What do you prefer Ball or Bat Controller Tops?

[Visitor Q]

Dirty, I know... 

[Ginsu Victim]

Depends on the type of game.

My main cabinet has ball-tops, but I'm working on a second panel for Dreamcast games that will use bats.

[javeryh]

Depends on the type of game.

Yup.  I like ball-top for most classic games but bat-tops for fighters.

[georgemcfly]

gotta respect the ball top.

I have bat style though, and not batman, or even the two winged spawn of satan, but rather the one shapped like a baseball bat.

[fjl]

Ball tops are classic but ergonomic wise Bat tops are better. But that's just my opinion.

[Malenko]

bat tops for the games I play. When I make my mom a bartop, its gonna have a ball top. its easier for her to control and is better for (ms)pac-man

[protokatie]

from what I can tell:
Balltops are good for twitchy type action (because of how one holds the ball on top, with their fingers wrapped around and the palm above). This is good for early arcade games, such as pacman etc et al...
Battops are good for games made in the 90's (fighters come to mind) as they are more ergonomical and a little easier to use in some respects.

I play mostly 89 - present arcade games, so am going with bat tops.. They just seem to make more sense with the game selection I intend on. Plus, the balltops almost look like you could snap them in half way too easily (I know this isnt the case, but psycologically it has an effect)

maybe we could make an index based on how hard a game is and attach a "balltop" or "battop" label to the game. This may not seem to be a good measure, but we all know that the earlier arcade games were much more difficult than the later batches. (Admit it!)

[destructor]

balltop forever

[Teebor]

Gotta be bat for fighters, it just doesn't quite feel right when I have used a ball.  Except for Killer Instinct, ball top seems to be better for some of the combo's

But if its a classic than has to be ball.

Since I built my panel primarily for fighters I used Bat

[cadmium]

I spent most of my arcade time in the late 80's to mid 90's, so bat's for me!

[Jack Burton]

Ball top all the way.  Fighters included.  In fact, most of the competitive fighting game community prefers Sana JLF joysticks with balltops.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Depends on the type of game.

Yup.  I like ball-top for most classic games but bat-tops for fighters.

Agreed.  I think it has to do with what the original game had when you played it.  I can't imagine playing Ms. Pac-man with a bat top.  On the other hand, the Mortal Kombat series originally had bad tops so again, it would feel weird playing with a ball top.

However, if I was forced to choose one or the other.  I would probably go with ball top and get used to it for MK games.   

[shock_]

I unscrewed  the tops and threw them away.  Games are only a real challenge if you're playing with the metal shaft on its own.

[Turnarcades]

Bats have a larger surface and feel sturdier to bash around, but I don't like the outward tapering towards the top. On the other side of the coin, Ball-tops have something to easily grip but I don't like them with a thin shaft as they feel flimsy. This is why I always like the Suzo 500's - Balltop but with an all-in-one shaft that is thicker with a short throw. They have such a sturdy feel but yet are comfortable for prolonged use.

[Visitor Q]

Pretty sure I am going to roll with two bat tops for player 1 and 2 (U360s), 4 way dedicated ball top.