Arcade Stick vs Controller

[ObstructJustice]

:/ I cracked two buttons on mine sucks ass cuz now I gotta wait for my new set of buttons to come in as well as a new joystick to come in cuz I feel change is in the motion and my current one is a little too low lol.

[Chozo003]

Hey guys, I only got seriously involved in fighters with the console release of BBCT and have been playing pad the entire time (on 360). I've been quite reluctant to switch over to stick, due to a number of reasons:

1. College student (self-explanatory).

2. Afraid I won't be able to do IADs as well as I used to (I use them quite often, probably more than I should).

3. Unsure if a stick would suit my needs.

Regarding the first point... cash isn't a huge issue right now, so realistically I would be able to buy a stick without my finances suffering terrible casualties; it's more the matter of me not wanting to spend money if I don't have to. Second point I'm sure somebody will be able to cover for me... another reason I wonder is because it took me quite a while until I was able to execute IADs flawlessly and on command, due to the fact that I basically had to learn fighting games from the ground up with BBCT. Not sure how much of that was unique to pad, and whether I'll have to go through the entire process again with stick. Finally... I'm living away from friends and family for school right now, and despite my efforts to find some sort of BB community in the area I've been largely unsuccessful (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada... Anybody? Anybody?). Compounded with the fact that I don't have Live right now, I've been playing mostly against computers lately (which I realize is terrible in itself). Until I get Live, is there really a point to getting a stick? Even when I do go back home form school,my group's only got like five guys - only about three of which are ever able to meet at a time - and the area is pretty dead for gaming (Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada... Not even going to ask).

Learning curve doesn't really concern me that much, as long as it's certain I'll be able to relearn everything I knew (including IADs!). I'd really like to hear somebody's thoughts on the matter, since despite my enthusiasm regarding the game I don't think my circumstances are ideal to embrace it.

Edited November 2, 2010 by Chozo003

[ToastCrust]

I think doing IAD's on the stick are no problem. Just try to get used to not hitting the gate when doing one ASAP (as in, don't ride the gate). And just remember to return the stick to neutral before pushing the direction after the jump. Just being mindful a bit and some practice, and they're essentially flawless.

I don't play on 360, but I heard you don't actually need a Gold account to play BBCS online?

And yeeeeah, Halifax. I have no clue, maybe there's something in the Match Finder forum?

Anyways, as much as I'm pro stick, I'm not going to say you MUST get one, as a person who won't be able to play much.

[HexaNoid]

Anyways, as much as I'm pro stick, I'm not going to say you MUST get one, as a person who won't be able to play much.

Totally agree.

In my opinion, if you're only going to be playing a few casuals with some friends and don't have Live, then there's pretty much no point getting a stick. Unless you're maining Carl or Arakune, you can pretty much do everything you need on a pad.

I've used a pad for CT for about 4/5 months and have only recently switched to a stick, but that's only because I'm thinking of entering tournaments soon where pads aren't used very much. I coped fine with the pad and don't think it held me back at all.

tldr; As long as you're comfortable with the pad, stick with it. No need to spend money on equipment just for a few battles with some friends.

[DemiiPoet]

As what the others have said, if you're not planning on entering tournaments or playing socially, then stick with pad if you're comfortable with it.

And IADs shouldn't be much of a problem if you switch.

[Chozo003]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Maybe I'll assemble a mini-community of my own one day. =)

[HexaNoid]

Good luck with that.

If worst comes to worst, DN are starting to host weekly casuals every Friday night.

If you ever get Live again, you should check it out.

http://www.destructive-nature.com/forums/bb-general-discussion/1656-friday-night-fights.html#post15506

[Chozo003]

Thanks, I'll definitely give it some consideration.

[Sygmus]

I don't own a stick but I play at arcades. I enjoy them about equally really, it hasn't made a huge difference in my playing style in the 5 years I've been playing May in Guilty Gear. But I'm not a pro player who can combo and cancel and all that, so the way I imput buttons is not very demanding (read: slow and clumsy).

[mr.mortified]

let me quote myself from like 10 pages ago...

It depends, you can also use pads in tourneys though, but what system you use them for could be an issue a converter may solve.

Sticks however shouldn't just be bought for tournament use only. If you enjoy playing with a joystick, just because you don't go to tournaments doesn't mean you should invest in one. Sticks however will not improve how you play a game versus how you play with a pad. Just because you can do (insert movement/combo here) faster than you can on a stick doesn't automatically mean a stick is better than a pad. How you perform depends on how much time you practice with your equipment. In the end, it all comes down to the user's preference.

[SH-Junkie]

I <3 stick. SOOO responsive!!!!! Plus you can customize the artwork :3

Its easier to do Tk's, jc, and IAD on a stick imo

[fileextension]

i agree with u..

[ZONG_one]

Yeah, sjc is stupid hard on pad.

[HiagoX]

Yeah, sjc is stupid hard on pad.

I find it pretty easy.

Just got my stick this week. Most commands are easier with it, aside from fucking 623, somehow.

[mr.mortified]

I find it pretty easy.

Just got my stick this week. Most commands are easier with it, aside from fucking 623, somehow.

trust me those shoryus get easy as you practice.

main thing is to not aim for the corners of the gate until the 3. You've gotta get used to swingin that stick in the square and not hit corners

[HiagoX]

trust me those shoryus get easy as you practice.

main thing is to not aim for the corners of the gate until the 3. You've gotta get used to swingin that stick in the square and not hit corners

Yeah, I'm quite getting the hang of it already. Just having some trouble doing it on P2 side. Just gotta keep practicing, I guess.

[Marisa]

Been using my stick for around a month and a half. I still have a few occasional issues with IADs and sjcs but the rest of my game improved greatly. DP motions are fluid and natural, Counter Assaults are easier, I misinput less (especially 632146C), and I'm able to do more complex combos with less issue.

Less than a year ago, I hated sticks, with a passion. Used one at a convention and I kinda liked it, put in a lot of research and soon became addicted to the idea. When I decided to buy my stick, I found myself thinking "Well, if I don't like it I can always resell it on eBay and at least get some of my money back." I liked it, stuck with it, and now I can't imagine playing on anything else.

Edited November 14, 2010 by Marisa

[Shockna]

Are Hori sticks considered better than Sanwa? Sanwa buttons seem to generally be considered the best, as I've noticed, but I know a lot of people who have Hori sticks modded with Sanwa buttons. Excluding the buttons, what are the differences between Hori and Sanwa for the actual joystick?

[mr.mortified]

Hori not generally a parts manufacturer but a joystick manufacturer. Sanwa on the other hand are just joystick component manufacturers. Hori deals with all parts of the joystick from case, to the controller PCB to the buttons and joystick parts, while Sanwa just deal with from what I've seen, pushbuttons and joysticks. Because hori deals with all parts, they tend to not have as good a quality and feel as sanwas do and they use different components. In terms of joysticks, from what i've seen from my Hori Ex2 they also use omron microswitches (i was surprised at this acutally) and they have their own gate and spring system which in my opinion doesn't feel rather good. The way they've oriented it makes the stick feel really mushy, especially in the corners. In my opinion the only difference between the two is the spring tension and the gate.

[dragontamer]

Sounds like Pad vs Stick is because Stick has better parts. I can believe that: there's no customization market for pads.

Still, in my limited experience with a Stick, it definitely takes more than 2 weeks to get good with a stick. Thats all I had stomach for so I'm sticking with Pad. And when it took me ~2 or 3 days to do Noel's 66C BC loop on a Pad, but it took me weeks just to learn how to dash consistantly on a stick, it became obvious which kind of controller my fingers prefered >_<.

That said, I plan to start experimenting with other pads. PS3 and XBox aren't the only guys in town. We got various Logitech models, Thrustmaster, and even older stuff like Microsoft SideWinder (made in the era of Fighters, so Sidewinder actually has 6 buttons. Instead of today's era of FPS, where everything is dual analog...)

And if I plan on spending $90+ on a pad (that I probably will have to mod to work on the PS3...):

Imagine me walking into a tournament with that baby. Seriously, wtf is that? Does Intel even make other gamepads?

Edited November 15, 2010 by dragontamer

[shtkn]

wow.... that thing looks like a toilet seat. I think you'd be better off getting one of those madcatz fightpads. Those have 6 face buttons.

[FunkyP]

wow.... that thing looks like a toilet seat. I think you'd be better off getting one of those madcatz fightpads. Those have 6 face buttons.

Or about 3 of them considering their build quality.

[Kurushii]

Could always do something like this user did over on SRK if you want a different feel to the pad:

Post: http://shoryuken.com/f177/check-out-my-new-arcade-stick-thread-part-deux-201537/index567.html#post9790800

[mr.mortified]

herpderp dat fightpad.

also you could easily dual mod dem madcatz fightpads with some dual strike smd's from gumowned on srk

[DarkRaptor]

Since I've never had an Arcade Stick, I use the controller. But I may try the Arcade Stick eventually. lol