New to Fighting Games, Looking at Sticks

First of all, hi!

I’m still new to fighting games, I’ve picked up a few over the last week or so and have put some time into it. Mostly just cheap PS2 games I can find used at gamestop, but I think I would like to try out a stick. I’m not really sure if I’m at the point where I want to invest $200+ on a Hori Arcade Pro 1 or 2, even if I can adapter it to other systems in the future.

Is there any more budget friendly sticks that I’ll be able to use a decent amount before they disintegrate and fall apart?

The custom stuff looks cool, but I have no idea how to solder or anything like that, and most of those options look to be just as expensive.

Any help is appreciated.

What system? The non TE edition of the SF4 sticks are affordable and certainly decent to start out on, same for the Hori EX2 (not the uber expensive Hori, the base model), PS2 sticks are usually pretty expensive due to how rare they are now a days, there are several options for 360/PS3 sticks that are decently priced though. (about the same as a wireless controller)

http://www.hori.jp/us/products/xbox360/soulcalibur4_st_xbox360/index.html (this is a base model, I learned on a basic Hori back in the day)

http://www.hori.jp/us/products/xbox360/fighting_stick_ex2/index.html (ditto)

http://www.hori.jp/us/products/ps3/fighting_stick/index.html (PS3)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001M22WLU (MC SF4 base model)

Sorry that I wasn’t clear, I do mean for PS2. I also have a 360, but I prefer the variety available on the PS2.

Your going to have a much tougher time with that (I think anyways), check the Trading post section of the forums on here, and scope out Amazon/Ebay/etc, you might get lucky and find something for around $60.

Check your message inbox.

It sounds like you want something in the Hori EX2/FS3’s price and quality range, but for PS2… there’s the Hori Soul Calibur II stick, but those are long out of print and pretty rare.

Next step up would be the Tekken 5 stick. Again, out of print, and price has gone up since it is a very good stick, but there happens to be one on eBay for relatively cheap right now (auction ends in an hour though).

Go a step down and you’ve got the Mayflash. Dirt cheap and works on PS2 and PS3/PC right out of the box. Quality isn’t too great and modifying it requires a dremel, but at ~$35 you can’t really complain.

The newer Hori sticks (HRAP’s) on the PS2 are decent. Once you get good enough with the games, you might want to find someone to put some custom parts in it (real sanwa buttons are much more sensitive/better for sure), but as a starting point, it doesn’t matter too much.

Thanks Sleasoid, unfortunately I couldn’t win the auction >_<

As I said before, paying $200 for an HRAP really isn’t something I want to do right now.

I got a brand new HRAP EX-SE for my Xbox 360 for $75 shipped on ebay a few weeks ago (won it by $.010. Every once in a while you stumble upon stellar deals, just keep your eyes peeled.

Thanks for the stick advice guys, thanks!

I had another question, I was just curious, which of then next generation consoles has a larger variety or better fighting games? Not trying to start a console war, but I’m just curious if one of the consoles has a better selection, controller isn’t really a factor since I’ll probably buy a stick.

I saw some old topics on the issue, but things might have changed with new releases/arcade/psn downloads.

Thanks.

Well, I think I’ll stick with the 360 for now, there doesn’t seem to be enough of a boon on the PS3 for me to upgrade. I went with the EX2 stick, I heard some mixed things, but I figured if I’m still into it, I could upgrade the stick.

Aside from MvC and Street Fighter 4, any must haves I should pick up for the system?

iirc, most fighting games are multiplat (with the exception of Virtua Fighter 5 Online and Dead or Alive 4). VF5 is on the ps3 as well but it doesnt have the online mode as well some extra costumes (it’s arcade version b iirc).

imo, you should’ve gotten a ps3 since it’s what most tournaments use

about the EX2, i’ve spent quite a few hours on it and i personally like it. good choice.

Well, I already have an Xbox, and almost everyone I know has one. I’ll pick one up eventually probably, but it won’t be because of just fighting games in all likelihood =3

yeah. it all boils down to whatever console your friends have :rofl:

It’s a bit of a concern, since I know I have a tendency to do things completely. Will I be in a bad position if I do go to tournaments? Or would I just need to PS3 stick?

Smaller tournaments tend to have both 360 and PS3 to draw in more players, bigger ones tend to go with all PS3 or mostly PS3 (they assume you have friends you can borrow a PS3 stick from if needed).

You could buy a mayflash fight stick and then mod it. Those are not to hard to mod and are relatively cheap.

i’ve heard, from an above post as well as some threads here, that it’s somewhat of a chore to mod. Dremeling, soldering/desoldering are things that are not easy to do if you’re relatively new to modding sticks.

As far as the different timing on games for different consoles, imo it’s very small (something along the lines of 0.2 seconds faster on the 360 version of sf4). Most people wont notice it.

If you really need another stick for a ps3, get a cheap stick (like the hori fightstick for the ps3) since it’s a hell of a lot cheaper imo than dual modding. Dual modding requires some soldering, usually some research, and a lot of time if you’ve never done it before.

Well, the mayflash would be at least relatively cheap to start on, and wouldn’t be so big of a deal if I mess up on, as opposed to a TE stick :stuck_out_tongue:

new to sticks? Get a MadCatz SE fightstick
Want a good stick? Get a MadCatz TE fightstick
or go home

I personally have the HORI Fighting Stick EX2 and I love it. Some point soon I’m going to repalce the buttons in it with sanwa buttons, and I’ll probably change the artwork on it. But as a beginner fight stick I freakin’ love it. In a few months I’m probably going to pick up a Mad Cats TE stick. The one benefit of the HORI stick is that it is a lot cheaper for good quality. It’s not as good as the TE, but as far as I’m concerned it’s definitely one of the top 5 fightstick’s avaliable right now. And at a fraction of the cost of the TE, you can’t really go wrong. HORI Xbox 360 Fighting Stick EX2