Mad Catz' FightStick Tournament Review

By Simon Parkin Published 6 February, 2009

The Street Fighter IV peripheral range reviewed.

Version tested:

The arcade stick can be either the beat-'em-up aficionado's closest ally or most damaging adversary. Players can grow as attached to their control stick as they do their on-screen character, learning each one's nuance and personality intimately. On-screen characters might be the visualisation of a player's thought processes, but the controller is the facilitator, the very bridge over which will is made action.

If the controller is in any way lacking, through design or defect, then the game is broken with it, as any Rock Band player with a sticky orange fret button can tell you. In beat-'em-ups, where precision and response are everything, the control stick's importance is elevated yet further. In this genre a controller doesn't need to be defective to be game-breaking. The feel in the hand, the weight and the bulk on the lap, the resisting click of the buttons and the size and slipperiness of the ball top can narrow or widen the distance between victory and defeat. And in a beat-'em-up, the distance between victory and defeat is the only distance that ever matters.

2009 is the year of the beat-'em-up's renaissance, one singlehandedly brought about by Capcom's Street Fighter IV, a game that promises not only to draw back into the fold those players long put off by the genre's increasing complexity but also a new generation of gamers. It is a momentous occasion, the passion Capcom has managed to rekindle for its flagship series both unexpected and wonderful. So it's only right that a suite of licensed controllers, built with the game's peculiarities in mind, should accompany its release. And who better to make these crucial peripherals that...um...Mad Catz?

Mad Catz (sic) is a third-party peripheral maker whose products have always been aimed, politely put, towards the lower end of the market. Theirs are the ones parents buy to shave a few pounds on the official controllers, a small saving outweighed by the misery their shortcomings impose on young gamers everywhere. But in 2008 the company made a conscious decision to shift its focus, scrapping the third-rate knock-offs and concentrating on the opposite end of the market, creating expensive products built from quality parts for the more discerning gamer.

'Mad Catz' FightStick Tournament' Screenshot 1

Street Fighter IV itself is out on 20th February, but you might want to pre-order your stick if you're planning to get one.

The company's three licensed Street Fighter IV peripherals, all produced in association with Yoshinori Ono and the Capcom team, are everything you expect a Mad Catz product not to be. Sleek, stylish, weighty, and lacking in unsightly logos, they integrate seamlessly with the Street Fighter IV aesthetic. The company hired stick aficionados such as SD Tekken's Mark Julio to work on the designs, hand picking each and every component with the aim of beating the market leader, Japanese stick giant Hori, at their own game.

We've spent a couple of weeks with all three controllers, playing the final build of Street Fighter IV to help you decide which product is best for you. All controllers were tested in their Xbox 360 incarnation. The only difference between platforms is that the PlayStation 3 FightPads are wireless while the Xbox 360 ones are wired. Otherwise, the specifications and prices across all products are identical.

Xbox 360 Arcade FightStick: Tournament Edition (GBP 149.99)

In 1995 SEGA released a Japanese-only high-end arcade stick for the ill-fated Saturn console. The ostentatious stick mimicked in exact detail the entire front control panel of SEGA's iconic Japanese candy cab, the Astro City. It was extravagant and unnecessary but also arresting. The FightStick: Tournament Edition takes a similar ballsy approach, assuming the exact likeness of the Taito Viewlix cabinet's control panel for its design. The Viewlix is the official Japanese Street Fighter IV cab and so the FightStick: TE offers the closest approximation of the arcade experience at home. Indeed, as the tall price indicates, it is positioned as a travel-ready Tournament stick for expert and professional players: the Rolls Royce of the set.

The controller uses all cabinet-grade parts from Sanwa Denshii, components that the team at Mad Catz prefers to those from the other top-line Japanese arcade parts manufacturer, Seimitsu. For those of you who are interested in such things, the white ball top stick is model JLF-TP-8Y-SK-W, the eight face buttons are OBSF-30s while the smaller Start and Select buttons, positioned at the back of the stick to prevent accidental (and tournament-disqualifying) pausing during matches, are OBSF-24s.

The controller is wide, deep and heavy, weighing in at 6.5 pounds, but it is not unwieldy. Rather, the metal and ABS plastic frame sits comfortably on the lap or on a table and almost never slides about, even during the excitement of a close-fought battle. If you've never played on a Japanese cabinet or stick controller before you will likely find the loose, square gate stick strange at first. However, most serious Japanese and Western players alike prefer this semi-loose feel as it allows fluid motions, something that works especially well with Street Fighter IV and its deliberately generous input windows. Conversely, the face buttons are firmly mounted without any wiggle and are exactly as resistant and responsive as you would hope them to be.

'Mad Catz' FightStick Tournament' Screenshot 2

The Tournament Edition isn't as outwardly flashy as the Arcade FightStick (see page 2), but it makes up for that, and then some.

The stick, as with its cheaper cousin, lays out its buttons in the classic CPS-cab style, in two neat parallel rows. The white buttons are set up for Street Fighter play - light, medium and hard punch on the top row, light, medium and heavy kick on the bottom. The buttons are in perfect parallel allowing player to easily hit a light kick and punch simultaneously for a throw, a medium kick and punch for a Focus attack and a heavy kick and punch for a taunt. To the right of each row of white buttons is a single black button, which is set up by default in Street Fighter IV to mimic all three punches or all three kick buttons being pressed simultaneously, the input required to pull off Ultras and other more powerful variations of special attacks in Street Fighter IV.

A small, recessed panel sits at the top left of the controller's top. This houses with pleasing tidiness the Xbox 360 Dashboard or PlayStation 3 Home button in addition to a three-way switch that toggles the stick function between the left-thumb stick, right-thumb stick and D-pad. A tiny micro-switch can disengage the whole panel, again negating the possibility of an accidental pause during a match. Finally, the panel houses a button for enabling the stick's turbo mode, a feature which can be assigned to any button on the stick and which means you can hold down a button rather than having to tap it repeatedly. While frowned upon in beat-'em-up circles, the feature is certainly useful if you're planning on using the stick to play shoot 'em-ups and the like.

The back of the controller features a pop-out compartment used for storing the stick's USB cable. As the cable sits at three metres this is a useful tidy-all, especially for players who plan on taking their stick around with them whenever they leave the house. While some might bemoan the lack of a wireless feature, issues of latency and, of course, the danger of batteries running out at a crucial moment no doubt tipped the decision to stick to a wired set-up.

There are few complaints with this controller. It is, in almost every way that matters, a Hori-beater, more fully functioned and thoughtfully designed than most of its key Japanese rivals. The main issue then is price. Costing more than the console it runs on, the FightStick TE's straight USD 149.99 to GBP 149.99 price conversion from the US to UK market as unfair as it is predictable. But this is a product aimed at players for whom money is of smaller concern than build quality and choice of components and, in this respect, Mad Catz has turned out one of the finest sticks of this generation.

Demand is high for the peripheral (not helped by Capcom's Seth Killian's irresponsible urging of people to 'pick one up for eBay') so pre-order immediately or expect to pay an even higher premium on the resale market in a few weeks' time. If you can get hold of one, this is a controller to carry with you through life, a joystick in every sense of the word.

10/10

Xbox 360 Arcade FightStick (GBP 69.99)

At less than half of the price of the Tournament Edition, the standard FightStick is a more affordable and realistic proposition for most players. It has been clearly positioned as a direct rival to the widespread Hori EX2 (the official licensed stick for Dead or Alive 4, Virtua Fighter 5 and so on). While it's of a similar size, length and width as its rival, it's also much deeper, heavier and prettier, Mad Catz precision-designing its features to marginally trump the EX2 in most areas.

The core difference between the FightStick and the Tournament Edition is in size and components. It's far smaller than the premium controller and uses 'Japanese-style' parts rather than actual Sanwa Denshii components. While the stick aims for a similarly loose Japanese feel, the result is slightly stiffer, although it's a difference that's difficult to perceive outside of a direct side-by-side comparison.

In terms of button layout, the positioning of the start and select buttons and the recessed switches the controller is identical to the TE (outlined in detail above). The stick has a far more off-the-shelf build quality than its more expensive cousin, one of the rubber feet coming off the stick during our first play session. The licensed Street Fighter art isn't printed directly onto the surface plate, but instead sits on a high gloss vinyl adhesive, which has small bumps and bubbles in it right from unpacking. Nevertheless, the weight and height of the controller ensure it still feels like a quality product and for beginner and intermediate players who aren't looking for a stick to throw into a rucksack en route to a tournament, it is more than sufficient.

'Mad Catz' FightStick Tournament' Screenshot 3

The Arcade FightStick. Dhalsim's hands are our favourite.

While we slightly prefer the feel of the EX2's ball-top stick to that of the stiffer standard FightStick, in almost every other area Mad Catz' product comes out on top. It is also far easier to modify than Hori's notoriously difficult product, so if you do feel like upgrading the parts in the future it will be a lot more straightforward.

For the vast majority of players the FightStick provides enough quality and precision to suffice, its main niggling shortcoming being the knowledge that it will always play second fiddle to the Tournament Edition.

8/10

Xbox 360 FightPad (GBP 34.99)

While Eurogamer would encourage every prospective Street Fighter IV player to take the time to learn how to play the game with a bona fide arcade stick, there will always be some players for whom the learning curve is too steep. For these players a more (less?) traditional controller is required, a gap which the FightPad hopes to fill.

Neither the PlayStation 3 nor Xbox 360 standard controllers have been designed with beat-'em-up control in mind, their d-pads blistering thumbs in minutes. In contrast, Mad Catz' FightPad is a d-pad-only controller that's been designed specifically to allow for the fluid, fast-flowing quarter- and half-turn motions that form Street Fighter's interactive building blocks.

Based on the SEGA Saturn controller, widely regarded as the greatest d-pad controller this side of a Neo-Geo Pocket, the FightPad feels a little large in the hands, closer to a Megadrive pad than the Saturn in raw size terms. At first touch the size of the controller was a slight disappointment, being slightly larger than ASCII's comparable third-party beat-'em-up peripherals, but in time we grew accustomed to its full feel in the hands.

'Mad Catz' FightStick Tournament' Screenshot 4

The FightPad comes in a variety of character designs. Ryu's the most honourable, obviously.

With neither analogue sticks on the controller's face, a large floating d-pad is the only input method available to players. The size of the plastic is welcome, making inputs comfortable over long play sessions. What is most impressive is the precision of the pad, which, contrary to its loose feel, effortlessly translates complex motions to screen. As with the FightSticks, a mounted switch allows players to specify whether the d-pad controls the console's left stick, right stick or d-pad so its use extends beyond Street Fighter IV to other suitable games on the system.

The button layout again apes that of the SEGA Saturn and orthodox Japanese arcade sticks, with two rows of three buttons on the controller's face. Unlike the FightSticks, the LB/L2 and RB/R2 buttons are mounted on the pad's shoulders, rather than on the face. As you use your thumb to control the face buttons (rather than your fingers as with a stick) it's impossible to press all three punches or kicks simultaneously, meaning that the only way to trigger Ultras is to use the shoulder buttons. We found this awkward and difficult and it's the one area where the FightPad gives Street Fighter IV players a clear disadvantage.

The pad is light but the build quality is above average. The base and face of the pad uses high-gloss plastic while the back and sides are constructed from textured, soft plastic that affords players a pleasing amount of grip. As with the other products in the range, the FightPad has been thoughtfully designed. While most serious players will always opt for a stick, for players who do require a pad, in the context of Street Fighter IV the FightPad is far superior to a standard Xbox or PS3 controller. Its size and lightweight feel might put some off but the low price and thoughtful design make it a solid purchase for those looking for a well-featured orthodox pad for their consoles.

8/10

The MadCatz range of SFIV peripherals is due out for PS3 and Xbox 360 on 20th February. You can place pre-orders at Mad Catz' website, although the Tournament Edition is currently out of stock.

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About Simon Parkin

Simon Parkin is an author and journalist on video games. A regular contributor to Eurogamer since 2005, his work has also appeared in Edge, The Telegraph, Gamasutra and Boing Boing.

Read more articles from Simon by visiting the Simon Parkin archive page.

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Comments (102) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • merkdot #1 3 years ago

    I dispute the Saturn sentiment.

  • Gaol #2 3 years ago

    £150? Lucky I have a PS3 and don't need to worry about non-functioning D-Pads.

  • Moonprince #3 3 years ago

    Nevermind...
    Edited by 1 at 06/02/09 @ 11:52

  • Derblington #4 3 years ago

    I don't understand the 'stick is better' mentality, it's not. It all depends on what you grew up with or what you're used to (often one in the same).

  • mingster #5 3 years ago

    So do they work with all fighting games then?

  • andywilkie35 #6 3 years ago

    I've got that Fightpad on preorder, 8/10 sounds good.

    Wish I had a spare £150 lying about, I'd be all over that tournament stick whatsit!

  • Cloudane #7 3 years ago

    I still hate those two big black buttons standing out.

    6 buttons > 8 buttons; end of conversation.

  • muscleblade #8 3 years ago

    @Gaol

    The D-pad on the 360 controller works perfect for me. But im used to the SNES D-pad for SF2 so maybe thats the reason.
    Non functioning is a total wrong statement. Bet you havent tried it for yourself.

  • chessboxer #9 3 years ago

    Got my Tournament Edition (£150) for the PS3 pre-ordered along with the SFIV Collectors Edition (£59.99). This game better be good.

  • quantumsheep #10 3 years ago

    Just wanted to say 'nice one' for looking at these before SFIV launches!

    Cheers!


    /reads

  • XdarXideX #11 3 years ago

    The 8 button layout is genious in my opinion. I have more experience with US style button layouts so I'll probably be using those grey buttons. Maybe the other 2 will find their uses for triple button presses.

    I'd heard that the Standard fightsticks are just as modifiable as the Tournament Edition so that's good enough for me. But then again I probably won't notice a difference having not played on SF4's arcade cab.

    Roll on 20th! I wonder if the MadCatz store will be shipping the sticks early.. or at least on time.

  • coolblue2000 #12 3 years ago

    @muscleblade

    What has the great d-pad on the snes pad got to with the truely horrible d-pad on the otherwise excellent 360 pad? I have Streetfighter collection on the X-Box which works on my 360 and it is practically useless! I find myself playing the Wii Virtual Arcade versions instead as the Wii Classic controller has a brilliant d-pad. I am actually in 2 minds whether to get SSF4 as on one hand I love SSF games but on the other the 360s D-pad will make it practically unplayable. I also do not want to spend £150 on a arcade stick (after all I will need 2 of them to play against anyone in offline multi-player).

    You are actually the only person I have ever heard praise the 360s D-pad!

  • conners #13 3 years ago

    @Chessboxer

    For that money, YOU had better be good! :)

    Got the "standard" Fighting Stick on pre-order - looks more than adequate for someone of my limited abilities. The thing I like about these is that they are multi-purpose, so can be configured to work with a lot of other game types (and hopefully also on PC) for MAME etc.

  • Matt_Edwards #14 3 years ago

    Outstanding feature Simon, couldn't have written it better myself.

    Told me everything I want to know and then some.

    Could someone please build a time machine so I can be playing SFIV on my FightStick right now?!?!

    Two weeks to go is just too long :(

  • XdarXideX #15 3 years ago

    I too find no issues with the dpad on the 360. I think it's really down to the positioning of the dpad on the controller and which one you have the most experience with. Having not had a sony console for quite some time I'm very comfortable with the 360 dpad.

  • neonxaos #16 3 years ago

    I've been a pad player all my life until a year ago, when I got the EX2. For fighting games, I'm never looking back. It's perfectly possible to be good on a pad, but sticks are just far more comfortable to use for me. Movement feels tighter, specials are easier to pull off. I'm doing combos in HD Remix that I've never been able to do before, and don't even get me started on VF5. Played a little Tekken 5 on the PS2 the other day in anticipation for T6, and it just felt like I was bound on my hands and feet, all due respect to the DualShock 2. I must admit I never liked the D-pad on that thing anyway. Better than the Xbox pad for sure, but what isn't?

    I preordered the TE simply because I want the best experience. It will not turn me into a better player on its own, only practice will do that. But that practice will be a whole lot more enjoyable for sure.

    Oh, and by the way - the TE stick is sold out, and the regular stick and the pad are already in short supply. I advise people to hurry. I'm sure that MadCatz will increase the production due to all this "unexpected demand", but we all want these things for the SFIV launch, don't we?
    Edited by 1 at 06/02/09 @ 12:11

  • Fodder #17 3 years ago

    Are there versions of the official Xbox dpad that don't randomly do diagonals all the time, then? I have trouble navigating menus with my ones, let alone playing a fighting game with one.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #18 3 years ago

    I love playing with a stick, although I am just as good with the dualshock pad.

    £150 for this is a great price considering what you get for your money. But in this instance I have opted to pass on the stick, at least initially, as I have a, probably superior, home built stick with equally good, or in some cases better, components :)

  • quantumsheep #19 3 years ago

    Having read all the reviews, it's great to see that these pads are of a very good standard.

    I just haven't been able to play the Xbox Live version of Street Fighter properly as the normal pad sucks. I'll be picking up one of these mad catz pads at least, and depending on the money situation at the end of the month, probably a stick as well.

    Will they be available in traditional retail stores at all? I noticed them on Play.com, but they're 'currently unnavailable'...

  • DrR0b3rts #20 3 years ago

    I'll contine to eke out my 40:60 win/lose ratio on the analogue stick

  • Santino #21 3 years ago

    got myself a tourney edition stick for ps3 and standard for the 360 pre-ordered from gameshark when they first went up, and will just get the standard edition of the game. will probably mod the standard stick with sanwa parts at some point. stock Hori ex2 really is a turd i hope the standard fightstick buttons last a while longer than the ex2 ones did before i mod them.

  • Iora #22 3 years ago

    Well these or something similar is a must if you plan on playing SF4 on a 360... the schizophrenic d-pad that machine offers is evil incarnate. Its like they have balanced the cheap horribly molded chunk of plastic on the tip of a pin.

    I look forward to seeing players do the ryu shuffle that frantic stutter he does as he bobs up and down trying to unleash his hadoken.

    Hell they shoould make it an achievement. Complete 10 flawless fireballs.

    As much as i'd love to play this on my 360 for Live and the achievements i'll be staying well away.

  • kinky_mong #23 3 years ago

    This is what I wanted to hear! Have a fightpad on order from the moment Play put them up so I hope I'll be getting one on release day!

  • JohnnyWashnGo #24 3 years ago

    Is the PS3 version still down as not being bluetooth and instead using a plug in usb dongle for communication with the console?

  • Gaol #25 3 years ago

    @musclebalde

    Yeah I've used the 360 pad, I have one plugged into my PC. It's a great controller but the d-pad is the work of Satan.

    Anyway, nevermind my derailing fanboy flamebait, there's a bigger issue here. These pads are massively overpriced. £150 for a fucking arcade stick? You can buy a 360 for less. Outrageous. And £70 isn't much better in my book. Clearly the recession hasn't affected these guys pricing strategy. As for a standard digital controller at £35 that's insane. 360 users are being ripped off. I expect the forthcoming EG face off will focus on the PS3's 5 minute mandatory install, and not the fact that 360 users need to pay from £70 to £185 to play the game properly.

    Oh and this isn't a 'nice' article; it reads like an advertising feature and even has an order link at the bottom.
    Edited by 2 at 06/02/09 @ 12:34

  • Fodder #26 3 years ago

    It's nice that they've seemingly made the standard stick just about as easy to mod as the TE version. You could get one of those then swap in Sanwa or Seimitsu components later on if you wanted.

    I've seen complaints about the 8 button layout, but don't entirely understand the problem. If the other buttons aren't bound to anything, what's the issue with them being there? Is it a case of accidentally hitting them instead of another button?

  • neonxaos #27 3 years ago

    IMO, the 8-button layout is a blessing. I can't reach the last two buttons on my Hori in the heat of battle in DOA, for instance. One of them is bound to tagging in, so I basically gave up playing tag matches because of this.

  • JahB #28 3 years ago

    Are there versions of the official Xbox dpad that don't randomly do diagonals all the time, then?

    yes, logitech's air pad has an excellent d-pad

  • Miths #29 3 years ago

    I just bought a Hori Fighting Stick 3 a couple of months ago (basically the PS3 version of the EX2), I can't decide if it's worth it upgrading to the standard edition Mad Catz. It's better according to the review, but I don't really get the impression it's by much?
    And I'm very much a Street Fighter newbie anyway (though playing HD Remix certainly made it immediately obvious how vast an improvement a stick - even a cheap one - is over a basic controller) .

  • Slikz #30 3 years ago

    Great reviews EG!

    I preorder 2 TE's for the 360 and 1 TE for the PS3.

    Game (the store) releases them on the 13th :p

  • itamae #31 3 years ago

    Great reviews, Simon obviously knows what he's talking about (or he has been following the lengthy discussions elsewhere :-P).

    Got a regular edition stick on pre-order; while I'd love to get the TE I'm simply not good enough at fighting games to do it justice. Let's see how it compares to my Hori EX2.

  • Vanmunt #32 3 years ago

    150 quid... Christ on a bike.. what a waste of money.

  • IISargeII #33 3 years ago

    Is it just me or am i the only one that doesnt really have a problem with the d-pad on the 360? i play lots of fighting games on all systems, across all the controllers, i just cant see whats wrong with the 360's d-pad...

  • mikeysyke #34 3 years ago

    I recently purchaced a Hori Fighting Stick 3 (FS3) as well. I have played various Street Fighers over the years but mostly on a pad. I have been playing HD remix quite well with the pad but with the Hori FS3 I can now do some combos easier but my general play is not as good. I have a fightpad on pre order but am also considering the Tournament Edition Stick (TE). I know I am nowhere near the quality to do the TE justice, but the appeal of having the same components as the actual acade machine sounds like a good deal to me. I know at £150 its more than a 360 console but considering that the conversion should be pretty much arcade perfect its far cheaper than buying an actual arcade machine!
    I am someone who in the past paid £120 for Street Figher 2 Hyper fighting on the SNES when I was younger and its great to see fighting games making a comeback. One thing I am wondering though is the fightpads on the PS3 are wireless but not bluetooth, you have to use a usb dongle, does that mean there will be lag? all the reviews seem to be for the 360 versions, now I know they should be mostly the same but still it would be nice to see an update to at least confirm the fightpad ps3 features (battery life, lag)

  • stevetuck #35 3 years ago

    after realising how much of a joke the 360 pad is in fighting games i got myself a Hori EX2 just for SFTHDR :D best £40 i ever spent :)
    Edited by 1 at 06/02/09 @ 13:07

  • crummyname #36 3 years ago

    i'd buy the pad if was wireless, don't want a wire trailing across the living room and my xbox sits behind a glass cabinet. Why can't we have a wireless option? Beause of m/shaft licensing issues i believe.

  • FooAtari #37 3 years ago

    Good reviews, not much of a fighting game fan myself, but these are some nice looking sticks and Simon obviouslly knew what he was talking about. I was interested to read SF4 is more of a forgiving fighting game. My main problem with more complex fighting games is my timing sucks and im to retarded to remember some of the stupidly complicated button combos :)

    Like racing sims, sure you can play with a pad but it not the way it mean't to be played. Fighting games are arcade cabinet games at heart and should be played with an arcade stick. If I were to get SF4 I'd try and get the £70 quid stick, although unfortunatly it's probably a little to much to pay for a genre I'm not a huge fan of.

    And to weigh in on the 360 pad debate, it's a great controller, one of my favourites ever. But the d-pad does indeed suck. The way it randomly detects diagonal presses (or not when you want it to) is extremely annoying. I have tried shaving some of the inner plastic surround but that didnt make any difference either. It's just useless.

  • Krelle #38 3 years ago

    already bought 10 of the Tournament ones. 8 of em go up on ebay for 2x the price when SF4 is released (:

  • Shakey_Jake33 #39 3 years ago

    Luckily I have a USB Saturn controller (compatible with both PC and PS3) so I don't need the new controller, but it looks like it answers every complaint I've had with Sony and Nintendo D-Pads. It's not even so much the lack of diagonals on Nintendo D-Pads that I hate (though it is annoying) as much as that they're near-plush with the controller shell, feeling somewhat mushy to use. This was true of the Snes, all the way up the current Wii Remote. The one-piece 'roller-base' design of the Saturn D-Pad is what makes it so outstanding for fighters.

  • Valis #40 3 years ago

    99.9% of the people in the world who play Streetfighter play it with a pad. This stupid, snobbish guilt they're trying to lay on us for not using a stick is pointless. Okay, theres a tiny percentage of (mostly Japanese) tournament guys who play with joysticks. Considering the tiny percentage who do though, I'm gonna guess the best player in the world is some lonely guy who's never entered a tournament, never played any other game, and plays with a SNES control pad.

  • Feanor #41 3 years ago

    "Are there versions of the official Xbox dpad that don't randomly do diagonals all the time, then? I have trouble navigating menus with my ones, let alone playing a fighting game with one."

    Heh, it's so true. The standard 360 pad really is that bad.

  • SomaticSense #42 3 years ago

    Really interested in getting a new pad for SF4 (I'm strictly a d-pad player, not a joystick man), and that Mad Catz one looks pretty decent.

    But "low price"!? 35 squids for a controller is not, in any way whatsoever, low price. Maybe comparing it to an arcade stick it's relatively low price, but that's no different to comparing the price of a Mondeo to a plane. I'm not paying £35 just for a working d-pad. That's a tenner more than RRP of the 360's official wireless pads!

    If anyone could come up with a top quality sub-£20 alternative, I'd be eternally grateful. A d-pad that's something along the lines of the Wii's classic controller would be fantastic, as that d-pad is beautiful with the VC SF releases.
    Edited by 2 at 06/02/09 @ 13:59

  • chessboxer #43 3 years ago


    @ SomaticSense

    Actually, the RRP of the wireless 360 controller and the DualShock 3 is £39.99 but you'd be hard pushed to find a popular online store (Amazon, Play.com etc) who sell them at RRP.

    Play.com com sell the 360 wireless controller and the DS3 at £29.99 and £34.99 respectively.

    Amazon sell the 360 controller at £35.24 whilst the DS3 is £34.99.

  • quantumsheep #44 3 years ago

    @farticus

    You've got to be fucking kidding me...

  • neonxaos #45 3 years ago

    "I'm gonna guess the best player in the world is some lonely guy who's never entered a tournament, never played any other game, and plays with a SNES control pad."

    Well - maybe he's lonely because he doesn't have a nice, big stick?

  • XdarXideX #46 3 years ago

    10 TE's!? You make me sick. 5 would have been enough. Though I guess come April there will be lots more. They're not limited edition, just tournament edition.

  • Robyrt #47 3 years ago

    That 150 quid is ridiculous. It would probably be cheaper to buy one from America for $150 (which is a MUCH more reasonable price) and ship it overseas!

    I've got a regular stick preordered. I've broken two EX2s so far, and hopefully this is better quality. If not, at least it's moddable.

  • yegon #48 3 years ago

    I've got a fightpad preordered, looking forward to it. Never been into sticks as all my SF experience comes from playing on the SNES/PS1/Saturn. Reaching the heady heights of ultra l33t is beyond me anyway, I'm pretty good at SF relative to my real world friends, complete gash relative to the online hardcore. Plus, the fightpad will be come in very handy for a number of XBLA stuff and, probably, emulation on my pc&mac.

    As for the 360 pad, I consider it fairly unique in that it's far and away the best joypad I've ever used in terms of analogue sticks, triggers, button placement etc, while being far and away the worst d-pad I've ever had the misfortune to use. It's all personal preference of course, but how anyone ANYONE! can consider it half way decent is beyond me. I'd go as far to say that, all other things being equal, a 360 pad toting player versus a fightpad user will lose exponentially more often.

    Edited by 1 at 06/02/09 @ 14:22

  • superjag86 #49 3 years ago

    I have a Hori Fighting Stick 3 for the PS3 and it's more than good enough for me. It also works on my PC which is great ;)
    I got my Hori stick for £30 and I definitely can't see me spending so much for another stick... But I wouldn't mind one of those fightpads tho!

  • Bezzy #50 3 years ago

    I really like using LB/RB for light attacks. I find i can tap them more frequently while readying up medium heavy attacks on the face buttons.

    But god damn the 360's dpad needs a fix.

  • dr_zoidthrob #51 3 years ago

    Typo time... Sanwa Denshi only has one 'i'


    Picky, picky, picky. :)

  • Bagpuss #52 3 years ago

    Hmmm, not convinced about these Arcade Sticks, i had the official Dreamcast one for Third Strike back in the day and found it generally horrible to use.

    The stick itself had too much movement, which meant doing circular moves took longer than the tight movement of the D Pad, not to mention the fact that the whole thing would keep slipping whilst perched on your lap.

    Admittedly, you could play for longer due not getting a sore thumb, but the simple application of a plaster to ones thumb cured that with D pad use..:)

    Unless you use them securely anchored down to a solid surface of some description, they are just more hassle than they are worth.

    They do make nice collectables though, and i suppose add 'Arcade ambiance' to the experience whilst playing in the home....'

  • Widge #53 3 years ago

    My god, don't say anything about the d-pad or the world will end! SILENCE!

  • GordonJ #54 3 years ago

    robyrt: That 150 quid is ridiculous. It would probably be cheaper to buy one from America for $150 (which is a MUCH more reasonable price) and ship it overseas!

    Straight translation would be £103, but with shipping and customs and excise, it would come out to near £150 anyway. Plus shopto had them up for £120.

  • Thunderbolt #55 3 years ago

    Xbox 360 Arcade FightStick: Tournament Edition (GBP 149.99)

    A joystick for the price of a next-gen console.

    This is madness!

  • XdarXideX #56 3 years ago

    Initially limited but they won't stop making them for a while. As long as there is demand they will try to make money from it.

  • Widge #57 3 years ago

    I'd say the bloody small dpad one would suffice nice.

  • Brianstorm #58 3 years ago

    You can pick the stick up for around £100 if you look around.

  • XdarXideX #59 3 years ago

    Play Asia and other asian sites with international shipping are likely to have the sticks at decent prices too.

  • Fodder #60 3 years ago

    I have an X-Arcade, but I don't really like it that much. Physically it's okay, though not as good as you'd expect for the price, but it tends to be a bit laggy in use (I presume this is a problem with their console adapters). Plus their Gamecube adapter mapped the buttons in an essentially unusable way and their support refused to accept it was a problem.

  • FooAtari #61 3 years ago

    @Valid
    "99.9% of the people in the world who play Streetfighter play it with a pad. This stupid, snobbish guilt they're trying to lay on us for not using a stick is pointless. Okay, theres a tiny percentage of (mostly Japanese) tournament guys who play with joysticks. Considering the tiny percentage who do though, I'm gonna guess the best player in the world is some lonely guy who's never entered a tournament, never played any other game, and plays with a SNES control pad.

    Chill out dude, no one is forcing a gun to your head. It's not like SF4 only works with the licenecd controllers. You don't like them and see the point? Thats just fine. But some people do, some people want the proper arcade experience and beleive it or not actually prefer to use a stick, each to their own and all that. I don't see anyone here or the reviewer being snobbish about it. As for guilt, what is there to feel guilty about and who/what is trying to make you feel guilty?

    @quuantum

    @farticus

    You've got to be fucking kidding me...

    He's on of these people that for some strange reason is so devoted to a peice of plastic and electronics that he cannot accept any fault whats so ever. The 360 pad is great, but with one flaw that the vast majority of people who have used it agree with, the d-pad is shite. Like the not-quite as good sticks on the PS3 and their crap placement, no controller is perfect.

    Edited by 1 at 06/02/09 @ 15:31

  • asphaltcowboy #62 3 years ago

    @SomaticSense: The RRP for a standard wireless controller is £33 (admittedly wired is cheaper) - but you don't have to pay £35 for these pads - my Ryu pad Amazon pre-order is £25.99!

  • XdarXideX #63 3 years ago

    Can I like the d-pad on the 360 without being "one of those people" FooAtari?

  • FooAtari #64 3 years ago

    "Can I like the d-pad on the 360 without being "one of those people" FooAtari?

    Nope, it pish :)

    Seriously do you not find it's like of accuracy totally annoying?

    I've seen faticus' posts in other threads he comes across as a definite fanboy.

  • JahB #65 3 years ago

    to all UK users: the sticks (both editions) are considerably cheaper in continental europe, if you want one, you might think about importing.

    UK: GBP 149
    Continent: EUR 139

  • neonxaos #66 3 years ago

    "@XdarXideX the sticks are Limited. Mad Catz' Head Designer is on record saying so."

    Here's my prophecy: the next run of TE sticks will not have the SFIV decals, box or inlays, so the SFIV TE stick can remain limited, whereas the "plain" TE stick will be available in larger numbers. They might even lower the price (cue forum mayhem).

    As for the pad discussion - I played DOA on a daily basis on the pad for almost a year, and my first pad stopped responding properly after about two months. Then the second followed after a single month of use. They never broke or anything, but they just feel very imprecise and sluggish. And let's face it - they were never good to begin with. I prefer the floating d-pad design over the DualShock design, but the hardware is simply not precise, nor built to last, which is very odd, considering that rest of the pad is fantastic and built like a tank. I love the buttons, the sticks and the triggers - and it is actually perfectly possible to play most fighting games using the left stick instead of the d-pad. But like it or not, fighting games are almost always designed with sticks in mind. I learned the true meaning of this in HD Remix - I used to struggle with the charge characters, but now I'm playing with "poor" old low/mid-tier Dee Jay and discovering all sorts of nuances I never knew were there.

    There have been some comments about pads being "faster" than sticks, and I think that's actually true - especially if you compare a loose Jap square-gate stick to a pad, but there is something about the hand-placement on the stick that makes some motions feel far more natural (taken out of context, this sounds SO WRONG!), and allows you to connect moves into combos more fluidly. Admittedly, I find myself randomly struggling with Ruy's Shoryuken motion now, which I never did on a pad, but it's just a matter of training. In general, it feels like I can do things more consistently on my stick, and in the end, that's what matters. So, is this worth wasting £150 on? For me, yes, because I'm a huge, towering, colossal nerd. For the casual fighting game fan? I really don't think so - get the regular stick or the EX2. Or use the pad if it works for you. Or perhaps a Guitar Hero controller - I would certainly like to see that!

  • XdarXideX #67 3 years ago

    FooAtari> Like i've said before, I'm used to it. I never did like the PS dpads because of the seperation into 4 chunks. I firmly believe that most people simply can't get to grips with the 360 dpad due to the placement of it. I'll admit it does feel unnatural but over time you get used to it and really.. it's not innacurate from then on. Precision thumbage!

  • AliRay #68 3 years ago

    I was so desparate to get my Amazon pre-order in for a FightPad that I.....

    I.....

    Settled for the Chun Li one.......

    /single tear of shame trickles down cheek

  • neonxaos #69 3 years ago

    "I never did like the PS dpads because of the seperation into 4 chunks. "

    That's it exactly. I'm often told that people like the PS pad because it has four D-pad "buttons" - thing is, it doesn't - it's a solid plate with four knobs on it. So if you press forward+down, you're not guaranteed to get down/forward, although the result is generally more accurate than the Xbox pad. And quarter circles, half circles and full circles are nightmares on that thing. I expect that won't be the case on the Saturn-style MadCatz D-pad. I wish that MS would use the MadCatz pad in the future :)

    AliRay - you get to fondle Chun and press her buttons. This is very manly. Just tell your friends that. Obviously, any female friends might kill you if you say that, but it might be worth it :)
    Edited by 1 at 06/02/09 @ 16:29

  • AliRay #70 3 years ago

    "AliRay - you get to fondle Chun and press her buttons. This is very manly. Just tell your friends that. Obviously, any female friends might kill you if you say that, but it might be worth it "

    /Hundred-hand-wanks and falls soundly asleep :D

  • shotgun44 #71 3 years ago

    I begrudge spending £30 on a wireless 360 one and absolutely refuse to upgrade my PS3 ones so they vibrate a bit! TBF I've never gotten into fighting games so my opinion is based on what I've seen; but the price of them sticks just seems ridiculous! The demand is clearly there though so good on Mad Catz. It just seems strange that every PS3 thread is filled with people crying 'DROP THE PRICE AND I'LL BUY 6!!!!11' , yet £150 is perfectly reasonable for a controller useful in only a handful of games. Could say the same with rockband etc I guess. Oh well, each to their own!

    PS. Xbox D-pad is fucking diabolical!

  • DarthCheesiest #72 3 years ago

    Let's take a look at a nice looking stick for a change.
    Edited by 1 at 06/02/09 @ 16:48

  • Edjoy #73 3 years ago

    I'm no mathmatician but with 3000 being made worldwideand selling out how many do people think the UK will get??

    After speaking to Amazon they say they have over a 1000 units preordered.. That says to me that alot of us will be very hacked off, as why would they get a third of the total amount made??

    I have ordered a TE stick from Play and they say they only sold what they were tld they were getting, and i have ordered one from Gameshark too and they have said that any pre orders placed are for release. A new pre order will go live once the game is released.. Hope they are right, as that means i have 2 :-)

    oh and Microsoft dont allow companies to make Wireless controllers.. Name 1 controller that is wireless for the 360 outside of the official.. its not difficult

    Ed
    Edited by 1 at 06/02/09 @ 16:50

  • Edjoy #74 3 years ago

    How come Game have them down as the 13th? Thats a week before the official store.. Sounds odd to me?

    Good point about the TE Stick though

  • FooAtari #75 3 years ago

    @XdarXideX

    I dont think the PS one is that great either. It too flush and doesnt have enough "movement" I think the placement on the 360 pad is good, the left stick should have the prominant position overthe pad. If the 360 just had a better pad it would be pretty ideal imo.

  • Fodder #76 3 years ago

    "I firmly believe that most people simply can't get to grips with the 360 dpad due to the placement of it. I'll admit it does feel unnatural but over time you get used to it and really.. it's not innacurate from then on. Precision thumbage!"

    It's not the placement, it's the dpad itself. The Xbox 1 pad (controller S, I mean, not the comedy original version) had a pretty good dpad, and that was in the same place. Maybe some 360 pads are better than others or something but the ones I've tried are just terrible. Diagonals when you don't want them and at least one direction (down, generally) that fails to register unless you press really hard.

    It's not original PSP bad, but it's close.

  • Santino #77 3 years ago

    i'll second(3rd, 4th etc) the 360 dpad comments, i sold my modded ex2 and so was having to put up with the 'worst dpad in existance' while playing hd remix with my mate, after a few fights i didnt care whether i won or lost as the outcome was almost always determined at some point in the fight by something out of my control involving the dpad screwing up inputs. absolutely awful, cant wait for my sticks to arrive, i wish gameshark store had info regarding individual orders, i wonder when they will be shipped out.

  • FooAtari #78 3 years ago

    and at least one direction (down, generally) that fails to register unless you press really hard.

    Had that problem too, damn annoying

  • Dynamism #79 3 years ago

    £150.00?

    My TE Fightstick has been shipped from Gamestop US for a total of $149.99 (£101).

  • ilmaestro #80 3 years ago

    *Six and a half paragraphs of bumpf* before the review actually starts, but it was good after that.

    edit: Dynamism: no it hasn't, it was $150 + P&P + customs charges. In total, my stick from Gamestop is costing me £146.
    Edited by 2 at 06/02/09 @ 19:15

  • giant_frying_pan #81 3 years ago

    Yeah, hopefully you can avoid getting stung, Dynamism.

    P.S. - Come back to the old Soccer Boooooaaaarrrrdddd!!

  • Darkbeat #82 3 years ago

    Where the hell do I get a Tournament Stick outside the UK (I live in scandinavia)

  • Dynamism #83 3 years ago

    @ilmaestro

    Yeah, including P&P it comes to $174.98, which is just over £115.00. You got a definitive answer regarding those excessive custom charges?

    @giant_frying_pan

    Haven't been to IGN for a minute - good to hear the old Soccerboard is still lively. Might make a cameo appearance if Arsenal win the treble... ;)

  • Fodder #84 3 years ago

    I'm not sure what a joystick will be classed as for duty, but I think video games are 2.2% so it might be that. You'll pay VAT at 15% of the total including postage and duty. So for something costing £115 that's about £20 in total. However, on top of that, the courier will also add their random, unfair handling fee which can be anything from £10 to £20 and up depending on the weather, phase of the moon and the lottery numbers for the week.

  • neonxaos #85 3 years ago

    Darkbeat - your only real choice is to wait or hit eBay, I guess. TE sticks are sold out. Everywhere.

  • Abvance #86 3 years ago

    I pre-ordered mine from Power Play Direct, that's the PS3 TE stick for £97.99 with a voucher code, I hope I get it for a third off the RRP!
    Edited by 1 at 07/02/09 @ 17:10

  • SomaticSense #87 3 years ago

    "

  • ilmaestro #88 3 years ago

    Dynamism: I got a phone call from UPS on Friday confirming that it would be £27 and change. I was able to pay over the phone there and then, too.

  • giant_frying_pan #89 3 years ago

    Abvance,

    We're in the same boat, but I think it's more likely we'll be in the second shipment. I think they'll honour the price though, which I'm willing to wait for.

  • Abvance #90 3 years ago

    When did you order yours GFP (I ordered 22/01/09)? I know PPD will honour the price, they are known for it, people have got mispriced LBP for 6 quid from them! They have also charged me already so they have to by law supply me the item.

  • coderkind #91 3 years ago

    I wish I'd ordered a TE stick now! :(

  • Abvance #92 3 years ago

    Is that your personal experience FADCFTMFW? Also is it weird that I know exactly what your name stands for? lol

  • wellsie #93 3 years ago

    Is the TE available for pre-order anywhere still then? If not where is the best chance of getting it on release?

  • IISargeII #94 3 years ago

    I have ordered 2 sticks, originally for myself, but unforseen circumstances (i.e sodding car tax) has kinda put a block on that. Im even considering selling my other stick on ebay since people seem to be making a profit out of them.

  • Dynamism #95 3 years ago

    Arrived today! paid £27 in customs tax but it looks sweet. Now, lets hope it works....

  • mattigan #96 3 years ago

    I read somewhere that the 360 version of the Fightpad is wired, is this true? If so then NO SALE!!!

  • Abvance #97 3 years ago

    Yes it's true, 360 is wired but PS3 is wireless. Which is weird.

  • kcimkram #98 3 years ago

    I've heard that Mad Catz's on line store may have some stock available later today.
    Worth checking it out.

  • Edjoy #99 3 years ago

    He's right you know.... They are up NOW!!!!!

  • kcimkram #100 3 years ago

    there is stock available on Mad Catz online store now.
    Not sure how much they've got though.

  • kaya08 #101 3 years ago

    Pity they don't deliver to ireland. Can anyone suggest a site that does?

  • BillyBrush #102 3 years ago

    Quite a few people seem to be moaning that the diagonals on the fightpad d pad take rather too much depressing to actually work at all