for 45 degree use?  i.e. moving the actual switch plate and NOT trying to go halfway with the round restrictor plate?  

It shouldn't fall out of position from 8 way to 4 way or vice versa... hmph... but I've got not advice on that for you ATM.
Just wondering...

Rampy

[b3atmania]

I've heard you say that before... are you sure you are switching it correctly for 45 degree use?  i.e. moving the actual switch plate and NOT trying to go halfway with the round restrictor plate?  

It shouldn't fall out of position from 8 way to 4 way or vice versa... hmph... but I've got not advice on that for you ATM.
Just wondering...

Rampy

No, I really mean the switch plate, not the restrictor plate.

And it doesn't fall out of position from 8 way to 4 way or anything. The restrictor plate works fine, its the changing from 45 degrees to 0 degrees that has its problems in practice.

[1UP]

You can fix the switch plate falling off problem by wrapping a strip of duct tape around the bottom of the shaft (where the groove is that the switch plate notches into) then pushing the switchplate back onto the shaft over the tape.  This creates resistance, and also makes it easier to control how far the plate rotates, and keeps it from accidentaly rotating during play.  No one said the stick is perfect--I prefer to use it as a dedicated 4-way only, which is switchable from straight to diagonal on the rare occasions that I play Q*bert etc...

[gyruss]

I just got an e-stick this week. I'm going to use in as a player-4 (8-way)/4-way/Q*bert stick. It looks like it will work great, but I haven't played a game with it yet. The base of the stick mount has a notch that I used to keep it from rotating. I drilled a hole (same size as the buttons) and notched out 12 & 6 o'clock for 4-way/8-way and half-way between 1 & 2 o'clock and 7 & 9 o'clock for Q*bert. It seems to be in the right position. The stick does look a little goofy next to the Happs super though. No big deal.