Yes, you might as well do so.
Was the non-Pro version available outside of Japan? I got mine from Japan, so I’m not sure, but I don’t recall seeing it even at online stores like Amazon and the like.
Maybe that, along with the more durable D-pad section, is what makes it fetch higher prices on the aftermarket? I’m just guessing, though.
The only ones I found on the interwebs were being shipped from Japan, so that is probable.
Though with the $100 price tag on that, as I said, I might as well just get the Soul Calibur V stick that I linked (recommended by another member here as the cheapest stick with all Sanwa parts [good thing, right?] that is compatible with PC and numerous fighting games).
Perhaps you could get a good deal on stick and mod it to be silent? With Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up, you might be able to get something worth using without breaking the bank.
Maybe someone who knows can chime in and let you know if that’s feasible.
I believe Paradise Arcade sells foam pads that would fit inside the stock buttons on the SCV stick to quiet it down. And, if the good controller costs as much, then yeah, just get the stick and put down a bit of cash to mod the buttons to be quiet, or buy buttons that are purpose-made to be silent.
The default silent Sanwa buttons are pricy.
The Paradise arcade inserts are dirt cheap and it is the same material thats added to the sanwas.
Paradise arcade also sells a kit to silence Joysticks.
But all that is off topic.
This supposed to be a fight pad thread.
Official Sega Saturn pad hands down
Even if you have to get a Saturn to USB adapter, or a PS2 to USB adapter (for the PS2 version of the saturn pad)
There also official USB versions of the pad.
/thread
I wouldn’t say that. He made a thread specifically about fight pads, but other suggestions could be useful. I know if I made a thread asking for help, and people didn’t suggest something that could be beneficial because it would be off-topic, I would be disappointed.
I think because the Pro version is supposed to be the replacement and dude’s like us know which pad is better. I know there’s at least 1 or 2 Japanese dudes on Ebay hording these things.
I don’t recommend pads for fighting games.
The issue with pads is the supply of parts. There are only a finite number of pads out there and fighting games do among the worst wear-and-tear on pads so any time something breaks you have to junk the existing pad OR cannibalize another to fix it.
Buy and get used to a joystick. They have better control response and are far more durable in the long run, and as long as there are arcades or companies who think there’s a future in making the parts, part replacement/supply is much better than you find for any pad… plus it’s generally a lot cheaper to replace worn out joystick components than to look for out-of-production pads and the very few system adapters out there available for them!
It’s a myth, IMHO, that it’s harder to execute special moves on a joystick. You just have to practice… that, and there’s the fact that some games are infamous for bad control response (Mortal Kombat series) and awkward control inputs (many SNK Neo Geo games) which has nothing to do with the the type of controller you use! There are special moves on favorite games like NightWarriors that are just hard to execute, period, no matter what you use to play the game.
The Saturn was just not that popular outside of Japan…
A lot of it was fanboy boosterism – everybody wants to jump on the bandwagon, let’s buy what “everybody else” on the block owns, etc… Some of it was bad marketing and the bad taste SEGA of America left in gamers’ mouths with the Sega CD/32X Genesis add-ons as well as the botched early Saturn launch AND the perceived quality of first-round Saturn games.
Being a SEGA booster, I’m happy to see it get more respect now BUT having seen what happened to the prices on some of the scarcer SEGA items like the Candy Can twin joystick (HSS-0130?) I really think recommending more fragile control pads that are in limited numbers as-is is not in our best long term interests.
It would be wonderful if Hori seemed more interested in making decent pads or if Ascii was still around with pad-making but Ascii’s not here in the market and Hori knows where it makes its money – joysticks.
Oh, and I disagree about the USB Saturn pads.
Having owned two for a few years until I sold both off, I never thought they were as well made as the original Sega Saturn pads. The quality of the plastic was lower even in the official manufactured pads. The D-pads in particular were not as good… Having several samples of the “official pads” that matter of inconsistent quality was true even during the run of the Saturn in Japan. I have a gray pad with a “sticky” START button that doesn’t work as well as my White Saturn pads or the Rev 2 Black Saturn pads. The Rev 1 Saturn (US) pads were never that great to begin with…
oh geezus, is this about to turn into a pad vs stick debate?
It’s SRK. Pad vs Stick debates happen in every thread.
It’ll happen in that SMH Japanese People Having Less Sex thread any day now.
Japanese people are having less sex due to domestic arguments revolving around pads vs sticks.
My friend uses a PS2 dual shock on PC, and from what everyone says about DS4s they are setup to be the next great pad (at least if you’re down with four button fighters) but you can also DS up six button fighters, just takes practice (like all forms of fgc combat)
The new BF4 official controllers look rather nice.
http://www.pdp.com/c-31-battlefield-4.aspx
I mean, the buttons are more along the lines of the 360 ones, which aren’t my favorite, but both versions look like they have good d-pads, and the sticks remind me of what’s on the PS4 pad. Plus it has some rollers on the back that let you set up 6 custom button mappings, and metal triggers.
I kinda wanna get one for racing games and platformers, myself.
I feel like this controller can’t be better than the DS4 or the DS3…
A:
$30 / $50 ~ Hori Fighting Commander 10B
$20 ~ PS2 to PS3-PC Converter (Inpin clone)
B:
$20 ~ Sega Saturn - N64 - PS2 Controller Adapter for PC USB
or
$35 ~ Sega Saturn to PS2 Converter
$20 ~ PS2 to PS3-PC Converter (Inpin clone)
$15 / $25 Sega Saturn Pad
$15 / $25 Hori Sega Saturn Pad
C:
Just get used to only four face buttons on the Sony PS3 pad or Hori’s new Gem Pad 3
i second this. i started off playing SF4 on my PC with a PS3 controller. there are programs like motionjoy and Better DS3 that will help with the drivers. I always used the analog sticks for inputs, the dpad hurt my fingers.
I’d Recommend Sony Dual shock 2 with pc converter or use Dual Shock 3 with Motion Joy driver. Dual shock is mechanically the best controller (even over stick) with a 0f return to neutral due to separated directional inputs. Also using the top buttons gives you 5 fingers with access to 8 inputs as well as easier plinking compared to 1 thumb vs 6 buttons on a 6 button pad, there’s less room for error and its faster.
"due to separated directional inputs"
That is a misnomer. The Sony PS1/PS2/PS3 d-pad is one physical piece of plastic (like any d-pad). The D-pad just physically pokes though 4 separate holes to give it the appearance of 4 seprate buttons.
And all digital directional pads or d-pads are 4 separate contacts or switches, so there no mechanical advantage over a SNES, a Saturn, Mad Catz or Hori pad.
Electronically speaking all d-pads are identical to joysticks.
The Mechanical advantage goes to the joystick as there is a lever present.
"Also using the top buttons gives you 5 fingers with access to 8 inputs as well as easier plinking compared to 1 thumb vs 6 buttons on a 6 button pad, there’s less room for error and its faster."
That is highly subjective, and also incorrect. You (the human body) mechanically move faster from your wrist than you do with just your fingers. And you still have 5 fingers on any of the 6/8 buttons at any one time.
I was just waiting for Darksakul to comment on that. 
On a side note, I don’t know if it’s just my smaller hands, but I NEVER found it comfortable to use 4 fingers on the 4 shoulder buttons; I start losing grip on the rest of the controller with only my ring-fingers and pinkies holding the bottom. I’d say that controllers are designed (physically) to only use your index fingers for all of the L-R buttons, and your middle fingers are supposed to support the rest of the controller at the grips.
Doesn’t the NeoGeo PS3 pad also use levers instead of a membrane?