View Full Version : Hands on with MadCatz X360 retro Arcade Stick?
Anyone? I'm sure most of us here share the same general impression from descriptions and photos, but I'm wondering if anyone has any hands-on experience with the MadCatz Arcade GameStick (http://www.madcatz.com/Default.asp?Page=319&CategoryImg=Xbox_360_Controllers) they'd like to share. I saw one at my local GameStop on Friday, but I'm not sure how much longer they've been out.
I'm also curious whether the three included Live Arcade titles (Frogger, Time Pilot, and AstroPop) are on a disc (like Live Arcade Unplugged) or if they're just download voucher codes.
Thanks!
Ed Oscuro
12-26-2006, 02:24 AM
The face buttons are a bit on the small side, and in a strange place. Interesting though...I still think I want to get a VF5/DoA 360 style stick, though.
segagamer4life
12-26-2006, 08:47 AM
I wasn't aware of this release, cool I will be picking this friday when I get paid... sweeet!!
s1lence
12-26-2006, 12:12 PM
Looks interesting but I would like it without the games as I already have all three that they are including.
norkusa
12-26-2006, 01:44 PM
The face buttons are a bit on the small side, and in a strange place. Interesting though...I still think I want to get a VF5/DoA 360 style stick, though.
Yeah, just spend $20 more and buy a DOA stick off Ebay. I just bought one to play SFII on Live Arcade and it's awesome. Couldn't live without it.
s1lence
12-26-2006, 02:43 PM
I have the DOA stick and I'm not a fan of the stick and its "clickyness".
Well, I picked one up today with a little Christmas money just for the experience. What a strange little device :)
First, a tour. The main stick is a little larger in each dimension than a standard 2600 stick. It transmits as the Left Analog control, and is a very stiff analog mechanism which centers itself diligently. There is a duplicate "A" button on top of the stick. Interestingly, the stick will also click down to give you the L3 function.
The Right Analog stick is in the opposite corner, with R3 click as well. It is surrounded by a 360 degree spinner control. I'm not sure exactly how the 360 would recognize the spinner, or if any games will ever support it, but it's there. It can be turned on or off by a switch near the top of the controller.
There's a true crosshair D-pad, but it's all mush.
The A, B, X and Y buttons are large and flat with a standard modern controller feel.They have adjustable turbo functions.
A pair of analog triggers occupy the front corners of the controller, with the matching shoulder buttons above.
Back, Start and Guide buttons round out the standard features, along with a headset jack.
In use, this thing gets even weirder. For starters, the main stick is not positioned centrally. It's WAY off to the left, meaning that you WILL play this thing with your left hand controlling your primary movement.
There are two ways to use the controller. It is wide enough and heavy enough to sit on a flat surface and use like an arcade console. There are rubber feet on the corners for this purpose.
You can also hold it in your hand, due to the curvy molding on the underside of the controller. It's actually quite comfortable to hold the main stick in your left hand and curve your right hand around the front right corner, giving comfy access to the RT+RB buttons, as well as the face buttons and the right stick.
I'm still not sure what I think about it. It's not very classy, obviously, or even classic. But it is unique and not terrible. I'll post more after I've put some playtime into a few different games.
Half Japanese
12-26-2006, 09:49 PM
Does Mad Catz even try anymore or is their modus operandi to put out shit that's $5 cheaper than the official controllers? That thing looks "classic," for sure, but not in any way even remotely approaching good.
diskoboy
12-26-2006, 11:33 PM
I have the DOA stick and I'm not a fan of the stick and its "clickyness".
Same here. Mine is in the corner, gathering dust.
I wish MS would make one... One that doesn't click when you move it.
Maybe they'll let X-arcade start making sticks for them. :)
ubersaurus
12-27-2006, 02:12 PM
If no one wants these DOA4 sticks I'll buy one :P I rather like the clicky sticks, ever since getting one for the Dreamcast.
Ed Oscuro
12-27-2006, 05:54 PM
Does Mad Catz even try anymore
Their regular 360 pad is just as good as the regular ones, perhaps even a bit better. No, they were MUCH worse during the 64-bit days. They've come around pretty nicely. This stick still can't be as bad as much of the crap they put out for the N64 (like this (http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=605405) piece of garbage), although to be fair some of that was due to the N64's death-prone analog stick...
norkusa
12-27-2006, 07:03 PM
Same here. Mine is in the corner, gathering dust.
I wish MS would make one... One that doesn't click when you move it.
Maybe they'll let X-arcade start making sticks for them. :)
Besides the Hori DOA stick, I've got the Dreamcast Agetec, PS1 Tekken, and the PS2/Xbox Street Fighter Anniversary sticks and they all make that clicking sound. I thought that's just how they make all sticks now?
Half Japanese
12-27-2006, 08:58 PM
Their regular 360 pad is just as good as the regular ones, perhaps even a bit better. No, they were MUCH worse during the 64-bit days. They've come around pretty nicely. This stick still can't be as bad as much of the crap they put out for the N64 (like this (http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=605405) piece of garbage), although to be fair some of that was due to the N64's death-prone analog stick...
I think I have one of those but I really only picked it up for the price (it was $3 on clearance at Wal-Mart, no shit, and this was about a year ago!) and I haven't had the need to try it out yet. I had completely forgotten about the pad they made for the DC though, I have a friend that would play with nothing else BUT that pad and I thought it was a pretty good one too. I was referring mostly to their lack of any distinguishable design. Nothing Mad Catz makes stands out really from a design standpoint, that 'classic' stick included.
evil_genius
12-28-2006, 05:43 AM
Me gusta "the click."
Ed Oscuro
12-28-2006, 07:57 AM
I was referring mostly to their lack of any distinguishable design.
I couldn't tell. Well, that's a good thing, anyway. And there ARE some differences in the 360 pad over the stock one, check out their item description somewhere. I've spent a lot of time with mine, I'm glad I got it instead of the MS stick. Cheaper too!
I'd like to say that the spinner control on the MadCatz stick works beautifully when playing Tempest, Breakout, and Warlords in the backwards-compatible Atari Anthology for Xbox.
I'd like to say that, but it would be a lie.
Instead, the spinner does almost nothing, aside from jittering things around a little bit, in any game playable on the 360 that I can tell. Does anyone know what exactly this "spinner" control is sending to the system? I thought it would just be L-stick left and right, but apparently I was wrong. Must a game specifically look for input from the MadCatz spinner control? Good luck with that ever happening.
agbulls
01-03-2007, 05:39 PM
I will never ever forget what the President of MadCatz told us when he presented to the first ever meeting for the combined EB Games/GameStop organization last Feburary in Dallas, TX when I still worked for that crooked organization. I will try to keep this as close to what I remember as possible.
"You see those little light up key-fobs there on the tables with the GameStop logo? Those are for you guys, as a present from MadCatz (Side note: these are plastic pieces of shit that have a .02 cent LED). We have the ability to keep costs very low through our production facilities in China so our product has a MUCH higher margin for your company compared to first party accessories. We try to make sure that our Chinese workers are of age when possible and we pay them a fair amount compared to other companies who operate long mass production lines. In fact, I think the kids like working for MadCatz."
This actually happened guys. No SHIT. Needless to say I don't buy any of their plastic knock-off garbage. I am 100% sure this "arcade stick" is a piece of crap too. I know EVERYONE makes EVERYTHING in China. I'm not an idiot. Do we need it advertised in my face? Hell no.
Leo_A
01-03-2007, 05:42 PM
Games have to be programmed to take advantage of the spinner, you'll be seeing that happen with some upcoming Xbox Live Arcade titles like Tempest.
googlefest1
01-04-2007, 03:29 PM
i actualy have no problems with that controller - i like it.
i just wish it was a little more sturdy. I guess the big thing for me is the nostalgic feel of it - bringing back the memories of the ol' point master days.
maybe i just happend to get a hold of a decent one. It has been my past experience that some third party controlers acted diferently (for example the pelican glowing controler and the gamestop N64 controlers which i had a few of and one of each did not function correctly)
edit: actually out of all third party controlers - i have had the best experience with MadCatz
njiska
01-04-2007, 07:31 PM
Yeah, just spend $20 more and buy a DOA stick off Ebay. I just bought one to play SFII on Live Arcade and it's awesome. Couldn't live without it.
Yeah but for any other arcade game the button layout royally sucks.
Vectorman0
03-24-2007, 12:37 AM
I'm curious to hear more opinions on this, if there are any.
I'm curious to hear more opinions on this, if there are any.
Since starting this thread in December, I haven't used the stick in 2 months. It was not the best choice for anything, and by that I mean that every game I own is better played with either the standard gamepad or the Hori DOA4 stick than this thing. I imagine the spinner control will be the only one ever made for the 360, though, so that might be one redeeming feature should we ever actually see Tempest or Space Giraffe released.
I keep thinking that if they had centered the joystick and basically made a 2600 stick clone with a few extra functions, it would have been infinitely better. As is, there's too many buttons and none of them are positioned logically.
The best value thus far was the 3 included XBLA titles :)
grimbal
03-24-2007, 01:03 AM
Bought it yesterday.
Returned it today.
I tried it with Galaga, Zuma, Geometry Wars, Robotron, and Heavy Weapon. 10 minutes later I was ready to go back to the standard MS 360 controller.
The following are the major complaints IMHO:
1. The main joystick is too tall when compared to the rest of the controller. To me it felt like everytime I moved the stick I had to fight the base with my other hand to keep the whole thing from tilting to which ever side I was moving the joystick.
2. What is the point of the spinner? I thought it would be perfect for Zuma since your character is stationary and just spins clockwise and counterclockwise. Well I was wrong the only thing the spinner did was point the frog either left or right.
3. The X,Y,A,B buttons were almost flush with the control face. I kept having to look down because I wasn't sure if I was on the right button. Same with the Live button in the center.
4. Finally, I felt the main stick had a larger 'dead zone' in the center of it's motion when compared to the standard 360 controller. The response just didn't feel right to me.
5. It's wired.
6. I had already purchased 2 of the 3 Live arcade games that come free with the joystick.
I'm just glad I was able to return it and at least get store credit towards other stuff.
Vectorman0
03-24-2007, 01:17 AM
Thanks guys, I have made up my mind. I won't be getting this unless I see it on clearance (so I can get Astropop).
Lothars
03-24-2007, 02:18 AM
Thanks for the impressions, I was thinking of this but mainly for the arcade games, I don't really care about the stick itself
I mean if it was good, I might be able to justify it but I definitely cannot at the moment.
Technosis
03-24-2007, 10:08 AM
Does anyone know if you have a switch or something to change the orientation of the stick so it can be used with the RIGHT hand ?? I mean the first thing I noticed with this controller is that the big arcade stick is made to be gripped with the left hand. I know that is a trend that goes way back to the design of the NES pad, but it would be nice to have an option of switching hands.
grimbal
03-24-2007, 10:50 AM
I didn't specifically look for one but I don't believe it has this option. The only switch I could find was to turn the spinner off and on.
Cryomancer
12-11-2007, 01:05 PM
Bumping this up. Best buy now has these for either 14 or 10 dollars. Mine was marked 14, rang up 10.
The back of the box says it works in XP, but I can't find the driver. I've contated madcatz support, but I'm not too hopeful for a response. If anyone has them, please share. If I find them, I'll post them.
edit: Aha, the official Microsoft "Xbox 360 Accessories" drivers for XP cover this controller. Time to go play around with it in MAME.
Frankie_Says_Relax
12-11-2007, 05:14 PM
I've been waiting to find the stick for $20 or less so I can try using it on my MAME cabinet setup for games like Tempest, Arkanoid, etc...
Has anybody who owns one tried the spinner on a PC/MAME setup?
Half Japanese
12-11-2007, 11:27 PM
Funny this came back up to the top. I was at one of my local Goodwills the other day and they had two of these things in a case up front. They were $12, but I still couldn't bring myself to bite. They also had a few sealed ps2 games and a Wiimote, strangely enough. I'm pretty sure all of this stuff was crap Target dumped for a tax writeoff.
Cryomancer
12-12-2007, 02:00 AM
My goowill had some too, buy best buy was actually cheaper.
I've been trying the thing out in MAME, mostly for the spinner. It's a very odd / touchy spinner. It also registers only as left and right on the POV hat for some reason. I haven't played with the sensitivy enough yet probably, but for Arkanoid, it sucks thus far. It was kind of ok for pachinko. So, it can work, but it's not very smooth, it's very jumpy. I'll keep playing with it and see if i come up with some sort of fix / setting combonation that works.
IIRC, there's $15 worth of XBLA game redemption codes in the box. That makes $10 a pretty good deal.
Frankie_Says_Relax
12-13-2007, 01:07 AM
Found one at my local Best Buy today.
Similar to the posts listed above - the unit was priced at $25, but rang up as $10!
Tested it out with my MAME cabinet (which does not have a "spinner") on the control area...with sad results.
Unfortunately, the hardware that MadCatz used on the "spinner" section of the controller has a built in analog "resistance" ... which causes major issues when attempting to use it on games like Tron, Tempest, Arkanoid etc..
Even with a few hours of tweaking the "sensitivity" levels in the MAME options for analog and dial controls it was a total bust.
The rest of the controller works rather nicely in both MAME and on the 360.
Downloaded the free XBLA Astro Pop and Frogger ... and I'm kind of sad that I had already downloaded Time Pilot ... but, two free games and a controller for $10 isn't bad. (I'll bring the Time Pilot card to the next NAVA meeting, I'm sure somebody will appreciate it.)
And while the overall layout is a BIT wokny, I've gotta say, it's one of the nicest things I've ever seen come out of MadCatz product line for 360 or otherwise!!