My plans for my cabinet’s control panel just got changed, because I absolutely hate how the stick that was given to me feels in 8 way arcade games due to the amount of force required to hit corners. So now I have several buttons, but no stick and no interface (it’s an old Xbox stick I converted) So now I’m looking for a new stick, and am about to settle on the UltraStik 360, but I’m kind of confused about the info I’m getting from my searches. Hope you guys can help.
This stick is USB, and Ultimarc sells a button harness for to connect 8 buttons. So, if I buy just the stick and button harness, will I be able to mount and connect this without having any additional interfaces, such as the i-pac, j-pac, etc?
Also, do I need to purchase the mounting kit and a gate, or is a gate + mounting hardware included?
If you guys know, I’d appreciate the help. I’ve searched and emailed ultimarc, but seem to be at a standstill right now.
Thanks!
I have no personal experience with UltraStik 360 but it seems a bit too expensive. If you have used it and like it, go for it. Otherwise you might look into an iL comp stick or Seimitsu (LS-56 I can highly recommend)…or… JLF.
All the 3 I mentioned are very easy to wire and don’t require a harness if you’re not afraid of soldering. Some shops give you the harness with the stick so no worries there.
Getting help installing those might prove much easier as most of us here have experience with them.
Lizardlick.com and gamingnow.net/are 2 shops I can personally recommend.
Good luck and post how things turn out.
Thanks! I’ll read up on those 3 tonight. I’ve ordered from Lizardlick several times in the past, so I’m very comfortable ordering from them.
The Ultrastick 360 is expensive, that’s true. I griped a lot when I saw it. But the “software controlled” switching from 4 to 8 way is a big selling point for me, because I’ll be mounting it in a mame mini-cab that I’d love to set up for 8 way and 4 way game. I just can’t seem to get a clear picture of how it’s all gonna work from the docs I’ve been able to find
I’m pretty sure this is a stupid question, but I’ll ask anyway. – the 3 that you mentioned… you said they’re easy to wire, but I would still have to buy something like the I-Pac or do a pad hack to use them on PC, right?
You need some kind of PCB with the ability to talk to the device you wish to connect to.
What is in there currently?
As for software controled 4-8 way switching, while it sounds like a good concept, how reliable is that? Also keep in mind that this type of stick needs power, unlike the 3 I mentioned and this can make wiring and power management more complicated (very doable though).
Maybe someone with experience with this stick will be able to butt in.
I don’t think you’ll find many people here who use ultrasticks. They weren’t ever used in American or Japanese arcade cabs (to my knowledge) so people here trying to emulate the arcade experience at home usually go with products offered by Sanwa, Semitsu, or Happ (or now, iL for American style parts).
I’d be interested to hear how they perform though.
Finally I can help someone here! I hope my rep will go up.lol 
Anyway I own the U360 also and found out some things the hard way. First off are you going to use this stick just for a cabinet that is for MAME or are you trying to use it as a stick for the Xbox 360? This stick is mainly for the PC as the solder points of the directional on the fightpad or a Xbox 360 pad only put out about 3.6V while the U360 runs off 5V from the harness or the usb cable. Whatever pad you want to padhack to the U360 has to put out 5V on the directional points.
Also you can use the U360 by itself with just the USB cable and wire up to 8 buttons with the harness. I did not get the harness with my stick so ask about it when you buy the stick. It’s about $7. The harness is for tow things. One is for hooking up buttons to the U360 and second you can used this to make the U360 a standard stick. The harness put the stick in output mode. Though like I said I found out the hard way by finding whatever pad you use has to put out 5V with the up,down,left,and right for the U360 to go into the output mode. Sofar the use of the I-pac or J-Pac is for the use of extra buttons and you can hook the harness wires up to it for standard mode. You can also still program the U360 maps and use it with any game or MAME.
As for the restrictor gates? It is optional. The U360 has the programmable maps and enough tension in the string. If you feel it’s too light you can stretch the spring like some have the Sanwa JLF sticks. It’s a great stick spite the limit of what you can padhack it with. Feel free you IM me if you have anymore questions and you can also contact Andy the programmer of the stick and I-pac.
LegendaryGamer
I’ll just be using it for Mame. I build a vertical oriented mini cab, and everything’s finished except the control panel, and I’m at a bit of a crossroads with the stick selection.
What’s in there now – a friend gave me an old Pelican “Real Arcade Universal” that he’d damaged. It works with PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox. I already had an Xbox to PC convertor, so I bought some Happ buttons and thought I’d just use the stick and PCB, and be on easy street. But after testing it with Mame, the stick felt horrible. 4 way games felt great, but it takes way too much pressure to hit the corners for 8 way games. This may be something I can correct, but I’m kind of thinking I should just buy a new stick and use that one to build a nice custom for the Cube, PS2, and XBox later.
I have 2 Hori Ex Pros that I tested on there, and it feels pretty sweet. So my options seem to be –
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Try to tweak the Pelican and go with my original plan
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Take a chance on the U360. It’s pricey, and I have no hands on with it, but reviews have been positive that I’ve found, so I’m kinda leaning in that direction with hopes that the software 4 to 8 way switching will work wonders for me
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Order one less expensive stick that ExtraDas mentioned. But then I’d have to buy an interface, which puts my right back to “pricey” Sadly, my padhacking skills are pretty weak, but it’s a good time to learn I suppose
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Buy another Hori, gut it, and use the hardware in my control panel. That seems silly to me though. Still pricey and I dunno if I could bring myself to gut it, but I know that I like the feel of that stick with the emu
Anyway I own the U360 also and found out some things the hard way. First off are you going to use this stick just for a cabinet that is for MAME or are you trying to use it as a stick for the Xbox 360? This stick is mainly for the PC as the solder points of the directional on the fightpad or a Xbox 360 pad only put out about 3.6V while the U360 runs off 5V from the harness or the usb cable. Whatever pad you want to padhack to the U360 has to put out 5V on the directional points.