For free, yes, but for $79.99 plus tax, no, its unacceptable to not work out the box, and gamestop is foul for coming out with that policy after the returns started to come in, which I would gather is probably borderline illegal, since this policy was instituted after the purchase.
crossing fingers I’m not jinxing myself I’ve had no problems with my SE stick for the 360. I probably haven’t played it nearly as much as many here, but I’ve played enough to unlock everyone. The only thing I have trouble with is I’m not used to the square gate, but that isn’t a design flaw.
-p-
After doing nothing but taking the Sanwa knockoff joystick apart and flipping the washer and then reassembling it correctly my SE is working great and getting plenty of use. I think the joystick has a solid design theory, and the buttons, while certainly not pro grade, would be just fine for the average player. Every arcade stick will have the occasional sticky button or janky stick. I place the blame squarely on MadCatz quality (or lack thereof) control… The guys like S-Kill and MarkMan who helped with the design really did a bang up job, as this is certainly the most enthusiast friendly arcade stick ever sold in the US, but MadCatz QC is a fail. As long as the company learns something from these first couple batches and fixes the problems tho, I’ll forgive them, as at least they aimed high and tried to bring us a worthwhile product instead of the same old crap.
the rubber feet on the bottom of my SE stick keep coming off i lost one anyone know where i can buy something close to them as a replacement?
on another stick i have i used some little rubber stickers. they sell them at depot for homes. they are not as big as whats currently on the stick but they get the job done
MadCatz SE Joystick 'El Cheapo"
I just recieved my SE joystick and within 20 minutes of play, I can no longer move back(left). On top of that the joystick will get stuck in the down left/right position. This joystick sucks big time!!! The feel and components are cheap…its should retail for 19.99 at best! Charging 69.99 is a rip off considering how cheap and defective it is.
Move on to another joystick and skip the hassle of dealing with MadCatz support team. Its a maddening process.
I still don’t have the SE stick I pre-ordered since my EB Games didn’t recieve any yet…
In the same boat as you man. Pre-ordered from EB games in ville St-Laurent(like in January), they initially told me that they’ll get it about the same time as the game release lol, yea right.
I already got all my Sanwa parts I ordered (JLF 8YT-SW stick and 8 OBSF-30 buttons) on the 14th of feb!
I went into the store yesterday and pre-ordered the TE edition just in case it arrives before the SE one or around the same time(guy told me it says mid march in the system for the TE…), in which case I’ll opt for that instead and keep my Sanwa parts as a spare or build a separate stick.
Getting really tired of playing with the stupid Xbox360 controller, it such a pain when I miss specific moves or do moves I don’t even want(like DP instead of fireball) which leads to heavy punishment and loses that should be wins easily…I had to temporarily buy a second controller(will return it once my stick comes in) since I threw the old one on the ground out of rage lol and doesn’t work well now 
If you didn’t fix the washer before playing then you might as well send it back now because your PCB is screwed.
If you fix the washer before using the stick it’s a great bargain for the price.
Just got my stick toda and afrter 3 hours of use it started sticking a little…i ordered jlf stick already…my question is can I just keep playing away with this busted joystick because im replacing it or can it do damage to parts that I’m not replacing by swapping the stick out?
im not sure if the question been answer but would a new stick remedy the fact i cant go left anymore? also for the pcb if the gold part is scratched off a bit due to washer (i glued it yesterday) and it is still goin left is there a temp fix till my new stick comes in?
So I have my TE, which is perfect. But i also got an SE for anyone else who wants to play at the house but doesn’t want to use a controller…and it was broken from the get-go. Yes I’ve read the first post and some of the various conversations in this thread, and see that I should send it back…but I’ve modded mine since, and it’s great now.
So, my question for MarkMan (if he knows):
When you send in the stick, does it come back with a new 90 day warranty? And for the fix, is this a part time fix where we will just have to send it in again when it breaks or is this a permanent fix? If its the latter, will all future SE’s ship with this fix?(assuming there are surther shipments, ive heard rumors of PC SFIV bundles with sticks)
Thanks, and I would just like to toss in that the TE…just gold. The parts feel amazing, the construction of the case is god-tier, and all the small details that matter to me (cable storage is my fave, makes it THAT much sexier than the SE to have on display) show the level of attention paid to this product. It shows.
I would have went with a TE instead if they were available. Oh well, i’ll just wait on my SE to get back from MC:(
My stick is officially falling apart. My stick is starting to not register and my buttons are starting to really stick. Wish my joystick would just come in so i can mod all at once!!!
I got my SE stick 2 days ago. I pulled it apart, the washer was not moving around. It was tilting slightly with the stick but never slid around, the PCB was perfect.
I’ve played ~5 hours on it, it’s been flawless, no sticky buttons or grinding on the stick. I opened it up last night and it is still fine.
I don’t think it’ll damage the hardware but you never know. Since you’re gonna mod anyways why not just go in and fix it for the meantime?
My SE won’t register the “Up” motion now. I ended up swapping out the stock stick and replaced all the parts with Sanwa. Is my PCB screwed in the JLF or is it something else? I know the stock stick had its problems with the washer and all of that but I thought the sanwa stick was a different story.
I searched and I didn’t see anything on problems with the JLF stick…hopefully I don’t get flamed. Just a SF fan that wants his stick to work 
when u pulled the stick connector pin off did u pull it by the white connector and not the wires?
u may have pulled something lose if u did
Naw used the flat head screw driver method. It was working fine the last few days.
::edit:: Nevermind. The connector that was in the stick just got a little loose. Forgive my newb status. We all overreact when something happens to the things we love
It took this thread to make you glad you got an $80 stick for free?:wow: