Mad Catz SOULCALIBUR V Arcade FightStick SOUL Edition for PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360

^Send me one.

If you could get me some good pics of the boards inside, I could probably tell you in short order.

I certainly hope it’s based off the TE-S, means I literally just placed an order for a second Kitty and a TE-S Harness. Sadly looks like Amazon won’t be shipping my stick out for another week or so still, if their estimated delivery date holds true. This wait over free shipping :frowning:

I can please haz? -jelly-

@Markman, How can we get a chrome bezel? can we order that through gameshark?

Toodles, please see below for Ps3 board, I’m not sure if that will help ^_^;;

Yea, mine won’t be coming in for another week now as well, looks like. Think the original date was the 18th, now it’s the 24th.

Oh, and if anyone cares, the price came down at Canadian EB/Gamestop after all. Was $300, now they have it at $170.

Appreciated. That would seem to confirm that they’re TE-S based, not TE based. So there is a very good chance a TE Kitty + TE-S harness are all that is needed.
Still wont know for sure unless I see a 360 model, but since it didn’t go off the deep end like the brawl sticks, confidence is high.

Here are some shots of my 360 version’s board:

I hope those are helpful.

Looks exactly like a TE-s board!

All of the silkscreens match my notes for a TE-S board. Thanks Uno, muchos gracias.

Looks like the dimensions are the same too, which doesn’t affect a Kitty at all but it would for me if I ever get around to a new board.

Honestly though, I’m actually more curious about the changes they’ve made to the board’s structure than anything else. Nobody else probably cares about this stuff but whatever, I’ll still spout what I see.

  1. Check the corners, in comparison to the previous boards… they’ve punched the ground layers together like crazy this time around, they’ve also done it toward the center of the board too (the huge line of vias near the 4 traces going to the RS/LS header), and also behind all the button and direction headers too (the entire way down). This creates a more robust board, reducing a lot of external noise by creating a faraday cage effect for the PCB. Although it could be done with 2, this board could very well be 4 layers to be safe.
  2. The tabs. Other than for alignment, I can’t figure out why the hell they’re there. Perhaps it’s to help fit somewhere in the new VS stick that more than likely uses this board too? Could also make them very usable with zip ties if you think about it (supposing the zip ties fit into those slots).
  3. The 4 corners have a single PTH, looks to be grounded based on the spokes of the thermals. Other than for a pseudo solder mount for this board, there’s no reason for those that I can think of. The vias take care of the ground stitching, and nobody uses fiducials like that. I’m stumped.

very interezzzting (scratches goat)

Well, I did notice the via spackling, but I missed the tabs and additional plated corner holes entirely. Maybe all three are related the a metal-heavy V.S. stick? It gives an easy grounding of the case, additional vias to help in case it does get some charge.

You know, I just thought of something.

If the new case is all metal, it’s likely that the traditional standoffs they’ve been using had to be thrown out (obviously you can’t just mold the metal and expect the screw to bite in like the plastic). The original screws are too small to go through the board’s thickness and into a tapped stand off, and the holes are too small to accommodate something like a standard #4 machine screw (yes, even the S version board larger holes are really really snug).

This calls for a new way to mount the board they haven’t done before, unless they have some special housing now that is mounted on it’s own to the case (nut/bolt, machine screw, etc.), which can THEN act as the mounting for the board.

Instead, how much you wanna bet the board is soldered into place using those corner holes (or at least glued)? The tabs are for alignment into the case for when they place it (there’s 2 on one side, 1 on the other, makes an easy eye alignment). Those holes are too perfectly sized for anything other than pins or mounts sticking through. The extreme amount of vias concentrated in the surrounding of it act to harden that spot and to reduce charge from friction the case is producing. The PTH being grounded only help with that… so the case is fully grounded via shield ground.

Mark, wanna do a “getting hotter, getting colder” to the above?

:slight_smile:

Soldered to the case as a mount? Nah, I cant see that. The parts going through would have to be metal, and secured to the case; any iron hot enough to keep the get the case metal hot for a joint would burn the pad right off the pcb. But I could see them consolidating the parts so that the board is mounting through those holes using those teeny black screws. Or they could just as easily just stay there unused like the one next to the USB wires that is never filled.

So it looks like the Kitty for a TE-S is a safe purchase for me? I’m thinking of ordering one in a couple of weeks from now. Looking forward to digging in again!

Yup. I expect it to work just fine. Board connections are the same, case is the same, should be 100% identical to the TE-S installation guide. I’ll offer a full refund if there ends up being a problem in the Soul stick.

Right on! I’m getting hyped. Expect some money in a couple of weeks. :slight_smile:

Awesome stuff markman!

Well, hopefully I’ll be able to confirm the Kitty installation with TE-S harness in roughly a week, if that helps to calm fears. I already dumped the money on both, so no turning back now

[media=youtube]DPc-NLAFhv4[/media]
looks nice