Main > Main Forum

Silent dedicated 4-way/8-way sticks?

(1/6) > >>

Boris the Spider:
I just wrote a long post then my session timed out and I lost it! So heres the short version:

I'm building a three sided cocktail cabinet with 11" control panels on the head-to-head sides. After months of reading forums and reviews, I'm still very in the dark since I haven't had experience with any joysticks yet at all myself.

1) The sticks must be silent, no miroswitches.

2) I want to play mostly older arcade games from the 80's using the most authentic controls possible. Example, I want to play pacman and achieve higher levels then ever before when I used to pump quarters into it.

Since space is an issue, I originally thought I'd use switchable 8-way/4-way joysticks all around the table (like the happp 360 or newer ultimarc 360). After reading so much debate on this forum, I'm not sure the gameplay experience will allow me to master games like paman since it's not a dedicated stick.  So now I'm thinking of both a dedicated 4-way and a dedicated 8-way joystick to go on each of the head-2-head sides of my cocktail cabinet. Can anyone suggest two silent dedictaed 4 & 8 way joysticks. I don't see any options out there other than tracking down some original wico leafs.

...and yes, that was the short version.

Kremmit:
The Wico's sound like your best hope if you require silence and true 4-way restriction.

I can think of five other options that might fit the bill.  They are all either more expensive or more work.  They are:

1) Buy an Ultrastick 360 from Ultimarc, and buy the restrictor kit for it.  Attach the restrictor in the 4-way orientation.  Use another U360 for your 8-way stick, so they'll match.
 
2) Find an old Perfect360 adaptor for a Happ Super.  (*note- when shopping for these adaptors, you have to be very careful, most of the ones you'll see fit a Wico base, not a Super.  Be sure.)  These are not made anymore, but they show up on ebay from time to time, or somebody here might be willing to part with one.  Basically, it screws on in place of the microswitches, and uses beams of infrared light instead, just like a regular P360.  Since the (8-way) Super base is identical to the (4-way) Reunion, you could mount one of these adaptors on a Happ Reunion and get a silent 4-way.  Use a regular Super with a P360 adaptor for an 8-way that'll match perfectly, or use a standard P360 for one that's pretty darn close.  *note-  Supers, Reunions, and P360s don't come with matching handles.  Matching handles can be had from TornadoTerry, GroovyGameGear, or SlikStik.

3)  Modify a Super and a Reunion base to use leafswitches instead of microswitches.  I've never seen anybody do it, but I don't see why it couldn't be done. 

4)  Build your own 4-way restrictor plate for a Happ Perfect360 or 49-way joystick.

5)  Find some of Oscar's add-on restrictor plates and use them with Happ Perfect360s or 49-ways.  These plates are getting very, very scarce.

Boris the Spider:
Kremmit:

Thanks for the ideas! I considerd using restrictor plates but was still worried that they woldn't work perfectly for trying to master games. I read some things on this forum about people having a harder time perfecting a game like fast pacman using restrictor plates vs using a dedicated 4-way.

If I don't use restrictor plates, and use a Wico for my 4-way, what could I use for a silent true dedicated 8-way? Or does that not exist?

Kremmit:
A Wico 8-way, of course!   ;D

Or a 49-way, Ultimarc 360, Perfect360, or Suzo Inductive.  The Wico would be the best match, but the 49-way or U360 would also allow you to play additional games that just don't work right with an 8-way, so you might be willing to give up the exact match for the added capabilities.  Best arguement for the P360 or Suzo is that they're still available new, so you won't have to hunt for them, and you won't have to buy used.  The P360 will take a Wico handle, so you can get a handle match with your 4-way Wico if you go that route.

Boris the Spider:
Oh man! Just when I thought I had it figured out. I forgot to consider what you mentioned about games that don't play right with an 8-way. Your talking about games like time pilot right? Where you need to have full motion?

With that said, I guess I'm looking a dedicated wico 4-way for each player, and then a Ultra 360 for each also. On the third panel,  I'm going to try to fit two Ultra 360s and one wico 4-way in the middle.  I just picked up a box of 20 Wicos on ebay and am waiting for those to arrive.  The seller said the all need a cleaning but none of the grommetts felt blown out, and some need eclips and such.  Two are wico "style" but the rest look legit. I'll know better once those arrive what I'm going to do.  If I decide to go with the 4-way and 8-way for ech player instead...and if there aren't any 8-way Wicos in that box (seller is slow responding my email about that), maybe I can open a thread to see if anyone wants to trade a 4-way wico for an 8-way wico.

Are parts available for Wicos or swappable from other manufacturers?

Thanks for talking this out with me...it helps a lot.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

Go to full version