yes.
Thanks all. Bought me 6 Sanwas today. Appreciate all the feedback.
Funny how things work out…
Arcana Heart 2 goes from being an expensive license stick to a decently priced modder’s stick.
Nice to see the price drop to reality for a stick that’s arguably been overproduced. Modders reap the benefits of overstock!
In some ways, it’s a better mod fit than the Tekken 5 stick was…
A) It already has a JLF so no need to replace the joystick there! It would, however, be a moderately difficult stick to fit an LS-32-01 in, though. It’s another one of those Hori sticks that uses a custom mounting plate unique to it that just doesn’t allow the easiest joystick swapout.
B) It’s one of the few licensed sticks (the other being the T6 HRAP) that has lug nuts/cap socket screws for the faceplate and not those godawful carriage bolts!
C) It has a relatively easy to solder board… (Not that I didn’t manage to ruin my last one’s PCB! ALWAYS replace the solder tip if it turns black or loses its point completely.) Caveat here, though… The T5 board is a bit easier to desolder. It also doesn’t have as many wires to cross to get a conventional button layout. That’s the big thing I didn’t care for about the AH2 PCB.
Good idea to label the button positions on the AH2 PCB so you know where to cross wires for a conventional button layout.
D) IMHO, it’s easily got some of the best character art on a license stick. Hated the CG character art on the T5 stick so I always yanked that off. For AH2, I’ve gotten a plexi for my first AH 2stick and will get another plexi for the second whenever the buttons arrive for the last phase of the mod…
I definitely recommend an extended T5 plexi for the AH2 stick if you choose to keep the original art. The regular T5 plexi doesn’t quite cover about 2-4 mm of the art. This is one sticker art that would be easy to ruin with just a bit of sweat!
Hello,
Actually Sanwa buttons feel softer, smoother and more sensitive than Hori buttons.Hori buttons are harder to the touch (gives it a rubbery feeling). What i have discovered is that it is the internal switch that makes all the difference. The Hori button (switch) is a bit hard and “mushy” while the Sanwa is very smooth (higher quality i’m sure). if you like hard buttons (most people from the old U.S. arcades were raised on these) the Hori stock buttons should be just fine imho. On the other hand, smooth Sanwas are nice (they activate with just a slight flick of your finger). It depends on your preference in games as well. For me i like soft responsive (Sanwa) buttons for fighting games while i like harder (stock hori) buttons for shoot em’ ups (raiden fighters, raiden III etc).
Hope i’m not rudely off topic but, is there anyone here willing to part with their stock Hori buttons? I’m trying to match a custom stick color scheme for a Hori FS3 (gray buttons). If there is anyone who doesn’t need them please let me know…
Its exaggerated for sure.
Buttons are buttons and sticks are sticks. Dont get caught up in the hype of people saying certain buttons are better than others. If you like it and you are used to them, thats all that matters.
Over the years I have collected a bunch of different sticks, and still have everything from HAPP stick and buttons to all Sanwa and All Seimitsu sticks, and I can still play just as well on my completely stock Hori EX2 (FS3) as my TE. I was forced to play on my EX2 for about a year because there were no 360 converters at the time, and realized sticks and buttons dont matter.
Hell just a few years ago everyone was about HAPP and saying Sanwas sucked. Now look where we are.
I heart Happs.
I own both a stock Madcatz TE and a stock SE stick. While I can play the same with both sticks I find the TE more comfortable, partly because of the case but mainly because of the buttons.
They just feel more comfortable to press and are more responsive.
I think using Sanwa buttons will help you play Street Fighter the same way a HDTV and Bluray player will help you watch a movie. It doesn’t make the movie any better but it’s just nicer to watch it in high def.
With that said, it all just comes down to preference.