Noob Question - Joystick 3 + 3 + 2 vs 4 + 4 button layouts?

Tech Talk
1

Hi all,

I’m looking to add a 2 player joystick to my existing Rec Room Masters cabinet - is there a benefit between the “Tank Stick” stype 3 + 3 + 2 button layout vs. a more modern 8 button fight stick layout?

Option 1 (3 rows, 3 + 3 + 2): https://www.recroommasters.com/Xtension-Two-Player-Control-Board-Emulator-Edition-p/rm-xt-sd-board-ee.htm

Option 2 (2 rows, 4 + 4): https://www.recroommasters.com/Xtension-Two-Player-Control-Board-Xbox-360-PS3-PC-p/rm-xt-sd-board.htm

I’m leaning towards the 3 + 3 + 2 layout because it uses a keyboard encoder and thus can keep my MAME cabinet config relatively intact. But does the layout in 3 rows make certain fight games difficult to play?

As far as I know, not really - since I can get by with 6 buttons with my current stick… but just want to see if there a reason I should get a more modern 8 button fight stick layed out in 2 rows of 4 buttons instead.

Kid and I are playing a variety of fighters from classics like SF II, SF III Alpha, to newer SFIV, MVC3, etc. Also will be used for arcade emulation as well when I have less than 4 people playing (already have a 4 player RecRoomMasters stick).

Thanks.

2

Personally I never really understood the 3-3-2 layout.
The only advantage I can think of is Mortal Kombat 3 (and later) with the Run button on the leftmost of the bottom 2.

In situations like this, you’d mainly have to consider the games outside of your standard 6-button fighters (Street Fighter, Killer Instinct, etc), and how they’d feel on the 4-4 vs the 3-3-2.

In terms of how games like SF would feel… that would really depend on how you rest your right hand while you play, so that’s fully a personal thing.