Joystick Advice

[shredso]

I originally bought a pair of Mag Stick Plus for my control panel.  I did like the easy switching from 4 to 8, but something wasn't quite right about them.  I was playing a lot of beat em up's and the throw felt weird.  I swapped them out for some other sticks I had that came out of a Mortal Kombat.  I thought it was a big improvement at first, but I've been mostly playing games like Galaga, donky Kong, Ms Pac Man etc lately and the 8 way stinks.  I'm tempted to go back to the mag sticks.   I really don't have room on my CP for a 4 way.  Any suggestions on another stick that may suit my needs? 

[Ginsu Victim]

Ultimarc's Ultrastik 360

[severdhed]

i just bought a pair of u360s, and while i dont have them installed in my cabinet yet (in the middle of a major rebuild)...i have one mounted in a temp panel and have played around a little with various games...pacman, donkey kong, street fighter, mk2...so far, it has performed very well with all of them....i can't wait to get these things mounted...   if you search this site for u360, you will find alot of people who are very happy with them.

[shredso]

I suppose I could have done a little more research before asking that question.  The 360's look pretty decent.  Does anyone know if you can switch between ball and the other style top?  Do people tend to miss the clicking or the physical restraint of a 4 or 2 way?  Lastly, will if mount easily  so I can switch back and forth between my competition and/or the Mag Stik?

[Ginsu Victim]

Does anyone know if you can switch between ball and the other style top?

Yes, but you'll have to swap the entire shaft (unless the adapter at lizardlick works for this)

Do people tend to miss the clicking

Those of us who grew up on leaf switch sticks don't.

or the physical restraint of a 4 or 2 way?

There is a 4-way restrictor available. It comes with the awesome circular restrictor. I also recommend buying the hard springs.

Lastly, will if mount easily so I can switch back and forth between my competition and/or the Mag Stik?

This will be the last stick you ever use. You won't need to switch back to anything else

[Blanka]

Arcadeshop.de's balls for Sanwa/Seitmitsu sticks all work on the U360. That means 3 sizes of balls, 12 colours per size and a bunch of translucent ones. Even the teardrop tops work as the shop sells an adapter between the 2 threads.

[shredso]

OK, just want to make sure I have everything straight before I dish out a ton of dough for 2 of these.

Physical 4 way restriction requires access to the bottom of the joystick.  Do you people who own these sticks tend to be happy with the software restriction or are you using the plate?  How long does it take to switch from say the circular to the 4 way?

Ball and bat top use different size shafts.  I'm assuming changing the shaft also requires access to the bottom of the stick.  Can anyone confirm that the Lizardlick adapter would allow me to swap out the tops without changing the shaft?  This isn't really a dealbreaker, I just dont know which one I want.

I'm 99% sure I'll be buying at least one of these within the next week or 2.  I'm finding Ms Pac Man to be more and more frustrating with my 8 way.  Thanks for all the help.

Ed.

[Ginsu Victim]

How long does it take to switch from say the circular to the 4 way?

Not really a good idea. The benefit of owning the U360 is having the software restrict the input for you. I only use the circular restrictor and when I select a 4-way game, Ultramap automatically switches layouts for me. I have no need for the 4-way physical restriction, because then I would have to rotate it 45° for 8-way, which defeats the purpose of owning a U360 in the first place.