First I have to say I ordered the MAS Super Pro Stick for my Ps2 in January and I didn’t get it til like mid March so for those of you looking to buy it be prepared to wait! I read a few other threads and saw that other people waited a really long time too so I know I’m not alone. I got the stick with the Perfect 360 joystick and the convex competition buttons. The buttons are great, they click really nice and it doesn’t hurt at all if you slide or mash because they are convex. My only gripe with the buttons is that it has the 8-button layout as opposed to the arcade style 6-button layout and the buttons are spaced a little too far apart. The Perfect 360 joystick on the other hand is not as good as I thought it would be. It’s not clicky, it moves smoothly but it feels too stiff. The space between the base of the stick and the limiting wall is too big ( I don’t know the correct term but I would guess it’s the stick’s radius ) From top view maybe you understand what I mean:
O—) as opposed to O-)
Another problem with the Perfect 360 is that it’s not sensitive enough. Movement to the left is more responsive than movement to the right so sometimes when I try to do footsies it doesnt respond right away. My last and most annoying problem with the stick is that diagonal up/right is not responsive properly. Most of the times I try to jump in that direction it either responds about 1/4 seconds late or jumps straight up. The box for the MAS is also really big, wooden and heavy so unless you have a nice little table for it its not comfortable on your lap. Honestly, the reason I bought the MAS Super Pro Stick was because I had read about it here on SRK in a thread a few years ago and it was often revered as the best joystick money can buy and also I noticed a few of the really good American players like Justin Wong and John Choi used it. I know sticks are all about taste and that some of the problems I mentioned could just be MY stick being defective or something but I don’t really want to invest in another stick unless it’s really worth it. This is where you guys come in and can help me.
I read the the thread( http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=118289 ) on sanwa and seimitsu sticks and parts but I still would like some opinions and suggestions on what I should buy next. Basically this is what I want:
Convex buttons, 6-button layout, buttons not spaced far apart, curved layout
Stick: optical, smooth not clicky, loose not too stiff, short radius, replaceable head (I’ve never tried the japanses gumball type so I want the option of switching back to american bathead), durable, and most of all sensitive and responsive
Box: not as big and heavy as MAS Super Pro Stick
If there is a specific model sanwa or seimitsu stick that fits or is very similar to those specifications PLEASE let me know I don’t have a lot of time to check SRK so if you can help me e-mail me @ jav1ts@hotmail.com
Sorry to hear about your issues. Sucks to spend that much money, then have to wait forever, then be disappointed with what you got. It seems buying a custom stick from one of the stick builders in the trade outlet forum would be your best bet. Will probably run you another 150-200 dollars but at least you will get exactly what you want. Also, I think takes 1-2 months to get it unless you purchase a used one.
I’ve seen some other threads on here regarding the p360 sticks issues. You may want to search those and explain your problem, they might be able to help. I’m pretty sure there are modifications, such as replacing the joystick spring with a softer one, that will ease the feel. You may even be able to adjust the joystick radius, and it sounds like the above post will help you with the sensitivity issue.
As for the stick being clunky, I’m pretty sure it’s made that way because most arcade users mash alot so they wanted to build it to withstand the abuse. Probably need to use it on the floor or like you said, get a footstool or a small desk. You may be able to make your own box with the same width dimensions but much thinner. It would take some work but at least salvage the parts and artwork that you like.
Lastly, you could have made these determinations back in March and just sent it back and try to get your money back or have the stick altered. Probably too much time has passed to try and do that now.
The 360 optical doesn’t make any clicky noises when you move it; it doesn’t have any microswitches which other sticks do. The advantage of this is that the P360 is supposedly more accurate (though some might say that the microswitches are more accurate because you can hear the click and be sure you activated a microswitch), and that the microswitches will never need to be replaced because there are none. The P360 has a very hard spring, and when you move it in a 360 motion, you feel no corners because it has a circular restricting gate. Circular gates on microswitch sticks are supposedly odd because it’s supposedly awkward to activate the corner microswitches (though you can get octagonal gates for microswitch sticks too which some prefer).
The downsides of the P360 is that it requires more voltage than most consoles will give to controllers, so there is usually a battery or some alternate power source which goes in to powering the P360. I’m not sure how MAS Systems uses a battery pack or something else to get the proper voltage. Other downsides are that the P360’s that are manufactured by happ, and usually have problems with them.
As for your 8 button vs 10 button question…
I like 10 just because I like seeing lots of buttons on my stick I guess? Also, you can set them to macros on emulated PC fighting games, and also on some console fighting games, though it’s looked down upon in tourney play. I like 10 buttons because it gives you more buttons to configure. For example:
Buttons:
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
You could configure buttons 1 2 3, 5 6 7 to play on so your hand is closer to the middle of the stick… or you could configure buttons 2 3 4, 6 7 8 to play on so your hands are farther apart. And then you just ignore the two unused buttons.
People like 8 buttons because you can’t accidentally hit a button you don’t want to hit, and there are no fighters which require more than 6 buttons. Keeps things simple and clean.
ffoxxttrott, how often would you have to replace the microswitches? And are there a lot of problems with the P360? When you use a P360, is there any indication at all that you pushed it hard enough? I want to have some kind of click or something so that I can feel I did pushed it all the way. Also, is it harder to use because you have to hit perfectly up to do up.
Pretty sure the microswitches last for like… 10,000,000 cycles is it? Basically, it depends on how much you play, and I think it’ll be years before you have to replace them. The buttons have microswitches too, so it’s not like if you get a P360 you’re never going to have to replace any parts.
I went to my arcade a couple days ago and noticed that they had P360’s on their Tekken machine (I was just playing around with the joysticks, I don’t normally play Tekken). I played around with it a little bit, and pretty much the indication that you’ve hit the proper direction is the way the character moves on the screen, or moving the stick all the way until it touches the gate so it can’t move any more in that direction.
With the P360’s by Happ, I’ve heard that theres some problems that arise, especially after you’ve had the stick for a little while.
You don’t have to push exactly up to go up. It’s more lenient than that; I don’t think getting directions to register would be a problem.
Hmmm… Well I can’t decide which to get. I definetely don’t want to have problems with the P360. But if you have to replace the micro switches on the buttons too, then I guess It doesn’t matter. I’m a little afraid to take the thing apart though. Is replacing the chip easy? And do they cost a lot.
Jav1ts, sorry about hi-jacking your thread. But yeah, I’d suggest you get yourself with a custom stick :wgrin:
Mink, Yeah I wouldn’t really want to replace parts on my stick either, but that probably wont come about for a long while. Pretty sure each microswitch is only like… a dollar. I’ve never experienced replacing any parts of a stick though.
Oh yeah… I’d recommend the Competition stick with microswitches. Might as well save 50 dollars, especially when the 50 dollars might cause additional problems in the long run.
The best Happ parts are the Competition joystick and pushbuttons. Nothing beats the old school feel, reliability and accuracy of good microswitches. Sanwa in Japan made a perfect 360 style stick once. They discontinued it.
Guys, thanks for the feedback! Greatly appreciated. I took some of your tips and advice and also did a little more research of my own. I ended up purchasing a HRAP 2 and I must say the Sanway JLF stick is great. I love the short throw compared to the P360 and it feels very responsive. I know it’s not a custom stick but it met a lot of the requirements I specified earlier. All I need is to get Sanwa push-buttons and button fillers for the L1 and L2. I may also try a Seimitsu LS-32-02 stick but for now I’m good. Now its just practice practice !! :wgrin:
I don’t mean to sound like a shill, but I highly recommend ordering your parts from www.lizardlick.com . You might want to pick up an octagonal gate for your stick while you are there too. They’re only like five bucks and a lot of people prefer it over the stock square one.
And for Mink, in case you were wondering, I don’t think the circular feel with microswitch on the Happ parts will have a problem registering the diagonals. I think thats again only with japanese sticks.
:wgrin: