Hey there, Im new here. Ive been playing fighting games like arcana heart 3, Street fighter 4 and melty blood for a while. I was wondering a bit, Where I could buy parts for making an arcade stick? So I did my research for a while.I got my parts from focusattack and everything has been going good. But now Im realy wondering about it:“What case should I get?”. Ive seen many people using TEK cases, Which seem good, Especially if you add some weight slots to it. Ive researched a bit online, And found fightstick asia, Who sell 3 different kind of cases: They sell “small abs” arcade stick cases, Which seem to be somekind of a TE knockoff, At a good quality. They have “long abs” arcade stick cases, Which seems to look like the hori vlx case, And they also sell hitbox cases which look cool(not what I need in my case).On the one hand, A TEK case seems like a better option, But to be honest, I dont realy know. I saw a old review of those fight stick asia-branded cases, and they seem to come with everything needed: A huge case for a stick, Even with a huge cable compartment, With enough place to put almost everything inside this case. The question is, What should I get? If you have any good sellers that sell well-built cases, It would be very nice if anyone could send me some links.
My reason for wondering about the TEK cases is that I would prefer a case with place for cable compartment(if exists, At worst case Ill mod the case so itl work out somehow).
If people wonder, Every kind of case would be expensive to me, So even if its a bit more expensive, send it. I live in israel and even when I went to see how much a TEK case would cost, Shipping right to here is realy overpriced. So yeah, one way or another, I may even pay between 100-150 bucks for a case including shipping, So I dont realy care anymore how much Ill pay.go nuts.(And nope , No one sells here arcades sticks at all, Checked every gaming store here)
I have no idea what availability out shopping from Europe is like in Israel, but you may want to look into a few of the cheaper complete sticks that you can swap sanwa parts into (madcatz se, mayflash v2, venom ps3/ps4, any used madcatz te or hori hrap)- you may be able to get a better price than one of those empty cases due to the difference in shipping costs.
I like the tek top plates, but I’m not really a fan of full plexi cases just seems too prone to scratches and scuffs. Not really aesthetically pleasing to me either. Never heard of that fightstick asia, but those look OK and probably have everything you’re looking for. Space and joystick mounting are the typical main things to look out for.
Go to the kichen section and you can pick up these Bamboo Drawer Dividers called Variera for £7/$10. I made a run of 4 of them for the Rec Room at my old workplace…
The Tek-Cases can have a hole predone for a Neutrik USB adapter which is my suggestion as then you have a detachable cable. There’s other custom builders out there like @souji5 and FoeHammer, but I know dealing with international shipping is going to be your major issue. Good luck, have fun, and learn.
Ok so I think Ill go either on building a case at my dad’s place(he got everything that I need, so yeah I have access to this kind of stuff, Im just a bit afraid to fuck up with the build, I may ask him for some help with this one).
or Ill just go on a tek case, Didnt know about those usb adapters. And about the post with the ikea Im so done xDD, its actualy a good idea, But I’d rather make something that looks good too.
anyway tnx dudes
btw, I thought about an interesting concept. Did anyone ever make a custom cabinet with a custom arcade stick which is built onto the cabinet, And can also come off for use as a normal arcade stick(using somekind of a basic mechanism I guess), And not only as a part of the cabinet?
edit:
I may build a suitcase-style case so it would be easier to mod and replace parts.
I will update the thread after the job will get done.
My custom cabinet (above) has a fully self-contained and sealed control panel that can be removed entirely and used independantly; there are 2 Neutrik ports on the back of it that allows you to just plug it into whatever you want (see below)
Wow thats amazing dude, Nice job!, Must do something like that too someday. Also dont be sad the dude above me , I just realy want something that looks good. I spent too much money anyways and I need this arcade stick to be traveler-comfy, So I dont need it to be at the size of a vlx.if I was on a tighter budget then I would get something like that. its a birthday present from myself so yeah, Im going to aim for this build to be as good as possible.
I’m getting a custom made from a gentleman in Mexico. Sometime this week or next week hel’l be shipping to me. Takes 3-4 weeks. Here’s his FB page https://www.facebook.com/arcadepc.com.mx/?fref=ts
I paid $140 shipped to the US from mexico. So I got a wide body stick with the Vewlix layout, custom artwork, with plexi. The bottom of the stick is lined with a rubber slipmat material. it’s made from pine wood, supposed to weight 7 pounds total, and even had him put buttons on the sides so I can play pinball games on my PC.
This dude has gone out of his way to help me. There were times where we were up till 2 in the morning because he was trying to perfect the artwork. Stand up guy.
I’m gonna post a full review once I get mine in the mail.
Update: I had a tough time with school for the last 2 weeks so I did not have any time working on it. The good news are that next week Im going for a friend’s place to cut some mdf’s and getting the work on this cute arcade stick babe done. Already made for it a good one punch man artwork, And decided to go for the viewlix instead of the sega layout, Tho they are both comfortable for me.In terms of measurements I decided to make something that looks like the hori vlx or pretty much something long as much as the new hori rap’s, since I realy want it to sit tight on my lap.
People told me that If Im using “wood”(mdf is definitely not wood) as a material for an arcade stick I should use some pretty thick and heavy pieces of it. My dad said he can get me up to 8-9mm. The biggest suprise is that my dad was interested in making an arcade machines instead, Cuz his bigger works for customizing and restoring furniture usually come from big shots, And his buddys said they always got asked by the top dollar customers in israel if they know anyone who makes/sells arcade machines in israel, they usually want them for their kids. After this one is Done, Im going for either a viewlix replica, Or a shumps cabinet, Just for myself, And who knows, Maybe Im going to actualy make a business out of it once Im done with school(last year is tough). Ill update this thread as soon as the arcade stick is done in the next 2 weeks.
Something to note: In the end of the year Im starting to work on a special fighting game I thought of making for a long time. I have around half a year between school ends to when army starts(in israel recuiting to army for at least 3 years is not a question). If anyone asks what is special about this one, Is that its pretty much a parody kind. The characters are going to be based off few known people in the game developing industry, And once Im finishing with the final exams of math, Ill start working on it. Make sure to wait for this one!!!its not going to replace your top notch fighting games like street fighter or guilty gear/blazblue, But its definitely going to be a good one to spend few hours with. I acquired enough skills in the last 3 years in order to build something like that. Have a good christmas.
