MAS VS. X-Arcade stick Impressions

[Baron]

You've made a lot of valid and interesting points. Thanks.

I love you.

[smacky]

Does any of these two manufacturers have similar products with a rotary joystick ? (for ikari warrior, midnight resistance etc...)

[gameoverDude]

I've got the X-Arcade Twin and was none too happy with the sticks that were in it. Flaky diagonals really hurt it for SFIII or Zero Gunner 2. In fact, one of my diagonals on the 1P joystick was totally shot. In SFIII, I could not jump to the right. Player 2's stick had working diagonals but they were too hard to hit.

I'll be putting a couple of Perfect 360s in it sometime. Unfortunately there's no way to use a DC VMU with this controller... I know you can plug a pad into port 3 or 4 to use its VMU support, but unfortunately some games like Ikaruga won't look for it in these two ports.

[Cheebs]

I'm a MAS man myself. I love their joysticks (I own 2). It is an easy soldering task to add controller functionality for any system with digital controll pads yourself. So instead of spending $35 letting MAS do it, you can spend $3 on a used 3rd party pad at Funcoland and just go at it.

[bahn]

Hey Divine, sorry that you never got to see our report live...

I was originally planning to write a report (and probably still will come the next week, though it won't be positive and I expect I will lose any support, but oh well) on X-Arcade's solo player because I was genuinely impressed with it. That is until I began putting it through some true gaming at a few local console tourneys. For the sake of argument, I am now officially disappointed with the X-Arcade (twin and solo). I love the layout, it's definitely durable...and yes, it does look like an authentic home arcade joystick. But spend some time with it and reality quickly sets in.

A week after Divine inquired about our report, I was encountering some trouble with the console adapters (Dreamcast IIRC). The damn thing shorted out my domestic system, and now I'll have to look around for a new battery because all the ports aparently blew out. I requested a new adapter from the company (which came in a week after my request). This adapter actually had a different design then the original one I received when I was shipped the Twin model. It worked efficiently, but the Solo model showed its flaws without fail. My diagonals occassionally responded (so I thought perhaps the switches inside were loose). I also remember the manual for the Twin model inviting users to tweak the stick (which shouldn't have been necessary with the Solo model...the company claimed to have resolved those issues). I didn't bother with it, and I found myself quickly running to play with an ASCII and/or MAS stick.

I am hardly the authority on fighting game sticks, but I am disappointed when I originally think "wow, this stick is really great" only to find disappointments down the road. Some of you will remember me trying to promote a friend's home made sticks (Sav sticks), but between his lack of efficiency and spastic quality in the developed sticks ended up blowing up in his face and upsetting a LOT of gamers. Still, it's great that he strived to carry out such an endeavor; a personal business (no matter what the size is a great responsibility). I tried finding alternatives in order to remain objective and in the end, it just made me more disappointed. It's a good thing that I didn't shell out any money, and I am not going out of my way to recommend fighting game enthusiasts fill X-Arcade's pockets.

Conclusion: Buy a MAS stick. I know I will.

[gameoverDude]

Originally posted by bahn
I was encountering some trouble with the console adapters (Dreamcast IIRC). The damn thing shorted out my domestic system, and now I'll have to look around for a new battery because all the ports aparently blew out. I requested a new adapter from the company (which came in a week after my request).
Conclusion: Buy a MAS stick. I know I will.

Oh, no. That is not good at all. I wonder if anyone has had problems with the PS adapter as well... I'm rethinking my plans to get that. A MAS stick does sound tempting now.

[Divine Crushing Fist]

Hey, that's ok Bahn. I had some fun getting the sticks anyhow.

The Sav sticks were definitely tempting to me, but it just sounded like a nightmare trying to get them. It looks like he does beautiful work though. One thing I picked up from that thread at SRK on the Sav stick was how good the 360 stick is. People who had just started using a 360 stick and convex buttons on Sav stick said they were the asbsolute best. I madee sure to buy the 360 stick and convex buttons on my MAS. My God, they were right. It handles like a dream. I can do 360 motions easily, and every fighting game I have played from SF2 to Mark Of The Wolves plays perfectly. As good if not better then the arcades I grew up with.

I agree with you about the X-Arcade. I don't want to flat out bash it, because it does has it's positives. But, I actually prefer my Neo Geo sticks over it. It's adaptability is it's main selling point. But, I remember the first couple of hours I had it. It sucked. It was extremely dissapointing. It's since gotten better, because I put work into it...something I shouldn't have had to do.

Go with the best, MAS.

[Divine Crushing Fist]

Uuurgh, my F'N MAS stick is broken.

I've had it for a few weeks, and now it seems to be broken. Not good. I'm pretty sure it's something to do with the optical joystick. I've contacted MAS, but have yet to hear back from them. So...I'll let you know.

[Tojo]

I heard MAS sticks are NOT compatible with Xbox. I emailed them and they replied with an email stating they were "working" on it.

[Ste-Von]

I was serioulsy considering getting a MAS stick, but I don't know too much about joystick parts and wanted to know what this perfect 360 stick is and why its better than the standard stick. Thanx for any help.