Harsh realization (360 fighter stick pricing)

[IronBuddha]

I've been wanting a fighter stick for the 360 but not wanting to shell out $150. But after doing some looking around today, $150 may not be so bad.....

I figured that I would just make one, but here's the problem:

10 buttons and joystick= $63 after S&H
Wire= $5 (I'm all out of wire right now but luckily I have enough solder :roll:)
360 controller= $50
Framing= $15 (wood framing, plexi for CP)

Total= $133

And that would be for just a plain fighting stick. Nothing special, no led's or even a different colored ball top etc. Now I can do some "rigging" with spare parts I have now but then that's the problem, it's rigged I'm not even 100% it will work and also it would be with a Wico stick and regular happ buttons so the CP will end up being very "bulky".

Just thought I'd share to see if anyone else was in the same boat with me and see what other ideas are out there.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

The release of Street Fighter 4 (and other 2D fighters) in this console generation has brought about a flood of slightly lower end/lower cost fighter sticks from Japan/HK.

Poke around on a site like www.superufo.com or eBay and you'll be able to find a comparable fighter stick for less than $100, probably less than $75 that'll do the job.

I got 2 very decent Blaze PS3 fighter sticks for $20 each on SuperUFO and they shipped from China to my apartment in 3 days.

[ubersaurus]

It depends what you're looking for, really. Ever since Dreamcast days if you wanted a high quality stick with good, arcade parts, you were looking at over a hundred bucks. If you don't really care that badly and just want an arcade stick there's usually stock, cheaper options that use less stellar parts. For the 360, that would be the Hori EX2, aka the Dead or Alive 4 stick (and Soul Calibur 4, I think?) which is like 50-60 bucks, or the Madcatz Standard Edition Fightstick, which is a little more (I think 70-80). The Madcatz one is a lot easier to swap out the buttons and stick with Japanese parts, but that will probably end up driving the price up a few dozen bucks anyway.

If you just want American arcade parts, though, 63 bucks seems a bit steep. I ordered a Happ competition stick and 11 buttons from lizardlick last year and I think it came out to something like 30 bucks? And I know there's a number of sites carrying arcade parts these days. EDIT: If you want a knockoff Wico stick, Lizardlick sells a chinese clone of it for 10 bucks, and the buttons you seek for a little under 2 bucks a pop.

Also don't forget that you don't necessarily need a 1st party 360 PCB; there are cheaper 3rd party ones that can be used too. You may want to check the tech talk forum over at shoryuken.com about this, as they have a lot of good discussion about arcade sticks over there.

[otaku]

I just ordered a cheap SF4 setup I believe its madcatz around 70 bucks shipped could be hori either way they don't hold up real well to heavy play (which I likely wont submit it to I play casually and not very hard on it) that said I wish I could justify buying another TE for 150+ like I had briefly on my ps3 for SF4 that thing is built like a tank! But I just couldn't justify spending twice as much when I know I'll never need a stick to be built that well and I don't play many fighters and not for very long and not very hard. if you do go TE spend the money

[Cinder6]

Where are you looking at for the buttons? I just priced them out on Lizardlick, and it'd be $42 before shipping, including a Sanwa stick. Of course, shipping could be a lot; I can't remember from the last time I ordered from them.

But yeah, sticks can be pretty expensive. Have you looked at the Fighting Stick EX 2 by Hori? It's decent (I would prefer microswitches on the buttons and an octagonal restrictor plate), and it's only $55 on Amazon.

[IronBuddha]

I got 2 very decent Blaze PS3 fighter sticks for $20 each on SuperUFO and they shipped from China to my apartment in 3 days.

I just checked them out and they have a few for the 360 for around 40-50 bucks, very tempting indeed.



If you just want American arcade parts, though, 63 bucks seems a bit steep. I ordered a Happ competition stick and 11 buttons from lizardlick last year and I think it came out to something like 30 bucks? And I know there's a number of sites carrying arcade parts these days. EDIT: If you want a knockoff Wico stick, Lizardlick sells a chinese clone of it for 10 bucks, and the buttons you seek for a little under 2 bucks a pop.


Where are you looking at for the buttons? I just priced them out on Lizardlick, and it'd be $42 before shipping, including a Sanwa stick. Of course, shipping could be a lot; I can't remember from the last time I ordered from them.

The parts I looked up were what I saw people recommending for a good controls. Sanwa JLF series stick $25 (http://lizardlick.com/pages/sanwa_jlf_faq.shtml) and the Sanwa OBSF-30 buttons ($3 each x 10) after shipping it comes out to $63

I have a Wico Stick and enough Happ buttons right now if I wanted to use them, but I wasn't sure since the buttons are longer compared to the Sanwa's if the controller would have be deeper making it look and feel too bulky when I was done with it.


Also don't forget that you don't necessarily need a 1st party 360 PCB; there are cheaper 3rd party ones that can be used too. You may want to check the tech talk forum over at shoryuken.com about this, as they have a lot of good discussion about arcade sticks over there.

Another thing I wasn't sure about is if other controllers worked well, when I get some time I'll hop over there as well.


I just ordered a cheap SF4 setup I believe its madcatz around 70 bucks shipped could be hori either way they don't hold up real well to heavy play (which I likely wont submit it to I play casually and not very hard on it) that said I wish I could justify buying another TE for 150+ like I had briefly on my ps3 for SF4 that thing is built like a tank! But I just couldn't justify spending twice as much when I know I'll never need a stick to be built that well and I don't play many fighters and not for very long and not very hard. if you do go TE spend the money

It would get put to use many times. This is why I'm stuck on what to do. Since fighting games are my favorite then yes maybe I should spend $150, but I just keep thinking "damn $150 for a fucking controller" LOL

[ubersaurus]

Ah, yeah, importing Japanese parts is a bit pricier, but as far as I know american parts don't fit in any of the retail 360 sticks. As far as fighters go it's really preference for Japanese vs. American parts. I can use either just fine, but I do prefer Sanwa. I do know that if you play arcade shooters at all that those guys recommend Seimitsu sticks and not US parts, but if you aren't hardcore about shooters then it's a moot point I think.

American parts are bulkier, so the stick would have to be deeper, but it's not by a massive margin; if you've ever seen the old Pelican Real Arcade sticks, or the SF Anniversary stick, Happ parts fit fine in those, so that's about as deep as you'd expect with those.

I suppose if you wanted a cheaper but fairly good route you could just get the cheaper MadCatz stick, replace the stick portion of it with a Sanwa, and leave the default buttons. Or maybe just replace the buttons you'd actually use for fighting games (so like, 6).

[spaceFarmer]

It would get put to use many times. This is why I'm stuck on what to do. Since fighting games are my favorite then yes maybe I should spend $150, but I just keep thinking "damn $150 for a fucking controller" LOL

It looks like madcatz manufacturing has caught up to demand. I've seen them on sale at amazon and buy.com. I picked one up for $125 shipped last week.

[G-Boobie]

It would get put to use many times. This is why I'm stuck on what to do. Since fighting games are my favorite then yes maybe I should spend $150, but I just keep thinking "damn $150 for a fucking controller" LOL

Well, consider that the Madcatz sticks are plug and play with PC's too. That means that not only is your 360 gaming covered, but any PC fighting game, MAME, GGPO, or 2DF play you might indulge in is too.

Just think: you could be rocking faces in third strike or Vanguard Princess as we speak!