SRKLabs In-Depth Review: EightArc Fusion PS3/PC/Xbox360 Joystick

not sure where you'd find these but i've seen them on streams a lot more than qanba sticks so they must be pretty good,

you can find the review here, not gonna post the whole thing because its pretty long

http://shoryuken.com/2011/12/12/srklabs-in-depth-review-eightarc-fusion-ps3pcxbox360-joystick/

Pros:
The only PS3/Xbox 360/PC stick available in the U.S.
Recessed screws and top plates for a smooth top
Strong performance
Roomy compartment to store buttons, cords, etc.
Button plugs and headset included in box
Clean interior wiring
All-Phillips screw design with easy moddability

Cons:
USB cord on the left side may be annoying
Top-side screw stickers could easily be lost
A more “hollow” feel than some other sticks

Hori PlayStation 3 Controllers Just For Fighting Game And FPS Fans

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/12/12/hori-playstation-3-controllers-just-for-fighting-game-and-fps-fans/

While browsing around Impress Watch last night, I came across two very cool Hori products for the PlayStation 3 I’d never even heard of before. The first one will be appreciated by fighting game fans who own a PS3, and is called the Hori Fighting Commander 3 Pro.

This is a fighting game controller for the PlayStation 3. It has an adjustable D-pad, which lets you adjust the angle of the directional pad from 0° to 20°. You can also adjust the diagonal input range on the controller, toggling it between wide, normal and narrow. Hori made the face buttons larger in size, too, and included a Turbo function as well.

The other peripheral is for FPS fans. It’s called the Tactical Assault Commander 3.

This one is obviously to allow you to use a mouse/keyboard setup with PS3 games. You can adjust the sensitivity of the mouse, adjusting it between Normal mode, Snipe Mode, (optimizes stability for precision aiming) and Assault Mode (fast response). There’s a “Quick Response” button on the mouse as well, that allows you to turn faster while holding it down.

The mini WASD-style keyboard is customizable and compensates for the lack of an analog stick by giving you a “walk” button (although, whoever walks in an FPS?!). You can read more about this controller here. It costs a whopping $100.

An Arcade Stick Made For Gundam Fans

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/12/13/an-arcade-stick-made-for-gundam-fans/

Fighting game fans have a variety of arcade sticks to choose from. Gundam fans… not so much, but Namco Bandai created a stick specifically for Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. This PS3 controller has the same layout as an arcade cabinet and a joystick made by Sanwa.

Namco Bandai will sell the arcade stick in March 2012 exclusively through their online store for 14,800 yen ($190). Makes a great gift for collectors that already have the rare Virtual On controller and Project Diva pad!

Fight sticks are getting uglier and uglier.

apparently some of the old Streetfighter TE's are back in stock on there online store, so hopefully when they start stocking them here next year they'll bring those over as well then we won't have to put up with these fugly sticks anymore

That'll be a good idea - not because I have one - but the SFIV and SSFIV sticks are still the best looking.

It's really the default artwork that doesn't look great on the above, it's amazing what some custom artwork and different colored buttons can do to a stick.
But yeah some of these chassis coming out lately aren't that pretty, very bulky I feel.

This guy does some beautiful sticks http://www.b15sdmdesigns.com/
He did that steampunk one that was posted a few pages back.

Too lazy to fetch images, stupid flash.

Ok, fight stick ordered. Now the nervous wait for a) stock to ship to the in-laws in time, and b) for them to return mid Jan with everything intact and no customs sneakyness.

Had to order from 3 different places as they were the only ones with immediate stock to lessen transit time.
Getting all buttons/joystick/8-way gate from http://focusattack.com/
For a case I'm getting the acrylic config A from http://www.tek-innovations.com/arthobbies/
And the PCB I'm using the Toodles Cthulhu for PC/PS3, doubt I'll ever need a dual mod http://www.godlikecontrols.com/

Tried to keep everything as cheap as possible since the dollar/rand is so terrible right now and it doesn't seem like it will improve any time soon.
So things like solid colored buttons, no extra colors on the case, and so on.
Ultimately I'm paying the same price as a good TE (total was $180 inc. shipping) and getting a custom stick with solid parts.

I'll also have to ignore artwork for now since a plexi cover added to the price. Can always just do a laminated one.

Anywho, hopefully it will all go through smoothly, will post pics when I get it *knock on wood*

Aaah nice, decided to go for everything custom?

You must show us pics when it's done! Also did you get the solder-less Chutulu board?

Yup, decided to just be patient and go this route. End of the day the price is still pretty good. I mean I compromised on some luxuries like clear buttons, the heavier acrylic chassis with extra compartments and artwork covers, but figured they were small things that I could live without.

And yeah got the solderless Cthulhu, also ordered the pre-crimped wiring set cause I'm lazy . Didn't get the MC version as I don't see myself needing it at all, PC/PS3 is enough. At a later stage I may look into dual-modding, but not a priority right now.

What irritated me though is how the Sanwa joysticks don't come with the bloody wiring harness, which is like $8 on its own. LizardLick is the only place that has a combo that includes it, but they don't have as large a stock pool as FocusAttack, nor are they as organized.

Anyways, looking forward to it. January 15th~

MadCatz reveals new Street Fighter X Tekken stick and pad line

One of the cooler parts of this reveal is that you can connect certain joysticks together using a connectivity kit to get a dual setup going. Hit the jump to see all the images.

One of the better looking sticks to come out lately. That Duel set up is pretty wicked, not sure i want to sit that close to some-one though

That dual stick setup is pretty sweet, gives you a bit of that old school arcade feel. All you need to complete the atmosphere is dim lighting, lots of electronic noise from other machines and a crowd of people gathered around the players and the screen

Need to get one of those MLG controllers, that thing is awesome

Alrighty, here's the progress on my stick build

All parts laid out. Acrylic case, buttons, joystick, 8-way gate, Cthulhu PCB and all wiring which I ordered. Nothing was damaged in transit. Only part I would've liked that was unfortunately out of stock was a Neutrik adapter for disconnecting the USB easily. Not a huge hassle but would've been nice.
The nick engraving is included in the case price, nice touch.


First thing was to stick the buttons and joystick on. Buttons took a bit of a push, worried for a bit about cracking the acrylic but all went in smoothly. I went with pretty neutral coloring as I had yet to decide on artwork. Same reason why I didn't get any coloring on the acrylic panels (and to keep it cheaper).


Most of the panels are on now. The build itself was straight forward. It doesn't come with instructions but it's packaged in a way that it's easy to tell what goes where. The only issue I had was one screw nut didn't work and I needed another extra 4 nuts. Easy enough to get anywhere though.
The wiring itself was also easy. I was very glad I'd ordered the quick disconnect kit as it looks like a pain in the arse to do it yourself. Also 'quick disconnect' is quite misleading. Had to use pliers to nudge them in properly. Broke one quick disconnect, but you can just wind the copper around the pin on the button.
All buttons worked 100% first time on PC/PS3. PC has some weird mapping (I tested with MBAA), but nothing that can't be tinkered with. I completely got the joystick wiring wrong, pushing up made me go back, down made me go forward, but this was an easy fix . The Cthulhu is really the easiest thing in the world to use.


And finally some gratuitous, extremely amateur shots of the finished product.




As for performance, just a few quick notes in the 30min that I've spent with it. Case wise, the thing is solid. At first it feels like the acrylic will bend to pressure but as soon as the whole thing is together it sits very snug and stiff. Weight wise it's pretty light but comfortable on the lap, floor or table, I'm happy with the size as well.
Playing will take me a while to get used to it, pulled off a few things better but some will take time, partly because the sensitivity and button response is crazy, definitely feels like I need to be more precise in execution, slightest touch on a button registers a move. No lag that I could notice, but my TV/monitor does seem to have maybe a 2ms delay, doubt I'll ever be good enough to care.
Oh and it's noisy, but that was to be expected, in addition to being a breeding ground for fingerprints, but what can you do.

Ultimately, I'm super happy with it. Should I ever order again though, I'll definitely get an all black acrylic case, the one piece I got in black looks really good so I think a whole chassis would look damn sexy. Would also be nice to have the extra artwork panels instead of using laminate but that's not a train smash. Laminate won't smudge as much at least.

Few things I must still do, get shrink tubing for the cabling to neaten it up, print and laminate artwork and get a longer USB cable.

That's about it . Was quite fun to put it all together.

You might want to try switching to a 4way gate, i've played around with the 8-way and they really don't work too well for any games with super jumps/airdashes(especially MBAA and BB) the lack of corners makes it impossible to play, personally i don't think i'd use and 8 way gate for anything but streetfighter and the 4 way gates are standard in all stick and arcade machines anyway so you might as well get used to them.

other than that it looks really cool, but it could really use some artwork, need to get that on there A.S.A.P. it actually turned out a lot better than i thought it would

it depends i prefer playing with an 8 way gate... i use that thing for everything im so used to it... a 4 way feels odd for me

Not a fan of the clear case but other than that congrats and enjoy the stick. Sanwa buttons mmmmmmmm

Yeah I need to get artwork on this thing . I'll try and work on my old templates this week and see how soon I can get something printed and laminated. Also need to find tubing to clean up the cabling. Downside of a clear case is that it's cringe worthy at first .
I might also tinker with the joystick tension, feels like it's too easy to push it around, I might do better with a tighter stick so may try it out if it's easy enough to do.

@Ragna: Yeah I pretty much jumped right into the 8-gate because I remember at Rage the sticks they had there were 4-way and I couldn't pull anything off. The 8-way took me a minute or two but does feel better to me. However I only tested it on UMvC3 and SSF4 properly, so I'll give the 4-way a bash.
The gate also allows for a complete circular gate so curious how that will feel.

@DP: Yup went with all Sanwa's. Still curious as to how the Seimitsu's would perform but the price was quite high in comparison to the Sanwa's ($2 vs $4 each).
Also didn't expect them to be so sensitive to the touch, but I must double check the plunger, could be that I pushed it in slightly when putting in the wiring, either way it's encourages tighter execution so I'm not too phased.

Oh and the balltop is a smoke Seimitsu bubble top if anyone is curious and can't see clearly. Buttons at the back are Start/Select and the blue is Home.
Also found the 4m USB cable I had lying around to will replace that this evening so I'm not forced to play right up against the TV

The sanwas are very sensitive, slightest touch on my stick will register an input, they just awesome buttons

Awesome stuff

Why are you going through the hasel of laminating the artwork though? Just Get a reversed decal printed and stick it to the underside of acrylic top? artwork and you have technically have a mofo plexi covering!

love that ball top it's awesome.