Hello! Many of us primarily enjoy our gaming, including fighting games, on PC. Welcome and I hope you enjoy Street Fighter V - there are many other titles available via Steam including recent favorite Dragonball FighterZ , Tekken 7, and the upcoming Soul Calibur VI !
Going with an Arcade style stick is a great idea but before we get to that, there is an intermediary option - “fightpads” . Check out the Hori Fighting Commander (for either Xbox One, or PS4 - there’s a model for each and they both support PC according to their web pages). for an example - essentially, they’re a gamepad that helps with the issue you describe by placing 6 buttons on the face instead of the usual 4, making fighting games with a similar layout easier to play. They also typically have a D-pad designed for fighting games, for those who prefer it. These pads are likely less expensive than most decent Arcade sticks, so if they’re available to you it may be worth looking into things if you can’t find a stick that works for you.
Now, onto Arcade style sticks themselves. I personally don’t know enough about Razer Arcade Sticks particular issues to comment, but currently it seems Razer offers both the Atrox which is an XboxOne/PC style stick and the more popular Panthera which is a PS4/PC stick. I’d have to do more research on any issues for either of them. However, overall I’ve found that sometimes other Razer peripherals have not been quite up to par with others in their price range. You are correct that MadCatz are now out of manufacture - however many of their TE line of sticks are still high quality and moddable so, especially for PC play they are desirable indeed and sold used. I actually have one I’m looking to sell myself , but I fear that counting for international shipping (I’m in the USA) I don’t know I could offer you the kind of price you’d seek. Feel free to PM me if you’re interested though.
That said, do you have any familiarity with or access to products from Hori or Qanba? Both these companies are making modern arcade sticks that are using higher quality peripherals and claim to offer PC support (Any stick that has X-Input support can easily be detected automatically in most titles these days) New they may be a little more than your budget, but they’re solid sticks and may also be available used. Sticks like the Hori RealArcadePro 4 Kai , Real Arcade Pro N Hayabusa, or Fighting EDGE , or the Qanba Crystal or Obsidian perhaps. There is also the Sanwa Denshii MONO Arcade Stick itself , but its an import so not as easily found. If you want to check these out online, head over to FocusAttack or ArcadeShock - the latter even sells custom versions with different art and components! I am not sure if they will ship to your location or not but it may be a good place to get an idea of what’s out there. Almost all of these sticks are “officially” PS4 sticks, but since they offer a “PC” mode as well which is (usually) X-Input, it will work for you without much fuss.
There are other options out there as well, but there may be some trade-offs. For instance, lower priced sticks may not come with higher-quality components (ie Sanwa, Seimitsu, Hori buttons or levers etc) nor be as easy to mod to add them. However it can be done - I seem to read about those with sticks built on the Mayflash F500 (a ton of sticks used this and rebrand it) can be modded if you look into how to do so. There are a number of custom sticks out there very well respected by SRK enthusiasts, such as those made by Jonyfraze or the Panzer Fight Stick from Jasen’s Customs, but they’re likely to be an order of magnitude above what you’d pay for a quality off the shelf stick like a Hori .
Alternately, depending on your comfort level and wallet you could basically build a stick yourself - Check out the ArcadeShock “Ultimate Modding Kit” to give you many of the internals and the PCB that is the “brains” of the stick, , find a case you like on the Internet (ie TekInnovations makes a nice acrylic case from what I hear), buy the levers and buttons you wish etc. Some enjoy having a neat little project, but others do not so its up to your preference and comfort level.
Buying a used stick, including a MadCatz TE series may not be a bad idea for looking to spend less. Feel free to look for those selling used versions of all the sticks mentioned above as you may be able to get a great experience for a lesser price.
If you’re buying a new stick on the level of the Razer Panthera, I urge you to double check any issues with Razer iself, but also look into the Hori Fighting EDGE , RAP N , and RAP 4 Kai , Qanba Obsidian and Crystal , Sanwa MONO, and upcoming sticks like the Victrix ProFS.
It may help to know what your goals and interests are besides price. Do you want/plan to mod a stick either for aesthetics or performance? Are you open to building/modding or just want to basically buy something already ideal and ready to play? You mentioned limits due to your location ; are there only certain stores that it would be ideal to purchase through? Would you be able to buy from overseas if necessary? (ie I don’t know about the shipping but if your nation collects EU VAT, buying from the USA mean a cheaper price.) Where you can purchase from and what’s affordable, as well as your interests, may likely guide your next step.
If you have any other questions let us know and we’ll try to help.
