i am capable of using just a regular 360 controller… and win… i been using standard controllers since i started gaming at age 2… of course sticks have technical advantages and im getting one of them too… but im still a controller man… unbelievable?.. believe it…
You know dumb arguments don’t ya ?
Using an ingame option (which is set on by default) isn’t cheating. 
And i don’t see why it would help anyone play better when on a stick it’s quite easy to hit 3 buttons at the same time.
No I just move my right hand around the button section of the stick as needed because I can’t really set my fingers to do three buttons at once and such. S-kill play cross handed if memory serves me which is just moving the stick with his right hand and hitting the buttons with his left as opposed to the other way around.
WOW MAN I am speechless in how in the **HELL ** are half the postings not answering a simple question! PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POSTING IF YOU WANT TO COMMENT ON IT.
**First **- I read all the posts and everything has been said, but I will add all the proper answers in one post.
**Second **- This thread is about sticks/pads and has nothing to do with the player so preference is out of the question.
Third - It depends on the game played so PAD=STICK in 3d fighting games like TEKKEN, SC 4 etc…
Fourth - The stick has an advantage over pads in accuracy in most 2d games only using the macros the game always you to have (no programming 4/5 keys to one).
Fifth - **The stick has an advantage in mashing buttons which isn’t the same as pads (mashing out of a magnetic tempest), mashing with palm and 5 fingers isn’t the same as mashing with 3 fingers. **
Sixth - Stick has an advantage over pads in stamina (playing the game longer). Whether its analog or directional pad itself in fast pace games or complex combinations your thumb will not be consistent in performance.
This is coming from a lifetime user of PADS and I still don’t play with sticks as much, but I know the advantages. The stamina advantage isn’t a issue in most cases unless your placing a bet in MVC2 for playing 65 rounds which your thumb will be in pain.
oh yea 7TH - UNDISPUTED MOUSE/KEYBOARD has more advantages and potential. Even if your just as good with both.
I think its a preference issue when you have a custom stick or more important a custom pad which this thread isn’t about. Its about the average stick vs average pad you buy not make/customize to hell.
Seems to me there’s a lot of teenagers meaning your brains hasn’t fully developed so take it from your elders. Your brain fully develops at 24 on average youngsters.
You’re a moron.
In Rival School for the PS1 not only could you set the R and L buttons to multiple P/K combinations but you could set them up for instant supers as well.
That should have been allowed in tournaments you’re saying right?
Yea, stay a scrub mapping buttons. You will never, and I mean NEVER, make it to any real tournaments because you can’t even learn to play the game without macros, and if GOD himself was to send you to a real tournament (a main in Japan), when they would put you in front of the arcade stick, you would piss your pants, and cry to GOD, “GOD, this is impossible, I can’t hit more than one button at a time, it’s too hard. I think they should change the setup Whaaa Whaaa :sad:” and then GOD himself would turn back to you and respond: “IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK. KNOW YOUR ROLE, SHUT YOUR MOUTH, AND LEAVE YOUR MACRO SCRUB AT THE DOOR BEFORE GOD LAYETH THE SMACKADOWN ON YOUR CANDY ASS.”
Man I agree with you but what the hell was that horrific post?
Wow you sure showed him ElderGod.
in all honesty, i find that using a Stick is more challenging then using a pad. BUT, once you have perfected the Art of the stick…Its better then the pad imo.
yeah, that’s what i thought you said you did, i misunderstood. you just can’t use all three fingers at the same time? you could try thumb index middle (my friend who plays piano plays like that sometimes), but if it’s anything that’s not a medical reason (in which case i’m sorry, that really sucks), you should be able to manage like most others after trying for a little while.
do you have a big hand? american designs are actually kinda lame, especially for the large-handed. they put the buttons in a row instead of curved, but curved is way better ergonomically speaking.
My palm is kind of large yes but my fingers are fairly long At this point I think I would be ok with some of the basic links but my hands have to learn where all the buttons are. they have not done that yet. Heck I touch type with about four fingers 2-3 on my left hand excluding the thumb and one finger on my right hand. It took me years to be able to do that so I am sure I can learn the button locations with enough time. I’m not ready to give up on sticks as they do have the advantage of not causing my hands to explode after long periods of play and with Blazblue, and KOF coming out I will have some stuff to play this year in addition to sf4. 09 is kicking so much ass, now just give me a PS3 version of Virtua Fighter with good online so that I may get my ass handed to me by people far better at the game than I am and I will be very happy.
Great post except the third point. While I agree that it depends on the game, there’s a significant improvement in performance on stick if you are playing VF (a 3D game) due to the precision required. I also found it easier to play SC4 and pull off some Tekken moves on the stick, despite being a lifetime pad user until 2 months ago. o.o Doujin fighters suck on stick though
I personally went to to a stick after getting frustrated with the 360 d-pad. At first I thought that it would magically improve my game, however it took me a good week of playing everyday to get *comfortable * with it.
After about 3 weeks of use now, I don’t think I could go back to the pad. The button are all accessible and my accuracy of stick inputs have gone up immensely.
I personally don’t feel that pads are always “inferior” to sticks, however the d-pads on today’s next gen consoles (i’m talking about you- Xbox 360) leaves much to be desired.
I bet going to the SF fighting pad would make a huge difference on accuracy and would be more comparable to the sticks.
The fact that it only took three weeks for sticks to equal or eclipse your years of controller use is a testament to why sticks are an advantage.
Keyboard is underrated (for charge characters anyway).
In a circle of friends who mostly use dpad, I feel as if their “game” or skill level has a limit due to the limitations of a dpad.
Although I will not list my reasons why it is better (because the only way for you to really know is to try it yourself) I will say that after buying an arcade stick at first i hated it. I felt i wasted my $100 (massystems.com)
Eventually i got better game got better switched to a jap stick game got even better; better than I’ve ever been on dpad.
I have used a pad at home but have come around to sticks at arcades. Sticks are much better.
I really don’t see the difference, atleast not in any extremely game altering ways.
I play on both pad and stick, yes I like Stick better for some games. 2D fighters, stick is always the better option, but for 3D fighters like Soul Calibur or Tekken, the stick only seems to get in the way of my moves.
But, as far as SF4 goes. Stick gives you a slight execution advantage over pad users. So when their ultra comes out as a DP or something and you get ultra every time, without any trouble or buffer it only makes sense that they would call foul. I mean, how many of us have truely never said “I DIDN’T MEAN TO DO THAT!!!” out loud while playing because the D-pad screwed you over at a valuable moment and got you punished heavily?
Kurage
189
I have been a pad user since Day 1 but I’ve just bought a stick and at first I am really not used to it especially having trouble controlling my jumps, crouching and blocking high/low…but after 1 month of practicing…I can truly say I am a better player now because I can cancel moves better…better executing with charge characters’moves…I can press the buttons faster…EX/ultras are all easier to perform… I can throw/FA better…basically everything is better.
But I still need to work on shoto’s special moves…especially the DP movement. Oh and my thumb doesn’t hurt now(a big +)…that means I can play longer =)
In short, get a stick.
I say that shit all the time. 
I’m still saying it with the stick but I have not gotten used to it yet all I can do is practice more and hope I finally get it.
The evidence speaks for itself. Look at the people who win major tournaments. Enough said.
