My brother in law recently bought a PS4, and is planning to buy a stick, he was looking to spend around £200 to £250 GBP on either a TE2+ or a VLX.
He asked me my opinion in regards to which is better value, I told him neither. I advised him to get a padhacked DS4 put in to a last gen OG VLX and would cost about £200 and much better value.
I say this based on my observations of this gen and my experience of last gen. I do not own a PS4 or XBOne or WiiU, but i own a PS3 and the entire digital fighter Library, including the classics, and a lot of the shmups aswell. I have a hoard of various officially licensed arcade sticks, some stock, and some with Official Sixaxis Padhacks (axis adapters)
This gen officially licensed sticks, pads & 3rd party boards are having problems with local multiplayer set ups, there are work arounds, but at the price you pay its a bitch, and theres no relying on whether sony will take this issues in to consideration in their future updates
Last gen on PS3 the only reliable way to play classic releases on a stick (remember CVS2) was with axis adapter stick mods, so with XBOne increasing their backwards compatibility with X360, and PS2 classics appearing on PS4, im betting similar issues will arise this gen, especially with the issues with official licensed sticks on current gen games, albeit multiplayer.
Maybe the current recomendation for people who want advice on a new stick should be to get an Official 1st party pad hack?
There is absolutely no reason to go through the traumatic pain of hacking a Sony pad when the Hori FC4 exists. Hell, even the latest MadCatz pad.
Personally I’m fine with the Brook PS4 Fightboard in my Dreamcast stick, but I can understand why people wouldn’t want to rely on constant firmware updates.
im sure sfv will be first of many fighters he will get, and legacy support is not guaranteed in upcoming games, there are other issues that ive mentioned which are annoying
gahrling, can you do ds4 padhacks? also 2x agetec pcb’s, how much you charging me?
I’ve done DS4 hacks before in the early days of the PS4, I’m not doing them any more for the reasons explained above. Only Hori, MadCatz, and Brook pcb’s. Also I don’t send things out by post any more so I’d need to collect your stick in person either in London or Brighton. Average mod time is approx one week from collection, though I’m out of action for around two weeks as my mum has just come out of hospital and needs caring for.
I should have some Agetec pcb’s though they will be in storage and take me a while to find.
Some tournaments ban legacy controllers. I don’t agree with it, but it’s out there.
(You do have to use a wireless PS4 controller with it though, which is a potential hassle.)
The answer to your question would depend on which platform you’re looking at.
XBO:
Yes and No.
First party controller mods are awesome if you’re using the Phreakmods Crossbone. And it’s still not so bad if you’re just padhacking it normally.
3rd party controller mods are alright as well, like with the MKX pad.
PS4:
No.
The DS4 is a pain in the ass to padhack.
You’re MUCH better off going with a Brook PS3/PS4 Fightboard, a Hori Fighting Commander 4, or even the PDP MKX pad or the Mad Catz SFV pad.
I personally use HFC4s in all my mods; I find them simpler to provide to clients because, as an officially licensed controller, I don’t have to teach them to deal with firmware upgrades, despite the loss of the touchpad-button.
1st party pads have always been the worst idea to padhack after the ps1 era. One reason or another they have been more difficult to deal with over 3rd party or custom pcbs.