Thanks for the info, any insight on plinking?
@LordxHuynh - I havenāt used them myself but have read quite a bit on them. The word is that they squeak for a little while until broken in but feel quite nice after. They should be just fine for plinking. They even have a wider plunger surface than Sanwa buttons. Also, if you dont quite like the feel of them you can swap in Sanwa switches.
I appreciate the replies, I tried on some other forums and I got troll reponses. Iām considering getting this as my first stick. Any advantages of kuro buttons vs sanwa?
If you count the larger plunger face an advantage then there is that. Iām pretty sure the white ones are a much brighter white than Sanwa which appear kind of off-white/bone but the white Kuro buttons are not for sale yet.
Just ordered a FE, just need some OBSF-S buttons now and Iām good, but wait- Iād really like to slap the VLX design on there.
I suppose no one has a Vewlix template for the FE lying around, do they?
I found clear FE templates, but I have no idea how Iād magic the VLX design into that so it doesnāt look like shit. :S
Yes, the Hayabusa will install just fine in the the HRAP V3 Kai.
I did visual check fits on the HRAPās I own ā which is most of the production style types since the HRAP 2 era ā and there is not a single HRAP that I can think of where the Hayabusa would not install just like the JLF.
That includes the non-universal HRAPās like the HRAP 3 (generic; not the SA/SE versions) and the PS2 licensed HRAP-lites like the Arcana Heart 2 joystick. You can remove the Hayabusa mounting plate and install like the JLF ā the Hayabusa has two installation points where the JLF has its āplastic wing mount areasā --, OR keep the Hayabusa Mounting Plate on and use the 4 corner installation screws on the HRAP 3/AH2 joysticks. You only gain about a 1.5 mm height advantage at most if you donāt use the Hayabusa Mounting Plate. The JLF shaft is a lot taller than the LS-32/LS-40 in most joystick installations. Iāve got an HRAP 3 that Iāll probably buy a Hayabusa for; Iāll probably keep the original H-Mounting Plate installed on that one.
Thanks GeorgeC!
Well, they have these coming out:
And they do have the N3/NX bodies. I think the v3 type isnāt deep enough to comfortably for noir
Hori probably wanted to save some money on HRAP V3 molds in addition to the design issues.
The HRAP V3 is also noticeably shorter in height than the older HRAPās and the HRAP N3. Thatās probably the reason why they couldnāt use the Noir button layout with slightly higher button positions.
Hori did sell an HRAP V3/VX Virtua Fighter 5 joystick with an alternate button layout 2 years ago. That had a āLindberghā button layout more like the Astro City layout used in the HRAP 2 and 3 joysticks. The buttons werenāt elevated and they probably didnāt have to change the HRAP V3/VX case at all; just a different faceplate for the stick. They didnāt make a lot of those joysticks because VF just isnāt a popular game series outside of Japan and even that popularity might be debateable. VF hasnāt been a system seller since the days of the Sega Saturnā¦
The HRAP V3/VF5 joystick seems to have been a one-time thing. All the other HRAP V3ās have been Viewlix/modded Viewlix (Kai) layout so far.
Iāve said this before but I just donāt like the internal ācompartmentalizationā on the HRAP V3 and HRAP N3 to be honest. It gets in the way of removing partsā¦ itās a pain-and-a-half to swap buttons in the HRAP V3 because of the tight interior space under the faceplate. I had to use flathead screwdrivers to push in the prongs to remove the pushbuttons from the HRAP V3. There was too little space to fit my fingers in and the original pushbuttons were on so tight that I couldnāt rotate them to make the job easier!
The internal bridging/framework is why I donāt bother to take the faceplate off the HRAP N3, either. The only joysticks that can possibly snake out comfortably from the HRAP N3 base are probably the JLF and LS-33! Everything else has to be serviced/attached/detached with the baseplate off. Itās a small pain if youāre used to the older-style HRAPās and the Mad Catz TE joystick way of taking off the faceplate to handle part swapping and mods.
The joystick bracketing on the inside base of the HRAP N3 made me question if you could install the Hayabusa in that base. As it stands, the Hayabusa DOES install nicely with just a few millimeters open on the sides of the H-stick base. However, you canāt take the faceplate off the HRAP N3 with the Hayabusa installed! The 5-prong adapter of the Hayabusa literally sits a millimeter or so off the plastic joystick bracketing of the HRAP N3ās internal base. Youāll at the very least bang the H-stick cable harness prong attachment if you try to lift the faceplate with the H-stick attached; you could potentially snap the 5-prong attachment of the H-stick off altogether! This is also an issue with the LS-32-01 and LS-40-01 which have bulky bases similar to the Hayabusa. (*I had an LS-32-01 previously installed in my HRAP N3/Soul Calibur V joystick. The issues with its attachment made me question whether the Hayabusa would work in that base.) Why Hori designed the HRAP N3 base this way still makes me scratch my headā¦
I seriously question whether Hori really intended for alternate non-Sanwa parts to be installed in any of the HRAP joystick bases sometimes! There have been several HRAP models that were definitely not intended for non-JLF useā¦
Forgot about the VF stick! There goes my theory.
Is there a place I can get replacement screws for the top panel of the Fighting Edge? I would like to replace the screws with black ones.
Thank you.
Is there a place I can get replacement screws for the top panel of the Fighting Edge? I would like to replace the screws with black ones.
Thank you.
I got my white FE and a hayabusa and two packs of kuro.
Whoever does Horiās packaging lately is pretty great.
Yeah agreed! The boxes that the Hayabusa and Kuros are packaged in are so good. The stickers are a nice touch too 
I already knew their stick packaging was slick. But the parts packaging was surprising. And yeah. The stickers are really cool. Apparently my white FE is 297/300. Hadnāt realized they were that limited!
Geez, white FE sold out then.
Itās possible Hori will do a new run of the White FE.
They were sold out of the Black FE in the US for a while but apparently got a new shipment of the Black FE shortly after the White FE was sold outā¦ I had honestly thought theyād discontinued the Black FE but apparently that didnāt happen.
At any rate, Iād probably buy a Fighting Edge myself well before the end of this year.
I have a feeling the FE line is going to be a PS3/X360-only joystick. Hori will replace it with something equivalent on the PS4/XB1 Iād imagine if not at least carrying on the Hayabusa and Kuro onto more than just Amazon.jp limited edition HRAP V3ās.
Iām no longer crazy about white electronics (consoles, joysticks, or otherwise) to be honest.
If you leave most white plastics in the sun for any length of time, they tend to yellowā¦ even if theyāre not in direct sunlight! Iāve had controllers and toys made of white plastic that turned yellow after a while. Iām not crazy about seeing that happen to a joystick!
Again, at the very least I think at the very least Hori should be making all future HRAPās with the Hayabusa as the default control lever. They should make the Kuros in different colors, either. I, for one, do NOT like the Ford āModel Tā attitude that itās all great in just black and white. I at least want redās and light blue, too! Transparent colors wouldnāt be bad, eitherā¦ Even though Iāve pitched Hori OEM buttons in the past (blasted crappy buttons on the HRAP 3ās and the soldered-in-POSās in licensed joysticks), theyāve proven they can at least match or beat the colors on Sanwas pushbuttons, too. If I get a chance to test the Kuros in the future, hopefully they donāt disappoint. If theyāre in my comfort zone ā somewhere between the Sanwas OSFX-buttons and Seimitsuās PS-14-Pās ā, itās good!
I did have to do one mod. Having that black shaft staring at me like that.
@Moonchilde - That gives you a better idea of how many Hayabusa are in the wild.
Everybody with an FE - Anybody want new gates?
That ghosted out FE is cleeeeeeean.
Wow! Such a nice display HustleKong.