So, the parts finally arrived, this past Saturday.
Glad I sprung the extra 2 bucks for registered mail. Got a knock at the door and asked to sign for the package.
Honest site, but don’t order if you need your parts in a hurry, I’ll say that much.
10 days is pretty standard for international, especially for packages coming from hong kong.
Yep, I give overseas orders two weeks before I start wondering when it’s going to arrive. Anything you need urgently should come from your own country.
Ditto on two weeks delivery for Hong Kong, too.
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten anything from Hong Kong in much less than 10 days. It just takes a while but I’ve never been let down by Play-Asia and the other reliable web stores.
Oh, I did see something SNES-related recently.
Some company has released a portable SNES player with an LCD screen called Supaboy. The portable is actually shaped like an SNES pad!
I saw that it’s available at VideoGamesNewYork.
http://www.videogamesnewyork.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=18&products_id=1492
You plug the old SNES or SFC cartridges into it just like a Sega Nomad.
Very interesting piece of hardware but I have no interest in it myself…
Just though I’d pass on news about it in case someone was interested…
Best Buy is running sale on Soul Calibur V until Saturday the 24th…
The game is $39.99 for the regular edition, $20 off the MSRP. The Best Buy copies come with the DLC for the new character (weird name I can’t remember) you’d have to otherwise buy online…
I’ve got my heart set on getting the Collector’s Edition (2 copies still available at a local Wally-World) otherwise I’d snap this up.
Dampierre. Dat curleh mustache.
Kid Icarus is $10 off at Best Buy already, $29.99.
Got tired of swapping out power bricks and took the plunge on a fancy power strip.
Bought this sweet Led Zeppelin store display at a garage sale this weekend for $2. It’s going in my office.
HRAP SA’s last I saw were retail MSRP $129.99… That was for both the HRAP 3 SA and the HRAP V3 SA.
The HRAP 2 SA never had an official US release… cheapest I saw import shops sell it brand new was maybe $150 (?) “clearance” but usually $200 because it was an imported “rarer” joystick even though you could still find them in stores up through at least late 2009!
During Christmas 2009, HRAP 3 SA’s could be had down to at least $89.99 brand new online. The suckers were just so readily available that the value in the US crashed. The HRAP 2 SA seems to be more desirable amongst collectors even though there are people selling the stick who clearly have no idea of its value!
Likewise, the TE’s hit as low as at least $89.99 brand new during Christmas 2009, too. There might have been a few that sold for $79.99 new but I think $99.99 was more typical.
This is all based on memory and the sample of import shops and websites that I frequented during that time…
Summer 2010 was definitely the time to buy joysticks, Kyle. I was seeing ridiculously low prices left and right for Agetecs and HRAP 2’s (non-SA models) on eBay. It was not unusual for pricing to end as low $25 for even excellent condition sticks.
I think there were more desperate guys just trying to grab whatever cash they could; as a result, it was a huge firesale that summer with the economy being bad. I haven’t seen anything like it since but I also have to admit I haven’t been monitoring eBay lately because A) my finances are low for the moment; and B) I really am for the most part content with what I have and am trying to re-equip a fleet of empty cases with buttons and joysticks as-is! I’ve been futzing more with figuring out how to get “supposedly universal” Hori joysticks to work on an AMD CPU PC. (I’m convinced that the turbo-switched V3 SA is the best option for shooters on that computer; I could never get Turbo to work for the HRAP 3 SA/SE; the MC Cthulu sticks I have are better for the AMD PC because you don’t have to futz with third party software, period, to get those joysticks to work with Vanguard Princess. The MC Cthulu PCB is more stable and compatible with the AMD CPU, period, on my computer. I am still amazed by Toodles…)
Normally, the best you can get for an Agetec in good condition (original stock parts) is closer to $50. I don’t think I ever paid over $60 for one with shipping… I’m done collecting them for mods since it’s a VERY involved mod to use Seimitsu joysticks. Three was my limit and I still think I was half-crazy to do that many…! The button mod for the Agetec is much, much worse than anything that has to be done for the Tekken 5 or Arcana Heart 1/2 joysticks, too.
Cheapest I ever got the T5 stick itself (stock parts, no game, no box) was roughly $20. I was literally the only person who bid on that stick and the guy was happy to just get rid of it! I’ve sold empty T5 shells for $20 minimum.
Oh, my recent buy was the Hori Soul Calibur V stick. 33% / $50 off with the Redemption code from NorCal was just something I couldn’t ignore.
I’m seeing ridiculous import prices for the Gundam Extreme Vs stick for those of us who don’t have Japanese-connected buddies. Congrats to MarkMan and the other guys who have friends everywhere. It helps! LOL
(In all honesty, I’m looking most forward to the Mad Catz VS and Hori Fighting Edge when I can afford them… It’s doubtful I’ll get another SC V stick. I might get the same case style if they do another art theme with it besides Gundam. I’m not really crazy about blue joysticks…)
And before I forget,
Thank you again Chad for posting the codes in the HCNor(?) thread!
Chad probably helped make at least a few dozen sales for Hori Store USA this past week…!
I think he should get a commission… LOL
The best time to buy HRAPs was late 2008.
In March, I preordered my HRAP2 SA from Akihabarashop for 20200 yen shipped.
In November, eBay was flooded with a ton of imported HRAP2 SAs. I got a couple for other people for about 80 USD, and saw them going afterward for as little as 70.
Not to play one-up, but did I ever mention that I got a T5 at a thrift store for $5? It is literally the only joystick I’ve ever seen in town aside from the occasional TE at Gamestop and NES advantage sticks. I have yet to do anything with it.
$49 each…so good, I bought 5! Will give you picture perfect 240p (complete with scanlines) on your regular CRT based arcade machines and possibly RGB enabled TV/Monitors. Free shipping in the US, but postage is high for rest of the world. Takes VGA in, set to 640x480 and never look back!
I still say the stock parts are crap… Keep the basic case hardware and PCB but pitch the Hori buttons for sure! Some people keep the joystick, others throw it away and do the easy mod with the JLF. The problem with the “easy” JLF mod is that you then have to unscrew it to change the joystick gates if you want to reset to four-direction play or swap the square gate for an octogate. I think it’s just better to drill out the original joystick mount, place the JLF-TP1 and/or Seimitsu SS Mount (if you have it) and lay out a generic joystick mount with silver marker… then drill the holes for rivets/studs to hang a new joystick mount from.
$5 for a case like that is very good… it’s easily worth several times that. Still one of the best cases for mods. It has room for dual mods, more than enough for the Cthulus, and depth for JLF and all LS-series joysticks except the LS-64. There is work involved in adapting the faceplate for Seimitsu and Sanwa parts but it’s still easier to mod this stick than most of the joysticks from the 1990s and certainly any Agetec or Hori Fight Stick on the market! The only thing I don’t like anymore is the HRAP 1 layout on the faceplate but it’s easy to just ignore/block out the first two 30mm buttons from the left and just use the last six 30mm button positions. That also opens up space between the joystick and main buttons and leaves an Agetec-like button layout.
One guy even adapted a spare T5 case, bought a new custom metal faceplate, and created a Virtual On twin stick with a Dual Shock 1/2 PCB (I think…). It was a lot cheaper for him to do that than to hunt down one of the Hori 360 twin sticks. Those things are ridiculously expensive and not worth it for one game…
You’ll get your money’s worth from the OLED screen.
LOL, 5!
Convince me why I need this for my Super Neo 29. I have my 360 already working through JAMMA SCART hack already.
Depends whether you like to see solid scanlines or jumpy scanlines on al old school 15KHz CRT…If you have not used SCART RGB for your 16 bit consoles days then you wont know what I mean.
Take for example neogeo games, if you run the actual arcade hardware against a xbox360 port through SCART, you will notice that that the hardware will display the picture with solid scan lines (240p resolution) and the port is having alternating or jumpy scanlines (480i resolution). You will want it if you are a display purist.
so what happens when you force it to 480p over RGB to a TV with an xbox 360? does it just go back to 480i over RGB?
You can not force 480p over 21pin RGB SCART cables, it just wont happen, so the only resolution you will be able to output is indeed 480i through that connection. The only current gen that can output 240p (through virtual consoles) is the Wii! 240p is available on all manners of outputs, just that SCART RGB gives a clearer and vibrant picture compared to S-VHS/Composite.
I was asking about the NTSC component+composite cable that comes with the xbox 360 in north america. scart is a little different.
The component+composite cable that came with the 360 can only do 480i and above, not because of the cable but a cobination of the 360 hardware and software publishers. If you force 480p on the cable, the signal can only be processed by a TV set that can recognise that signal. Most old school CRTs can only go up to 480i (excluding the HD-CRTs) so the 360 will default to 480i.