How to Buy My First FightStick

Newbie Saikyo Dojo
1

I’m going to buy SFxT within the next few days. I played it at my friend’s place and loved it and really wanted to get more involved with this community. Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve played fighting games. My friend is pretty serious and he owns two fightsticks, and as such I’ve played with him in uMVC3 and SC5,etc.

Now, I want to get my own fightstick. I went to Gamestop and they only have the newest one for $150. That is outside my current willing budget. I also went on eBay and realized I have no idea what to look for in fightsticks to see its a good one. I read in an article they can go for about $30-$70. So here are my questions.

  1. Where can I buy fightsticks (preferably in an actual store), and
  2. What are some good suggestions for under $100. $99.99 is fine with me.
  3. Is MadCats really the only way to go?

Any advice is appreciated and I thank you ahead of time. Hopefully I can get these items soon, practice helluvaton, and whup my friend’s ass :slight_smile: realistically, that probably won’t happen for a while…haha.

2

Somebody recently recommended the Hori V3 (Ps3) or the Hori VX (360) to me. They aren’t too expensive and they have a pretty okay quality out of the box. If you choose to update the hardware at a later date, it’s pretty easy to do so. I wouldn’t drop 150 bucks on a MadCatz stick right away. Not because they aren’t awesome sticks, because they are, but because in the long run modding your own will be cheaper (if only by a few bucks).

Gametronex sells them for 69.99 USD free shipping if you’re interested.

3

Thanks, I really like the one you linked. I’ll consider it more. Yes, basically my goal is to buy a cheap one and upgrade if my time investment really turns out worth. What do you mean by updating the hardware? I’ll take a look at your suggestions, thanks!

I do have a question, though. What do all these turbo options mean?

4

By updating the hardware I mean replacing buttons, and the stick with better quality parts. The ones that come stock in these sticks are pretty mediocre.

Turbo is exactly what it is on any other game pad. I highly recommend that you never ever use it, but it’s there.

5

Please read the stickies before asking questions. There is a giant link in it with reviews of like every mass-market stick.