SlikStik (New Product Sneak Peek)

[SlikStik-Christian]

All,
 
  We just wanted to inform everyone of the newest addition to the SlikStik product line. SS-Competition joystick handles. They are CNC machined from solid 303 Stainless Steel. The new handles are compatible with Happ Ultimate, Competition, and Optical joystick bases.

The extra weight from the Stainless steel provides very sensitive, very smooth movement and our redesigned handle feels more comfortable than any other stick we have tested. We think they will improve game play by 25% - 50%. They will be available as an upgrade to customers who order SlikStik controls panels and separately as replacements for existing joysticks. The final cost has not been determined yet but will be shortly, they will be available in about 2 weeks.

Thanks for looking; any comments or questions are welcome.

[SNAAAKE]

one word...WOW ! ! !
Very nice work..how much will you be selling em?
It won't fit super joysticks base
Just wondering..you didnt say it would.

Now release some chorome buttons please...matching .

[AlanS17]

Can anybody say "mucho dinero"?  

Don't get me wrong. I love them. But they can't possibly be cheap...

[SlikStik-Christian]

one word...WOW ! ! !
Very nice work..how much will you be selling em?
It won't fit super joysticks base
Just wondering..you didnt say it would.

Now release some chorome buttons please...matching .

SNAAAKE,

   Oops, forgot that one, yes they will also fit Happ Supers

[AlanS17]

Will they be under $30 each? I've seen stainless steel towing hitches go for $50... and that's just a ball and thread.

[SlikStik-Christian]

Will they be under $30 each? I've seen stainless steel towing hitches go for $50... and that's just a ball and thread.

The final price hasent been set yet, but i can tell you that they will be under $30 a piece.

[IIOIOOIOO]

Wow, a 50% gaming improvement. Mind posting the data from that test? It would make me 50% more persuaded to buy one...

[SirPoonga]

SWEET!  Must get job now to be able to feed addiction.....


Hehe, my cocktail cabinet is going to have a gloss black and chrome/brushed alluminum feel (modelled after my motorcycle).  This would help the theme alot!

[crashdmj]

Wow, you could kill a guy with those!  

[skirge66]

here's a suggestion for you...offer them in standard length and 1/4-1/2" longer than standard, for those people using 3/4" cp's, that want their sticks normal height, and really don't want to router out a recess.

I think these things look...well...  "slik"  

I would probably be in the market for 5 of them depending on price

[mastercave]

here's a suggestion for you...offer them in standard length and 1/4-1/2" longer than standard, for those people using 3/4" cp's, that want their sticks normal height, and really don't want to router out a recess.

I think these things look...well...  "slik"  

I would probably be in the market for 5 of them depending on price

i also second the idea of making it longer if possible. but if the price is right, i'll get a couple.

[SONIC]

Looks good Might gonna order some if the price is right But hell, sure looks good!!! Are you fellas gonna ship to Denmark too???

[Grasshopper]

Wow, They look very nice indeed. As some of the previous posters said, I'll buy some but only if the price is right....

As you're now in the business of manufacturing handles I have a few suggestions:

1. How about a solid stainless steel balltop handle for the older games?

2. Why not manufacture a stainless steel shaft with a screw top. The shaft could then be supplied with different handles made of plastic (ball, bat, different colours etc) and people could swap handles depending upon which game they were playing.

3. I would very much like it if someone manufactured a ball top handle for the IL/Ultimarc T-Stik. You could probably manufacture a handle that would fit the T-Stik and the Super/Competition. All these joysticks are made by the same manufacturer and have a 1cm diameter shaft. All you'd basically need to do would be to add some extra grooves at positions suitable for the T-Stik.

4. As someone else mentioned most home builders mount their joysticks in wood and generally the Supers and Competitions are a little short without routing. Therefore make sure that your handles are slightly taller than the Happ ones.

[Lilwolf]

I have to say  WAY COOL!

[SlikStik-Christian]

Wow, They look very nice indeed. As some of the previous posters said, I'll buy some but only if the price is right....

As you're now in the business of manufacturing handles I have a few suggestions:

1. How about a solid stainless steel balltop handle for the older games?

Glad you asked about that, those are also in the works. We are shooting for a solid stainless steel ball top joystick, there is no ETA but it is in the works.

2. Why not manufacture a stainless steel shaft with a screw top. The shaft could then be supplied with different handles made of plastic (ball, bat, different colours etc) and people could swap handles depending upon which game they were playing.

That was also a possibility, the handles actually started out as threaded rods with tapped bats, but they did come loose after a fair amount of game play. We opted to go with a solid handle this time around because of the seamless look and feel.

3. I would very much like it if someone manufactured a ball top handle for the IL/Ultimarc T-Stik. You could probably manufacture a handle that would fit the T-Stik and the Super/Competition. All these joysticks are made by the same manufacturer and have a 1cm diameter shaft. All you'd basically need to do would be to add some extra grooves at positions suitable for the T-Stik.

When we release the stainless ball top sticks they will be compatible with the J-Stick

4. As someone else mentioned most home builders mount their joysticks in wood and generally the Supers and Competitions are a little short without routing. Therefore make sure that your handles are slightly taller than the Happ ones.

Our handles will be 1/4" higher than the Happ original sticks, compensating for people using 3/4" panels.

[HeadRusch]

Ok, i'll play devils advocate here: They look awesome..but....I wonder if you'll lose your grip after playing a little while if your hand gets sweaty!

don't laugh, IT COULD HAPPEN!

On the other hand...CHROME BUTTONS!! CHROME BUTTONS!!

[AlanS17]

I honestly wouldn't be terribly interested in the thing if I couldn't get chrome buttons. Otherwise it wouldn't fit. I don't mean REAL chfrome buttons, though. Just shiny plastic buttons would do just fine. Put it all together and it would be one slik stik. (and only cost $70 per set of controls)  

[anthony691]

 

Oh my God! SWEET! SWEET! SWEET!

WOW! WOW! WOW!

There is no way I am going to be able to afford this!

Chrome buttons would be sweet too.

 

[Grasshopper]

When we release the stainless ball top sticks they will be compatible with the J-Stick

Does that mean they won't be compatible with the T-Stik?

[SlikStik-Christian]

When we release the stainless ball top sticks they will be compatible with the J-Stick

Does that mean they won't be compatible with the T-Stik?

We cant say for sure, we dont have one on hand but we are awaiting one from Ultimarc for testing.

[Thenasty]

Would this work with Happs Perfect 360 ? Happs 360 compare to my previous joysticks shaft are smaller, could not use my RED bat type joystick in my 360. I had to use what came with it, black ones.

[SlikStik-Christian]

Would this work with Happs Perfect 360 ? Happs 360 compare to my previous joysticks shaft are smaller, could not use my RED bat type joystick in my 360. I had to use what came with it, black ones.

Yes they will work with the Happ P-360 joysticks.

[Zakk]

I gotta say:  Very nice.  Especially if they work with the Supers and are a bit longer than super stock sticks.  Ultimates really are crummy sticks (IMHO), but they do have a thinner shaft than the supers, are you going to make different diameter shafts, or some kind of spacer?

 Just curious, they do look amazing in a fast an furious way  

[Lilwolf]

You CAN get stainless steel trackball (but it was kinda small)..  

but you are talking some cash here..

So Christian (or Oscar ((or anyone dealing with people who can mill parts)...  What do you think... what would it cost / take to make some stainless steel buttons?

[armad1ll0]

I seriously doubt that they will improve performance at all. It's just like the muffler tips on rice rocket cars.... unless you actually improve the other bottlenecks the end does nothing.

The location where all of these joysticks loose performance is the fact that they sticks have too much of a throw. Once you click the microswitch all of the rest of the handles throw is useless and reduces the reaction time of the joystick's ability to manuver. Taking look at a J-stick one will realize why it's so much faster than any of the sticks Happ sells.

The handle is just what you hold onto. If you want to increase it's performance, take apart the joystick body and rebuild the part that restricks the joysticks motion to be minimal to just hitting the micro switch. This will make one of these joystick perform better.

W/ the thought of the rubberized handle vs the SSteel one... I'll compare this to the PS2 Dualshock joysticks.... Logitech has a wireless controller that is really nice, but it's analog sticks are slick plastic... I find my thumb sliding off of it and this makes this controller bad in my mind. YOu need to be able to grip the handle, that's why car's shifters are often leather covered.

Now make one of those joystick handles and you'll be talking.

Sorry, don't want to piss on what is a beautiful creation. I do think that I have a point. They look amazing though...

[mahuti]

I'm in.

I'm not too worried about the performance.

[SlikStik-Christian]

Well Stainless Steel buttons are out of the question, cost would be way out of line for a hobby purpose. BUT......

We are working on trying to get some buttons spray chromed like the type of plastic chroming you see in automotive applications, we just started researching it so we will keep you posted, probably have an answer early next week. I think we are going to have to get a big batch done to get the price down, and we want to make sure that they will hold up so we might have to have a few in house Street Fighter tourneys to put them through some testing.

Yes, these handles are going to use either a plastic or brass sleeve to make the difference up in the size of the shafts, so you will be able to use whatever handle you want on any of the joysticks by changing the sleeve, thats the detail we are still working out, hence the two weeks till they are available.

We thought of a Stainless Steel trackball, but we are pretty sure it will be too heavy and too slippery when it is up against the steel rollers in the trackball.

Believe it or not, because of the extra weight of this stick, it FEELS so much better in a competition joystick, and in the Optical 360 as well because the Opticals have very strong springs, and feel is everything.

Jerry
SLIKSTIK

[Xiaou2]

 I was thinking that a nice set of steel buttons would make for a great addition... however...  I think it would be even better to make tron-like plastic translucent blue sticks, and  clear-red (or assorted colors)  buttons that all can be lit via superbright leds or simular.

 Hmm - maybe just make them all clear plasic... and leds under can light them to any color desired.  You could even go so far as to make color-cycling controls!
: )

 

[John IV [MameUI64]]

I'll take a couple for my controller when they're available.  I didn't route out my CP and that extra length would be welcome.

Are you going to throw in a couple snap on washer things at the bottom in addition to the sleeves?

Our handles will be 1/4" higher than the Happ original sticks, compensating for people using 3/4" panels.

[2slk]

 I will agree that the look of this product is absolutely outstanding. The handles will sell very well based on that merit alone. But, 'they will improve game play by 25% - 50%' ??!! What the heck is that supposed to mean? They feel 25% - 50% better? That's a very subjective thing. They will increase scores by 25% - 50%? I don't think so!

 Thanks for being an innovator in this industry by designing and selling nice looking, reliable products and backing them up with good service. This alone will cement your place in the do-it-yourself MAME community without having to resorting to some ridiculous infomercial-like marketing claims.

[OSCAR]

These look very nice.  I'll bet that they make the joystick action a fair bit quicker, too.

Basically the center of gravity of the handle has been moved higher on the shaft so it is further from the fulcrum point resulting in a more unstable system.  Note that I'm using the term "unstable" purely as a common term used to describe a mechanical system, and NOT in a derogatory sense.  In this case, a more unstable system should result in faster play of the stick, as I speculate.

One of the reasons I put the balltops on my P360's is because my hands would occasionally slip on the stock bat handles during heated Robotron fests.  I would be curious to find out if these SS handles would keep their grip better than the textured plastic ones.

The design is very well done.  Knowing what is involved in this process, I can appreciate the effort made to make them compatible with the various styles of joystick bases.  Just that alone will help make them a good seller.  Good luck with them!


##EDIT##
I forgot about the sleeves...  I would look into a plastic sleeve.  SS and other steel alloys are susceptible to galling when in direct contact with other tight toleranced metal parts.  This can cause them to sieze together.  An example is the old Wico sticks and how they would sieze to the metal sleeve in the grommet.

[SONIC]

How about making some leather/rubber handles for them, as an add-on for people that wish that kinda stuff? That way you would have a heavy solid stick with awesome grip on it, so it don't slide outta your hand! Would be awesome I reckon!!!

[Xiaou2]

btw-  when is the new starwars yoke w/ ball bearing'd joints comming out?  : )

[skirge66]

nice scientific explanation oscar...

as for the 25-50% statement that's just the nature of advertisement...how many products make similar statements, in reallity there is no realistic way to prove this. however if you read oscar's post I can deffinately see how the weight alone could improve functionality...25-50% though an exageration is a good catch line that is used to to peak interest in an aspect that there is no realistic way of testing.

I still say kudos to christian...these look fantastic.

clear buttons...now these would be fantastic...all the colors of the rainbow...predrilled to mount an LED

[Druin]

SNAAAKE,

   Oops, forgot that one, yes they will also fit Happ Supers

How about fitting Happ Rotary?

[AlanS17]

SNAAAKE,

   Oops, forgot that one, yes they will also fit Happ Supers

How about fitting Happ Rotary?

Whether it fits rotaries or not, wouldn't it be hard to turn such a slippery joystick after a while?

[Magnet_Eye]

Stainless Steel..WOW! Cool man. $30 plus what you pay for the stick to add it makes a slightly pricey joy, but if ya got the cash, they would look sweet. Probably best with a CP using all black buttons or some type of cool transluscent ones.

How about making some leather/rubber handles for them, as an add-on for people that wish that kinda stuff? That way you would have a heavy solid stick with awesome grip on it, so it don't slide outta your hand! Would be awesome I reckon!!!

You could have a kind of leather "boot" like they use on the shifter knobs in cars.

[shmokes]

I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to replace Happ Top Fire Button sticks with these, LOL  

[AlanS17]

I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to replace Happ Top Fire Button sticks with these, LOL  

good aim, a drill press, and a miracle  

[SirPoonga]

I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to replace Happ Top Fire Button sticks with these, LOL  

actually, that isn't a bad idea, one of these fabricators want to come up with a GOOD topfire/trigger design that can just drop intoa super/ultimate/competition.