J-Stick the right stick for me?

[sofakng]

I've been searching around the forums and I didn't see anything bad about the J-stick except that it's a little low.  However if you top-mount it, it should be fine.

Before I place my order, is this the right joystick for me?  I've new to fighters but I would like to start playing them arcade-style (SFA3, MSHVSF, etc).  On the other hand, Metal Slug is an AMAZING game and I would like a good joystick for that as well.  Lastly, I would definitely like to hookup my dreamcast to my arcade controls, so I want a joystick that will be good for that (eg. Soul Calibur).

Jakejake recommended the J-stick to me in another thread (thanks again for the suggestion jakejake!), but I would like to get as much input as possible before ordering.

Thanks for any suggestions or advice!

[Apollo]

I haven't used it but I am going for J-sticks ( ball tops ) on my cabs. One cab ( 19" vertical ) will have 1 J-stick and 1 PacMan/Galaga 4 way. And the other cab ( 25" horizontal ) will have 2 J-sticks set up Street Fighter style.

[sofakng]

Are the oval-top ones worse?  I really don't like the look of the ball-top what-so-ever (so thats not even an option for me -- just a personal preference).

Otherwise though, the J-stick works great with fighting games and regular games (Metal Slug, etc) ?

[2slk]

 IMHO, the J-stick is the best all-around stick that you can buy. They are great for fighters, having distinct but not too 'sticky' corners. Diagonals are a breeze to hit.

 It's great in 4-way mode too because by rotating the actuator, you get physical restriction of the diagonals so there are no 'dead' zones. Also, the sticks are really great quality and feel very nice.

 The J-Stick ha a light tension which I like very much. If you like a heavier tension and very short throw, go for the T-Stick. I have read in a few posts that it is possible to add tension to the J-stick but stretching or replacing the springs but I haven't done it myself.

 By the stick being low, I'm not really sure what you mean. I guess it depends on what you have it mounted in. Mine is in metal. In any case, there is a bunch of solutions/mods/hacks that you can do if you don't like the height.  

[Apollo]

The oval top and ball top work exactly the same but me being old school it's a more retro look. It's the look the sticks had when I was 10 and Space Invaders came out ( well the first ones had buttons but you know what I mean ). I want the experience to be as near as possible to the original which is why I will have a seperate 4 way ( PacMan/Galaga ) not a switched 8 way which can never be the same IMHO. That is also why I am building a dedicated Stargate/Defender cab.

[armad1ll0]

Before you commit to a 4 way I would suggest that you check out the Sanwa "j-stick" in 4 way mode. It's not a true 4 way in the sense that there are no 4 corridors for the shaft to travel in. It's just that the square slot for the joystick is turned to form a diamond instead. The diagonals can not be hit so it becomes a 4-way.  I plan on using the oval top Sanwa's in my new CP so that Pac-man would be as simple as a twist.

I really like them and you'll be fine w/ them on Capcom games if you like the "square feel" and small movement. If you don't like small movements, you might not like it. Not everyone does like it, nor plays well on them.

The internals of the oval top and ball top are identical

[Smack]

I switched to J-sticks on my cocktail cab and am pretty happy with them. I had had t-sticks before but got tired of the short throw on them, not to mention the stiffness.

I'm gonna try that stretching / replacing the spring thing sooner or later to tighten the stick up a bit.

Overall I'm very happy with them. The 4 way blocking is great too, its just that the stick is so loose, Pac-man feels weird.

My 2 cents.

[armad1ll0]

From the Capcom fighters crowd, it's a better thing to have the joysticks loose w/out being sloppy. The longer you play on a stiff stick, the more tired you'll get.

no sexual innuendo implied... =P

[pmc]

One thing I've discovered that bugs me about the ball-top: They like to slowly unscrew during gameplay. Ideas on how to fix this? Glue?

Otherwise, I love 'em septing the same minor complaints everyone else has.

Bottom-line for me was the retro ball-top look coupled with the switchable 4/8-way which works great. That combo sold me.

[Stormdemon]

How can you complain about short throw in an arcade stick? Short throw is everything! The sorter the travel is, the more precission you have since you hit the switch very quickly, and the special moves can be done very easily. I would understand somebody complaining about the tension of the stick, although t-sticks are very very extreme in this sense (try psm30 from Industrias Lorenzo), but short throw, for me, is the most important feature in a stick because it grants precission and speed.

[Apollo]

One thing I've discovered that bugs me about the ball-top: They like to slowly unscrew during gameplay. Ideas on how to fix this? Glue?

Otherwise, I love 'em septing the same minor complaints everyone else has.

Bottom-line for me was the retro ball-top look coupled with the switchable 4/8-way which works great. That combo sold me.

2 words "hot glue"

[Grasshopper]

How can you complain about short throw in an arcade stick? Short throw is everything! The sorter the travel is, the more precission you have since you hit the switch very quickly, and the special moves can be done very easily. I would understand somebody complaining about the tension of the stick, although t-sticks are very very extreme in this sense (try psm30 from Industrias Lorenzo), but short throw, for me, is the most important feature in a stick because it grants precission and speed.

Stormdemon, have you actually bought one of the psm30 sticks, and if so what have your experiences been?

They look easy to mount in wood. Pity about the small handle though.

I bought some parts from IL about 9 months ago and I did consider buying one of the psm30s out of curiosity. I eventually decided not to but now I regret it.

[Wade]

PMC, to keep the balls from coming loose: with the joystick not mounted in the control panel, grip the ball tightly with your hand (wouldn't hurt to hold it with a piece of rubber like a jar opener) and use a large screwdriver on the bottom of the shaft to tighten up the ball.  Since doing this, the ball tops on my sticks haven't worked loose.  They did before when only hand tightened.

Wade

[Stormdemon]

The PSM30's handle is very similar to Happs Universal Stick. It's small if you compare to a Super Joystick, but I find it quite confortable. The differences with a Universal is that this stick has a squared base, so you can move the stick and feel the corners. This is better for directional games such as shoot'em ups. Maybe it's not so good for fighting games which require circular movements. The tension of the stick is very strong, stronger than Happs Universal, and much more strong than Happ's Supers. This grants a lot of precission because the stick goes back to center very very quickly. The first time I used it I felt a little tiring after some hours of gameplay. The throw is short. It's not as short as T-sticks, but short enough for me (kinda Happs Universal). The microswitches that it mounts don't have any plate because the stick directly touches the switch. One advantage is that the part of the stick which goes beneath the table is very small, so you don't need a big box for mouning the stick (very different situation with Universals). I've been using this stick for more than one year now and it seems to be strong because it works flawlessly like the first day. I'm very happy with it because it's the kind of stick that I remember from the Arcades when I was young. A good alternative to Happ Universals, I think.

[HeadRusch]

Agreed on the unscrewing thing..........its a major pain...sometimes I find myself forgetting about the game and focusing on re-screwing the ball with my fingers.......its annoying.

Put a glue in there that you can break the seal and remove the glue easily, in the event you wanna swap out the stick and have to remove the red top.