You’re gonna pay a little more for the 360 stick since it just came out. Here’s a link:
Solid stick though…just think of it as the price of 2 games.
The Street Fighter Anniversary stick is nice, but you will need to do some solder work, as the PCB in it is for PS/Xbox. It is a great case though, especially for putting Happ/iL parts in it. Unless you can find an already modded one for X360.
Another thing is, if you played in the arcades a while ago, you are more likely used to a Happ stick. The Japanese sticks I mentioned before are quite different, so may not be as “nostalgic”. Unfortunately, going the Happ/iL route will require modding or buying a custom like an Arcade In A Box (not cheap, but darn great quality).
Because companies like marking up their products by excruciating amounts.
Anything that Hori and MadCatz has put out arcade stick wise has been grossly overpriced. This includes the TE stick.
I got a brand new VSHG in Japan for $65. Full Sanwa. $65 for a full Sanwa stick at retail. That’s how much the VSHG cost.
Hori RAP3/RAP-EX cost more than that and they have Hori buttons. The TE stick costs $150 with all Sanwa but you pay a premium for the Street Fighter license as well.
Why is there an $85 difference between the TE and VSHG?
The other options is a custom stick. Such as arcade in a box (which I own one of) where you get a stick that is sturdy enough that it could survive nuclear war, you choose the parts, custom art work, and they can dual mod it. But because everything is custom made by hand you pay a premium but I swear by AIAB and their build quality. Of course while I love my VSHG and TE sticks, the AIAB stick I own is my true treasure.
Are Madcatz/Hori products overpriced? Yes. But so is every other video game controller that is mass produced so it’s not as if arcade sticks are the only thing that are marked up ridiculously.
To make a edit: full sanwa custom from scratch, with all costs included, it can run around 150 dollars, +/- $25 depending on many variables. Then you have to figure in the amount of time involved (varies, mine tend to be around 30 hours), and you begin to notice that making sticks for other people is not very profitable. I can make a little beer money, sure, but not enough to pay the rent. If I can quote a local player: “it’s about the LOVE.” Around $200 for a sanwa custom is reasonable, all things considered. The $150 for the SF4TE was an absolute steal since it had Sanwa parts and is very easily mod-able. Also, it has a lot of features that I couldn’t offer without adding significantly to time of preparation. You can try your luck with the old Hori/Namco sticks that run around $60 and are decent (grey-yellow, tekken tag, tekken 4, and soul cal), but there’s at least a 50% chance you’ll get a lemon.
arrrggghh