I haven't seen any other Xbox360 joysticks other than the Hori DOA4 and VF5 sticks. Does anyone know of any Xbox360 joysticks that are comparable to the PS3's Virtua Stick High Grade or HRAP? Any links to custom builders?

The only one I found that looked decent was the Arcade-In-A-Box joystick.
http://www.arcadeinabox.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=42

Those look like nice stick, but I believe they are hacking up a original 360 controller for those.

I can vouch for arcade-in-box. Here is mine.
http://demonlos.home.comcast.net/~demonlos/Darkness1.JPG

Very solidly built. All real arcade parts. Very nice. Any custom stick you get will use a hacked 360 PCB. As for where to get customs, try the trading outlet at shoryuken.com

Can you switch the stick on that from being a 8 way stick to a 4 way stick with restrictors (Can't think of correct arcade term at the moment) so it doesn't suck with games like Pac-Man and others that don't need the use of diagonal movement?

I have the virtua fighter 5 arcade stick and I really like it. It is great for arcade games like N+, root beer tapper, paperboy, asteroids, and any of the top down shooters. It is also good for street fighter although the stick is a little loose for my liking for this type of game. What sucks is that many of the games for this system don't let you configure the buttons! If you look at the layout of the buttons, they are all wonky to accomodate virtua fighter 5 players, but it is borderline useless for other games. Sucks badly, but I got it for 60 bucks and I use it plenty

Can you switch the stick on that from being a 8 way stick to a 4 way stick with restrictors (Can't think of correct arcade term at the moment) so it doesn't suck with games like Pac-Man and others that don't need the use of diagonal movement?

Yes, i'm sure that is possible. Ed, the owner, is very good at responding to questions so just e-mail him and ask away. I think there is even an option to have both 8-way and 4 way.

Another option would be the EX2,DOA4, or VF5 stick. All have a 4-way gate but the components are not arcade quality.

i can vouch for the Arcade in a Box joysticks, they work great. i have a few friends that use them for UMK3 on XBL and on their PC, and i plan on ordering the Street Fighter one for Killer Instinct on my PC too. just remember that they will work on both your 360 and PC, and i believe he can make a switch so they can be used on both a USB and PS3, at least that's what my friend was told...

just remember that they will work on both your 360 and PC, and i believe he can make a switch so they can be used on both a USB and PS3, at least that's what my friend was told...
- Various posters on Shoryuken.com have confirmed that the Arcade-In-A-Box sticks work on the PC. I already have two VSHG joysticks for the PS3, so I don't really need any more for the PC. :)

I'm leaning towards buying one soon since there doesn't look like too many other options. All Sanwa parts should make it almost identical to the VSHG, which would be great. There were some VERY cool custom sticks on Shoryuken, but they were a little too pricey for me.

I saw some very impressive custom joysticks on Byrdo's site, but the price tag seems to be very steep and very limited in supply.
http://www.byrdo.org/arcade_joysticks.htm

The Hori VF and DOA sticks have a 8 way gate, I own one and its absolutely useless for games that require precise 4 way control.

I can vouch for arcade-in-box. Here is mine.
http://demonlos.home.comcast.net/~demonlos/Darkness1.JPG

Very solidly built. All real arcade parts. Very nice. Any custom stick you get will use a hacked 360 PCB. As for where to get customs, try the trading outlet at shoryuken.com
Can you please let me know if the height of the base just 4.5" like is listed on the website?

Can you please let me know if the height of the base just 4.5" like is listed on the website?

Yes, but it is slanted. It goes from 5.5" in the back to 4.5" in front. It's big. It is not a stick to be put in your lap. It's meant to be placed on a table for that sturdy arcade feel.

Also, my DOA4 stick has a square 4 way gate. I can asssure you it is not an 8 way to the poster who stated it was. You can mod it to be an 8 way but it does not come that way stock.

Pretty sure the VF 5 joystick is 8 way. And it is difficult to play pac man with it as indicated, but works well for most everything

Pretty sure the VF 5 joystick is 8 way. And it is difficult to play pac man with it as indicated, but works well for most everything

I also have a VF 5 and it is 8 way. Not too enjoyable if you're playing something requiring 4 way.

my DOA4 stick has a square 4 way gate. I can asssure you it is not an 8 way to the poster who stated it was. You can mod it to be an 8 way but it does not come that way stock.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g140/chippermonky/Joysticks/doa4mod/IMG_6843.jpg

Looks to me to have a circular gate. The fact there are 4 micro-switches does not imply a 4 way gate. Every stick has only 4 switches... (ignoring P360 & Sanwa Flash).


Pictures:

Circular Gate (http://www.lizardlickamusements.com/images/for_sale/joysticks/sanwa_gt0.jpg)

4-way Gate (http://lizardlick.com/images/for_sale/joysticks/gt_8f.jpg)

8-Way Gate (http://www.lizardlickamusements.com/images/for_sale/joysticks/sanwa_gty.jpg)

Interesting. It sure feels like a square but I stand corrected!

i don't have the stick - so i can't say for sure - i'm just reverse engineering this guy's DOA stick mod:

http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g140/chippermonky/Joysticks/doa4mod/



* don't want to be accused of plagiarizing :)

Demonlos, a 8 way gate means its physically possible to press two of the switches down to achieve diaganol control, just try any game where you can move in a diagonal direction to see.

A 4 way gate makes that impossible, you can only move up/down/left/right, you can't hit the diaganols and thus you won't get screwy controller input in something such as a Pac-Man title where if you meant to just go up, but had the controller a little bit right or left, you'd be sending a diaganol control signal and not achieve the desired result with a 8 way gate.

Its just the difference between a 4 way controller (up/down/left/right) or a 8 way (Those 4 directions plus diagonals).

Demonlos, a 8 way gate means its physically possible to press two of the switches down to achieve diaganol control, just try any game where you can move in a diagonal direction to see.

A 4 way gate makes that impossible.


i don't mean to belabor this point - but what you just said is a little misleading. a controller with a 4 way (ie square) GATE can still have 8 inputs. believe me. sites like www.shoryuken.com have plenty of examples of hardcore street fighter enthusiasts playing with a square gate. myself included, i installed an "aftermarket" japanese joystick in my dreamcast agetec stick. it has a 4 way gate.

the catch is if the gate is physically mounted in the "square" or "diamond" configuration. if it is in the square config, it supports 8 direction movement. if it is in the diamond config it limits the input to 4.

it may be splitting hairs to some people - but the term "4 way gate" (to the joystick builder) isn't synonymous with "4 way input."

i don't have the stick - so i can't say for sure - i'm just reverse engineering this guy's DOA stick mod:

http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g140/chippermonky/Joysticks/doa4mod/



* don't want to be accused of plagiarizing :)

I don't get it. What exactly did he do? I would really like an arcade stick with 2 joysticks for games like assault heroes and smash tv

Most OEM sticks use "in-house" components. ie, Hori makes most common 360 joysticks (DOA4, VF5). inside the casing, the actual joystick is Hori & the buttons are Hori. However those stock components are inferior to authentic, arcade components. So what people like me do (that guy & countless others over at SRK) is replace "cheap" OEM internal stuff with parts ordered from arcade suppliers.

Why do we do this? More accurate movement, more consistancy, more sensitivity, more responsiveness, etc. But probably more than anything (aside from the competitive/pro players) we do it for the fun of it. Its a cool hobby that involves a lot of different disciplines.



* I said most OEM sticks use "in-house" components... but the PS3 has 2 really good sticks with quality internals. The Hori Real Arcade Pro 3 and the Sega Virtua Stick High Grade both use authentic arcade internals. That is why they cost twice as much as the Hori DOA4 stick (for example). The 360 however has no good OEM stick with authentic arcade internal parts... thus if a person really want a top tier stick... they would need to look into a custom built one.

Thanks for clearing that up, I didn't realize that.

well, I'll be honest here: the V5 joystick serves its purpose quite well. While I prefer a tighter joystick (this one is like a stick and ball), the buttons feel good and the thing does the job. I think it could be quieter and wireless, but for 60 bucks it ain't half bad. By quiter, I mean that it makes a clicking sound when you move the stick. Not a dealbreaker, but not ideal. The thing works great for arcade shooters and I can't wait for raiden 3 whenever that comes out. And try this thing with N+. It works marvelously (yeah I used that word).

Do any of you know if FPS' like Halo and GoW use 8-way or 4-way motion for character movement? I ask because I want to get a joystick for these games and want to ensure that get stick that supports the widest range of movement. For example, according to this review: http://www.canadahifi.com/review65.php , the Mad Catz 360 Arcade stick only supports 4-way motion, which I may want for arcade style games but if the FPS' support 8-way motion, I'll want another stick that supports it like the Hori Fighting Stick EX2 (I assume it supports 8-way motion based on the following review) http://gamesblog.ugo.com/index.php/gamesblog/more/tech_review_hori_fighting_stick_ex2_virtua_fighter_5_edition/

Thanks in advance

Eric

Do any of you know if FPS' like Halo and GoW use 8-way or 4-way motion for character movement? I ask because I want to get a joystick for these games and want to ensure that get stick that supports the widest range of movement.

Eric

Call me naive, but isn't it almost impossible to play a FPS with an arcade stick? There wouldn't be a way to look up and down or side step...:confused:

i personally am not sure i believe that article (as worded). the D-pad of most any controller (that i have ever heard of) contains only 4 discrete inputs: UDLR. however when you push 2 directions at once you get the full 8.

i think this new controller has a simple cross which means it is easier to transition cardinal directions. as opposed to the original 360 controller's dpad which is circular & has plastic on top of the diagonals... which makes it very difficult to perform precise dpad movements.

but in this regard i don't see the new pad as any different from the dreamcast or playstation.

but who knows. maybe the PCB won't accept 2 directions at once.... but that seems a difficult thing to do with logic. i'd much rather physically limit the input... which seems impossible/improbable on dpad.

Call me naive, but isn't it almost impossible to play a FPS with an arcade stick? There wouldn't be a way to look up and down or side step...:confused:

A reasonable question, as I did not identify my entire proposed control solution: A joystick should let me move side to side (character movement) and for moving the cursor (and by extension, view) omni-directionally I would use a mouse combined with one of these: http://www.moorgames.com/XFPS-Sniper-3-0-p/acc-xb360-xfpssniper.htm

I was just wondering if FPS games in general also allow for diagonal character movement as well, in which case I would think I would need a joystick that supports 8-way vs. 4-way movement.

My inquiry about joystick and mouse control for the xbox360 comes from being spoiled playing my first FPS (Halo) years ago on a PC using a joystick-mouse combination (both of which were natively supported by the game). I just picked up an xbox360 last weekend and tried Halo2 using the xbox360 wireless controller and hated the feel of it-especially the pad used for aiming. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Otherwise, why would the XFPS keyboard-mouse adapter have been developed in the first place? I suppose I could just buy the Hori from a big box retailer and return it if it dosen't work well.

I kinda figured you were thinking about that, but I didn't know they made anything like that.

Interesting item. PS2 controllers on the 360.

Maybe I can swing some of my "I don't like the controller" friends.

I'll let you know how my "contraption" works out.