HORI Fighting Stick Wii is same as HORI Fighting Stick 3.
And others are same too.
I just realized that this thread is mostly about the FS3, not the EX2 that I’ve been working on. But they’re pretty much the same, so I hope that you’ll forgive me for showing my EX2 results in this thread.
This first image is a mockup that I made in Photoshop. I have a template lets me exchange the artwork, balltop coulour and button colours. I’ll post the PSD if anyone wants it.
One PSX digital PCB and one Madcatz xbox 360 FightPad PCB inside the EX2 box. Notice that the headset connector on the FightPad is usable from the outside.
The finished stick in slighty bad lighting conditions.
Another view.
I’ve used Sanwa OBFS-30 buttons and a Seimitsu LS-33 stick with an octogonal gate. I’ve previously compared OBSF-30 buttons to Seimitsu PS-14-D so I knew that I prefer the Sanwa buttons by a large margin but the LS-33 stick really took me by surprise. I can only compare it to the Seimitsu LS-33 and the Sanwa JLF-8, but to me it feels considerably better than both of those. The LS-33 is probably going to be my stick of choice from now on.
Very cool that you made a Mockup PSD.
You can provide?
There is an EX2 Thread.
http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=140160
Hey guys,
Just received a Hori Fighting Stick 3 in the mail. Been using it for SF4 and its pretty damned cool. I’m not a big fighter guy but old enough that I still remember the arcades and it brings back one of those warm and fuzzy feelings.
Now, I was thinking about doing mods on it. Of course what Im wondering is if I should just wait. I would love for it to look as sweet as all the ones shown here but Im not sure if its worth the money for me at the moment.
What kind of changes do you see in the performance of the buttons/stick?
Are the Sanwa more responsive/snap back quicker, just overall better feeling, longer lasting?
Would it maybe be a good plan for me to just use stock until they start wearing out and then think about modding?
Thanks in advance, love this forum
The amount of modding you want to do is completely up to you, though I can say it’s definitely worth it to at least upgrade the buttons and the joystick.
You’re pretty much spot-on with your assumptions about the feel of the buttons and joysticks offered by Sanwa and Seimitsu, just know that you have a few different options for upgrading the joystick. Sanwa and Seimitsu purists like to swap out the whole joystick, which requires some drilling and grinding, but it ensures that they can use their favorite joystick, no matter which it is. But if you’re not too picky, simply swapping just the joystick microswitches will still create a noticeable difference, even though it’s still using a Hori shaft, spring, and gate. That’s been my personal preference, as you can swap the microswitches for Sanwa JLF microswitches, and essentially wind up with a compact JLF. But others prefer the feel of other Sanwa and Seimitsu sticks, in which case you would need to perform some modifications to the spring to imitate the stiffer feel of some other sticks, or just swap the whole thing.
If you can get used to the lower quality parts in a Hori arcade stick, then more power to you. And the parts can even last for quite a while before they start to break down, as long as you treat them well. Upgrading the stick with new buttons and microswitches doesn’t cost much, though. If you already have the tools (screwdriver, metal file, soldering iron, and wire), you’re probably looking at about $30 for the upgrade.
but dose the gate make that much diffrence:wonder:
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It should also be noted that square gates are the standard for Japanese arcades. So if you think you’re going to be spending a lot of time in arcades, stick with a square gate.
well i’ll be in tokyo for 10 days in may and like i said i all ready have a harp3 and love the square gate on it .just wanted to make the wii hori feel as much like sanwa i can cheap.i figered if i can save $5 on the gate i would.i just need something to help me maybe not get my butt kicked by a 5 yr old when im in the arcades playing tvc .
Thank you.
I’ve sort of reposted about my stick there but with the addition of a link to the PSD and two additional images. http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?p=7897488#post7897488
Just replace the microswitches, and it should feel pretty similar to a Sanwa JLF. A set of MS-0-2P microswitches is only about $12 from Lizard Lick.
Don’t you hate it when you write a long post and then you lose it for some stupid reason :grrr:
Anyway, hello. I am new here and this is my first post. I am interested in modding my HFS3 and have spent several hours trawling this thread and believe I have got most of the information I need, however there are still a few questions which I have not been able to find the answers for.
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I understand the differences between the different Sanwa JLF joysticks, however can someone tell me whether they’re all compatible with the HFS3? My preference of stick is the Sanwa JLF-TP-8T mainly because it comes with the wiring harness (from LizardLick), but from the photos I have seen from other members who have done this mod, it appears that their sticks do not have the mounting plate attached. Is the mounting plate going to be a problem, or should I be opting for a non-T (ie, no mounting plate) version?
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I am tossing up whether to get the Cthulhu PCB as it will mean I don’t have to invest in a soldering kit. It’s not that I can’t solder, but it just seems like a bit of a waste of money as I don’t have any other projects at the moment for which I will require the soldering iron. Wiring the Cthulhu seems straightforward enough, but is it simple to get all the other HFS3 buttons connected (particularly Start/Home/Select)?
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If I do buy the Cthulhu, will I need to also purchase a USB A/B cable and/or anything else?
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Do I need to purchase additional wiring to hookup the buttons to the PCB? I am assuming the answer is “yes”.
Here is the list of stuff which I am planning on ordering from LizardLick;
1x Sanwa JLF-TP-8T Joystick
8x Sanwa OBSF-30 Buttons (or maybe Seimitsu PS-14-KN 30mm)
16x .110" quick disconnects
1x Wiring for the buttons?
1x Cthulhu PS3 PCB (maybe)
1x Seimitsu LB-39 Ball Top (maybe)
Any feedback would be much appreciated. Sorry for some of the dumb questions - as I travel for work, I don’t have my HFS3 handy at the moment so haven’t had a chance to open it up and take a look inside.
Any JLF can fit in this stick without the need for a mounting plate, but you’re going to need to cut away a bunch of plastic in the mounting area, and possibly grind down the joystick shaft and the case’s bottom plate to make sure the shaft doesn’t scrape along the bottom.
Personally I don’t recommend using a JLF or any other joystick, because Hori designed the case around their own slim joystick, which makes it an absolute pain to try to install full-size joysticks. The easiest option is to buy a set of four MS-0-2P micro switches, and just swap them with the Hori micro switches, and you’ll have something just as good as a JLF.
There’s no need for a Cthulhu, unless you want to use this on more than just PS3/PC, in which case you want a MC Cthulhu. You do need a soldering kit regardless of whether you get a Cthulhu, because the stock Hori PCB is soldered to the buttons, so you can’t change the buttons until you desolder them.
Extra wiring for the buttons is optional. You can bend and trim the prongs on the Sanwa buttons to fit into the holes in the Hori PCB, and then just solder the two back together like how it was originally manufactured, or you can run wires from the PCB to the buttons. If you do the first method, you won’t need quick disconnects.
There’s no such thing as a Hori microswitch. They are not switch manufacturers. In fact they also use Omron microswitches for their sticks so what you suggest to do is pointless. And in any case it’s not just the microswitches that make a stick good or bad, it’s the build quality of the whole thing.
:wtf:
The switches used in the FS3 are not the same thing as the Omron switches used in the JLF. They’re not even close in looks, feel, or durability. There’s many reasons why the FS3 is offered at such a low price, and one of them is the sub-par micro switches they put in the joystick. Micro switches often cost as much as buttons, and if a good set of Omron switches can set you back $12, there’s no way they’ll make it into a cheap FS3.
I don’t know who actually manufactures the micro switches in the joystick, because there’s no discernible brand name printed on them, and they don’t feel anything like other good quality switches I’ve tried. I figure if Hori doesn’t care to use good quality micro switches, then it shouldn’t matter what they’re called as long as you replace them with something better.
Now as far as the rest of the joystick is concerned, it doesn’t sound to me like you’ve actually tried the mod I’m suggesting, or that you even have a FS3 to try it on. I never said that you could perform the micro switch mod on a LS-32 and get the same feel as a JLF, nor did I say you could perform the mod on a Happ Competition and end up with a really tall JLF. This is the only joystick I’m suggesting this mod for, and for good reason.
If you actually had a FS3 joystick to reference, you might notice that the only striking difference between it and a JLF is the height. The shaft diameter is the same, the actuator diameter is the same, the spring diameter is the same, the hole in the gate is the same, and the mounting grooves for the micro switches are the same. In fact, you can even fit a JLF octogate or circular gate on in place of the Hori gate, just so long as you drill holes for the screws to fit through. It’s not a complex concept to grasp; all you have to do is look at it and wiggle it around, and you can clearly see that there isn’t much that separates the Hori joystick from the Sanwa joystick it’s trying to imitate.
And in regards to your final comment, I don’t know what you’re trying to say about the Hori joystick’s build quality, but whatever your claim is, you’ve left it completely unsupported by any evidence. My joystick works great, with no signs of fatigue on any of the parts even after several months of heavy use, nor have I heard of anyone else’s joystick bursting into flames because it lacks the official Sanwa seal of approval.
You really have no clue. Hori always uses Omron microswitches for their sticks. Here’s for instance a pic of the stock stick mounted in the EX2, which is the same as the one mounted in the the FS3:
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/2864/s2020019.th.jpg
The only difference with the JLF microswitches is of course the terminals (solder type vs PCB type). The rest is the same, including the operating force (“5” in the code = 200gf) which is what gives a different feel to a switch. Even the PCB-less
version of the JLF (the now discontinued JLF-TM) had them. Hori has been using Omron switches from at least as far back as the early 90’s, in the Neo Fighting stick for the Neo Geo. And so have done other stick makers: take a look inside the Namco PS1 stick:
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/5356/s2020023.th.jpg
The view that Omron is the Rolls-Royce of microswitches is incorrect because it’s based on ill-grounded arguments like yours (expensive arcade sticks have them so they must cost a lot so they can’t be found in cheaper console sticks). They sure are good but also quite affordable. Omron switches (and their products in general) are so common that even the Logitech mouse I’m using to post this has them. Your figure is incorrect as you don’t consider the fact that Hori buys switches in bulk quantities and directly from Omron, not from a distributor/importer. Look at how the price decreases from a single unit to 250+and that’s from a European distributor:
Imagine the price Hori can get by buying thousands switches directly from Omron.
As for the build quality of Hori sticks, while I agree that people tend to exaggerate the difference with Sanwa sticks (as in crap vs godlike), Sanwa sticks are better built, just compare the the main plastic body or the complex restrictor of a JLF with those of Hori sticks. This doesn’t mean Horis don’t play well, I certainly didn’t say that.
None of those arcade sticks from which you’ve provided example pics are a FS3. I don’t care what you’ve heard or read, none of it applies to the FS3. I’m going to say it again: if you actually had a set of FS3 switches for reference, you’d know what I’m talking about.
I don’t know if you can read what’s stamped on the bottom of that switch, but I’ll just spell it out for you; “Thailand.” Omron switches are made in Japan.
Hori does not always use Omron switches. End of discussion.
When you open up a HORI Fighting Stick, you will see one of two brands of Microswitch.
OMRON or Matsushita.
My HORI Fighting Stick EX2 and the Dead or Alive 4 Stick has OMRON Microswitches for the Joystick inside.
Another of mine, specifically the Soulcalibur IV, has both OMRON and Matsushita in the same Joystick.
Laugh.
And I have experience with HORI Fighting Stick 3.
You will find Matsushita in them.
Sanwa uses OMRON in Joystick.
Seimitsu uses Matsushita in Joystick.
Although for the Sanwa JLF-TM-8, mine use Micro (azbil) Yamatake.
And I don’t know what Sanwa JLW-TM-8, JLW-UM-8 use.
It says SANWA one them, and has Elephant Logo.
earlyberd, your Microswitch should be a Matsushita AM51630A53N.
Like M K L, my EX2 has OMRON.
OMRON V-15-3A5.
Same ones in the Namco Arcade Stick.
And both of my Namco have them.
Both Omron and Matsushita are Japanese manufacturers and both brands are used in arcade sticks. It’s pretty common for Japanese manufacturers to have factories in Thailand or Malaysia, which doesn’t make the products Thailandese or Malaysian, they remain Japanese. The guy obviously has no clue and didn’t even recognize the Matsushita logo. The Matsushita microswitches are top quality, as good as Omron microswitches, in fact it’s the choice brand of Seimitsu. Claiming that these are sub-par switches means being ignorant.
Yeah, I’m assuming the big “M” next to “Thailand” probably stands for “Matsushita.”
But even if it’s a Japanese brand, the fact that it’s made in Thailand says a lot about what you can expect from it. The Japan-made Matsushita switches in a LS-32 feel much better.
Brand name has absolutely no bearing on the quality of a micro switch. The model number and location of manufacture make all the difference.
Ever heard of a business term called “quality control”? It’s the reason you pay extra for the micro switches that are exclusively manufactured in Japan, and the reason why cheap labor is cheap. It’s the reason why the first generation of Xbox 360’s had a 30% failure rate, and it’s the reason why Toyota refuses to manufacture the Prius in any foreign countries.
If Thai and Malaysian made electronics are cheaper and just as good as their Japanese counterparts, why does Matsushita still offer Japanese-made micro switches?