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Arcade upgrades - joystick recommendations please
Benevolance:
It's been a year or two since I finished my arcade cabinet. Like most first builds, I had to make a few guesses as to what I wanted. For the most part I'm happy with the choices, thanks largely to all the feedback and discussion from people on the forums.
But I've never been happy with the Happ 49-way joysticks I purchased. I bought the 49-way joysticks thinking that more was better and because I didn't really have a good idea what games would be popular when guests came over. I wanted options! But the performance of the joysticks is sub-par at best. I bought the upgrade grommets from Randy, and that improved the feel of the stick considerably, but I still don't think that the sticks are as responsive as they could/should be. I'm already planning to add some additional features to the cabinet, such as the Aimtrak modules. I figured I might as well upgrade my joysticks while I'm at it. Armed with hindsight, I know that the majority of the games I play use an 8-way joystick, and a select few use a 4-way stick.
Preamble aside, my question is: what kind of joystick gives a really, crisp response? The U360 garners a lot of positive feedback as a general purpose stick. Would a dedicated 8-way joystick be better? Worse? I'm looking for opinions and recommendations.
Finally, I've got two GP-WIZ49 interfaces already installed. I'm happy with them. Will I need to replace it if I replace the joysticks or can I wire the new joysticks up to those existing boards?
Epyx:
Sounds like how I felt with my first cab and the Mag Stick Plus...never enjoyed that stick. With my bartop I switched to competition joys...player one set to 8 way and player two to 4 way for solo play.
With the current project I am using Sanwa JLWs and will do the same...player 1 set to 8 way and player 2 to 4 way...switching when required if company is over. To me its been feel over functionality so far...it has to feel right and then I worry about functionality...so far the competitions and Sanwa's feel the best.
severdhed:
personally, i love my u360s...i haven't found a game yet that they don't perform amazingly on.
if you don't want to spend that much money and don't mind the clutter of extra sticks, i'd go with two 8way happ competitions, and an Ultimarc J-Stik (sanwa JLW) balltop as a dedicated 4way
mvsfan:
--- Quote from: Benevolance on March 13, 2010, 07:12:09 pm ---It's been a year or two since I finished my arcade cabinet. Like most first builds, I had to make a few guesses as to what I wanted. For the most part I'm happy with the choices, thanks largely to all the feedback and discussion from people on the forums.
But I've never been happy with the Happ 49-way joysticks I purchased. I bought the 49-way joysticks thinking that more was better and because I didn't really have a good idea what games would be popular when guests came over. I wanted options! But the performance of the joysticks is sub-par at best. I bought the upgrade grommets from Randy, and that improved the feel of the stick considerably, but I still don't think that the sticks are as responsive as they could/should be. I'm already planning to add some additional features to the cabinet, such as the Aimtrak modules. I figured I might as well upgrade my joysticks while I'm at it. Armed with hindsight, I know that the majority of the games I play use an 8-way joystick, and a select few use a 4-way stick.
Preamble aside, my question is: what kind of joystick gives a really, crisp response? The U360 garners a lot of positive feedback as a general purpose stick. Would a dedicated 8-way joystick be better? Worse? I'm looking for opinions and recommendations.
Finally, I've got two GP-WIZ49 interfaces already installed. I'm happy with them. Will I need to replace it if I replace the joysticks or can I wire the new joysticks up to those existing boards?
--- End quote ---
Honestly, the 49-ways are almost proprietary in design. They were designed for a few newer games like Nfl blitz that actually get the benefit out of using them.
On older games and even other newer games that werent designed with the 49 in mind, performance varies but often isnt as good as a 8 way if thats what it was designed with.
now, i have heard great things about the Ultra 360s, since they were designed with Mame in mind, and not a particular Oem hardware.
personally, for me ive found that the most versatile joystick is an 8 way Rotary using druins rotary interface.
that setup has all the benefit of the best 8 way, and you can also play Caliber 50 and Ikari warrior type games.
my opinion is that an 8 way rotary setup with mame in mind, takes care of the controls for thousands of games and is the most versatile.
Also, i have yet to try out an ultra 360, so i wont say its better or worse.
Ginsu Victim:
--- Quote from: mvsfan on March 14, 2010, 06:50:42 pm ---Honestly, the 49-ways are almost proprietary in design. They were designed for a few newer games like Nfl blitz that actually get the benefit out of using them.
--- End quote ---
Sinistar, Pigskin 621 AD, Blaster, and Arch Rivals used a 49-way.
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