I just got SF4 and I’m looking to get a stick to play it with. My favorite stick of all time, arcade or not, is the Agetec “Official” Arcade Stick for the Dreamcast. It feels perfect to me. Is it possible to get a converter for, or to convert, this stick to use with the PS3? An external converter would be best - I’d rather not have to make the Arcade Stick unusable for the DC anymore.
If not, are there any at least decent sticks that can be had for under $100 right now? Even the standard MadCatz stick is a little more than I should be spending right now. I see plenty of Hori sticks for around $60 on eBay - are these decent, or can they be upgraded with parts to make them decent without spending a terrible amount of money?
I was wondering if there was an adapter out there that would allow me to use the HRAP3 with my DC. I’d love to use my HRAP3 with all of the classic Capcom fighters on the Dreamcast.
I’m also a big fan of my agetec, though I swapped it over to Sanwa quite a while ago. There’s no DC > PS3 adapter, unfortunately, so the only way you’ll be getting it up on a newer system is to rewire it.
Your best bet might be to install a Cthulhu MC board into it, to give you support for PS3, PS2, Xbox (original), and GameCube, and then pick up a PS2 > DC converter.
If you can find a USB saturn stick off of ebay, you could try to make it a dual PCB stick by soldering the button contacts to the bottom of the Agetec PCB. But I don’t know if the Agetec is common ground so you had better check.
Getting a Cthulhu might be difficult at this time.
Modchipman.com also stocks the Cthulhu, and I really doubt they’ve got the backlog that LizardLick does… If you don’t need any joystick parts, it’s probably your best bet.
As for the Agetec stick and a dual pcb mod, I want to say it’s not common ground so that won’t work.
I recently opened my Agetec, and I believe that the face button grounds were chained. I can check the PCB at some point if a conclusive answer isn’t given.
Thanks for the productive replies. As for the one (anonymous) member who left the “stupid newb” comment about my reputation, do you really think I care what my reputation is here? I tried searching for this information here using the (very generic) search function, and I didn’t find what I was looking for. At least, not without spending all day wading through the Google search results, which I wasn’t about to do.
Years ago I made a CPS-II “Supergun” and modified two of the DC Arcade Sticks to work with it. I have a third one that has two bad buttons. I also have a PS3 Dual Shock 3 controller with a bad analog stick. So I think what I am going to do is, essentially, this:
DC Arcade Stick housing, buttons, and stick + circuit board from PS3 controller + longer USB cable = the joystick I am looking for.
I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.
As an aside, does anyone have any use for the original cables and circuit boards from the DC Arcade Sticks? I have 3 of each just laying around. I think they were all never used, and the cables are complete (nothing cut off). I don’t have enough posts to post in the trading forum. I’d happily give them to anyone who wants them, as long as shipping is prepaid.
Now I’ve got to look up what the stock DC Arcade Stick buttons are. I used to know, long ago… I also have to see which buttons I will absolutely need to add on the stick. I hope it is only the home button.
I dropped a 360 PCB in my Agetec, and the guide/home button was absolutely necessary. I didn’t have to wire up the select, left trigger, or right trigger, although there are times when I wish I had the additional buttons (for menus and such). The six face buttons + start on the stock Agetec does necessitate the addition of another button.
24mm buttons can easily fit in the top edge if you can drill a hole for them, it seems to be the common thing to do. Nice to know that the Agetec was common ground, it’s been so long ago since I had the original board that I’d forgot.
As for the boards themselves, I’d love to have them if you’re not using them for anything. I still dig the dreamcast out every now and again and playing with controllers is just awful.
No problem, you can have them. I have ten of the mounting screws for them - two are missing. Do you want the cables as well?
Send me your address in a PM. Please include your email address since I can’t send PMs. If you’re in the US I would prefer using Priority Mail since I already have some Priority Mail boxes. Otherwise let me know how you’d like them shipped. I’ll get back to you with the shipping quote, which you can pay with PayPal.
Do you know what the stock DC Arcade Stick buttons are, and where to get them? I was thinking about cannibalizing another (complete) DC Arcade Stick I have for parts, but have decided against that - I’d rather sell it to someone who would like to use it.
I’m sorry, but bakageta asked for them first and I already told him he could have them. Please understand. Otherwise I would have traded with you in a heartbeat. He hasn’t let me know if he wants the cables or not yet. However, I would very much like the Agetec buttons you have. They are original buttons from the Agetec Arcade Stick, right? I was looking for them years ago and couldn’t find them anywhere. Would you sell them to me for a fair price?
I just measured one of the buttons and it is indeed 24mm in diameter, not counting the outer donut shape.
However I know that I tried to order replacement buttons years ago and on suggestion bought some “Sanwa” buttons. I don’t remember the details, but they were larger than the original buttons and I didn’t use them and got rid of them. As far as I could tell at that time the stock buttons are proprietary parts that aren’t found elsewhere.
The stock buttons should be 28mm-ish, they’re definitely bigger than the 24mm buttons I have from other projects. You should be able to use the buttons from a Mayflash stick, The Hori EX2, or similar, but I really can’t recommend the Sanwas enough. They’re MUCH higher quality, I’ve been on the same set in my Agetec for right around two years now and they work every bit as good as the day I got them. It’ll take you a little bit to widen the holes, either with a file or dremel, but it’s so worth it.
NotANoob, my last message was being typed as you posted yours. I’ll look into some other buttons, but I’m hoping “Thirteen” is willing to give up his originals first. As I said, I had some Sanwa buttons before and they were larger. I don’t remember if there were any other reasons why I didn’t use them - that was a few years ago. I agree that asking $40 is a little selfish when the complete stick can be had for $60.