how’s this?
on it’s own (stock)
and
for modding?
TVC is only £15 on amazon and this is £25
tvc madcatz is only £35 but if i will be modding parts anyway might as well get cheapest stick i can.
I came across a local store selling these sticks for about $7.
Normally I wouldn’t even think about buying this, but the extremely low price made me consider it.
Does it worth it or is it that worthless?
Can it be modded with quality parts?
By the way, I already have a few quality sticks for the PC (actually PS3 but I use it for the PC) and this would be an extra one (or two) for the wii (and maybe also PC via adapter)
GeorgeC
3
You get what you pay for…
Take that word of advice as you wish… Generally speaking, the cheaper joysticks are $h!t which you should expect from sub-$80 joysticks.
The non-Mad Catz stuff, unless it’s an HRAP, does not lend itself to easy modding let alone part swapping.
Do NOT expect to able to drop in arcade joystick levers, let alone a JLF or Seimitsu LS-32, into these cases without serious modding; that includes drilling and plastic cutting. Nor should you expect to fit in standard 30mm arcade buttons, either. Usually, most mini-sticks have buttons that are less than 30mm diameter and oft-times even smaller than 24mm buttons, too.
You get what you pay for.
GeorgeC I think you mean Hori not Hrap as the Hori Real arcade Pro or Hrap are their premium line sticks
Right now so many of the SE/Brawl/ TvC Mad Catz sticks are so cheap because Mad Catz has been trying to get rid of that stock and how the market is flooded.
I have one of those, though with the Intec brand instead.
Got it locally for like $10. I probably modded it beyond anyone would ever be willing to:
What I did to it:
- put in an Exar PS3 PCB I had lying around
- removable cables via a micro-USB plug (http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e18/tidalwav/joysticks/Intec/intec_top.jpg)
- cut my own plexi + art
- put in the Mad Catz imitation JLF from a TvC stick (needed some cutting and dremeling), along with a Sanwa blue balltop and Qanba white shaft- and dust-covers
- put in the Mad Catz imitation OBSF-30s from a TvC stick
(I could’ve just as well put in full Sanwas, but I had these lying around)
That being said, it’s still a piece of crap.
There’s no support on the left side for your hand when using the joystick, despite there being plenty of cushioned support on the right hand for the buttons. In addition, the JLF sits too high.
I mainly did what I did because I leave this stick at my office for running MAME on the side on my second computer, so passer-bys can waste some time as they walk past my desk. 
d3v
6
Stick is shit. Avoid at all costs.
EDIT:
If anyone asks, someone gave me the PS3 version.
Hit get the Mad Catz SE, TvC or Brawl stick instead.
The TvC stick is the only one that is Wii compatible
But you can mod a stick to be usable on the Wii with a Toodles Pii Wii board
GeorgeC
8
Colloquially I mean “Hori” when I say HRAP. But even in Hori’s case, the non-HRAP joysticks are a pain to mod. I wouldn’t recommend any of the FightStick line let alone the Hori mini’s (which people won’t mod – defeats the purpose of the mini). They’re all junk, IMHO. Next to no room for upgrade parts, you have to bend terminals to fit in the buttons in most FightStick cases, and it’s marginal space keeping the original PCB’s with upgrade parts in place. No thanks!
The only company I’d bother with “starter joysticks” is Mad Catz with the SE-line cases unless you really like drilling and shaving plastic a lot. (The SE’s were made for upgrading.) I did that drill and shave routine for three Agetecs and that was enough abuse for me!
(NOTE: I LIKE the Agetec case… I just don’t like all the work it takes to seat better joystick levers and 30mm arcade buttons in that joystick case! It’s easily four times more work – minimum – than modding the Tekken 5 or Arcana Heart 2 joysticks.)
I wouldn’t recommend extreme mod/make-overs unless there’s a style of retro-joystick case that you really, really like… otherwise, stick to the Pro-level joysticks (TE, HRAPs) or get the Mad Catz SE-style case. You’re saving more money just buying that Pro-level joystick anyway. People have no idea how much replacement parts cost… Especially when you start adding in PCB’s and all the other electronic junk (quick disconnects, tools) you might have to buy to make a joystick useable with the PS3/360. This is not all stuff you can buy at Radio Shack or an auto parts supply store. It’s usually much cheaper to buy things like QD’s online. In bulk, 50-100 QD’s are much cheaper to buy online than buying 20 or less QD’s in-store. (And a lot of times, you’ll find higher quality QD’s online than many stores carry IF they even have the right size and right style QD’s.) I’d only bother buying basic wire cutters and thin-gauge stranded wires at stores, period.
[Of course, if you’re not in your 20’s and don’t have a job, it can be a real pain trying to buy anything without a credit or debit card…]
You’re just asking for more work and setting yourself up to pay more to upgrade a crappy joystick, otherwise. It’s much more work than what it’s worth over half the time…
I only found 1 auto store that sells the right sized Quick disconnects, the one store I found had decent ones, they are even gold plated but they are at the price of $1.59 per QD.
I rather buy them for a few cents each online as I buy 30 to 50 at a time (I keep extras encase I screw up one). Also I do have a hard time finding decent wire in gauges that are useful in more than 3 colors.
